The Last Valley

In between James Bond films, John Barry was busy expanding his resume with serious dramatic scores such as The Lion in Winter (1968), for which he won his second Academy Award. After the success of The Lion in Winter, director James Clavell selected Barry to provide a score for his historical drama The Last Valley, an adaptation of J.B. Pick's novel set during the Thirty Year's War. The result was a deeply reverent, moving score that used a similar palate to that which Barry used for Lion, a large orchestra and the Voices of the Accademia Monteverdiana choir.

As was typical of Barry's writing at the time, The Last Valley is an economical score. Despite being large in scale, it is remarkably simple in construction, almost minimalist with its repetitive rhythmic figures and stark sparseness. This approach works incredibly well and is a testament to Barry's ability to craft effective, elegant music with limited musical resources. The Last Valley has long been heralded as one of Barry's best scores and it now can be presented complete in it's original form.

This edition was engraved from the original orchestrations by Bobby Richards.

Includes a foreword by film music historian and journalist Jon Burlingame!