Nick Parker

Love reading everyone's supportive comments on here!

Separated by war. Tested by battle. Bound by horse fucking.

The prelude is absolutely beautiful and I love how metal Williams' piano writing can be, but I've felt for a long time that Williams can fall back on a lot of familiar territory in his concert music and seems to lean heavily on writing for particular instruments to escape the molds he's created for himself. When he doesn't have the idiosyncrasies of those instruments to force him to explore, you get something like this scherzo, which sounds almost temp-tracked and warmed over from...well, his scherzo in the Cello Concerto. Combine that with a pretty limp and wet-noodled motif that others have pointed out fits right in as a mid-tier supporting melody in a post-00s score, and I don't think the end result is very successful, some badass moments and effects notwithstanding.

i need this fucking performance NOW

Listening to The Fury while reading this thread was a mistake, jesus christ this is too intense.

It's such a bitchin' album, I think pound for pound it's Williams best album of concert music. Though I've really grown to love the Memoirs-ified opening of the revised Cello Concerto, the heraldic bon-voyage fanfare that opens this version is great. With parts like the Scherzo, you can definitely tell this came around the time of Jurassic Park! I don't listen to Heartwood very often--once every five years or so--but its fat stacks of brass chords, deep-roots pedal tones and branch-like reaching, yearning string melodies touches my soul everytime I hear it. --Yep, listening to it now, holy crap. The Three Pieces for Solo Cello are pretty cool, and I love seeing the side of Williams that resonates with and explores black American history: I've said it many times, but behind trees, it's probably his most consistent inspiration.

I was actually really surprised to learn in the somewhat recent past that unofficial arrangements were allowed to be sold on sites such as Musicnotes. It doesn't surprise me that axe was heaved on that, but your question is mine as well: you can't tell me the legal teams and whoever else didn't consider any of these factors before it was even allowed. So if that's the case, why was it even allowed to begin with? Why now of all times to shut the valve off? I immediately wonder if there's something coming down the pipeline as far as some kind of score/sheet music release. Over the last decade, Williams has increasingly entered legacy mode, such as doing a retrospective project like Across the Stars, but more immediately relevant to this conversation, acquiescing to a person he trusts--Mike Mattesino--to handle archival releases of his recorded music...we also know that this happened in part 'cause Mattesino used Williams' disdain for bootlegs/unofficial representations of his work to drive the wedge in for an official, professional curation of his work. Could the same thing have happened with his written music? ...... I mean of course as John Williams fans we're always blessed with what we want from Williams immediately so the answer is yes. fourteen year old me wouldve freaked the fuck out if i saw the st pianobooks

Anyone else get emotional warm-and-fuzzies over speculating on a new Williams project in 2022?

EDIT

This discussion really hones in on how important it can be for composers to engage with actual players, and how unfortunate it is that so many composers now have to rely on virtual instruments. There's something truly remarkable to be said for how a player-- a specialist in their instrument--can take the broad strokes given to them by a composer, much like an actor and a director/screenwriter, and imbue the part with dimensions that a composer just can't conceive of.

i just want to see williams go goddamn ballistic on social media when sugarland express is announced

Rule 49 of the Internet: never click on a video with a Photoshopped Rian Johnson thumbnail.

Without a grasp of masochism, more like.

Haha, I didn't realize this wasn't considered common. But you've already heard swung rags!