Memoirs of a Geisha

[WilliamsStarShip2282 327]

I seem to be the only one with this as my favorite score. Anyone else with me? Some people just don't seem to even like it, sadly.

[Incanus 5,890]

I don't think this is an underrated score among JW fans. Personally I rate is among the best of his 2000's output. Beautiful and powerful score.

[Thor 9,362]

It's isn't my FAVOURITE score of his, but I really like it.

[Once 1,083]

For a long time this was my favorite. It's definitely one of them, I listen to it all the time.

[Thor 9,362]

Yeah, I listened to it a lot when it came out -- around the time Williams performed the suites on Jay Leno and all that (with Yo Yo Ma). It's been a while now, though. Thanks for the incentive.

[Miguel Andrade 1,725]

One of my favorite Williams scores for film. The suite for cello and orchestra is a must.

[crocodile 9,724]

I have a tremendous respect for this score. As of now, it is his last really significant work. No offence, War Horse, but this score is better than you.

Karol

[filmmusic 3,269]

it is his last really significant work.

I kind of agree..

[stewdog1 50]

I would place A.I. above this, but I agree that it is his last significant score.

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[WilliamsStarShip2282 327]

I wouldn't say its his last significant score, but if you look at the most recent movies, they all call for the same type of music. Tintin was almost non-stop action music and War Horse and Lincoln were more conservative music wise. Not so many opportunities to be really fresh and new.

[crocodile 9,724]

Yes, exactly. I don't have anything against all the scores that came out after. In fact I love War Horse as music, but in the film it's not the best of experiences. Tintin is great, but nothing new. Same with Lincoln. The Indiana Jones film most people wish it never happened (I like the score anyway). Before that was Munich, which is interesting in pieces, but same as with War Horse, not all that successful in the film. Which leaves Geisha. It was a very important ingredient of the film, well used and mixed. And also Williams clearly cared about it. The excellent extended suite is a proof for that.

Karol

[filmmusic 3,269]

well, Memoirs of a Geisha was the only film i've heard that he asked to do it.

I don't know if this has happened with any other film.

[Thor 9,362]

I think MUNICH is a stronger score than MEMOIRS, both in and out of the film and on both an intellectual and emotional level. But both are excellent, so it's a moot point, as they say.

[crocodile 9,724]

I can't quite my finger on it, but it doesn't work for me as a film score. There's something a bit fake about it. A bit too emotional for this film maybe. Not articulating it very well, I know.

well, Memoirs of a Geisha was the only film i've heard that he asked to do it.

I don't know if this has happened with any other film.

It almost sounded like the film was even made because John Williams demanded it.

Karol

[Incanus 5,890]

I prefer Geisha over Munich as an overall experience. I have to admit that it took a bit of time to get emotionally into both scores for me. Memoirs of a Geisha is not as openly and directly emotional most of its running time as many of Williams scores. Munich is a mix of high pathos and very subtle suspense. To find the nuances in both took a bit of listening.

You can really hear that the Memoirs of a Geisha was a labour of love to Williams. And it was also a film where the music was given an active role, it was a very central element all in all in the film. Munich score in film was an exercise in restraint for the most part, the album again working more as an independent work, which fleshed out material found in the movie. I don't think neither is emotionally dishonest, but chooses to approach the subject matter in different emotional terms. Geisha is about restrain emotionally, which then slowly peels away. It tries to say more with less in many instances, the emotion specifically tied to the solo instruments. Munich broadcasts the tragedy quite openly from the start, so there is no actual build-up to the emotional arc, mostly because Williams and Spielberg seem to have decided that the audience already know of the tragedy and build the score from there. Williams also dabbles in near sound design in some of his suspence cues. What is more appealing emotionally is the slowly evolving tragedy of Avner and his team, which Williams treats beautifully and intelligently.

[Uni 307]

Memoirs may well be the defining Williams score of the noughties. As has been said, other works approach it, but I don't think any top it.

That said, it'll never be my all-time favorite. If you grew up in the Golden Era of Williams' career, you find nothing can replace his true masterpieces.

- Uni

[Romão 2,473]

I did grow up in the 80's, and actually most of my favorite JW's scores are actually from the 90's

[Thor 9,362]

I did grow up in the 80's, and actually most of my favorite JW's scores are actually from the 90's

Same here. Although I became a TEENAGER in the 90's, and those are the formative years that really make you aware of what you like and dislike. So that's got something to do with it, even though I experienced all of the 80's as well, as a kid.

[Uni 307]

Yeah, I was teening it in the 80s, so I would agree that kind of thing makes a difference. Star Wars was an early and memorable experience, and E.T. was downright formative. (I happened to be Elliott's age at the time it was released--and that sort of thing has a considerable effect on a 10-year-old.)

- Uni

[Incanus 5,890]

JW generations do form different attachments to different scores of their formative eras. I am of the Jurassic Park generation. When I was a 11 or 12 year old I was introduced to the whole art form by John Williams with his score to JP. The music was part of the whole dinosaur phenomenon (I guess this happens to many boys of 10 or a bit older) that was all the rage around the time when JP came out. As a result I do hold some 1990's scores in high regard, JP of course the most significant.

The early 80's film phenomena passed me by quite effectively as I was too young to remember any of the early years of the decade and I didn't even know of E.T. or SW in my childhood and got to know them in my teens. Indiana Jones films were popular among the kids of my generation and vaguely remember singing Raiders March with my friends as we were playing outside after seeing ToD. Also I strongly remember seeing Hook and the Show us the hook! sequence with the Hook march left a lasting impression.

As much as I love the 1970's and 1980's scores I tend to gravitate a lot toward the scores from 90's and 2000's in my playlists these days.

[KK 3,313]

Memoirs of a Geisha is one of those Williams scores I find myself returning most often to.

[Incanus 5,890]

Indeed.

Much of the emotional weight or dramatic impact is tied to the soloists and you can hear Williams writing with extreme thoughtfulness for Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. There is certain sparseness and economy to this writing perhaps because the composer felt that the artists themselves can convey and conjure the needed emotional resonance through their performances so powerfully. And this is not solely limited to the two main soloists but to other solos as well. Of course the plot and setting of the story somehow beg for such pensive and lyrical atmosphere but Williams really captures both the subtext and the setting and the feel of the piece in his music.

I also love the recording. The whole score, which depends much of the time on those clear yet warm tones of the soloists is captured so beautifully by the recording of Shawn Murphy. It has the needed clarity but there also a resonating sense of spaciousness in the music, which makes both the orchestra and the solo instruments just sparkle with life and nuance.