orrakul

Powaqaatsi (by Philip Glass)

Lawrence of Arabia Glory Raiders of the Lost Ark

Maybe he's really, really, really bored...

JW is my favourite - I don't know how to judge who's the best, but based on my CD collection and the "play counter" on my iTunes, he's my favourite. I do sound like a fanboy - and I guess, just this once, that's OK.

LOL

For non score fans: Rocky....?

I agree with John; Superman then POTC 2, with "Cars" (which doesn't look too interesting to me) taking the no. 3 spot - Pixar hasn't taken a wrong step yet.

I'm dense sometimes. You could have at least winked...

His office is at Amblin Entertainment on the Universal lot. The BBC interview said that his office is just down the hall from Steven Spielberg's office.

John Williams on my computer right now: 1089 songs / 3 days / 4.76 GB

Just Kidding!

Pirates of the Caribbean...?

I said "which the Maestro would score brilliantly, if anything so improbable were ever filmed".

Nice, Mark - I couldn't have said it better. I'm so upset that I couldn't get away from work to attend the concert; but, I'm glad that you guys enjoyed it! I have only ever attended one JW concert (last fall in Chicago - and I LOVED it). Thanks fo much for the reviews guys - please post whatever pictures you have available... I'm experiencing the event vicariously through you guys!

I have just listened to this track a few times. If JW wanted to recap various prior themes from the saga, why not do the Imperial March and Yoda's theme etc.? The part where the "Throne Room" is repeated is just awful. Some of the orchestrations are "nice", but on the whole it's a rather lackluster and disappointing musical end to the Star Wars saga.

I don't get it Pi - are you agreeing with or mocking the "more provincial JW fan responses"?

I haven't seen it; I'd love to see it. The few very short clips I've seen of it look like a student film (which, of course, it essentially was). But, I don't think it could be a bad film; it was good enough for Steven Spielberg to get a directing gig with Universal Pictures.

Fiery Angel is correct. John Williams is a gourmet chef compared to Hans Zimmer's greasy spoon cook.

Which the maestro would score brilliantly, if anything so improbable were ever filmed...

I wouldn't say that I hate Zimmer; I'm just rather indifferent to what he's done in the past 10 years (or so). His music seems to depend entirely on a heavy beat and a high volume...

It was not a dimwitted question. But, Steef's correct (as usual) - it's just a 4 month gig for many composers and then they move on; it's geeks like us who disect the scores, and look at similarities from score to score. The same brain writing a score in a high-pressure environment might fall back into a familiar pattern of thought (and re-work a theme from a previous score).

Why is it that I don't mind this type of "death" post when it's (thankfully, for once) not about John Williams?

Sometimes, it's easier for a composer to revisit a previous score - or a director might ask for this. But, don't discount the decisions made by music editors on feature films. It's cheaper/easier to go back to tracks recorded for a previous film (such as an alternate take which weren't used before) than it is to record new score tracks.

Then, aren't these amazing moments? (I really like the string serenade of this piece).

Quite right! (and maybe not even then...).