John Barry - Hanover Street: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1979) Limited Edition 2009

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John Barry - Hanover Street: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1979) Limited Edition 2009

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I guess few stories were as fit for John Barry’s music as the one in “Hanover Street”. A moving love story set over the background of World War II, “Hanover Street” had all the emotion and drama which make Barry’s music so special. I imagined he jumped at the opportunity to write music for a romance such as this one. He could score the action sequences in a blink with his James Bond experience and the complicated love triangle between Harrison Ford (in his most unusual pilot incarnation), Lesley Ann Down and Christopher Plummer provided him with the twists and turns he needed to guide his orchestra. I know the movie well; I watched it a few times with my parents.

The main theme is vintage John Barry and a perfect advertisement for sweepingly beautiful movie love themes. The theme is warm, sensitive and has that dash of quiet sadness which immediately makes me think of a forbidden love. It also hides the kind of hope that immediately sent me to my favorite war movie love story score, Hans Zimmer’s “Pearl Harbour”. This main theme which trickles through most of the score also matches the ice cold beauty and elegance of Lesley Ann Down. Just like the main character, the music knows its restrictions and you know from the opening notes that this love story isn’t fiery and stormy. Even the brass instruments are toned down and blown into gently.

The variations in this score don’t come from the thematic material but rather from the different instrumentations. “Trying to forget” for example blesses the main theme with a solo violin which makes it sound even quieter and more personal. John Barry has such a unique sound for me that it’s even hard sometimes to find different things to say about his works. I like his distinctive stamp so I don’t care that it follows roads taken many times before.

Even the action pieces from “Hanover Street” have the same gravity and slow burning rhythm the composer has made famous. The music is never rushed or sudden, you have time to prepare for all the moments. John Barry never hurries. His orchestra is trapped in a permanent and steady flow which nothing can disrupt. His music has the effect of watching a brook flow. You can do that for hours and very little will change but still it will relax and charm you. You know what you get when you listen to John Barry.

Above all, even if the love story in “Hanover Street” involves three persons, the music sounds very lonely and intimate. Everything that goes on in this score is contained and kept as much inside as possible. Many cues feel like monologues while the compositions that tell us about scenes between two or more characters make me feel as if nobody else will find out about them. The curtain call comes naturally and discreetly and “Hanover Street” takes one more elegant bow and splits wordless from us. Just as that poignant end scene of the movie with Lesley Ann Down heading towards the hospital room where her husband laid and Harrison Ford heading in the opposite direction, back out in Hanover Street, we part ways with John Barry’s composition with regret but a little richer than before we met.

Mihnea Manduteanu, SoundtrackDreams.com

In 1996 I bought a Silva Screen compilation album – “The Classic John Barry”. Of course I was familiar with some of his work, but barely anything outside Bond – and it was probably that album that changed me from being a casual film music fan into a real freak. One track in particular stood out – as you may have guessed from me telling this story in this particular review, it was Hanover Street. Its ravishing, romantic theme is simply resplendent; you could picture the dashing hero, the comely wench in his arms, the adventure, the romance. I had never even heard of the film (and to this day haven’t seen it) but felt I knew an awful lot about it just by listening to its main theme. (That’s what film music used to be like!) It has never lost its allure and I could never grow tired of hearing it in all its glory.

As it turns out, that’s a good thing when listening to this album, the first time the score for Hanover Street has been released in any format (apart from that five minute bundle of joy from Silva). As can sometimes be the case, Barry bases almost his whole score on that wonderful theme – sometimes in a much darker fashion, but it’s always there. He throws in some Star Crash-like action music (believe it or not!) to add a bit of variety, but without the main theme, this score would be nothing. And I am tempted to say that now I’ve heard almost 80 minutes of music from Hanover Street on this album, I’m not sure I’m any better off than I was when I only had five minutes on that compilation. In fact, I just did say it.

James Southall, Movie-Wave.net

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John Barry - Hanover Street: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1979) Limited Edition 2009

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John Barry - Hanover Street: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1979) Limited Edition 2009

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