Marcus

Most of what Williams writes tends to resonate deeply with me, but his concert works perhaps even more profoundly. Especially "Five Sacred Trees" (particularly first, second and fifth movements), as well as "Treesong", "Cello Concerto" (particularly first and last movements), first and second movements of the Violin concerto, and the final movement of the Horn concerto. ...I'm chickening out; it's impossible to settle for just one piece. Rather, there's an emotional core in all of his output that simply stirs me more than most other music; a sense of empathy, wisdom and even kindness (perhaps "humanity" is more accurate) that I find uplifting and comforting, as well as aesthetically and intellectually stimulating.

I'm not sure how helpful it is to analyse the passage in question in light of a lydian modality. The passage is not truly lydian, nor is it truly a case of modal writing. Rather, like so often with Williams, it is a matter of shifting freely (and often!) between various "modalities" -in fact, so freely and frequently, it is probably more accurate to describe it as "free chromaticism" (in a tonal context). Actually, this is true of all the examples in this thread so far.

... Only just saw the "Heartbeeps"-example: Here, C#minor is simply a passing chord, and assigning a function to it would be potentially misleading (unless #IV was established in context as a gravitational pull to be reckoned with). Were you to be missing an A, it would of course be a V/V.

Pertaining to the first example: I would consider this straightforwardly a VI-chord variant, meaning a b6 chord, but in this harmonic context (Hungarian minor), this chord exists in three basic tonal variants: Eb major, Eb minor and Ebm7b5 (or if you will; F#m/D#). I wouldn't really worry too much about enharmonic spellings!

There's nothing inherently wrong with being "solely" a fan of John Williams' work, and not film music in general. Bias needn't be a bad thing. I feel very much disenchanted with most film music these days, and many aspects that once drew me towards that particular field (especially as an outlet for tonal contemporary classical music, as well as an interesting arena for furthering the art of music drama), are no longer really present. Simply put, I'm neither impressed nor enthused by what most other film composers are churning out presently, and understand perfectly well that others may harbor similar sentiments.

Oh, I wholeheartedly agree that Williams should pursue whatever tickles his imagination! But if -for perhaps nostalgic reasons- that be another score for (yet) another chapter of the SW franchise, then so be it (personally, I hope he devotes his time to concert music, and especially more chamber music).

Obviously, John Williams should score this, if he so desires. Musically speaking, I feel overwhelmingly unexcited at the thought of another composer being offeref the gig, unless it be someone skilled and gifted enough to pay homage to the style of these scores, yet blessed with enough artistic authority to put his/her stamp on it. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening with any of the "usual suspects" in Hollywood... (There are of course some who could tread elsewhere entirely, and that might be a preferable route to take in this case)

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Thank you Omen II, Miguel and Jarbas! (And Miguel: The Cello Sonata along with a couple of other works of mine, is being recorded in January for a CD release in 2013. I am so glad you like it!) Merry Christmas! Marcus

What I would like to hear more, as it has all but disappeared from the film scoring arena, is the sound of separate sections. So many scores seem caught in the "eternal tutti", which makes great tutti writing stand out to less effect. What I'd love to hear more of, is economy. Bring on unusual, colorful combinations in duos, trios etc. Or even entire set pieces conceived for winds alone or brass alone. The funny thing is it won't necessarily sound smaller or less "epic". Another thing I'd like to hear (or write myself, if the opportunity is alloted), is an entirely choral (a cappella) score. And scores for solo instruments, even.

Hmm.. I just noticed that the link doesn't seem to work.. Anyone care to enlighten me as to how I can make it nice and clickable?

I am so touched by your very generous response; it means a lot to me! Thank you all so much! And I hope to be able to offer the full orchestral suites in the near future! This project was, for all its rewards, quite taxing, and nothing is more encouraging or gratifying to me than such a warm and friendly reception! Thank you!

Greetings everyone! During the winter and spring of 2012, I had the privilege of composing for the Norwegian dance company FRIKAR, a group of extremely acrobatic modern folk dancers. For this particular production, they were joined by four Chinese kung fu monks, equally impressive in their daunting display of grace, virtuosity and control. I actually had to write two versions of this music simultaneously: A 60 minute (and then some!) stage (and touring) version, scored for string trio and percussion, as well as ca. 30 minutes of orchestral selections (arranged in several suites)devised to accompany a TV version of the performance. The TV version aired on Norwegian television last night, and included some really stellar performances by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra. I do hope you'll enjoy! <a href=http://tv.nrk.no/program/mkmf33000012/moeter#t=5m46s> (The music as employed in the film is actually taken from both versions of the score, and follows a slightly different logic than I intended, and a few items have been abridged for choreographic purposes. But there are already some plans to make the full orchestral suites commercially available) Best wishes, Marcus

Yes! That trumpet/piano duet is a marvelous moment of gorgeous and -for its seeming simplicity- highly inventive scoring. Lincoln is an exquisite and utterly masterful score. How lucky we are!

Really only John Williams. And John Corigliano, whenever he decides to score a film. Beyond those two, most film scores and film scoring aesthetics hold very little interest for me. I take occasional delight in how certain scores will serve a film, but find almost all film music unmemorable and without integrity in of itself. I realize this has a lot to do with the role music tends to be assigned in a lot of contemporary film making, but I'm personally fiercely against anonymizing music: If strong thematic content is intimidating, fair enough, but at least have the remaining harmonies/rhythm/timbre/texture say something or add something beyond mere sound design. So much of what I hear of film music seems utterly lazy from just about any perspective. A select few composers still do tend to add a measure of artfulness in an otherwise dull sonic landscape, but ultimately what I would like to see/hear, is more skilled composers with classical training and experience -and (more importantly!) an artistic agenda of their own- taking film scoring to levels that current Hollywood trends and its slaves and practitioners are not equipped (or allowed) to reach.

Sounds absolutely gorgeous!

The tenuto sign has become almost the equivalent of the semicolon in the world of written music, meaning we all feel it has a function, yet precicely what that function is, tends to be a matter of personal preference. To me, it has to do with weight; I employ the sign when I wish to add prominence and importance to a note, yet not blatantly or loudly, the way a marcato sign can imply. If I wish for a tenuto-marked note to be held longer (though still not quite the "length" of a fermata), I will add "ten." above the sign. Slurred tenuto has to do with a slight separation between given notes, yet not quite so detached as a slurred staccato would perhaps indicate.

Perfect. Just perfect. And I'm loving the sound of CSO's brass! This is going to be a beautiful experience!

I'm completely confident "Lincoln" will prove a beautiful score. The little snippet in the teaser seems very fitting, and wonderfully tender, "fatherly" even... As to reading music and getting a complete internal "aural view", it is a fairly normal ability one acquires after a good deal of time and effort. I will stress, however, that it is a very "personal" ability, and as such, rather fallible. Pitch, rhythm, harmony and orchestration are easy enough, although it gets tougher the more dense the music is. But phrasing, pacing, energy and expression -where so much of the music lies!- are then contingent on our own interpretation, and this is where we might err and falter...

Sounds reverent, warm, understated... I'm loving this already!

Thank you again for your interest! Yes, this is an old thread. For the sake of making it a little more up-to-date; here's a link to another CD that was released a few months back featuring a work for solo violin of mine -among 8 other works for solo violin (!), all performed by fantastically talented young performers. The piece is entitled "The Ladies on the Bridge" (borrowed from the title of the picture of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch I intended to depict in music), and is the third track on the album: <a>http://www.musikkonline.no/shop/displayAlbum.asp?id=408472</a> Hope you'll enjoy!

Dear Blume, First of all, thank you for your kind words regarding my work; they mean a lot to me. As to your questions, I'll try my best to reply with clarity, and simplicity where I think (hope) it can suffice. In reverse order: 1. "Ideals of Art": If what I wrote comes across as simplified or relatively "textbook", it may be because the only thing we truly can influence to any considerable degree, is our choices concerning craftsmanship and work ethic. Beyond that,things quickly take a turn for the metaphysical. And I'm certainly not one to deny the importance of all the myriad of unknowns factoring into what constitutes a successful life in the arts, but in my experience, in my life in the arts, there's little to be gained from attempting to "control" anything beyond one's own work-a-day tools. I believe in being humble before one's chosen art form, which I personally think is the exact opposite of being obedient to any pre-conceived notions whatsoever! It is not a matter of academicism, or of being loyal to anything other than one's own ambition and, with a little luck, potential. Granted, the ethos of this may be simple, but I believe this philosophy to be true, and also completely aesthetically undogmatic and flexible. 2. "Maturity in Art": As simply as I can possibly sum this up, it's empathy. Empathy through knowledge and experience, empathy through seeing clearly and fully, empathy in being honest and truthful. "Honesty" and "truthful" are lofty and potentially untangible qualities, but if I am to be concrete, few media serve better than film music: As a film composer, you respond to an external drama; you may comment on various aspects of it, or elect to play indifferent to it, but ultimately, what you write will be seen & heard as a response, either to a specific scene or to a broader context. And this is -for me, at least- where technique and craft come into play. By craft, I mean to imply the sum of one's experience. In general terms, film music today (especially in Hollywood, with a select few exceptions!) is unspecific. It captures drama, emotionality and psychology (if at all) only in the very broadest sense. Music exists as a kind of sonic prop, an adrenaline filter, and mostly only marginally effective, meaning it will perhaps propel the action, but seldom anything more than that. I find an alarming amount of film music completely interchangable. There's probably been some truth to this ever since a "film idiom" was first established, and before that, an echo of this unpleasant truth rings through all times and cultures, whenever a language becomes more or less cemented. Still, I find myself only rarely touched by most recent film music. Nor do I find how music is currently being used in film very interesting. There are exceptions -Thomas Newman, Alexandre Desplat, Elliot Goldenthal and a few others (John Corigliano more than most, whenever he scores a film); composers who still seem interested in exploring what music can do for a film. I enjoy Howard Shore's music to Cronenberg's films quite a bit (I remember loving "Naked Lunch" many years ago!), so I'll include him in that list. But: I don't think Shore is a particularly strong or interesting orchestral composer; that really isn't his forte, and this brings me back to the concept of "maturity": Artistic maturity has to do with mastery, sincerity and depth of perception. It has to do with multi-layeredness, with "totality of vision" (the way something is constructed from beginning to end), and with having the vocabulary to be sufficiently articulate, being able to say what you want, and also to say the right thing at the right time (or knowing when to shut up!). For one thing, I find that the "interchangable-ness" of so much film music, stemming from a limited and/or oversimplified vocabulary, feels dishonest, untruthful. It ends up washy or vague, and it conveys drama -and life!- falsely. Falsely because it is neither sufficiently personal nor sufficiently accurate. It's as if the music doesn't truly have a point of view, and therefore it becomes irrelevant. Undoubtedly, this has to do with film becoming more and more a producer's medium, and there's less and less room for real creative contribution. But another factor is the dwindling of greater technical integrity, of real musical standards, within the film scoring community in recent years. Now, I don't wish to imply that all film composers should be highly trained classical composers (although back in the day...): We need all kinds of composers, all kinds of vision, and I agree with you, Blume, that we ought to keep an open mind, to explore each work on its own merits. But merit really is the key word here: I believe that our open-mindedness as artists must go hand in hand with a strong set of standards, with a sense of artistic morality, a sense of beauty. This can be just about anything, but it cannot be fickle! It must be severe and unyielding! In closing: I really didn't wish to go into pitting composers against each other here, but let me say that I find that Williams, for instance, always seems completely sincere in what he writes, and always very specific: His musical characterizations are seldom interchangable, and more likely than not, they have a tendency to capture more than just one essential element of what they attempt to portray. It's precision work. It never feels as if he's writing down to an audience; there's always a complexity (and I'm not just talking about chromatic saturation or busy writing!) to it. And I think this stems also from a certain view of the world, and of life. There's a generosity, a kindness, about it, that to my mind, at least, bespeaks a certain wisdom and warmth that I find immensely attractive and admirable. And beyond its servitude to film, there's the whole separate agenda of taking one's musical responibilities seriously. Williams obviously writes with a sense of purpose. He knows what film music can mean in terms of recruiting and exposing a broader audience to orchestral music and to classical music. His concert arrangements of his own film music often take on a level of ambition unprecedented in this particular brand of "cross over" genre (The "Children's Suite" from Harry Potter, for instance, or "Escapades for Alto Saxophone & Orchestra"). This unquestionably sets him very much apart from the rest of the world of film music, and is certainly one reason why so many musicians might have a strong sense of preference for his musical contribution to the world of film. It's wonderful serious music as well as wonderful film music.

Why, thank you so much! Goodness, what an unexpected thread ressurection! Funny thing is that I was given the opportunity to revisit "Upperdog", and "Toy Soldiers" in particular, this Summer, as I was commissioned to write a saxophone concerto for Rolf-Erik Nystrom (whose incredible artistry is also featured on the soundtrack to "Umeå4ever") and the Arctic Philharmonic. In the concerto, that slightly saccharine march is coupled with, or rather pitted against, some of the more "Eastern" elements of that film score. The concerto premiered (and was broadcast live on Norwegian radio) this past August 9th, and I hope to feature it on a CD of my orchestral music due next year.

Dear Incanus! I was responding to more of a perceived "group reaction", to put it a little too bluntly, and perhaps a little more specifically to Quint's post (which I found very understandable, but in need of a clarifying reply). Thank you for your very kind remarks, and may I rush to compliment you on your never-erring sense of perspective, reason and poetic prose!

OK, folks, I guess I should clarify a little: I never intended to "pit" Shore against Williams, nor did I intend to belittle any effort of Shore's. I merely offered a reason -beyond mere tastes and personal sympathies- why one might prefer the work of one composer over the other. Shore's LotR scores seem to have become holy cows here, and that's fine, but I certainly wasn't attacking them, not at all! Having said that, and especially given that some of you seem rather eager to "counter-attack" by suggesting that the musically educated among us are somehow restricted by our insights, and fail to appreciate music beyond its "theoretical" value, I will freely and most happily admit that my own response to Williams' music, and to all great art, for that matter, is first and foremost emotional. But I also get an intellectual kick (which can be surprisingly emotional too!) out of great craftsmanship!