- James Bernard
James Bernard (
20 September 1925 -12 July 2001 ) was a Britishfilm composer .He is remembered almost exclusively for the music he composed for the Hammer horror films of the 1950s, '60s and '70s. Undoubtedly his most famous was "
Horror of Dracula " in 1958, for which he composed a motif based on the sound "Dra-cu-laaaaa". Other memorable Hammer scores included "The Curse of Frankenstein " (1957), "Kiss of the Vampire " (1962), "The Plague of the Zombies " (1966) and "The Devil Rides Out" (1968).While he was a pupil at Wellington College. Although the future actor, Christopher Lee, had also attended the same school, Bernard never met him. Lee would go on to star in a great many horror films for
Hammer Studios , for which James Bernard would write the scores.He undertook national service in the RAF from 1943 to 1946.
Benjamin Britten kept in touch with him during this period and encouraged him to learn the principles of composition.After being demobbed he went to the
Royal College of Music , studying under Imogen Holst and Herbert Howells. He graduated in 1949. About this time he met the writer and criticPaul Dehn with whom he started a professional relationship but who also became his life partner. Paul Dehn asked James Bernard to collaborate with him on the original screen story for the Boulting Brothers film Seven Days To Noon, (1950). For this Paul Dehn and Jame Bernard shared the 1952 Academy Award for the Best Writing, Motion Picture Story.In 1950
Benjamin Britten approached him to copy out the vocal score of his new opera "Billy Budd" for his publishers Boosey & Hawkes. While doing this he stayed with Benjamin Britten at Aldeburgh. He went to the opening night with Benjamin Britten's housekeeper and the librettistE. M. Forster .In later years, he was called upon to write an original score for
F.W. Murnau 's classic silent horror "Nosferatu " (1922/1997) andKevin Brownlow 's documentary "Universal Horror " (1998).His music was distinct for its clashing harmonies, often created by doubling a motif a tone higher, as in his famous Dracula theme. His music was also frenzied and pacey at times, frequently making use of percussion such as timpani and snares. "The Devil Rides Out" and "The Plague of the Zombies" are good examples of this. However, he could also write lushly romantic melodies, such as appear in "
Frankenstein Created Woman ", "Taste the Blood of Dracula " and "Scars of Dracula ".Bernard also co-wrote the
screenplay for the 1950 film "Seven Days to Noon ", and won an Academy Award for best original screen story.External links
*imdb|id=0002302|name=James Bernard
*amg|id=11:4gngtq5zmu42|label=James Bernard
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
