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I just played a gig last night in the Palm Desert with a bass player who was friends with Angela Morley... I asked her if there were any books that had been written about her. She said no because Angela liked to remain very much behind the scenes. But this person said that she was interested in writing a book herself, since she knows a lot of Angela's friends. I see this person a few times per year, so if any of this materializes, I'll keep people posted here.

Fawkes the Phoenix....

It was definitely a chance of a lifetime, but I must admit it was a bit embarrassing for me. I really was quite tongue-tied. I think that it had a lot to do with the fact that the idea of meeting him had worked out merely because I was sitting next to one of the San Diego Symphony's creative directors at dinner. It all happened so fast. Anyway, he had me find him after the concert, and then took me down to meet John Williams. There were quite a few people waiting to do so. I was one of the ones at the end of the line. I did manage to thank him for thoroughly enriching my life musically for the past 21 years (actually more than that, but I didn't realize it until 21 years ago). I told him that I had been so obsessed with "Journey to the Island" when I was 13, that I tried to transcribe it by ear, and that ever since then I had become a complete geek for film music, and especially for his. He was gracious, but didn't seem to interested because I was at the end of the line; I'm sure he was happy to be finished meeting people, and also tired after a 2-hour concert with 3 encores. He had some friends there, particularly Jahja Ling's family, so he quickly excused himself, wishing me luck. I managed to hang out in the room for a little while longer, and my mind was reeling so much that I just sort of stood there stunned. I had a million questions..... The main one (that I was too tongue tied to ask) was "What kind of advice do you have for a budding composer who really would like to work with pencil and paper only, but must adapt to a world that wants to know what your music sounds like before it is even recorded through things like mockups and such, requiring one to be more technologically savvy than focusing on composing?"

After I did leave, I kept wondering to myself if I was really better off having met him. There was really a lot I wanted to say, but couldn't. All in all, of course I am forever grateful for the opportunity. And after letting the time pass that was full of could'a would'a should'a thoughts, I can actually allow myself to say that yes I am definitely better off having met him, regardless of being a bumbling fool in front of him. I'll never forget it.

Kamen, the master of compound meter, or at least the over exploitation of it. There was a time during the Robin Hood/Mr. Hollands Opus/101 Dalmatians era when I promised myself that if I ever had to hear another Michael Kamen triplet scherzo I would go hang myself.

Theme from Sabrina anyone?

Ooo Ooo Ooo... Miracle of the Ark!!! No... Marion's Theme! Seriously I keep bouncing around. This thread is going to make my head explode.

OK, I finally have some time to write down a few thoughts on the concert. I attended Saturday night's performance (Dec. 8th), but preceded with the Gala dinner. The dinner was really quite nice, and the tables were labeled with each hit film scored by our beloved maestro. I was at the Harry Potter table, and there were also tables for Star Wars, Jaws, Jurassic Park, and E.T.  All the hits, all the time! I happened to sit next to the Chief Operating Officer of the San Diego Symphony. We had quite a nice conversation about music and its role emotionally. While he could not seem to admit directly that he was a fan of John Williams' music, he did assert that he longs for a by-gone age of film music by greats such as Bernard Herrmann and Alex North. When I told him that John Williams had scored Hitchcock's last film, The Family Plot, he didn't believe me at first. He checked his sources (iPhone), and suddenly was quite interested in my viewpoints. Funny thing. That was when he asked me if I had ever met John Williams. "No," I said, "I have never even imagined that such a thing would even be possible." He then asked me if I would like to after the concert.... Hmmm... meet my biggest idol of all time? Nah, I'll pass... kidding of course, I readily accepted. That was a wonderfully personal experience that I won't share here.

As for the concert, it absolutely opened beautifully! Close Encounters was stunning, nearly perfect! I really thought the Cello Concerto was fantastic, as I had never heard it live before. Moser, the soloist, I thought had some definite skill, but it seemed as though he hadn't taken on the concept of the piece, but instead focused on the technical wizardry of it. It seemed like he was busy trying to be amazing the whole time, but he really could have paced himself better. His interpretation seemed a bit anticlimactic because of this.

Elegy for Cello was a different story. Moser clearly had a conceptual handle on this one. Beautiful.

During intermission, I attended a short party, where the CEO of the Symphony felt he needed to assure everyone that the second half of the concert would be much "easier on the ears". What an odd thing to say to your own benefactors. Incidentally, I found out that the program itself was completely John Williams' idea, and that he had explicitly insisted that he be able to perform the Cello Concerto. This was in exchange for completely donating his time. What a nice man!

The second half of the concert was a really great program! I was especially excited for Adventures on Earth, as I had heard the entire cue to screen at the Hollywood Bowl. Here was a chance to hear the concert version! The real shining star ended up being the Far & Away Suite, a rare treat, and a very underrated score. I enjoyed every minute of that. The Harry Potter selections were really great as well, especially the middle one, which featured only the woodwinds. This, I think rivaled the Far & Away Suite for my favorite part of the concert! I do agree that the Theme to Schindler's List was quite rushed, although I thought it was rushed all the way to the end, instead of just in the beginning.

Despite all of this wonderful music, the entire second half was plagued by a problem that I just could not get over. The execution in the brass section, namely the trumpets, was like a ball and chain. It seemed that anything requiring the trumpets to stay on task at what would be a brisker tempo was just too much for them, as pieces had a tendency to slow to a crawl. This was especially true for Adventures on Earth, as well as for the Raiders' March and even the two Star Wars pieces in the encore. I am aware that there is a delay between the front and rear of the orchestra, but the tempos actually suffered quite a bit. Personally, I thought the french horns were spot on. I was sitting in the grand tier, which is a pretty decent place to hear, so I'm told. When I went backstage later, I wanted to find the trumpet players and slap them all. Maestro's tempo, not yours!

The concert arrangement of "Malice Toward None" from Lincoln was really well done, and a perfect first encore. I enjoyed the principal cellist's playing even more than Moser's from the previous half. I cannot seem to remember what was different about this arrangement vs. the film score, as I am not completely familiar with Lincoln yet. Rest assured, it seemed much more tightly woven into a package, as concert arrangements often do.

When the concert was over, I went backstage to meet John Williams. I won't talk about what happened, as that is personal. However, I can tell you all that although he was very tired from the performance, he seems to be in very good shape, and just as thoughtful as ever. He definitely doesn't seem like someone who just celebrated his 80th birthday. So, here's to many more scores from our most beloved, the best of the best!

A fantastic concert... The symphony played great! The Malice Toward None concert arrangement was really quite fabulous. I am really very happy that they chose to have the principal cellist play the opening cadenza, rather than Johannes Moser. As with so many things, I did have a couple of gripes about the orchestra, but it was an overall success! One guy even brought his lightsaber for the encores. Haha....

The best part for me, though, was that I got to change my profile picture....  ;-)

Sorry KK but I don't think it is not enough for a case, if two cues are both in minor and using similar sounding instruments.

For me Hook and Sorcerer's Stone are totally different.

THIS...

They are totally different. The only real similarity is that they both have a magical quality. John Williams writes for the film what fits the best. He does not actively seek out to write extensions of ideas from one film for another totally unrelated film with a totally unrelated story. It doesn't work that way. However, magical in his mind is something that he seems to have a clear idea for. That texture is going to be similar. His thematic material comes down to what works dramatically. His goal is inevitability, which he accomplishes about 98% of the time.

Williams' style has definitely changed over the years, but I think that as he has advanced in age, perhaps his focus has changed a bit. Surely, he is driven to make a film sing as best he can, and the sheer volume of work he has done constantly lends itself to that. But I think that as he gets older, perhaps he would like to be able to show how much he can re-invent himself. War Horse, I think is a fantastic example of this. When it comes to his very dense action cues, it is true that they've gotten increasingly busy, but I think it is a testament to how he is not slowing down at all. I don't think he is out to prove anything, but when you are the best, where do you go? It sounds a lot like the people posting here are wishing that he would just be the best, and continue to be the best by doing what has worked for him so well. It would seem that such a thing would ultimately become less gratifying. Pushing the envelope is what our beloved Maestro is all about, otherwise we wouldn't love him so much. He is still, and will continue to put his genius out there for all of us to see, and whether it takes this turn or that turn, we will like or not like what he has done. But it is still genius work, and we will always know that it is his best of the time, because he doesn't let anything past his own filter that doesn't belong. I, for one, trust his filter explicitly.

Incanus, thank you for answering my question. You always provide such tremendous insight. I think you are right about the idea that if the music doesn't speak to you, no matter how genius or terrible it is, you're not going to be able to love it.

About Howard Shore's music for LOTR, as far as iconography goes, he really accomplished that mission. The music for LOTR is as iconographic as anything out there, probably more so if you add in the reality distortion field of rabid fantasy fans. As a result, the music essentially has become much more than the sum of its parts. I don't feel that my thoughts on the music do anything to belittle it. I suppose I just wish that I could love it more. It definitely has its moments. Anything underscoring the elves, I think is pretty great. I do enjoy the otherworldly quality of some of the textures that Shore manages to create.

It's funny, I'm writing this trying to think of a specific reason why it doesn't work for me. I do understand Shore's approach to leitmotif, and I understand and hear the technical aspects that went into the construction of the score. However, such things don't really impress me, as I am a firm believer that music shouldn't take longer to explain than it does to play. I suppose, regarding the leitmotif idea, overall, the score seems (pardon the phrase) leitmotif heavy... Most of the motifs, though short, are well put together and capture the essence of what they are trying to convey, but only temporarily. I always walk away wishing there was more depth to them. Also, when a score is leitmotif heavy, it loses its sense of musical storytelling. When listening to the score on its own, I don't find myself following parts of the story at all because the motifs happen so often, that they convolute where we are in the story. Perhaps it would be better if the transitional elements of the score were more cohesive. I'm not really sure.

It's also possible that I am biased in the sense that I'm really not a huge fan of the "modern" film score. Perhaps this is even more true when it comes to fantasy scores. One of my favorite fantasy scores is Willow, written by James Horner, who, I think was a major driving force in ushering in the modern film score in the 90s, therefore somewhat killing off the classic romantic film score. I don't really care for his modern scores, other than maybe Braveheart and Ransom. However, those I like because they were dealing with something fairly new at the time. Back in the 80s, though, he could really write: Willow, Star Trek II, etc.... With the LOTR score being so modern, it just seems like the sandbox has been shrunk. I'm not sure if it makes any sense, but though the goal of the modern film score seems to be to push the limits of what we hear, it seems like it is required to follow an even stricter set of guidelines than something neo-romantic where the sky is the limit.

Either way, creating iconography with a more modern style is a difficult task, and Shore manages to do it somehow. I guess I just don't find it fulfilling in the end. It reminds me of how I feel about the scores for Harry Potter 4-8. Same idea.

Since I'm new, I went back and read some old posts from Maurizio... I have concluded that this board needs someone passionate like that. Passion in music is the great equalizer. We can talk technical all day, but when it comes down to it, if there is passion in the music, it doesn't matter what is going on technically. And Maurizio obviously has a knack for reminding us all of this fact. I don't know him from Adam, but I know that this board needs him.

I just want to say how thankful I am for a forum like this one. It is so amazingly wonderful to know that there are people out there that are as artfully passionate as myself. You guys totally "get it" and I just want to say thank you for coming together. :-)

Eb major over g minor?? Sounds like she's just trying to be clever... I once heard someone say that in the song "Dream a Littl Dream of Me", the bridge goes to a German +6 chord.... He was obviously thinking he was being clever.... But cleverly wrong. So I said, "Really? I suppose the following chords are I 6/4 and then V7, right? Last I checked, they're not..." If it doesn't quack like a Ger+6, it's probably a duck.

To even suggest bitonality in the imperial march is pretty silly...