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The applause as Williams entered the stage and walked across it to take his place at the podium was wonderful, another step up in enjoying the whole night that the change in weather already had been.  I always keep my eye out to see how Williams is doing, and I am happy to report he seemed to have even more pep in his step then he had just a few weeks ago for the Violin Concerto #2 premiere - perhaps he too was invigorated by the change in weather!  As is typically the case, as the applause died down he began the first selection right away, without saying anything to the audience.
 
Overture to the Oscars
 
It’s always nice hearing a new Williams composition, and especially nice you go to a concert with no knowledge that you’d even be hearing one!  I assume this was commissioned for the opening of the Academy Museum next month, and it is certainly fitting for such an event.  Full of resplendence and elegance, I have a feeling this will become a staple of Academy Awards broadcasts going forward as well.  Here’s hoping a studio recording gets released at some point!  After the piece finished, Williams took to the microphone for the first time of the night:
 

“Thank you very much.  I wonder if you are as happy to see me as I am happy to see YOU
 
<massive audience applause>
 
After eighteen months of no concerts, no rehearsal, no television… Hollywood was really a dry place for a year and a half!  It is wonderful to be back with you and back with the orchestra <audience applause> and like me probably many of you have watched the Olympics on NBC, and they have done so beautifully, presenting the Olympics.  And my association with NBC is a long time one, I've written the music for Meet The Press, the Nightly News, the Today Show, and Sunday Night Football, and let’s see, the Olympics in Los Angeles and Seoul Korea, and Atlanta, and Keith Lockhart and I did the Olympics in Salt Lake City, the Winter Olympics I think it was in ‘02.  It's already nearly 20 years!
 
And you will see tonight, some fabulous footage that we were fortunate enough to have allowed us to use by NBC and the Olympic Committee.  And these fabulous images I know you will agree when you see them, were put together by Susan Dangle of WGBH in Boston, and it’s quite a... they chose so many treasured faces, there’s a shot in there of Kobe Bryant I can't get over, it's so beautiful.  When you watch this I think you’ll enjoy it.  Olympics.”
 
 
Olympic Fanfare and Theme
 
This is, simply, one of my favorite pieces of music of all time, and one that wows with me its power every time I get to hear it live.  This performance was no exception, and was the absolute highlight of the evening for me.  The Pops played the piece perfectly, with a lot of enthusiasm, capturing all the power the piece contains.  Tremendous.  The video montage of athletes from across many years of Olympics competitions was nicely done (though admittedly, I spent more time watching the orchestra playing the music and did not focus on it too much).  The audience erupted into quick and enthusiastic applause when Simone Biles showed up in the montage.  Then, Williams grabbed the mic again:
 
 
“Here is something that I wanted to show you and have you hear.  It’s from a film called Big Friendly Giant, which Steven Spielberg made 2 or 3 years ago, which not too many people saw <audience laughter> But it was written by um, oh dear... Charlie and the Chocolate Factory <audience helps him out> Thank you very much - Roald Dahl!  And it’s called Big Friendly Giant.  
 
And Steven wanted to make this film for technical reasons, because he wanted to present an adult man, the giant, having scenes and playing the entire film with a young girl, 8 or 9 years old, small enough to be held in his hand.  And he would take the little girl to the land of dreams, and find dreams, searches for them - good dreams not bad ones - and capture them and enclose them in bottles.  And then the giant could distribute these to children throughout the world.  And what you’ll see here is a montage put together from this, of all the searching for the dreams, and the orchestra - particularly the flutes - will accompany all this choreography and these gyrations.  And the lighting I think you’ll agree is very beautiful.  I hope you enjoy this.  Big Friendly Giant.”
 

A Child’s Tale: Suite from The BFG
 
This is a favorite of Williams scores for me, and one of the best works of his recent output.  I love that Williams seems to be particularly fond of it, developing this lengthy (this performance ran slightly over 7 minutes) suite from most of its themes and ideas, and taking the time to introduce it and highlight what he’d like the audience to pay attention to.  The montage was a nicely done assembly of the parts of the film that showcase Sophie and the BFG’s friendship, and their adventures with the dreams.  The whole adventure with the Queen is not shown, and the bad Giants were not featured much either.  It was nicely done, and overall, this really shows how much can outlive the films they were written for.  I don’t know how many people in the audience who had not seen this film might have been compelled to go see it after this night, but they might be more inclined to listen to the music again.
 

“Thank you.  This is from Indiana Jones, Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra.  And the reason for "Motorcycle" is that we had Sean Connery and Harrison Ford on a motorcycle being chased by Nazis, and they had to get away very quickly.  And I had to write this piece to accompany that scene.  Unfortunately when I went to the theater to hear the scene, all I could hear was the motorcycle.  So I resolved to make it a piece for Orchestra.  Motorcycle and Orchestra, without the Motorcycle.  All right!”
 
 
Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra from The Last Crusade
 
This is the wonderful, updated concert arrangement version that premiered some time after the initial concert arrangement version (the one heard on The Spielberg / Williams Collaboration album).  I was so thrilled to get this selection instead of something like The Raiders March or Adventures of Mutt; This was another major highlight of the evening.  The performance was wonderful, and since I am not very familiar with the newer changes this arrangement has, I got to enjoy some musical surprises for the first time since Overture To The Oscars.

Marion’s Theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark
 
This was the wonderful arrangement from 2008 that I have heard a few times, yet enjoy hearing very much every time.  Unlike the later Han Solo and the Princess arrangement, this arrangement could have easily been done at the time of the original film and felt at home there.  I have always loved this theme, and this arrangement of it is a great selection for any film music concert.
 
Throne Room and Finale from Star Wars: A New Hope
 
Perhaps because of time length limitations for the concert, Williams didn’t say anything after the Indiana Jones selections, and instead launched into this after a not very long applause break following Marion’s theme.  Much like the Scherzo, I am always thrilled to hear this piece performed live instead of the Main Title arrangement yet again, and the Pops did not disappoint at all with a great performance of it.
 
The applause afterward was the loudest and longest yet of the night, as Williams seemed to really appreciate the audience immensely before leaving the stage, only to come back relatively quickly for the first encore
 
The Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back
 
There is nothing left to say about this, I think I have heard it at seemingly every Boston Pops Film Night concert I have ever attended, and it always sounds great.  The audience began applauding long before its final chord, which didn’t surprise me at all.  As the applause continued, Williams left the stage only to return… with Keith Lockhart!  I thought this meant that there would be no second encore and he was going through the final motions of the night, but that was not the case!  Instead, both Williams and Lockhart went up on the podium, and then Lockhart stepped down and to the side and let Williams begin conducting:
 
Flying from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
 
Another classic I’ve heard a million times, but the music is so good how can you complain?  I was mostly fascinated by trying to figure out what was going on on-stage.  Williams was conducting and Lockhart was standing off the to the side watching… until suddenly, Williams stepped down (and of course, all the musicians know this piece so well, they don’t need a conductor to keep going perfectly), and Lockhart stepped up and after a bit, started conducting himself!  I had my eyes locked on Williams, who had slowly stepped downs towards the violin section, and had to move one of their stands a bit to make room for himself.  He then slowly turned and observed each section of the orchestra as they played his music to Lockhart’s conducting, and he seemed to just really be enjoying being literally in the middle of all this happening.  Towards the end of the piece, they swapped spots again, and Williams conducted to the end while Lockhart watched.  
 
Then, both men bowed and made sure to highlight all the musicians on stage as the applause kept going and going, until Williams eventually made his classic “sleepy time” pose, generating the usual laughter from the audience, and they made they way out the side door and the standing ovation continued for a while until it was clear the night was over and the stage lights came on.
 
A truly magical evening of music, and one of the best film music concerts I have ever attending.  I was so thrilled to see Williams in excellent health, to hear one of his newest compositions, to hear many favorite pieces played splendidly, and to enjoy it all with an enthusiastic crowd in the gorgeous weather outdoors.
 
As we walked back to the parking lot, the sky constantly lit up with amazing lightning bolts, and in fact the coming rain only arrive literally as we were entering our car.  One last little bit of happenstance to end a wonderful night.

Chris is still working on it. I’m definitely thinking about getting this one. And maybe the next one too…and the next one…

Chris is still working on it. I’m definitely thinking about getting this one. And maybe the next one too…and the next one…

As Leonard Slatkin recollected in the Williams/Goldsmith tribute we did last February, one of the reasons the Pops picked JW as music director was his access to a slew of new arrangers (mostly from Hollywood) who could revive and update the Pops catalogue with new and fresh arrangements. One of the reasons why the orchestra had issues to perform with Fiedler was indeed the poor quality of the arrangements they were playing. While JW kept some of the standards made during the Fiedler years penned by Jack Mason, Glenn Osser, Joe Reisman and others, he commissioned many new ones to friends like Alexander Courage, Dick Hyman, Richard Hayman, Angela Morley, Sid Ramin. That was an absolutely crucial element of his tenure at the Pops. Of course he also crafted several by himself, but as you noted, those were incredibly busy years for him so it wouldn't have been possible to take all that arranging workload by himself.

MM has certainly made it clear he plans to produce a comprehensive album for every film score JW ever wrote. I think sometimes people get too held up on anniversaries being an indication that that's when things will release. Even if a project was initially intended to hit one of those, so many titles miss their targets these days due to do many factors, even before covid altered the work flow of every studio and label. In recent months we learned Always was planned for its 30th Anniversary and only came out on its 32nd Anniversary, X-Men was planned for its 20th Anniversary and came out on its 21st Anniversary.... heck, we even just got a definitive Wrath Of Khan now, on its 39th Anniversary! (they chose not to wait 5 short months to make it a "40th Anniversary" branded release)
 
I have faith we'll get a MM Hook eventually, just like I have faith we'll get MM Star Warses and Indiana Joneseses. And what a surprise all these announcements will be, whenever they happen

Anyway if we look on the credits of the Philips albums, it seems JW didn't have time to write his own arrangements for works written by others, and it's perfectly understandable.
 
Those years were crazy!!! Composing, conducting, recording albums, recording TV shows, he was everywhere!

After looking at the list of included CDs, I realized I was missing a couple. A quick search on the Presto music  download section and Amazon completed the collection. I also used that method to complete the Sony package. Cheaper than re buying everything. Especially if there’s no sound improvement. But if you don’t own any of these CDs, it’s a good way to get them. 

Well JW did revisit TFA a few years later to write the Adagio, so... who knows!
 
I'd probably rather he fleshed out TLJ first though. Concert arrangements of The Spark and The Fathiers would be incredible.

After receiving an inconclusive answer from Sheetmusicplus, I asked Hal Leonard directly. 
Here’s their answer
 
Kasey (Hal Leonard) 
Aug 16, 2021, 12:58 PM CDT 
Hello Richard,
 
Thank you for reaching out to us. Yes, at some point this will become available to the public. We currently have not received any estimated release date from John Williams, but once it becomes available it will be posted on our site under item number HL 04492547.
 
Kindly,
Kasey‍
 
Resolution Lead/Product Specialist
Hal Leonard Customer Experience

 

After receiving an inconclusive answer from Sheetmusicplus, I asked Hal Leonard directly. 
Here’s their answer
 
Kasey (Hal Leonard) 
Aug 16, 2021, 12:58 PM CDT 
Hello Richard,
 
Thank you for reaching out to us. Yes, at some point this will become available to the public. We currently have not received any estimated release date from John Williams, but once it becomes available it will be posted on our site under item number HL 04492547.
 
Kindly,
Kasey‍
 
Resolution Lead/Product Specialist
Hal Leonard Customer Experience

 

After receiving an inconclusive answer from Sheetmusicplus, I asked Hal Leonard directly. 
Here’s their answer
 
Kasey (Hal Leonard) 
Aug 16, 2021, 12:58 PM CDT 
Hello Richard,
 
Thank you for reaching out to us. Yes, at some point this will become available to the public. We currently have not received any estimated release date from John Williams, but once it becomes available it will be posted on our site under item number HL 04492547.
 
Kindly,
Kasey‍
 
Resolution Lead/Product Specialist
Hal Leonard Customer Experience

 

After receiving an inconclusive answer from Sheetmusicplus, I asked Hal Leonard directly. 
Here’s their answer
 
Kasey (Hal Leonard) 
Aug 16, 2021, 12:58 PM CDT 
Hello Richard,
 
Thank you for reaching out to us. Yes, at some point this will become available to the public. We currently have not received any estimated release date from John Williams, but once it becomes available it will be posted on our site under item number HL 04492547.
 
Kindly,
Kasey‍
 
Resolution Lead/Product Specialist
Hal Leonard Customer Experience

 

After receiving an inconclusive answer from Sheetmusicplus, I asked Hal Leonard directly. 
Here’s their answer
 
Kasey (Hal Leonard) 
Aug 16, 2021, 12:58 PM CDT 
Hello Richard,
 
Thank you for reaching out to us. Yes, at some point this will become available to the public. We currently have not received any estimated release date from John Williams, but once it becomes available it will be posted on our site under item number HL 04492547.
 
Kindly,
Kasey‍
 
Resolution Lead/Product Specialist
Hal Leonard Customer Experience

 

After receiving an inconclusive answer from Sheetmusicplus, I asked Hal Leonard directly. 
Here’s their answer
 
Kasey (Hal Leonard) 
Aug 16, 2021, 12:58 PM CDT 
Hello Richard,
 
Thank you for reaching out to us. Yes, at some point this will become available to the public. We currently have not received any estimated release date from John Williams, but once it becomes available it will be posted on our site under item number HL 04492547.
 
Kindly,
Kasey‍
 
Resolution Lead/Product Specialist
Hal Leonard Customer Experience

 

After receiving an inconclusive answer from Sheetmusicplus, I asked Hal Leonard directly. 
Here’s their answer
 
Kasey (Hal Leonard) 
Aug 16, 2021, 12:58 PM CDT 
Hello Richard,
 
Thank you for reaching out to us. Yes, at some point this will become available to the public. We currently have not received any estimated release date from John Williams, but once it becomes available it will be posted on our site under item number HL 04492547.
 
Kindly,
Kasey‍
 
Resolution Lead/Product Specialist
Hal Leonard Customer Experience

 

After receiving an inconclusive answer from Sheetmusicplus, I asked Hal Leonard directly. 
Here’s their answer
 
Kasey (Hal Leonard) 
Aug 16, 2021, 12:58 PM CDT 
Hello Richard,
 
Thank you for reaching out to us. Yes, at some point this will become available to the public. We currently have not received any estimated release date from John Williams, but once it becomes available it will be posted on our site under item number HL 04492547.
 
Kindly,
Kasey‍
 
Resolution Lead/Product Specialist
Hal Leonard Customer Experience

 

After receiving an inconclusive answer from Sheetmusicplus, I asked Hal Leonard directly. 
Here’s their answer
 
Kasey (Hal Leonard) 
Aug 16, 2021, 12:58 PM CDT 
Hello Richard,
 
Thank you for reaching out to us. Yes, at some point this will become available to the public. We currently have not received any estimated release date from John Williams, but once it becomes available it will be posted on our site under item number HL 04492547.
 
Kindly,
Kasey‍
 
Resolution Lead/Product Specialist
Hal Leonard Customer Experience

 

Thanks everyone for the nice words about the Eiger podcast! Very happy that you liked it. 
 
The year is not over yet, by the way 🙂

My guess is that the Detroit Symphony was granted a license from JW and Hal Leonard to perform the suite before the actual publishing. From what it looks, it’s very likely it’s going to be available very soon.
 
I personally consider TROS a masterpiece and I’m so happy JW prepared a full concert suite. I can’t wait to see and hear what extensions he wrote for these pieces.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Mutter arrangements have some kind of exclusive agreement for ASM, at least for a window period, hence why they’re not available for rental or purchase at the moment.

I sure hope that it means that Hal Leonard is about to release this suite in their signature series. The font on the part kind of looks like their usual one in that series. 

I sure hope that it means that Hal Leonard is about to release this suite in their signature series. The font on the part kind of looks like their usual one in that series. 

Hey, @Falstaft: no idea what exactly it is yet, but the first movement is titled ‘Psalm of the Sith’!
 

Fantastic conversation Maurizio! If it wasn’t 10:00PM I would have picked up the 🎺  and go play through With Malice Towards None…so motivating. Also very cool to hear about the different spots where JW himself is performing the piano solos. 
Looking forward to the next one.

Fantastic conversation Maurizio! If it wasn’t 10:00PM I would have picked up the 🎺  and go play through With Malice Towards None…so motivating. Also very cool to hear about the different spots where JW himself is performing the piano solos. 
Looking forward to the next one.