John Barry - Somewhere In Time (Soundtrack) (1980) Part 1 (Full Album)

Track List: 1-4

1. Somewhere In Time (0:00)
2. The Old Woman (3:02)
3. The Journey Back In Time (5:53)
4. A Day Together (10:22)

Part 1.    • John Barry - Somewhere In Time (Sound...  
Part 2.    • John Barry - Somewhere In Time (Sound...  
Part 3.    • John Barry - Somewhere In Time (Sound...  
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The film's original musical score was composed and conducted by John Barry, who was suggested by Jane Seymour, a personal friend. The producers had been considering a score based on The 18th variation of Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini". which is used in the film several times. In lieu of a fee, Barry took a percentage of the royalties on the soundtrack, which went on to become his best-selling film score.

The film was not a success at the box office and a very limited run above promotional copies of the album was pressed with very limited circulation. Universal Pictures used "Somewhere in Time" as a test bed for soundtrack sales and did not expect it to do well at all. It was cable television the following spring where the film garnered a huge fan audience and interest in the music was tremendous. So many requests were made at record stores across the country that Universal pressed 500,000 more copies and the soundtrack, now into several pressings, still sells well on compact disc. The music became one of the most requested at weddings for a decade after the film's release.

Barry wrote the score at a creative and prolific time in his career, scoring the music for films such as Raise the Titanic, High Road to China, and the highly acclaimed Body Heat, all within an 18-month period. Yet the score for Somewhere in Time is considered to be among the best of his career. The music from the film is often credited for much of its success by invoking a deeply emotional pull for the viewers. In the years since the film's release, the music has become as famous as the film, if not more so, with many hearing it and then seeking the film on video.

The music has been released on two albums, neither of which are from the original sessions from the film itself. Like most soundtracks of the time, the album was a series of re-recordings with highlights of the score recorded to fit onto two sides of an LP. The original release from MCA Records has nine tracks.