Chewy

The happy news I cryptically alluded to last week is now something I can make official: I just signed a book contract with OUP for 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘬𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘴: 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘴!   It's a book it feels like I've been writing in my head for a long, long time -- since middle school, kinda? And unless Williams somehow returns to write another entry in the series, I'm treating it a chance to provide a properly 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 investigation into these scores, all nine of them.   Even Rise of Skywalker?? 𝘌𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 Rise of Skywalker!   My hope is this book does some justice to the complexity, challenge, and sheer magic of this music.   Now, back to the grindstone!   https://www.facebook.com/Falstaft/posts/pfbid0L6wUjeDDxj6AmhwHh1f9obrVMJfYbPx4GJM8YaEWiZtqxwp37A88monPFVDxBQ26l  
Congratulations, @Falstaft!

Will Frank have to pay the reuse fees to the AFM? 

Ah nice, so we can read about it, just not hear it.

So I've been listening to this release a whole lot, and thanks to the cue information in the CD booklet and Jay's amazing spreadsheet resource, I think I'm getting my head around all the cues and where they belong.
 
I did make an interesting (I hope) observation. I noticed that all the cues which contain Barbara Bonney's vocal solos were recorded on the same day: 15th March 2001. While there's nothing uncommon about the practice of allocating the recording of certain cues requiring the presence of vocal/instrumental soloists to particular day/time, what interests me is that 15th March seems to be the very LAST day of recording sessions for the film. Additionally, 2 key cues Bonney ultimately appeared in had already been recorded at earlier sessions WITHOUT her: 7m1+2 Finding the Blue Fairy (Alternate) was recorded on 12th February, featuring a completely instrumental version of the Blue Fairy theme, and 7m5 What Is Your Wish? was recorded on 7th March, featuring full choir and no solo vocals. 8m3 End Credits (Where Dreams Are Born) and A.I. Theme No. 2 (Vocal Version) were also recorded on 15th March, and they have no earlier versions to my knowledge - Perhaps they were the last things Williams wrote once he knew he would have access to a vocalist?
 
My question is: Was the idea to feature solo vocals as a key motific/emotional element in this score a last minute decision, one that came about only when Williams was asked/chose to revise certain cues?
 
If anyone has any insight to share on this, I would be grateful. I love this score and it is fascinating to imagine that there might once have existed a version of it that didn't feature solo female voice, given how impactful that element of the score is in the finale of the film.

Glad to report that Heidi and Jane made it home safe. Although they did pick up some sketchy company along the way.
 

John Williams - Minority Report (LLL)
 
This listen convinced me that this is one of Johnny's masterpieces.  The blend of brooding introspection, unreachable memories of happier times, thrilling action and chase music, and vocals crying for justice is unparalleled in any other scores I've heard.  I love how you can tell from listening that this fits right in between his prequel and Harry Potter scores, and is very post-AI pre-War of the Worlds, yet doesn't feel like it steals from any of those, its its own thing.  And its fantastic from start to finish, especially the main program of the LLL edition.  I forgot how much I like the alternate openings to The Crime and Freezing Water, so I'll probably swap those with their main program counterparts next time around.  What a score!

I listened to the full score again after a few months and the music is just too good. There isn’t a single dull or uninteresting moment, and the way he weaves the themes together so seamlessly makes it feel like you’re listening to a concert work rather than something written to picture. This may be Williams’ most complex score, and definitely remains one of my favourites.

You and I have a very different opinion of what constitutes "fun". I find it to be an excruciatingly boring score.

Two concerts in Paris!
 
Orchestre de Paris / Alexandre Desplat
Grande salle Pierre Boulez - Philharmonie de Paris
duration: approx. 2 hours
29.01.2025, 8.00 p.m.
30.01.2025, 8.00 p.m.
 
Meeting with Alexandre Desplat
Salle de conférence - Philharmonie de Paris
duration: approx. 45 minutes
29.01.2025, 6.45 p.m.
 
Concert:
https://philharmoniedeparis.fr/fr/activite/concert-symphonique/27131-orchestre-de-paris-alexandre-desplat
Meeting:
https://philharmoniedeparis.fr/fr/activite/rencontre/27928-rencontre-avec-alexandre-desplat
 
PROGRAMME:
The Imitation Game
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The King's Speech
The Tree of Life
Little Women
The Shape of Water
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Paris Orchestra
Alexandre Desplat, conductor

It is a privilege to listen to Alexandre Desplat in person lead the Orchester de Paris in a fascinating anthology of his best scores : Desplat sorcery, which has seduced even Harry Potter, comes into action !  
Winner of two Oscars for the soundtracks of The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and The Shape of Water (2018), Alexandre Desplat is today one of the major figures in film composition. From Paris to Hollywood, we could almost exhaust ourselves listing the prestigious collaborations that have already punctuated his career, from Jacques Audiard to David Fincher, from Wes Anderson to Stephen Frears, via Peter Webber or Guillermo del Toro...
If the elite of the seventh art are fighting for it, it is because there is, in addition to a know-how which no longer needs to be demonstrated, a Desplat "paw", which imposes itself despite the scrupulous care that he focuses, above all else, on serving the world of the film entrusted to him. Capable of seducing, disquieting, bewitching in an ambiguous manner, intoxicating, galvanizing, Desplat's art merges with cinematographic narration, which does not prevent it, with its melodies in the bass register, its harmonies subtle and unstable its violent epic bursts, to remain eminently personal.

But unbox it first.

Exactly. If the intention of a scholar is purely to study the work of an artist is perfectly fine.
And also, if it’s a deceased artist whose work one studies, is completely different from someone obsessing over a living person whose attention one desperately wants to get with every action of his/hers. 
 
 
BonaparteFan; 
NBFan

Just want to point out the obvious difference between a trained historian and a fan.
 
 
He could have been a good composer!

I did not say in my previous post that @TownerFanhas a mental illness. I was talking about being obsessed for another person IN GENERAL. 
There is a saying: if the cap fits… 
 
What I don’t understand is why you and others speak for @TownerFan ? Can’t he speak for himself if he feels like he’s attacked? 
 
Because I wrote to him long ago a Private Message saying what I thought about him, to him, DIRECTLY, not behind his back. 
And now in this thread I was talking about fan obsession in general, yet I’m being accused again for attacking @TownerFan
 
I too am polite, asking politely to please stop accusing me of attacking @TownerFan. He doesn’t need protection, because he is a grown man who can defend himself if he feels like it or if he’s attacked, which I did not do. I expressed my personal opinion about how toxic and unhealthy being obsessed about a film composer can be, in general. I’m sorry if what I wrote, is true for @TownerFan, again, if the cap fits. But is he capable of defending himself if he feels like being attacked, or is he protected by others for no particular reason other than to attack that member who expresses his thoughts on fan obsession? 
 
However if you still insist that by expressing my thoughts on this matter I’m breaking the fundamental rules of this forum, I will stop talking about this matter because heaven forbid that I hurt anyone’s feelings let alone the fundamental forum rules.
 
So I’m politely asking you, are we good? 
 
 

You're the one who's obsessed with Maurizio. Saying that another member has a mental illness is a personal attack. You've done this repeatedly.
 
I will politely ask you that you stop breaking this fundamental rule of our forums. Thanks.

The thread always had this title. 
 
 
Napoleon Bonaparte is dead. 

Are we allowed to ask what is being obsessed about a film composer? 

Are we allowed to criticize or even talk about someone who is literally obsessed about another person?
 
Are we allowed to discuss fan obsession anymore?
 
Is criticizing, pointing out fan obsession an “attack”?
If so, why? Why isn’t it what it is: pointing it out, stating a fact based on countless evidence? 
 
Why are certain people protected and others not?
Why is it tolerated? 
 
When being a fan of a film composer stops being a hobby of listening to their music, or maybe attending their concert, and it becomes an obsession when you feel that they are your exclusive property, that you, in some form or another, own them and have to know everything about them, you find and talk to everyone in their surroundings, their friends and colleagues, pretend as it is “important work” that you do in order to preserve their life and work, when you put more time, energy and money into “celebrating” the film composer than into other, truly important things that could help you move on with your life and your work, when you dedicate podcasts, websites, arrange fan events to a film composer, when you dress like him, try to think like him, literally everything you do in your life is to have him take notice of you, to appreciate you, to like or even love you, and when you neglect everything else, your friends and family, your own life, is being obsessed. And it’s wrong. It’s toxic. It’s a psychological problem that will eventually consume you if you don’t put an end to it. It will hurt your thinking, your emotional health and your personal connections. If anyone knows someone who shows the aforementioned symptoms, tell them to seek professional help, because their behavior is abnormal. 
 
Fan obsession can even lead to aggressive and dangerous behavior, where the disappointment in the unreciprocated love and devotion for the idolized person can turn into self harm or harming others, mentally or even physically.
 
Being a fan should be enough for a mentally healthy person, without the urge to know as much about the artist as possible, or to interact with them, only listening to their work, and not crossing any boundaries that could turn into obsession.  

Essay for Strings
 

Well, good for you!
If wearing turtlenecks most of the year (because I do feel cold most of the time) and having a similar trimmed beard, having had for about a decade the only website in Portuguese dedicated to Williams and at the time, the most complete and well constructed discography on the web, makes me an obsessed fellow, well, that's my problem isn't it? Because, trust me, I can out run Maurizio... Because, believe it or not, my sons are called João (in memory of my late grandfather) and Guilherme (because my ex-wife felt he was her prince and need a prince worthy name) which can translate to John and William. As many friends have pointed out  over the past 21 years, that can't be a coincidence... maybe it wasn't at some unconscious level.
That does make look like an obsessed guy about an 92 year young composer... maybe it does, and probably I am. And let me tell you, that never affected the remaining and multiple aspects of my daily life. And I'm sure the same applies to Maurizio. If there is some sort of obsession is still as healthy as it could be, not overlapping with any other needed and healthy daily routine (my current job at the school board is probably less healthier than being obsessed about John Williams...)
I just really fail why that is such of a big deal to you. You've grown up and don't worship and old man. Great. I don't mind not growing up. Isn't it great we live in a free world when we can make those choices? If you feel that Maurizio's "obsessive"  website isn't worth your attention, just move on to what you find is worth instead of complaining about it. That surely will be and healthy decision.

Most irritating post of the year so far.

Personal attacks are NOT ALLOWED on JWFan.  Please restrain from using our website to attack other members, either publicly or privately.
 
 
 
 

L.p..available!
 
 
https://www.amoeba.com/the-story-and-the-songs-from-heidi-ost-lp-johanna-spyri/albums/4211546/

Soundtrack Corner just cancelled my order because they didn't get enough copies. 
That's dis-ap-poin-ting. 

He’s way worse than my past self. I’ve since grown up, not worshiping an old man. 

He believes he's talking about Maurizio, but I think in reality he's talking about his past self and just projecting that onto someone else.

I don’t think there is anything but his music that people should learn about John Williams, by simply listening to it. This level of obsession about another person - any person for that matter - is nothing short of toxic and borderline neurotic. Just listen to the man’s music and stop analyzing every single thing he said and did, like he was Jesus. The guy even dresses like JW, he looks like an obsessed person. And he is supported in this obsession by some people like it was a normal thing. The amount of time and money he must be putting into worshiping another man is crazy. I really feel sorry for this guy for not finding something truly meaningful in his life other than worshiping a 92-year-old American composer.
Pathetic and revolting.