In retrospect, the employment of composer John Barry for Somewhere in Time makes perfect sense given the weight the filmmakers wanted to give the film; Barry opted to take a cut of album royalties in lieu of a more traditional fee for the low-budget production, a wise choice. The movie's use of Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" as a secondary love theme for the actual scenes of Reeve and Seymour together is comparatively puzzling, though. Both are applied to a fault in Somewhere in Time, drawing repeated scorn from critics tired of hearing what sounds like the same two pieces of music repeated over and over in context. In the case of the Rachmaninoff piece, there is really no good excuse for its insertions; it only bloats the ego of the film, dragging it towards parody territory, and it is similar enough in style to Barry's likewise pretty and lofty romance material to make one wonder why the composer couldn't have written an original, secondary theme specific to the purpose of the easily recognizable Rhapsody. As it is, Barry's score will be in peril of greeting you as largely a monothematic bore if you're not entranced by his usual, lush 1980's romance sound. Heavy on strings, deliberate in tempo, and utilizing basic harmony that extends to melodramatic cello and bass lines under aloof violins, the primary theme of Somewhere in Time is a precursor to both Raise the Titanic and Out of Africa, together with the latter score becoming popular apart from the film. Secondary lines of melody are sometimes explored by Barry, but he always manages to come back to his title theme in every major cue. This is unfortunate, as the variant of the theme for Seymour's actress is an underutilized idea, conveyed well in "The Grand Hotel," "The Old Woman," and "The Man of My Dreams" but not suggested meaningfully for the character's younger self. A suspense motif occupies "June 27th" and "Room 417," and "Attic," reflecting fairly conventional Barry mannerisms in this mode. But the main theme is everywhere else in the work. Harps smooth out the shifting of chords. Broad strokes of brass are applied as usual by Barry to lend additional gravity to the strings, though a few wayward horns seem to miss the proper pitch at times, especially in "A Day Together," negating their appeal. Performances by viola in "Is He the One?" are the only attempt to address the stereotypical sound of the period outside of the plentiful source music.

Despite the inherent problems with Barry's unyielding formula in Somewhere in Time, there are several positives. First, the dramatic tone is a perfect fit for the film, regardless of the subsequent pitfalls they share. Secondly, although the score is violin-centered, Barry does rotate between other instruments in the carrying of the theme, including a tender flute in "Return to the Present" and lovely piano in "Theme From Somewhere in Time." Thirdly, Barry managed to largely avoid his habit of repeating each section of a theme twice; by comparison to other famous Barry themes that dwell too heavily on each phrase of its run, the main identity in Somewhere in Time at least flows far more smoothly. The only cue on the long popular but short, roughly 30-minute album presentation of Barry's music that convincingly separates itself from the main theme and its various interludes is "The Journey Back in Time," which quietly churns with the same suspense as the middle portions of Raise the Titanic and features an eerie, minor-key series of phrases at about 3:20 into the cue. Not even a hint of this sense of trepidation is heard for the playwright's return journey. Overall, Somewhere in Time is truly a score to define your affinity or tolerance of Barry's trademark 1980's romance sound. There is no middle ground here, which is probably why so many reviewers found the work obnoxious in context. The score became a platinum best-seller, Barry's most popular album of all time, despite its relative brevity, a glorious stereo offering that sounds infinitely superior to the mono mix that plagued the music in the finished film. An emphasis on the soloists at the front of the ensemble is well handled, especially the piano. A long-awaited 2021 expansion by La-La Land Records on a limited CD adds many incidental cues, source material, and several alternate takes of the main theme. The most interesting additional cues are those like the two "Coin" variants, as they provide the much-needed suspense element in the narrative. The score's most ardent enthusiasts will absolutely love to have the film version of the gorgeous, conclusive "Return to the Present" finally released. That said, the 76-minute presentation is even more redundant on the whole. A fantastic 15-minute suite from Somewhere in Time awaits rearrangement by any casual Barry enthusiast, though with the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody reflecting such a similar tone, don't be surprised if you discover the legions of Barry apologists placing the entirety of the album on repeat for lengthy periods of time. This was, after all, Barry in his prime, and if only the film hadn't been such a dud, the score would have been widely awarded along with his earlier and later classics.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download