Tom

What an original post. Please tell us more.

I would say it is likely that Williams is scheduled to record either Star Wars or the Spielberg picture late July/early August and that is why he will not be performing with the BSO. It is good to see he is doing the concert in what is likely a busy summer for him.

maybe this is what Williams is recording next week (and, no, I am not serious--although that would be cool).

I wonder how Williams will approach the trailer. if he has not spotted the film in any way, it would be doubtful that he has new themes sketched. But obviously, to use just the old themes would seemingly be unnecessary, as they could have just tracked such music.

I apologize if this has been mentioned before, but this concert contains a nice little documentary on Williams narrated by Ian McDiarmond at the 54 minute mark: ps. the concert is excellent as well.

I understand the criticism of the appropriateness of mutt's theme from the point of the view of film criticism--I do not understand how that is relevant as it pertains to the music itself. At the end of the day, the only thing I judge a piece of music on is its acoustic aesthetic value. The adventures of mutt is a fun and exciting piece that is cleverly orchestrated. Whether it was meant for Hitler, Mutt, or William's goldfish makes no difference in terms of appraising the piece of music itself.

I guess that we will have a better picture of things once the recording dates are announced. I suppose he could do what he did with Tintin and begin star wars now, score another picture, and then finish star wars. My hunch, however, is that the main, if not only, recording dates will be late winter/early spring. We will find out soon enough. also, I am assuming that he is scoring the Spielberg picture, which has not been confirmed.

I don't think the scoring timeframe will be any different from the other installments. He will write for three months, record is feb/early march and be done with it. He will then turn his attention to the Spielberg film. The only difference is that the movie itself will not be released until dec versus may.

Was anyone here able to make it to this concert? Essay for Strings would be a very powerful piece to hear live.

Well, it is scored for a small wind band. It is going to sound watered down relative to the orchestral version. I like how it uses the new Williams' concert version as the template. It is cool for what it is.

This was probably mentioned at some time, but a very good recording of the Prelude and Fugue was remastered for CD. Here is the youtube of it: Edit, I am not sure why the video is not inline. Oh well, you can follow the link.

It is weird. A few years ago, I went to see Williams in Chicago and the program was set in advance. The only change the night of the performance was that Jurassic Park was replaced by Superman. Its like he gets cold feet or something with the piece.

I see the Book Thief will be performed at the Tanglewood on Parade concert. I am surprised it was not part of this show but am glad it is being programed in tomorrow.

The article mentions the Williams is at work in episode 7. Do we think that is literally accurate or is it just shorthand for his eventual scoring duties?

Just listened to this again after a couple of weeks--I find it better and better with each listen. I mention somewhere above that I hope this turns out to be a movement in a full concerto. Further speculation on my part: unless the Chinese orchestra specifically asked for a piano and orchestra piece (which seems unlikely to me), it seems that there is a good chance it is part of a larger concerto. Again, speculative, but if they asked him for a piece, but he was already committed to pieces like the brass composition, Star Spangled banner, etc, he could have then offered the Scherzo as a standalone piece (assuming that he had already been working on the overall concerto). It also seems odd that there are no notes about the piece, which he usually gives for premieres. I realize I sound like a crazy person, so I will stop now.

Well that was the most visceral thing I have ever heard Williams say. In some weird way, it might even solidify his reputation as a great artist in the minds of detractors.

particular vs universal statement.

I am sure that this thought is fueled by pure wishful thinking, but could this piece turn into a movement of a larger piano concerto? The "rational" reason I have is that Williams first premiered a movement of "Conversations," even as he planned to write further movements. I think it is an excellent standalone piece, but a whole concerto of similar quality would be incredible.

according to classicalcandor.BlogSpot.com, parts of the program will be performed and broadcasted at the BBC Proms July 19th. Hopefully the Scherzo will be part of the program.

Is the string pizzicato evidence of a revision, as has been Williams's custom of late, or was it part of the original and edited down for some reason afterwards? Are there other differences?

The press release mentions that Lang Lang is the featured pianist for the piece. He has a high profile and records frequently. Hopefully he will record and release a performance of the piece.

Williams was attached to Bicentennial Man for a while but left due to scheduling conflicts.

Didn't he write Looper? I remember the actors in that movie talking about how ingenious the plot was. I suppose if you never watched sci-fi ever it might have seemed like it. As it is, it was an Outer Limits episode made with better actors. It concerns me that he is writing the next two movies.

2 months isn't bad, except Star Wars will have to be scored first. Meaning the timeframe for scoring it may be compressed.

I see the concert raised 1.25 million dollars. That is crazy. It is a nice testament to Williams' willingness to serve the orchestral community across the country.