On Her Majesty's Secret Service

On Her Majesty's Secret Service ("OHMSS") is the soundtrack for the James Bond film. It was composed, arranged, and conducted by John Barry; his fifth in the series. Opening theme The opening theme for On Her Majesty's Secret Service proved challenging for composer John Barry. The convention in the previous James Bond films was to accompany the opening credits with a song whose lyrics included the film's title. This film became the first in the series since From Russia with Love to deviate from this rule (and From Russia with Love had differed only in featuring the song, sung by Matt Monro, at the end of the film rather than the beginning). Barry felt it would be difficult to compose a theme song containing the title "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" unless it was written operatically, in the style of Gilbert and Sullivan. Leslie Bricusse had considered lyrics for the title song but director Peter R. Hunt allowed an instrumental opening title theme in the tradition of the first two Bond films. The track is also notable for its use of the Moog synthesizer in its bassline. This instrument's distinctive sound would become a mainstay of other film soundtracks in the 1970s.