French Williams interview?

[Once 1,082]

Is there anyone here able to translate this interview?

[Maurizio 6,913]

It was published online as well last March:

http://www.lexpress.fr/culture/cinema/john-williams-mes-roles-de-composition_1231336.html

[Once 1,082]

Oh, wow, okay, thanks. Has anybody translated it yet?

[Pieter Boelen 1,032]

This should allow you to understand at least the majority of it:

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lexpress.fr%2Fculture%2Fcinema%2Fjohn-williams-mes-roles-de-composition_1231336.html

[WilliamsStarShip2282 327]

I speak french, ill do my best to translate

[Thor 9,362]

Wow, Williams speaks really well French!

[indy4 160]

I'm loving this translated version: "Steven: a loyal man, a considerate lover."

[Pieter Boelen 1,032]

I'm loving this translated version: "Steven: a loyal man, a considerate lover."

Whenever translation occurs automatically, hilarity ensues!

[obiwan71 26]

Wow.... had never seen nor read that. I could give it a try, though it's a fairly long text actually.

[Thor 9,362]

I'm loving this translated version: "Steven: a loyal man, a considerate lover."

LOL!

[WilliamsStarShip2282 327]

Collaborator of Steven Spielberg, oscar winner, he is one of the many people feature in " music and cinema: the marriage of the century?" in Paris. However, its in Los Angeles where L'Express met with John Williams.

He's not at home, but not in unfamiliar territory. In Hollywood, at the Dreamworks studio offices in the heart of Universal studios is where he welcomed us. The ambiance was familiar, close by is where Steven Spielberg works, with whom Williams has worked with since Sugarland Express in 1974.
Tatata taaa tata taaa, its him. Without doubt, his music is the most well known. Two songs for two films: Raiders of the lost Arc with a certain indiana jones and Star Wars with Darth Vader and his black helmet. His work has earned him 48 oscars nominations, and was nominated again this year for Spielberg's " Lincoln". He has won five times, most notably for "Jaws" and "E.T".
At 81, he still composes everyday, including many concert works and still conducts on a regular basis. On this occasion, he was polite, elegant, and spoke calmly and quietly about his career in Hollywood starting in the 1950's


ARE YOU HAPPY THAT FILM MUSIC IS FINALLY BEING RECOGNIZED?

" The change started about 30 years ago. Before, it was looked down to ask an american orchestra to play film music. The musicians, without doubt, were trained for interpreting Beethoven, Mozart and Brahms, but not what people called 'Commercial Music'. You don't really find this attitude today. Notably, because scholars have started studying the lives of Hollywood composers like Herrman and Alfred Newman. The music was reevaluated and given merrit , or lack of. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of music composed that only works with the film, and not in the concert hall. The problem is trying to get them played in concert.

YOUR COLLABORATION WITH SPIELBERG IS LEGENDARY, QUITE LIKE THE COLLABORATION OF HITCHCOCK AND HERRMANN. WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT?

Steven, is a loyal, considerate and a great lover of music. We have a great relationship, and much of what i've done for him is very diverse. He really enjoys the old romantic film scores, actually much more than me. Whats great is his diverse library of films has allowed me to explore many different aspects and styles of music making. I always enjoy writing music to correspond with the beautiful images he produces. I think we've discovered a lot together. For example Jaws, we had no idea the music would have the impact that it did. Unlike me, Steven is really crazy for everything cinematic. Whats great is that he always comes to the recording sessions, always has a lot to say, and enjoys it like he's payed a ticket to a concert.

HOW DO YOU WORK?

In general, i prefer to see the film rather than read a script. A script suggest to much to the inner eye and the imagination. I prefer to sit down with the director and watch the film. Discuss when and where to place the music and what style of music would be fitting. After that, i go back to my office and work for several weeks searching for the perfect voice for the film. Sometimes i think that i don't write as well as i did thirty years ago, but during that time, ive worked with a great many orchestras and musicians, so its possible im creating a balance!

YOU CONDUCT REGULARLY. DO YOU FIND THAT ITS IMPORTANT?

Composing is a solitary occupation. Its not a very lively or exciting experience, but directing an orchestra, yes. The music becomes something organic. All composers should conduct, its essential. The orchestral techniques have evolved over time, but the highlight of it all still remains hearing your compositions by an orchestra.

SINCE THE END OF WORLD WAR II, FILM MUSIC HAS ALLOWED CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC TO REMAIN POPULAR, HOW HAS IT DONE SO WHEN AT THE SAME TIME, FOR EXAMPLE, SERIAL MUSIC IS DRIVING AUDIENCES AWAY?

Its and interesting idea. I've never thought about it in these terms. It's obviously difficult to say. The extreme ranges that Serial Music tends to employ. But now you have composers like John Adams, who is probably the most important american composer. About film music? I don't know, but film music is released to the public and is heard all over the world everyday.


WHAT WAS THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC DURING THE CREATION OF " HOLLYWOOD"?

Film music was born in the 1930's in the style of the european tradition. The composers had a very romantic approach. The orchestras mostly consisted of europeans, and therefore had a very particular style. An interesting point is that Franz Waxman, Bernard Herrman, Alfred Newman, Erich Korngold, all had very similar tastes. What they wrote became part of the American culture. Also, don't forget the musicals and the song writers. The impact of American folk and vaudeville theater as it developed in the early twentieth century, before sound films, is enormous. What happened from 1900-1930, musically, had a massive impact on hollywood. We ended up with a sound that mixes Korngold, paying his debt to Richard Strauss opera, and vaudeville. This is music in which the Great Depression and World War II will also have a big impact. Partition Casablanca would not have been what it was without the war.

WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT AMERICAN CLASSICAL MUSIC?
The american composers really fascinate me. Take the trio; Copland, Gershwin, Bernstein. All three of them embody the " american sound" and coincidentally were all born into a families of Russian-Jewish immigrants. They were all first generation Americans and created the "american sound" without even having family routes here. The French and German works, by contrast, are the result of centuries of development. It's amazing, this absorption capacity that America seems to have.

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE YOUNGER GENERATION OF FILM COMPOSERS HAVE TO OFFER

They have new techniques, they use computers and electronics in their work. Mychael Danna, who just recently one on oscar for Life of Pi, created a marvelous atmosphere in his score. Its orchestra, but not completely. He uses the orchestra to create beautiful textures alone side electronics, and its something that didn't exist thirty years ago. It's a new direction for film music. Alexandre Desplat also has written some very beautiful music that i very much enjoy.

DO YOU LISTEN TO MUSIC WHEN YOURE NOT WORKING?

Not really. If for example, I listen to Haydn or Brahms, i become very discouraged because ill never be able to write something as good as these great masters. When i'm listening to music, thats all i'm doing. I don't participate in conversations or just have it on in the back round. Like Rachmanivov said " Music is enough for a life time, but a life time is not enough for music". Its not possible to live long enough to listen to everything, study everything and appreciate everything. I'm eighty on and i've barely touched the surface!

DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS?

I would be very ungrateful if I said that I wanted more of this or more of that. I'm healthy, I can work ten to twelve hours a day without getting tired, I've composed so much. My only regret is the intellectual and technical limitations that I know. My only frustration was back to my youth, when I realized that I would never be a virtuosic pianist. Even if I worked hard, I never would have succeeded. Fortunately, composition has led me elsewhere, and saved me. Putting notes down on paper, these small black spots, and then give them to musicians ... Imagine the excitement that can happen! You get up, you shake hands, and the music is heard ...

obiwan71, corriger moi si vous trouves que j'ai traduit mal!

[lostinspace 8]

Great interview translation ! Thanks for posting

[alicebrallice 134]

I'm loving this translated version: "Steven: a loyal man, a considerate lover."

haha!

oh the images in my head

[indy4 160]

Thanks for translating!

[obiwan71 26]

I've been working on a translation. I could put it here in a few minutes. Yet, I'm realizing... where does the last section come from, the one that talks about "regrets"??

This is what I could come up with... I probably could put out a better version.

Please note there is a nice play on words with the title. I couldn't honestly find something elegant enough for my taste.

Steven Spielberg's long-time collaborator and winner of several Academy Awards, he is a key figure of the Paris exhibition « Musique et cinéma : le mariage du siècle ? » (« music and movies: marriage of the century? »). Still, it is in Los Angeles that Le Vif/L'Express met this exceptionnal artist.

We're not at his home, yet not in unknown territory. It is in Hollywood, at DreamWorks' offices, in the heart of Universal Studios, that John Williams greets us. It feels like home for him, as Steven Spielberg, his long-time friend and collaborator, has been working here since 1974. Almost forty years and thousands of notes, among the most famous ones he has ever written.

« Tatata taaa tata taaa », that's him. Certainly his most famous theme, along with « ta taa tatatata taaa ». Two scores for two films: Raiders of the Lost Ark with a certain Indiana Jones, and Star Wars, with Darth Vader and his black mask. His career as a composer has earned him 48 Academy Award nominations, including one for Spielberg's Lincoln this year. He has won the Oscar five times, including for Jaws and E.T.

At the age of 81, he still writes music every day, especially classical music, and performs as a conductor. As part of the tribute held at the Cité de la musique in Paris, John Williams agreed to give us an interview. In a polite, warm, gentle way, he reviewed his career, which began in the 50s... in Hollywood.

Is it time for a new appreciation on film music?

Things started to change around thirty years ago. Before that, it felt inappropriate to ask for an American orchestra to perform film scores. Musicians certainly thought they were educated to play some Beethoven, Mozart, or Brahms, but certainly not music that « would sell ». That attitude is now gone. Especially because scholars have been studying great Hollywood composers, like Bernard Herrmann (Hitchcock's counterpart) or Alfred Newman (The Seven Yeart Itch, All About Eve, Life Is Beautiful... ). A new light has been shed on film music, for what it really is – or what it is not. Be cautious though: many scores are not meant to be performed in concert, and only work when synchronised with pictures. It would be a mistake to have them all performed live from an orchestra.

Your collaboration with Steven Spielberg is as as that of Alfred Hitchcock with Bernard Herrmann. What could you tell us about it?

Steven is an honest, considerate human being and he loves music. What matters most is human relationship. What I have done for him has been sometimes very heterogeneous in nature. Steven enjoys musical romanticism in classic movies much more than I do. Through Steven's movies I have had the opportunity to explore all of its qualities. I have enjoyed looking for things that would match Steven's imagery, and I think we have discovered things, together. The music of Jaws would be an example: neither of us could have imagined what it brought to the film nor the kind of influence it has had on movies in general. Steven is a movie fan, which I'm not as much. He comes to attend scoring sessions, he sits and listens to the orchestra as a regular person buying a ticket would do.

How do you work?

Generally, I don't read screenplays as they would influence me on the directions in which my work should go. I talk with the director on the style of the music, and where it should be inserted on film. Then, I draw back and I spend several weeks alone, finding the right way or just hoping to find it. Sometimes, I think I can't write music as good as thirty years back. Yet, I have also listened to more music in the meantime, I have conducted more music, and have worked with even more musicians and performers. Then it is likely I could bring all that to a balance.

You perform regularly as a conductor. How is it important to you?

Writing music is a solitary experience. That is not a «living » one. Conducting an orchestra truly is. It turns music into something organic. Every composer should conduct. It is essential. The ways of creating sound have multiplied with the advances in technology, but the ultimate artistic experience still lies with music being performed by an orchestra.

What was the part of music in building the Hollywood myth?

That music, born in the 30s, took its roots in the tradition of European opera. Composers had a romantic approach to it. Orchestras themselves, which comprised European players, had a particular way of performing, which echoed images and actors' play. A handful of composers – Franz Waxman, Bernard Herrmann, Alfred Newman, Erich Wolfgang Korngold – had similar tastes in music. What they wrote have become an integral part of American culture. Don't forget musicals and songwriters. The influence of comedy and popular theater, as it developed in the early 20^th century, before the time of talking movies, has been tremendous. What happened between 1900 and 1930, musically, has had a huge impact on Hollywood. We got a sound where Korngold, paying his tribute to Richard Strauss and opera, was met with popular comedy. This is a music which would also be greatly influenced by the Great Depression and World War II. The score for Casablanca would not be the same had it not be for the War.

Do you think there is a such a thing as typically American classical music?

Definitely. There is something that I find fascinating about American composers. Let's take the trio Aaron Copland, George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein: they embody American music, yet all three were sons of Jewish Russian immigrants. They were from the first generation of Americans. Still, they laid the basis for an American music without years of history before them. French or German works, on the contrary, have been the result of centuries of evolution. I find it astounding the capacity of absorption the American continent seems to have.

What do you think young score composers bring to film today?

New techniques, electronics, the use of computers in their work. Mychael Danna, who has just won the Oscar (for Life of Pi), wrote a beautifully atmospheric score. This is orchestral in nature, but not for the most part: the orchestra is just one of the components, that is something we were not used to thirty years ago. That is a new, thrilling direction. Alexandre Desplat (A Prophet, The Tree of Life, Argo... ) also does very nice things, either with orchestra or without. I feel very interested in the work of those composers.

Do you listen to music out of your work?

Not so much, since when I start listening to Haydn or Brahms, I quickly realize it is much better than anything I could ever write. And I will not talk of dinners: if music gets played, I can't stand do nothing but listen to it and stop being involved in conservations. As Rachmaninov said: « there is enough music for a whole life, but life is not long enough for all the music ». It will be impossible to live long enough to listen to it all, to study it all, to appreciate it all, to learn it all. I'm 81 and I have only hit the surface! »

[Incanus 5,890]

Thank you guys for the translations!

[King Mark 3,975]

wow, I could have translated it but I am way too lazy to do it

[Once 1,082]

Thanks guys, this is great!!