Bayesian

I always kind of want to agree with that, in that I think the original is the only actually good movie in the series.  But I wouldn't give up Lost World.  Classic score, classic suspense/action sequences.
 
The other 4 movies can be flushed down the toilet though.

If we're placing the length of JW's career in context, I'll re-up my post from last year on the subject  
 
 

I reflected on this a lot over the years and even more since I began the Legacy project. Several things mentioned above here are true and I agree with such statements. It’s possible to do a critical evaluation of JW and put him into a definite historical context. In this regard, Williams is very much a fixture of the 20th century, as he grew up, matured and found his success throughout the second half of the 1900s, so he belong to this specific timeframe and absorbed its wide variety of influences, as many of the greats who lived in the same era did. 
 
Anyway, what I understood is that JW is pretty much a unique and irreplaceable figure in the history of film music, but also music in general. The fact he found fortune and glory in the glitzy commercial world of Hollywood (to which he will always be inextricably tied) doesn’t diminish his formidable skills as a composer who has been able to synthesize and revive a musical tradition (i.e. the classical Hollywood scoring style) and let his own voice be also heard loud and clear nonetheless. He has always been popular and sophisticated at the same time, a quality that is really rare to find. I think he’s the musical equivalent of a Charles Dickens or a Mark Twain in this regard. He fuses unbridled Mozartian genius with a Haydn-like balanced sense of sophistication. Hollywood offered him an ideal platform, in which he was able to express his own talent. He was the right person in the right place at the right moment of history, surrounded by talent and creativity since his early days there and part of a generation who also loved jazz and modern music. 
 
There won’t be another John Williams as there never was another Twain, Dickens or Haydn. He will always be a benchmark, a fixture and a role model for many many composers and artists for centuries to come.

I've calculated something...
 
Had Williams died at Tchaikovsky's age (54) in 1986, he would still have had 3 Star Wars films, 2 Indy films, CE3K, E.T., Jaws, Superman, Jane Eyre, 45 or so other film scores, the Violin Concerto, 4 Oscars, a honorary PhD, and 6 years at the helm of the Boston Pops to his name.
 
36 years later and he is still going on!

As has been mentioned, he isn't necessarily/exactly a Golden Age composer. But he is probably the last major film composer who learned his art when film music wasn't an established genre. Instead, he was "classically" trained, and applied that training and his instincts to film scoring. As a result, I think there's a lot of art in his work, whereas these days, film music is an established genre that is taught, but much more as a craft than an art form. I suppose that means that a person studying both that and "serious" art music may have a "better"/more fitting education than Williams himself - but someone who just studied film music, unless they also have (like Williams) a massive amount of inherent/autodidactic talent, is almost by definition not in the same league as him. Add to that that neither the contemporary expectations towards film music (at least for most major productions) nor the production schedules are very tempting for composers actually interested in the art of composition, and it becomes clear why it's unlikely that someone of Williams's stature is likely to come along in the foreseeable future.

The Palau de la música català has just published the Prelude and Scherzo as played by Gloria Cheng las summer, for free. Here you can watch it:
 
https://www.palaudigital.cat/destacats/videos/preludi-i-scherzo-de-john-williams

Still listening to my Rise of Skywalker 5 CD set

I'll (naively) hold out hope that Disney might hire Mike M. to produce expansions of all 5 scores to coincide with the final film.
 
....because that worked for Star Wars, amirite?

Can’t wait to hear only a quarter of it on album  

I want to say it’s Force Awakens followed by Crystal Skull as a close second. The trouble is defining what constitutes a “theme”. Do we count “A themes” separately than “B themes”? Would you count an element of said theme that becomes its own motif throughout the score? (Thus the brilliance of the maestro!) So it’s hard to tally. I’m open to all interpretations as I’m not particularly musically literate.
 
(I know the OST albums have some cues joined together. So I didn’t count “Jedi Steps” as part of the end credits composition. Same with “The Wedding” going into the finale of Crystal Skull. But feel free to!)
 
 
Force Awakens:
1. “Woomph” (0:00)
(Luke’s theme/Rebel Fanfare)
2. Rey’s Theme (0:46)
3. Dark Force motif(?) into Kylo’s theme (2:00)(This might be considered one “theme”?)
4. Finn Theme (2:45)
5. Poe Theme (3:12)(Then back into Finn’s theme)
6. Resistance March (3:53)
7. Force theme (mixed with Rey’s theme) (5:18)
8.Lukes Theme (6:22)
 
Again. It’s a bit murky to me what bits could be considered their own themes/motifs. But we have about 7-9 musical identities floating around this composition potentially. 
 

Crystal Skull
1. Raiders March (0:00)
2. Irina’s theme (1:34)
3. Russian Theme (2:41)
    (Russian theme interlude(?) (3:13)
4. Mutt Theme (3:39)
5.Marion Theme (4:59)
 
 
This one kinda broke my brain a bit. (Marions theme is technically included in the Raiders March. So would you count it all as one theme??) Also, the Raiders B theme. Wasn’t sure if that counts as it’s own identity. And the Russian Material, that fantastic Azkaban/Tintin flute solo bit. So great. But it never appears in the score proper. Tough to tell if that would be considered it’s own one-off theme or a just an interlude to the Russian material)
 
In any case, even in Williams’ most elaborate end credits suites, I feel he juggles about 5-6 unique themes/motifs and then puts some of those through insane iterations (hello “Double Trouble”!). Force Awakens would still be a champion though pushing the limit to 7-9.
 
I could be completely off. Is there another behemoth End Credits suite bursting at the gills with themes/motifs that I’m missing? 

I've been trying to determine the lengthiest themes Williams has written and I think I have narrowed it down to the 'Top 5'. 
 
Two notes:
 
1. I look at the time it takes for a theme to reach completion on the original soundtrack recording. I am not counting the 'number of notes', which would form a completely different criteria to determine 'long lined melodies';
2. With some themes -With Malice Toward None and the Love Theme from The Patriot especially- I took some liberty in determining whether all the melodic content involved is part of a single theme. I can imagine some will state that the themes in question end earlier and that I mistakenly included a B-section. However; I find that these melodies are truly resolved at the end points I indicated below.
 
1. WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE (LINCOLN)
 
Theme starts: 00:00 - Theme ends: 01:46 | TOTAL TIME: 01:46 minutes
 
 
2. LOVE THEME (THE PATRIOT)
 
Theme starts: 00:05 - Theme ends: 01:45 | TOTAL TIME: 01:40 minutes
 
 
 
3. HYMN TO THE FALLEN (SAVING PRIVATE RYAN)
 
Theme starts: 00:24 - Theme ends: 01:32 | TOTAL TIME: 01:08 minutes
 
 
 
4. THEME (JFK)
 
Theme starts: 00:00 - Theme ends: 01:01 | TOTAL TIME: 01:01 minutes
 
 
 
5. GROWING UP (THE RIVER)
 
Theme starts: 00:29 - Theme ends: 01:21 | TOTAL TIME: 00:52 seconds
 
 

Apparently, one of the final awards approved by the Queen

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11244771/Queens-final-knight-John-Williams-honoured-creating-music-blockbuster-films.html

Based 

No, he needs to release a big showstopper preferably called something like 'An American Symphony' with 500 piece orchestra, mixed chorus, cannon shots and allusions to all his big blockbuster cues. I mean, what more could we ask for?

I think there is not a singular final statement. Williams probably receives more acclaim now, than at any other point in his career. The concerts in Vienna, Berlin and Milan, his collaboration with Anne-Sophie Mutter and the fact that he's still scoring films at 90 (!) years of age, including an Indiana Jones film, are such wonderful moments to witness.
 
I think Williams 'final statement' is that during the last phase of his career, he was regarded as 'a great composer', not just a 'film music composer' and his music and presence was heralded in the epicentres of classical music. 
 

My thoughts on the film and score:
 
Spielberg’s usual knack for sentimentality and wide-eyed wonder manifests itself so effortlessly in this tender autobiography about the healing power of art in a broken family. It feels like he’s been making movies for decades with this in the back of his mind, not as some grand end goal per se but as another big piece to fit comfortably into the later chapters of his oeuvre. There has always been a little spot in his filmography left open for this one. Those skeptical about the material will be happy to know that it plays less like the stock coming-of-age-meets-homage-to-cinema vanity project that you’re probably thinking of and more like a warm and fuzzy flicker of home movie memories from the all-time great.
 
The first hour or so is as close as the film gets to saccharine, not so much sweetened as it is a little corny, but never cloying. For anyone allergic to Spielberg in that general mode, this won’t change your attitude. The film fittingly grows up over the runtime, but still skillfully walks the bittersweet line between the dramatic weight and the tongue-in-cheek dorkiness of Spielberg’s youth from the get-go. It’s never self-serious and has a good sense of humour about itself without compromising the emotional resonance of the familial tensions. If anything, the lightness authenticates it. I’m not sure if it was just emphasized by the receptive festival crowd, but this might actually be one of Spielberg’s funniest, filled with lots of naturalistic sibling banter, interjections from old Jewish relatives, and the usual awkward teen moments. The monkey is good too!
 
After the wide-shot flourish of West Side Story, which naturally saw him throw his whole cinematic toolbox up onto the screen, Spielberg’s direction scales back and excels in the light touch of his patented formal economy. He’s still bringing the goods as necessary, from a couple of lasting compositions to one incredibly memorable visual gag, but don’t go in expecting any show-stopping long-takes. Ultimately the heart of the film is the script, co-authored by Tony Kushner but so clearly a personal outlet for Spielberg. Sure, the recreated anecdotes will be familiar to admirers of his work, but there’s a whole groundwork of thematic subtext there to deepen the scenes that would otherwise have us pointing at the screen DiCaprio-style. In fact, it's pretty remarkable how well so much of the stuff I "recognized" translates to the screen without that embarrassing feeling that it’s only there for the sake of it.
 
The performances are really solid in an ensemble sort of way. Obviously Paul Dano and Michelle Williams as the parents goes without saying, but the main guy who plays Spielberg at high school age is actually really good too. I recall some of the early reactions mentioning Licorice Pizza as a reference, which makes some sense considering how certain characters will just wander in, own the movie for a few minutes, and then leave (Judd Hirsch and David Lynch, baby!). Fortunately, that’s as far as the comparison goes though. I didn’t like the rose-coloured glasses the PTA film insisted on wearing but no matter here. 
 
Just as my film brain is always focusing on the camera movement and editing, my film score ears are tuned in to catch and place as much music as possible. Williams’ score is sparse but thoughtfully spotted and quite elegant in a sombre way, as KK has already mentioned. My estimate is probably not much more than a half-hour of original music, if even that much. It’s possible Williams wrote and recorded some other suites or arrangements intended for the album, but otherwise I imagine the OST will be a combination of licensed music and original score. There are a couple period needledrops from the radio, a number of classical piano pieces played by his mother (credits listed Satie’s Gymnopedie, and others by Beethoven, Haydn, and maybe Bach), as well as some diegetic Western music heard on records during the movie screenings (I recognized the villain theme from Bernstein’s The Magnificent Seven and the title melody from Newman’s How The West Was Won, credits also listed something by Victor Young, Max Steiner’s The Searchers, and more Alfred Newman- Captain From Castile may have been it). As far as Williams’ score goes, there’s one main idea for celeste, strings, harp, and what I think was an oboe or clarinet. It appears about three times in the film proper, and is also the basis for the 4 to 5-minute end credits suite, which is a unique recording and the longest piece of music altogether. That one is sure to get a lot of plays. All the players are listed, including a standard string section, french horns, and soloists on piano, celeste, and guitar. Whoever drew the Book Thief comparison was about as close as they could have gotten, even though this is still pretty unique territory from a functional standpoint. Being reminded of Williams' grace and deftness after the sequel trilogy years of wall-to-wall tentpole scoring is of course another testament to his genius. Certainly worth a closer listen.
 
Anyway, it was really cool to attend a TIFF screening for the first time and to have it be the new Spielberg/Williams collaboration of all things. I’ll definitely be seeing this again in November. My favourite part was the post-credits stinger where a silhouetted man clearly wearing a turtleneck appears in a doorway and we get a booming, "Hey Stevie, baby!" accompanied by a bass pizzicato Jaws theme before it cuts to black. Seriously though, count me as a Fabel-fan.

Hello, everyone! It's been a while since I've posted on this topic, not really a surprise since I posted the last episode in December 2020. But, as you know, two new John Williams scores are coming out soon, and The Baton is coming back to continue the John Williams musical journey!
 
I plan on releasing the episode covering the music for "The Fablemans" and the work Williams has done since "Rise of Skywalker" soon. And the episode for Indy 5 will be out shortly after that movie's release. I'm waiting to hear the music for both films until I hear them in the movies. (Though I broke my rule and listened to the music from Indy 5 premiered at the Hollywood Bowl.)
 
In the meantime, I'm working on another podcast, called The Best Song Podcast. It will debut in January 2023, and, like The Baton, will be an oral history of music through multiple decades. This time, I'll be discussing the songs that were nominated for an Academy Award in the first 90 years of the award, from 1934 to 2023. I'm having a lot of fun with the research, and listening to many of the songs has been a thrill and an education.
 
The research has been extensive, and I've started a Kickstarter campaign to raise the $2,200 for preproduction costs. That includes buying lots of biographies of songwriters, hiring a graphic designer to create a logo and a professional voiceover artist to record the opening and closing of each episode. I hope you can give something to help me cover these costs. I don't get a dime of it unless the entire $2,200 is raised, so please give what you can.
 
Here's the link: The Best Song Podcast Kickstarter

Frankly, I’ve never seen such a collection of cowardly worms as these movie “critics,” who lack the cajones to give this movie the F+ grade it deserves for its title.

F + abelmans

I've mentioned elsewhere in this forum that JW's incredible work ethic and humble demeanor are truly inspiring. If ever a man lived who could rightly brag about the sheer volume and diversity of his achievements, it would be JW -- and yet, I cannot think of a single instance when he has ever been anything but self-effacing and deferential. No "I'm king of the world" moments from this man, no "I got a million people to come to my concert" attitude. Hell, even Beethoven, who slaved like a motherfucker over his music, claimed he was doing God's work (which was admittedly true). 
 
JW has never once coasted in his career, which is astonishing to me. He works and writes today--at 90 years old--as if he's trying to prove himself for the first time. He is the living embodiment of the best of human industriousness. He inspires me to try harder, every day.

I've been conditioned to hear a piano note and a huge BRAAAM over such dialogue.

Piano and keyboard solos on the score are performed by Robert Thies and Joanne Pearce Martin.

San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
John Williams, conductor
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
 
Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CA USA. Tuesday, February 14, 2023, 7:30pm
https://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2022-23/John-Williams
 
Program:
Sound the Bells!  Violin Concerto No. 2 (San Francisco Symphony Premiere)  Flight to Neverland from Hook Excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind   The Duel, from The Adventures of Tintin Nice to be Around, from Cinderella Liberty  Hedwig’s Theme from Harry Potter Throne Room & Finale, from Star Wars: A New Hope
   
Tickets go on sale Friday, September 16, 2022 at 10:AM PST

I heard from a cousin of a friend of a friend that Williams decided to retire because of what Spielberg did.