Trumpeteer

This is worth considering, Yavar.

I will briefly mention "Heidi" and others as they come up in the chronology, but they will not get solo episodes.

I have listened to a couple of episodes and really enjoyed them! I am not dealing with any of John Williams' TV work, only to mention that he was working on something in TV while composing a film score. I only plan for this to be a two-year project. I am anxious to see the Goldsmith Odyssey go for a decade!

You will have a long wait. The earliest film there won't be discussed until sometime in fall 2019. I agree about #2.

No, I did not know about that podcast until just an hour ago. That one is good, but I won't be deviating from the chronology or lumping two scores into one show.

Thanks for listening, and for pointing out the little goofs in the first episode. The dates I found in my research had his involvement with Peter Gunn in 1957, but it could have been off. When I was talking about writing something "original," I was referring to music for film or other media. I read something about a piano sonata in his early days, but could not find a definitive date for it. So, I left it out. Sorry I beat you to the punch on the podcast idea. I was certain someone had done something like this in recent years, and was extremely surprised to find nothing. The show falls under "fair use," meaning I do not need to worry about copyright: "...brief excerpts of copyright material may, under certain circumstances, be quoted verbatim for purposes such as criticism, news reporting, teaching, and research, without the need for permission from or payment to the copyright holder." The podcast falls under criticism, so I'm OK. I spoke with two lawyers about this before starting because I didn't want to do all this work only to be shut down by a movie studio.

Happy New Year to my fellow JWFan members! I am embarking on a new venture that I know will appeal to all of you. I am the host of the podcast “The Baton: A John Williams Musical Journey.” The podcast is devoted to John Williams’ music career, from his first film in 1959 to the present. It’s a podcast unlike any of the others out there. Each episode will be devoted to one movie in Williams’ lengthy career, 107 films and counting. Think of it as a biography of John Williams, told through his music. You can hear the first three episodes now at this link I've embedded the player for the first episode below as well. Episode 1 sets up the premise of the podcast and details John Williams’ life before he tackled his first film score. Episode 2 officially starts the journey through his career with a listen to Williams’ score for his debut film “Daddy-O.” Episode 3 analyzes the score for his second film “I Passed For White.” This podcast will examine Williams’ career in chronological order. This way, you’ll appreciate the journey toward the scores that made him famous. New episodes will be available each Wednesday. The podcast will appear on iTunes in a few days. Though I hope my podcast appeals to the general public, I’m extremely interested to know what John Williams fans think of it. You can post comments here in the forums or on the podcast’s website. You can also send me an email at jeffswim@aol.com if you don’t want to comment publicly. Thanks for listening!

(deep breath) OK. I received my CDs three days ago and have listened to all of "Sorcerer's Stone" and the first disc of "Azkaban." More in a bit about why I'm avoiding "Chamber." Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful! Every second of the listening experience has been a joy. I am so thankful to have all of this music. Of course, the stuff we had on the original soundtracks were great, but all of this is just exciting to hear outside the films. For instance, getting the full version of "The Chess Game" was almost worth the money I paid for all seven CDs. It's the best action cue in all the films, and I was excited to get all of it and not feel cheated out of the scene's conclusion in a musical sense. Plus, the percussion really booms! The real treat was getting the music from the Forbidden Forest scene in "Sorcerer's Stone." It has my favorite rendition of Voldemort's theme, and I was always sad that, until now, I could only hear it when watching the film. I'm thrilled that I get the real versions of "Knight Bus" and "The Dementors Converge." How exciting that we get the ticking clock as heard in the film! This seven-CD set is a masterpiece of work by everyone involved. I learned so much from the liner notes that I will be using in a project that I am birthing to the world in about a week. I have heard "The Quidditch Match" from "Sorcerer's Stone" hundreds of times, but for some reason I didn't pick that the main thematic material was the Hogwarts theme! I thought it was new thematic material for the scene. Amazing -- and thanks to Michael Mattesino and his team for helping me work through why I loved the music in that scene so much. Also, the analysis of the two themes for Voldemort were very helpful. Now, for a couple of questions. In the invisibility cloak scene in "SS," there's a stinger when Snape turns back to Quirrell after swiping at invisible Harry. I didn't hear it in that cue on the new presentation. What's the explanation for that? And, I noticed "Quidditch, Year Three" sounds faster on the new CD presentation than the original soundtrack. Is what we heard on the original soundtrack a slightly slowed-down version of what we hear on the "Soundtrack Collection" and if so, why? Now, here's my issue with "Chamber of Secrets." It's exactly what most of you feel, that the sequel is "Harry Potter 2: Lost In New York." The new material was always lost to me in the retread of new material, and because I hated the film, my opinion of the music was clouded by that. I'm going to wait a while to experience "Chamber of Secrets" on the CDs.

As much as I wanted to go to this, I am sort of glad I didn't. I would have been a blubbering mess during ET. I got to see JW conduct that piece live to film in 2012, and I was a blubbering mess then. The "Circus Train Chase" is a wonder to behold when performed live. So many musical cues that MUST be spot on to what is happening on film.

I have forgiven the Academy for "Frida" and "Life Is Beautiful." I will never forgive the Academy for "Fame" and "Brokeback Mountain."

It is indeed very full in TESB. That's why it's a very close second to me in terms of the performance. I could go on and on about my thoughts behind the orchestrations of the original three Main Title performances, but I think TESB needed to be beefed up.

So far, I've listened to the first 30 minutes, and it's very in-depth! What I loved most in the podcast was hearing them use the word "yearning" a few times to describe Luke and how part of the main title epitomizes that. I think the "yearning" part is played in the French horn section. I always feel like the French horns are reaching/yearning for the apex of that theme in the same way Luke is reaching/yearning for a life away from Tatooine. I always get chills hearing the French horns playing it in "Star Wars," and not so much in the other films. In the sequels, the yearning is gone but the desire for greatness is still stated. I also loved how they implied that this was the theme Luke would write for himself. Now that I know music theory, I understand the concept of the perfect fifth, and it's fun to be able to follow that. Four years ago, all that talk starting around the 9:00 mark would have been gibberish. The main title from "Star Wars" will always be the best (with Empire a close second).

Wrong film for his nomination. But sometimes they nominate scores that have a lot of mundane music instead of scores that have great music in a short amount of time. I am also sad "War for the Planet of the Apes" was not nominated. It was the best score of the year. I saw the movie twice just because I wanted to hear the score again in the film.

Nope. Just a better music score. And now that it's been nominated for an Oscar, I fear it'll be more of the same for Episode 9.

I suppose I shall be the lone dissenter here and express my displeasure at this news. While I want John Williams to finish out the third Star Wars trilogy, I haven't been impressed with too much of the music in this new trilogy. Lots of rehashes and too many reminders of how awesome the original trilogy was musically. When "The Force Awakens" ended, I shrugged my shoulders (physically and emotionally) over the music. After "The Last Jedi," I silently hoped Williams would hand over the reins to someone else for Episode 9. Oh, well. I hope there is a surge of inspiration that comes from this film. I really want the music to be good. But, I'm tempering my expectations because they have been dashed twice previously.

What a wonderful film. The Holy Trinity of Spielberg/Streep/Hanks did not disappoint. Add in a lovely and unobtrusive John Williams score, and this is my favorite Spielberg film of the 21st century. I did not listen to the score album before seeing the film (as I usually do), and I was curious if this was going to be too much music or not enough. It was the perfect amount. As was stated in the Variety article, the music did not get in the way of the performances. The first music cue was when Ellsberg started compiling the papers, stealing them from the office and copying them. Very reminiscent of the pulsing danger theme from "Munich." Then, there's no music for probably 40 minutes. I was not wondering where the music was, because none of the scenes felt like they needed musical accompaniment. I disagree with "crumbs" when he said he didn't like the tacked-on ending, which I won't spoil. It basically follows up Streep-as-Katherine's comment about not wanting to deal with a situation like this again. I think only those who were alive in the mid-1970s, or know their American history, know why the last two minutes needed to close out the film. What really pleased me is that there were no title cards explaining the aftermath of the events in the movie. We were left to discuss it on our own, but not while the music during the end credits was playing! It's the first John Williams score in 11 years that I liked from start to finish. (Lincoln is a very close second.) At this point in his career, these are the types of films JW should be doing, not trying to fill every second of the next Star Wars music with pointless music.

I visited the site in Dallas last September where John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It's creepy to see the spot where the fatal bullet hit him. I had my iPod with me, and listened to "Arlington" from "JFK" during that visit. Very emotional moment to have the music complement the action. All year, I have been posting a new piano performance on my Facebook page as part of my New Year's resolution. This month, I decided to learn the theme from "JFK" and post it as a commemoration of the president's death, which took place 54 years ago today. Here it is... JFK_Theme.MP4

Only $7,000. It was the sixth question. Basic deduction should have ruled everyone out except Williams. He used his +1 lifeline and they picked Katharine Hepburn. Sorry about the misleading topic headline.

Unfortunately, the contestant got it wrong.

I bet they changed the distribution of the film in order to qualify for an Academy Award. I think the debut has to be at a film festival or a movie theater in order to be eligible. Think about it: Kobe Bryant could be an Academy Award winner next year. With the combination of Glen Keane and John Williams, it seems like s slam dunk.

Ever since hearing the brass play over the introduction to the island in "Jurassic Park" in 1993, I have been a major fan of John Williams and his music. I have been spending the day listening to his music, and will started my annual "John Williams Film Festival" last night with "Jaws." Happy birthday!

The Oscar-winning score has also been a part of a film nominated for Best Picture for 14 of the past 15 years. The only exception was "Frida" in 2002, when "The Hours" was the only score among the nominees with a corresponding Best Picture nomination. This year, "Bridge of Spies" is the only nominated score that was featured in a Best Picture nominee. That said, this might be just the second time in 16 years that an Oscar-winning score has not been featured in a Best Picture nominee. I'm always rooting for John Williams to win an Oscar, but I'm predicting Morricone.

I saw "The Hateful Eight" yesterday. I was going only to hear the score. I was not disappointed. The main title music is an awesome crescendo into the action of the film, and the major theme (as well as its orchestration) was memorable from the start. I knew it would win an Oscar, if it were to get nominated. Even though the film is being criticized for being over the top and too bloody, the music Morricone wrote was the best of the year. After the film, I ducked into a "Star Wars" screening and watched the scene where Rey flies the Millenium Falcon for the first time. After the scene, I thought, "One minute of Morricone's music is better than 10 minutes of Williams' music." That's something I thought I would never say. Plus, Morricone is 87 years old. Though the final ballots will not list the composers' names, the Academy voters will know who they are voting for in the score category. I have read a lot of articles that go on and on about Morricone's age. How many people can get out of bed at 87 years old, much less write action music? Of course, the same could be said of Williams, and they might want to give him an Oscar to make up for not giving him anything for Empire or Jedi, and to offer up an apology for not nominating him for the prequels. Either way, it'll be an old guy on the stage to accept the Original Score Oscar.

I definitely agree with the connection to Sunday Night Football. While listening to the end credits, I found myself finishing the theme, and it took me a while to figure out what music was in my head. Not surprising, given that he's done this before (i.e. main theme from Nixon).

I saw the movie about 12 hours ago, and after getting a good sleep and rethinking things, here is my comment on the score in the film. It ranks seventh among the seven Star Wars scores. There is no main theme that instantly gives you the chills that we got from the other six films, and that saddened me. Once the film was done, I might have thought the score had been written in the vein of "Chamber of Secrets," in that Williams wrote general themes and someone else filled in gaps with musical noise. Seeing JW get sole composing credit was kind of shocking to me, unless that was conractually required. As for the movie itself, it had great energy. The new actors were great. I liked the plot, even if it seemed a bit familiar as it went along. The ending needed more of a punch to get us pumped for the next film. I know every final scene in the SW films is dialogue-free, but I wanted "you-know-who" to say SOMETHING!