The Psycho Pianist

I was on the right hand side, front row on the balcony. I've seen Williams twice before (both Hollywood Bowl 2014/16 I think), but neither of those even remotely compared to yesterday. The intimacy of the venue, the sense of complete harmony of the audience to JW and of course the complete and utter respect of the musicians for someone whom even a decade or so ago they may have regarded with some disdain. The concert met and exceeded my expectations really beyond what I had hoped for - even the presence of ASM and the numerous revised arrangements seemed somehow befitting of the venue and atmosphere.

I felt as if the hall, as grand as it is, did suffer from some excess reverb (somebody mentioned earlier that this is more pronounced in the higher balcony seats as opposed to the stalls), however it's such a minor complaint and didn't in any way spoil the occasion nor mar the tremendous musicianship on display. One can only hope that this is a wake-up call for Williams to realise how appreciated he is in Europe - very strange not to see the 2018 LSO concert rescheduled but perhaps this makes that more likely?

WARNING: Essay inbound.
 
It's interesting, the more that I think about it all; I didn't even attend the concerts and yet I have been practically glued to my screen, constantly refreshing this thread to see updates/photos/videos/reviews.
 
These concerts mean a lot more (imo) for the legacy of John Williams (as well as the acceptance of film music) than any other event I can really think of in recent history. The Vienna Philharmonic has a bit of a reputation of being thought of as perhaps the most elitist/snobbiest orchestra (no offense to Austrian forum users!), the pinnacle of "proper" classical music-making—so to see John Williams ascend this seemingly insurmountable feat of getting this orchestra to play two concerts of nothing but his film music, and having the musicians standing there clapping wildly for him with smiles on their faces... It's a pretty breathtaking accomplishment. It feels like the world is different today than it was two days ago.
 
I've always thought that Williams' music deserves to be held in the same high regard as many of the Romantic masters, and as a classical music fan (and musician) I've longed to see some of his film music pieces start to seep into the concert hall and gradually become mainstays of the repertoire. These concerts are a titanic step in the right direction. It feels in a way that with these concerts, Williams has finally conquered the classical world—after all, if your music is "good enough" for the VPO to play it, then who else could possibly ever deem it unworthy?! The critics? Who cares about them.
 
Audiences pay (and pay handsomely) to see Williams' compositions, and orchestras are starting to figure that out with the advent of live-to-picture concerts. These Vienna concerts show that even in the heart of the classical music world—in the "City of Music", with all its historicity and traditions and its famous-composer graves—that John Williams sells. And I'd wager that even if Williams himself wasn't conducting (he won't be around forever), the concerts would have still made a respectable sum and sold well.
 
It is always so ironic to me that the people crying from the rooftops that "Classical music is dying, what ever are we going to do?!" are the same ones who want to incessantly program postmodernist trash as their only idea of "new music"—and yet it's been shown time and time again that film music (at least great film music, like JW's), sells, and is a great way to introduce people to the orchestra and to classical music.
 
There is a clear antidote to the prospect of classical music "dying"—program stuff that people actually want to hear! Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky's ballet works were not always accepted in the concert hall, and yet nowadays you can't go a season without seeing a "Nutcracker" or a "Rite of Spring" or "Firebird Suite". History repeats itself; what we are facing today in regards to film music is little more the same aversion to change, all over again. The irony being that this sort of concert hall gatekeeping is being done nowadays by the very people who like to claim how "new" and inventive their music is, when in reality it's the same tired mix of atonal crowd-killers we've been hearing for decades now.
 
Opera and ballet were once "popular" art forms, and their staples eventually made their way onto the concert hall stage in the form of overtures and suites, respectively. So too will (I hope) film music like JW's. One day I hope it is commonplace to see an orchestra concert that has (for example) the STAR WARS "Main Title" as its "overture", and then a concerto followed by a symphony after intermission. If orchestras truly want to bring people into classical music, then give them a taste of something familiar/popular, and maybe they'll stick around for the classics. Rather than scare them out of the building by intermission, never to come back, because their idea of "classical music" is now either super-light cliche classical, or downright atonality, with no middle ground.
 
Annnyways, these concerts mean a lot to me and I think, hopefully, a lot in regards to the overall acceptance of Williams' music in the hall. Last year's double DG releases (Dudamel's all-JW live concert program with the LA Phil, and then the violin arrangements album with ASM) certainly helped, as well; they are probably the "gold standard" classical music label, so for them to be willing to put out multiple albums of his music in a year is not a bad sign at all. And hopefully 2020 will see a DG release of this Vienna program. 
 
And back on the concert hall front, Stephane Deneve (a good friend of JW's) is the new Music Director of St. Louis, and he just did a regular subscription program which featured "Hedwig's Theme" alongside other classical staples, a program which he is taking to Philly in the coming months if I recall correctly! He's got the right idea; hopefully others will be moved/relieved at the sight of the VPO applauding and respecting Williams, and will start to follow suit in their programming. But things are looking up, and I couldn't be happier. I hope I'm not just going crazy/I hope some others here share my views on this(?).

This extract of score we had ages ago is 1:20+ of "Hallway Shooting" track 8
 

Dress code:
Music in the Musikverein is always a special experience. The musicians themselves highlight this by wearing clothing for special occasions. Men usually sport white tie and tailcoat or morning suits for performances earlier in the day. Our audiences, in contrast, are free to exercise greater choice. There is no dress code - guests may wear what they wish to make their visit comfortable and enjoyable. Nonetheless, many of our visitors sense that a certain elegance is suited to the ambience of the Musikverein. For this reason we welcome and request that visitors dress accordingly. Please note that shorts are not regarded as suitable clothing. Our premises are temperature-controlled throughout and remain pleasantly cool indoors throughout the summer.
 
https://www.musikverein.at/en/concert-visitor-information

I've always loved the string line from 1:54-2:15 on this track from Philosopher's Stone. So much so that one day I had to transcribe it.

Have to echo this. The fact that this is critiqued so intensely at all really puts into perspective just how far beyond Williams is from his fellow film scoring peers. Each and every one of the arrangements on this album reflects a lifetime and wealth of musical knowledge and expertise, finely honed and crafted and now put to task in "classicalising" (if you will) already world class pieces of orchestral music. The violin writing in this is simply masterful. 
 
Can one imagine Junkie XL knocking out a 6 minute cello concerto based off of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? I think we can all answer that one and the reality is that this kind of thing should simply be absorbed and appreciated whilst it lasts as the world of film music is almost alien to this level of work nowadays!

Have to echo this. The fact that this is critiqued so intensely at all really puts into perspective just how far beyond Williams is from his fellow film scoring peers. Each and every one of the arrangements on this album reflects a lifetime and wealth of musical knowledge and expertise, finely honed and crafted and now put to task in "classicalising" (if you will) already world class pieces of orchestral music. The violin writing in this is simply masterful. 
 
Can one imagine Junkie XL knocking out a 6 minute cello concerto based off of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? I think we can all answer that one and the reality is that this kind of thing should simply be absorbed and appreciated whilst it lasts as the world of film music is almost alien to this level of work nowadays!

A new and revealing Jon Burlingame article on the music. An hour of material!
 
 

A new and revealing Jon Burlingame article on the music. An hour of material!
 
 

A new and revealing Jon Burlingame article on the music. An hour of material!
 
 

A new and revealing Jon Burlingame article on the music. An hour of material!
 
 

A new and revealing Jon Burlingame article on the music. An hour of material!
 
 

A new and revealing Jon Burlingame article on the music. An hour of material!
 
 

I wouldn't be surprised if he's forgotten about the whole thing.

A new and revealing Jon Burlingame article on the music. An hour of material!
 
 

A new and revealing Jon Burlingame article on the music. An hour of material!
 
 

A new and revealing Jon Burlingame article on the music. An hour of material!
 
 

A new and revealing Jon Burlingame article on the music. An hour of material!
 
 

Agree, it would stick out more since the harp is so prominent. Also they could afford a cutesy 4th wall break in the Hagrid scene since the atmosphere is just the day-to-day of Hogwarts, whereas with Fluffy, you want to be held in suspense at that point. Having a more anonymous source piece makes it feel more immersive.

Giacchino is the leverage Disney holds onto to make sure Williams keeps writing Star Wars music
 
Tuesday:  “Oh, you don’t want to score this commercial for Eggo Star Wars waffles, Mr. Williams?  Maybe GIACCHINO will do it!”
 
Wednesday: Entertainment Weekly is excited to premiere John Williams’ brand new score for Eggo’s exciting new Star Wars frozen waffles:  “Syrup of the Fates!”

Disney Executive: Mr. Williams, we'd love to have you write some music for our new theme park! You can write anything you want, so long as it sounds like Star Wars...
 
Williams: Music for a theme park? Oh, I... think I'm much too busy with concerts to help you with that, I'm terribly sorry...
 
Disney Executive: Oh that's a shame, but no worries. Michael Giacchino has already offered to assis--
 
Williams: You know, now that I think about it, I have a gap in my schedule next week! I'll do it.

Williams's letter to the LSO (from JWFan FB):
 

The biggest problem was prgoramming both the main title and end title of Star Wars in the same program. Huge mistake because you're repeating the same three minutes exactly in each piece.

Williams's letter to the LSO (from JWFan FB):