JamieC

Hi gang Do any of you know the book The Film Music Reader ? It's a book that includes an interview with Jerry Goldsmith (perhaps the interview has been published elsewhere, too) and he discusses the role of an orchestrator. Here's a link to Google Books; p. 230 of the text made available is where to read JG's comments. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FhUZ4nphj58C&pg=PA229&lpg=PA229&dq=mervyn+cooke+orchestrators&source=bl&ots=Vxx1jxw2D6&sig=y5ukZG7yScTD98XbUsbhYxLbjnI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=I3pnUtm9H-WW0QWSroGYAQ&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=mervyn%20cooke%20orchestrators&f=false It still seems a little unreal that a new JW score will be out witihin the next few months doesn't it ? There we all were waiting patiently for his new work for Star Wars. JC

Yep, those clips are both from last night's programme. I have no idea where the thread might be for correctly placing this but I hadn't seen it until this morning (nothing to do with SW but everything to do with JTW)

This is fun: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03d0zv9/The_Graham_Norton_Show_Series_14_Episode_1/

I remember seeing Star Wars when it opened in the UK in early 1978: I had seen a black and white photo of the film (showing the moment when Luke and Ben, as they ride into Mos Eisley, are stopped by Stormtroopers) in our local newspaper and I think that had been my first encounter with the movie. I was hooked, of course, from that first screening. I was only five years old. The movie I really remember being excited for , though, was Superman: The Movie the following year. That same year must have been when I got my first recording of some of JW's music when my mum and dad got me an album of themes for sf movies and tv, conducted by Geoff Love. I don't think I got a John Williams soundtrack proper until The Empire Strikes Back on vinyl or Jedi on audiocassette in '83. I even remember 'Darth Vader' making an appearance in the toy department of our local department store in around 1980. That was very exciting.

I agree, Michael: the use of the word 'generic' may not quite be the most useful term. Generic is fine I would say...the issue is perhaps more about 'invention' within an established mode (genre). The Star Wars scores are generic (as adventure scores) but work with such invention that they move 'beyond' only what is expected. Not sure if I've explained my line of thought clearly enough. Hmmm... Ahhh... the unending tangle of enjoyment that is 'trying to talk about music'. JC PS: Scorsese movies are generic, for example, as are Spielberg movies...they start at generic and then move 'beyond' that.

Hi gang Have any of you read this piece ? http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/illusion-chasers/2013/09/28/john-williams/ JC

Empire of the Sun would be grand. One of Steven Spielberg's strongest efforts I think.

Hi there Jason : if you've time, do watch the whole piece as it's an absolutely fascinating look at Spielberg in his offices on the Universal studio lot just after ET had been released. There's also footage of him directing his Kick the Can portion of Twilight Zone: The Movie.

There's some vintage footage behind the scenes that I have never seen before.

Have you watched the whole programme ? It's really fascinating.

I may be lagging way behind here, but here's an on-camera interview with Steven Spielberg and John Williams that I'd not seen before. Scroll through to about 1 hour and 13 minutes to see them chatting together. However, the whole programme is really worth watching. JC

I wonder if that's an original Edward Hooper in the picture frame in the background of the wideshot ?

Here's a nice consideration of Harry Potter 3. It doesn't mention JW at all but given that the music is as much a part of the fabric of the film as its visual and other sound elements we can 'sort of' consider the score as an implied part of why it's a fascinating entry in the series: http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2013/09/18/harry-potter-treated-with-gravity/

Thanks for taking the time to put these notes together. The early, early material is always interesting to experience and consider.

Nice little read here: http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/arts/articles/20130921john-williams-steven-spielberg-symphony.html

This is one of my favourite soundtrack recordings. A wonderful reminder of how much the expansive palette of the western has offered opportunities for enjoyable 'stand-alone' music. I remember seeing Wyatt Earp at the cinema in the summer of 1994 and the music was so fundamental to my enjoyment of the movie. I remember 'walking on air' when I left the cinema, promptly buying the soundtrack the very next day. If you want to hear JNH's Main Title piece redeployed by Costner, check out the trailer for Costner's other wonderful western Open Range. JC

I think you're on the right lines there , Maurizio, about creative process.

Permit me to indulge a happy memory here: the current 'surprising' (and very pleasing) news about JW writing the music for The Book Thief movie adaptation takes me back (with a wry smile) to pre-internet days when you'd walk into a record shop ('A what ?' I hear some you perhaps ask) and you'd suddenly discover a John Williams soundtrack you had no idea about because there wasn't the volume or speed of information dissemination in the fabric of daily life as there is now. I remember discovering the soundtracks for Presumed Innocent and Stanley & Iris in the late summer of 1990 when I came across them in HMV on Oxford Street in London. This was hugely exciting as they were both new albums and had just seemed to 'arrive' in a rather magical way in shops. I had no idea that JW had composed them and there would certainly never typically be any advance news about such projects. To some degree that kind of surprise was true of movies, too. The first time you'd see a movie poster used to be when you saw it just a few days before a given film's release when it was printed in a newspaper or put up in its frame outside the local cinema. I guess it's fair to say that the wave of pre-release hype and promotion which the internet can now furnish has perhaps taken away, or at least lessened, certain kinds of discovery. (I appreciate that one can choose to not go online and read / listen / view pre-release material, of course). JC

Well, I hope this will be of interest if you can view or listen to BBC programming. This week sees the BBC's Sound of Cinema programming begin. The season is about film music Here's a link to information about the content: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01fs3cy All the best, folks JC Here's the first programme that aired the other night on BBC 4: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03b45h4/Sound_of_Cinema_The_Music_that_Made_the_Movies_The_Big_Score/

Wouldn't this be a terrific project for JW to score ? Some rich cultural heritage to refer to musically: http://www.irishcentral.com/ent/Steven-Spielberg-and-Daniel-Day-Lewis-discuss-movie-about-Daniel-OConnell-223103011.html

Across the Stars sure is a lovely theme. It really does encapsulate the melancholy at the heart of Anakin and Padme's love for each other.

Hi gang This is an excellent subject to consider as it takes us, once more, back to some issues which lie at the heart of the matter. I mean this in the best way: arguably, nothing is original (in terms of cultural production/art) in the sense that we are all ongoing products of our ongoing cultural reference points and moment in time. Factor into that, too, a sense of historical context in terms of traditions, movements and cycles in creativity and we've got a melting pot of ways to get our creative bearings. We , as individuals, though are, to some significant degree, original entities and so the very fact that anything we compose ( our every spoken word, as well as the music, postcards, emails, text messages, stories, poems, letters, shopping lists etc. that we write ) is therefore original. I wonder if the territory that we're actually wandering into here is the issue of 'creative legitimacy' rather than of 'originality'; if, by the use of the term legitimacy we mean a creative act that is somehow unhampered by 'commercial' requirements. Pushing at the door of this line of thought even further might it be even more correct to acknowledge that what we're really thinking about and discussing is the issue of what could be considered anomalous work in relation to the work of a creative that is most familiar to most people. Certainly, JW's excellent score for Images is a steadfast case in point. Who knew that the JWFan's forum could be such a great place for such philosophical ramblings ? JC * When we say 'original' are we striving to really try and define what is most affecting and expressive in a creative work ? Ah...the inadequacy of words and the supreme adequacy of music

Looking forward to reading this. (Incidentally: this is the first time I have seen this and heard this rendition (it's fantastic): ) JC

I remember hearing Summon the Heroes live, before it was available on cd , when I went to see JW conduct in London in the summer of 1996. The cd release 'Summon the Heroes' tied in with the concert performance to some degree as I recall buying the cd that night after the show. It was then a few weeks later that I recall seeing JW conduct the theme live at the opening ceremony of Atlanta Games. Happy memories. JC

It is indeed a franchise but don't you think it's a bit of a cold-sounding word that emphasises the film business side of things rather than the storytelling side ?