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Enigma
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Composed, Conducted, and Produced by:
Performed by:
Members of The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
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LABEL & RELEASE DATE
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ALBUM AVAILABILITY
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Regular U.S. release, though the album was delayed by
over six months due to a moving theatrical release date in America.
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AWARDS
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None.
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ALSO SEE
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Buy it... if you wish to close out your John Barry collection with a score
that will likely serve as the completely predictable, but undeniably fitting
conclusion to his prolific career.
Avoid it... if you're looking for any substantially new angle on Barry's
tired romantic styles of the 1980's and 1990's in his waning days of production.
BUY IT
(8.99)
 | | Barry |
Enigma: (John Barry) The love story of the World War II
code-breakers in the United Kingdom who took possession of the famously captured
Enigma decryption machine from a German submarine, Enigma was an
international endeavor that originally gained its momentum in the film festival
scene of 2001 because of its inability to find a major distributor. After debuting
at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 2001 and making a showing at the
Hamptons International Film Festival in October of 2001, the film finally opened in
a regular, though still limited distribution in theatres across America in April of
2002. The film had been seen in theatres in the U.K. since September of 2001,
gaining respect for Michael Apted's direction and Seamus McGarvey's cinematography,
both of which accurately depicting the environment of the era. Also considered a
throwback of sorts was declining composer John Barry's music for the film. He had
been Apted's first and only choice for Enigma, perhaps an irony because of
the director's entry in the David Arnold era of the James Bond franchise. The
staggered release date of the film in nearly every nation has caused the album of
Barry's music for Enigma to be a frustratingly delayed product for the six
months prior to its final street date. The composer himself had been suffering
private and professional setbacks since the middle of the 1990's as well. Somewhat
failing health, bitter court battles over the ownership of the James Bond theme,
needless allegations thrown in about young Danish women, and a series of scores
rejected (including an effort for the 1999 film Goodbye Lover late in the
game) all contributed to a forced, semi-retired state of settlement in Barry's
career. His rejected works had been released in the form of concert albums in the
late 1990's and early 2000's, though his actual production of new feature film
scores had ground to a halt by 2002.
Barry's score for Enigma was the only one he composed
between 1999 and 2002, and it was a November, 2000 recording that only finally made
it onto album nearly a year and a half later. Sadly, Enigma would prove to
be the composer's only score of the entire decade, standing as likely his fast
foray into an industry that brought him five Academy Awards and significant
mainstream appreciation. Any collector of Barry's music had already noted the
slowdown in his creative volume clearly inherent in the scores which followed
1995's The Scarlet Letter and Cry, the Beloved Country, his final two
resoundingly powerful soundtracks. Even into his waning days, though, he was known
for his ability to meld a historically dramatic setting with a timeless tone that
engages modern audiences. Apted encouraged Barry's style for Enigma because
of exactly this quality, and once again, the composer's touch for romantic drama
does not go to waste. His score is as melodic as ever, taking three main themes and
running with them for nearly the entire length of the album. True to Barry's
reputation, the score maintains a level of simplicity that keeps its rhythms
consistent and its themes repetitious. These ideas are performed primarily by
strings and piano, the latter of which is the true treat of the recording (as in
"The Quarry"). The moments of heightened drama in the score, often pulsating with
string rhythms and Barry's typical underlying brass, are nothing new for his fans.
But his elegant love theme, especially on piano, will appeal to the majority of
casual listeners, regardless of the fact that it is repeated endlessly for the
length of the album. The chase and action sequences, exploding in Bond-like style
in "Police Chase," offer bold striking of simple rhythms that mirror the composer's
most ballsy writing, incorporating the snare drum and brass in a dominant role
alongside his usual dissonant strikes on the top. Short bursts of mixed brass in
this material hail back to the composer's 1960's epics.
The score is predominantly a flowing string affair, however, and
it is this style that pleases the fans of this trademark. In its ability to
function as a timeless score in a film that blurs the lines between love and
history, Barry's music for Enigma is representative of his style in the same
way that the music for Pearl Harbor from the previous year was
representative of Hans Zimmer's style. It may or may not work in the film, often
ignoring synchronization points and not snapping to attention for scene changes,
but it makes for a relaxing and fluid listening experience on album.
Understandably, if you are one of those many film music veterans who have settled
into a feeling of disdain for Barry because his music became simplistic and
repetitive in the last two decades, then surely stay away from this album. Even the
composer's most avid supporters will recognize that the composer's habit of
repeating each phrase of a theme twice consecutively is a tiresome tactic, and one
that slows his music to a crawl more often than not. On the other hand, some argue
that if you're paying so much attention to the structure of this music that you are
bothered by this repetition, then you're missing the point. If you enjoy a subtle
Barry love theme no matter its unoriginality, then Enigma will be a fine
potential send-off for the composer in his last endeavors for film. Simply tune out
the actual melody and enjoy the ambience. Having this score recorded in a public
Amsterdam arena with members of The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra was something of
large-scale abnormality for Barry in his late years, albeit a positive development.
The album contains 45 minutes of score material and is finished off by three period
songs. While hearing Enigma in 2002 was comforting for fans of a composer
who was still only in his late 60's at the time of this recording, Barry's stubborn
stylistic representation of yesteryear needs no further discussion to sway your
opinion either way about his style and this score in particular. It may be a
predictable conclusion to the man's career, but undeniably a fitting one. *** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For John Barry reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.85
(in 27 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.56
(in 26,675 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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Frisbee Expand >>
Herman Munster - May 9, 2002, at 9:23 p.m. |
2 comments (5152 views)
Newest: September 30, 2002, at 2:55 p.m. by
Danny French |
about time Expand >>
Michael Arlidge - April 11, 2002, at 10:33 p.m. |
2 comments (3531 views)
Newest: April 12, 2002, at 9:56 p.m. by
Ryan |
Release Date???
David Gray - April 7, 2002, at 6:34 p.m. |
1 comment (2188 views) |
Barry Expand >>
Jeff Ryan - April 7, 2002, at 3:48 p.m. |
8 comments (6345 views)
Newest: February 13, 2005, at 1:34 p.m. by
Moschtfass |
Total Time: 56:57
• 1. Main Title (3:41)
• 2. Where Does One Pee? (1:21)
• 3. Police Chase (1:16)
• 4. The Quarry (2:50)
• 5. Tom Explains Enigma (1:23)
• 6. Is That What Happened? (4:25)
• 7. Wigram Arrives (1:39)
• 8. The Convoy (5:36)
• 9. Waiting For Signals (2:46)
• 10. Tom Goes to Cottage (1:26)
• 11. She Moved On (2:06)
• 12. Simply Wonderful/Finding Crib (1:53)
• 13. Trip to Beaumanor (0:59)
• 14. At Beaumanor (0:59)
• 15. The Train (2:40)
• 16. Goodbye to Hester (3:00)
• 17. Puck Dies (1:17)
• 18. London 1946 (2:26)
• 19. End Credits (4:58)
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• 20. The Black Bottom (2:54)
Performed by Bunny Bergin Orchestra
• 21. You'll Never Know (3:23)
Performed by Anne Shelton w/ Ambrose Orchestra
• 22. Dives & Lazarus (2:49)
Composed by Vaughn Williams
Performed by The New Queen's Hall Orchestra,
Conducted by Barry Wordsworth
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The insert includes a note from director Michael Apted
about John Barry and the scoring process for the film.
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