The Last Valley

As the liner notes admit, The Last Valley has been pretty much forgotten, despite starring Michael Caine and Omar Sheriff, the former as a ruthless captain during the 30 Years War and the latter as a wandering free spirit, who both find a valley untouched by disease and war, and rest there for the winter. No doubt the participation of Barry was in no small part to Caine taking the lead role. Although the notes try to assert otherwise, there is a distinct similarity between The Last Valley and The Lion in Winter, both have surging choral titles and several a capella sections. Of course, given the German setting, the guttural German text lends an even more ominous edge to Barry's strident music. However, the unaccompanied tracks, particularly An Offertory Chant and A Christmas song are obviously cut from the same cloth, even if the liturgical feel of The Lion in Winter is displaced with warmer, more humane harmonies, particularly A Christmas Song which is quite lovely.
This is very much a choral score, the Crouch End Festival Chorus feature in almost every track, from the early, guttural murmuring of The Plague Pit to the dread of Witchcraft and Erica is a Burned at the Stake (what fun times they were, eh?!). The latter is a dramatic high point, counterpointing the genuinely haunting Erica's theme on oboe, with the choir; a leit motivic moment that is fairly unusual for Barry. After the drama of the Main Titles, some of the early passages are a touch atmospheric and aren't especially appealing, but things pick up as the score progresses. The more lively, not quite action, cues are typical Barry in their relative simplicity, but there is enough brutality for them to be effective. The brief Night Battle at Rhinefelden makes particularly good use of the music from the Main Titles.

Quite why the first track is Main Titles Part 1 and the very last track (after the designated End Title) is Main Titles Part 2, I'm not quite sure, however, the latter makes a fitting epilogue. I don't always feel John Barry is at his best with very long scores and while he was given six months to write the music, there are a few sections which feel redundant, at least on disc. However, the majority is superb and the playing of the City of Prague Philharmonic is confident, although they are outshined by the Crouch End Festival Chorus who do a terrific job enlivening the harshly dramatic passages as well as the more delicate moments. The liner notes provide a brief synopsis of the film and some information about the score, although given its obscurity, even more detail wouldn't have gone amiss. If it doesn't quite eclipse The Lion in Winter, which is better for its concision through brevity, then The Last Valley makes a good companion score and thanks to Silva Screen for rescuing it from film music oblivion.