James Bernard, Composer to Count Dracula

Composers give a unique and powerful voice to stories on the big screen. Those who work principally with one genre may leave a unique imprint. James Bernard was one such composer. From 1952 to the late 1990s, he was one of horror’s definitive and distinctive voices, scoring many of Hammer’s best-known films, including Dracula.
This is a critical biography of James Bernard. It is also a thorough and meticulous examination of his music, including its intricate mechanisms and the many sources of Bernard’s inspiration. Movie scores examined include The Quatermass Experiment, Quatermass 2, X—The Unknown, The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Kiss of the Vampire, She, and many others. A foreword by Ingrid Pitt, a glossary, a filmography, notes, bibliography and index complete the work.

David Huckvale has worked as a researcher, writer and presenter for BBC Radio and as a lecturer for various universities in England. He lives in rural Bedfordshire.

David Huckvale
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 311
Bibliographic Info: 41 photos, 296 musical notations and lyrics, glossary, filmography, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012 [2006]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6613-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      v

Foreword by Ingrid Pitt      xi

Preface      1

1. The Long Shadow of Castle Bernard      7

2. “Virtutis Fortuna Comes”      15

3. Amanuensis in Aldeburgh      30

4. Trilogy of Terror      45

5. Things Rank and Gross      66

6. Hounded      94

7. Serial Killers      107

8. Virtue and Danger      116

9. Femmes Fatales      138

10. Back from the Dead      158

11. Black and White Music      174

12. Assorted Aristocrats      193

13. Kapellmeister to Count Dracula      210

14. Sunset in the East      227

15. Danger in Paradise      240

16. Resurrection      252

In Memoriam: A Personal Postscript by the Author      271

Glossary of Musical Terms      273

James Bernard Filmography      277

Notes      279

Select Bibliography      287

Index      289

“valuable…thoroughly researched”—Little Shoppe of Horrors; “McFarland scores another winner with this tribute to the man who created so many memorable scores for the Hammer classics…well-deserved…A ‘must’”—Cinema Retro; “outstanding…fascinating…thorough…detailed”—Journal of British Cinema and Television; “one of the best in recent years…critical”—Mania.com; “this is clearly the book of the year for students of film scoring”—Video Watchdog.