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I had a farm in Africa

By Brenda Tremblay ~ Posted Thu, 06/17/2010 - 10:47am

John BarryJohn BarryThursday’s mystery piece, “I had a farm in Africa,” comes from Out of Africa, a film set in colonial Kenya.  Meryl Streep plays a Danish baroness who falls into a doomed love affair with a free-spirited big-game hunter.  The composer, John Barry, born in England in 1933, is best known for writing the music for eleven James Bond soundtracks.   Barry has been married four times.  Maybe he knows something about heartbreak.

 

We heard a version of this piece for violin, played by Itzhak Perlman with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Conductor: John Williams conducting (Sony 63005.)

 

Vanity Fair published a fascinating article about John Barry. You can jump to that here.

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Comments

Mystery composer on Friday

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 06/18/2010 - 7:00am.

Mystery composer today is Jaques Offenbach-1819,France. The piece,"Tales of Hoffman"

Inspired by Offenbach

Submitted by Brenda Tremblay on Fri, 06/18/2010 - 11:59am.

Dear anonymous,

You are so close! Inspired by Jacques Offenbach, Franz von Suppe spun out a string of tuneful, rollicking overtures such as our mystery piece today, the Light Calvary Overture. Thanks for listening!