James Bernard (20 September 1925 - 12 July 2001) was a British film composer. Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1191 - Saladin 's garrison surrenders ending the two-year Siege of Acre. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. A film score is a broad term referring to the music in a film which is generally categorically separated from songs used within a film
He is remembered almost exclusively for the music he composed for the Hammer horror films of the 1950s, '60s and '70s. Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Undoubtedly his most famous was Horror of Dracula in 1958, for which he composed a motif based on the sound Dra-cu-laaaaa. Dracula is a 1958 British Horror film, and the first of a series of Hammer Horror films inspired by the Bram Stoker novel Year 1958 ( MCMLVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 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). The Curse of Frankenstein is a 1957 British Horror film by Hammer Film Productions. Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) The Kiss of the Vampire, also known as Kiss of Evil, is a 1963 British vampire film made by the film studio Hammer Film Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Plague of the Zombies is a 1966 Hammer Horror film directed by John Gilling. Year 1966 ( MCMLXVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. The Devil Rides Out is a 1968 film based on the novel The Devil Rides Out by Dennis Wheatley. Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
While he was a pupil at Wellington College. Wellington College, the national monument to the Duke of Wellington, is an English Co-educational public school located in the Berkshire village 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. Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom.
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. Edward Benjamin Britten Baron Britten, OM CH (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976 was an English Composer, conductor,
After being demobbed he went to the Royal College of Music, studying under Imogen Holst and Herbert Howells. The Royal College of Music is a well known conservatoire located in the South Kensington district of London, England, and one He graduated in 1949. About this time he met the writer and critic Paul Dehn with whom he started a professional relationship but who also became his life partner. Paul Dehn ( November 5, 1912 - September 30, 1976) was a British Screenwriter. 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. Edward Benjamin Britten Baron Britten, OM CH (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976 was an English Composer, conductor, Billy Budd is an Opera by Benjamin Britten, first performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 1 December While doing this he stayed with Benjamin Britten at Aldeburgh. He went to the opening night with Benjamin Britten's housekeeper and the librettist E. M. Forster. Edward Morgan Forster OM, CH (1 January 1879–7 June 1970 was an English novelist Short story writer Essayist, and Librettist
In later years, he was called upon to write an original score for F.W. Murnau's classic silent horror Nosferatu (1922/1997) and Kevin Brownlow's documentary Universal Horror (1998). Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, better known as F W Murnau ( December 28, 1888 &ndash March 11, 1931) was one of the most influential Nosferatu A Symphony of Horror is a German Expressionist film by F Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar Kevin Brownlow (born on June 2, 1938 in Crowborough, Sussex) is a filmmaker film historian, Television documentary -maker Universal Horror is the name given to the distinctive series of Horror films made by Universal Studios in California Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar)
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. Frankenstein Created Woman is a 1967 British Hammer Horror film directed by Terence Fisher. Taste the Blood of Dracula is a British Horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions and released in 1970. Scars of Dracula is a 1970 British Horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker for Hammer Studios.
Bernard also co-wrote the screenplay for the 1950 film Seven Days to Noon, and won an Academy Award for best original screen story. See also Pre-production Screenwriting A screenplay or script is a written plan authored by a Screenwriter, for a Film or Television The year 1950 in film involved some significant events Events February 15 - Walt Disney Studios Seven Days to Noon is a 1950 British drama / Thriller film directed by John Boulting and Roy Boulting. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film.
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