Nils

Hi, folks! Another Vivaticket loser here. I didn’t go to the website until a little while after 2 PM last Monday (stupid of me, I know), and then all hope was lost, of course. So, if anyone has a spare ticket, I’d be very interested! Almost as important as the concert would be meeting other Williams fans, and I hope there’ll be some opportunities for that - If I’m able to grab a ticket somehow!

Thanks for the heads-up. My vote went to Josh. Wow!

Here are links to recordings of our “world premiere” live performances of “Hassle in the Castle” and “Mambone”, as well as the SCHINDLER’S LIST pieces and “Duel of the Fates”. As Thor mentioned, the sound quality is not terrific, and the balance is a bit off here and there. And PLEASE NOTE: We are not the LSO, VPO, or Hollywood studio musicians – just a bunch of people playing an instrument in our spare time. Please keep that in mind when you listen. There IS some shaky stuff in there. “Hassle in the Castle”: https://www.dropbox.com/s/7xzhxm17jb669u3/Hassle_in_the_Castle.mp3?dl=0 “Mambone”: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ee0ug3ofsm1yz4k/Mambone.mp3?dl=0 “Jewish Town”/”Theme” from SCHINDLER’S LIST (violin: Aja Humm): https://www.dropbox.com/s/oqb0dhle3ktqelq/Schindlers_List.mp3?dl=0 “Duel of the Fates” (this is a shorter version than the original, and with some noticeable differences in the instrumentation – for instance, there is a very prominent snare drum part): https://www.dropbox.com/s/b7av098b8kmyzo7/Duel_of_the_Fates.mp3?dl=0

Actually, for that piece we combined the parts from the purely instrumental concert band version with the choral parts from the orchestral version.

Thank you, Thor, for doing an amazing job hosting our show! (I was the one who hired Thor, so I’m at least partially responsible for him having to skip the Vienna event, which was announced after our concert date was set. Sorry, Thor! ) Your presentations were excellent, with just the right length and a great mix of interesting, relevant information and fun facts. People from the audience have told me they would have liked to meet you after the concert to congratulate you on your job and tell you how your introductions really enhanced the concert experience for them. Kudos! Cool also that you joined us for the after-concert party. It was exhilarating to perform a full concert of my favorite composer’s music, and playing the never-before-performed-live (as far as we know) "Hassle in the Castle" and "Mambone" was a blast! Of course, we’re only non-professionals, so there were some rough spots – performing a two hour concert with some quite difficult symphonic music is a challenge! The selections with the (really excellent) Skala Opera Choir were definitely some of the high points. They were located on two high balconies on each side of the hall, which gave the choir pieces a marvelous, majestic “surround” sound. As a 12 year-old in the audience commented on "Duel of the Fates": "That was epic!" Yes, we did both audio and video recordings of the event. I’ll check with the guys responsible for the recordings – hopefully we can post some of it here later. Apart from the specially commissioned "Hassle in the Castle" and "Mambone" arrangements, everything we played were published, licensed versions, many from the Williams “Signature Edition” series for concert band. And we report what we play to the Norwegian performance rights organization (TONO).

Yeah, I guess his walk isn't exactly sprightly. But his arms and upper body are probably in much better shape than his legs. 60 years of conducting will do that to you!.

It's been great reading about how people had such a wonderful time in Vienna. Congratulations to eveyone who attended! Also, it's heartening to see that Williams apparently is in great shape. I had assumed he no longer conducts whole concerts, as he's mostly done only second halves lately. And here he conducts for two and a half hours straight, two days in a row! Amazing and very uplifting!

Sometimes, yes, like in the case of the article at hand, which I wouldn't hesitate to call "politically correct" myself. But way too often, it's being used only to invalidate an opposing opinion.

I generally detest it when something is labeled «Politically Correct», because usually that’s just a cheap way of denigrating an opinion that happens to be more liberal than your own. But jeez... if something ever deserved the label, it’s got to be that article. I’m astonished at how badly researched it is (as others here have pointed out through plenty of examples).

How many times? Lots! And I don’t think I’m done yet. It’s definitely my favorite track on the album - and possibly of the entire sequel trilogy. For me, it’s a much more fitting farewell to 42 years of Williams’ Star Wars music than the somewhat disappointing Finale.

I’d be surprised if we don’t get at least a couple more Spielberg/Williams collaborations. And hopefully other film scores as well.

Hmm, am I the only one here who hasn't heard about Saariaho, Birtwistle or Knussen? But I guess these are guys worth checking out, then...

By ear. Fortunately, the CD tracks have excellent sound quality (especially Hassle in the Castle), so it shouldn't be a problem.

Yeah, I'm so looking forward to playing those (though as these are basically big band numbers and I play the clarinet, I probably won't get the coolest parts ) We wanted to cover some of the lesser known, early part of Williams career, and as these are two of my favorite tracks from that period, I suggested them, and the rest of the band's music committee agreed that these were good choices. Norwegian film composer Knut Avenstroup Haugen is currently working on the arrangements. (sorry to have derailed the thread's topic a bit, so with that in mind: I wish everyone going to the Vienna concert a terrific experience! Would have loved to be there, too. )

Thanks, Sigbjørn! Well, some variation will be nice, at least.