SilverTrumpet

So is this implying that he hasn't been writing the entirety of his scores lately? 

Wanted to share some thoughts, I'll probably have more later:
 
Like a few people said, it was pretty standard. No surprises, nothing awe inspiring, not even any deep cut old film music, it was just JW stuff which maybe threw me off a little?
 
The performances were all beautiful. There were a couple times it sounded like the orchestra was out of sync with one another but I wasn't sure if that was because I was watching them play on the screen so much because the closeups were so good. 
 
Speaking of the screen, I was really really happy at first that the screen was just a broadcast of the players. It was fun seeing them, you know, actually play the music. It was like that for the whole first half.
 
THEN, the second half was the usual montages of things while they play the music. The first one was the photos an footage of JW over the years set to Superman which I'm sure everyone here has seen. Indiana Jones had a montage of Harrison Ford being cool and then for the Marion's Theme section of Raider's March it was her...............and then every female in the series. Should've just stuck with Marion.
 
Some of the pieces like Motorcycle and Orchestra and Adventures of Han (a favorite of mine as far as newer pieces go) didn't have pictures on the screen so you got to see the orchestra again, but unlike in the first half, the center screen right above the conductor's podium always had a photo of the Star Wars suite score cover on there....and being white it was super super bright which made it hard to see the orchestra both in real life and it messed up the lighting on the video of the group too, which was a weird oversight. 
 
We were in the shed for the first time since 2018...I don't know if people were so rude back then or if this is a new thing and we just live in a more fallen world than usual. People were getting up and down during the pieces being played, just walk all over the place blocking sight of the stage, I had to get up a bunch to let people out to do whatever the heck they had to do. The weirdest part? It was all older people. Late 60s or older. Didn't see one rude young person. Lots of putting the bright flashlight on their phone to look at the program to figure out what's playing, and then being elderly, they forget to put the light out. 
 
Overall we still had a great time. Music was beautiful. Stargazers and Adventures of Han were highlights for me. Luckily those included the video closeups of the players. The oboe player looked like he was judging people the whole time, and the harpist was absolutely fantastic during Stargazers. She happened to be on stage during intermission when we traditionally go up and peek on stage so we waved and complimented the piece and her face lit up which was really sweet.
 
 
Very fun day as always. Definitely doesn't have the wow factor as previous years. No surprise performances of things that never get played like Anakin's Theme or some lesser known Williams scores that never get performed, and of course its sad that he's not there anymore, but I can't say no to a night out to see music like this.

Wanted to share some thoughts, I'll probably have more later:
 
Like a few people said, it was pretty standard. No surprises, nothing awe inspiring, not even any deep cut old film music, it was just JW stuff which maybe threw me off a little?
 
The performances were all beautiful. There were a couple times it sounded like the orchestra was out of sync with one another but I wasn't sure if that was because I was watching them play on the screen so much because the closeups were so good. 
 
Speaking of the screen, I was really really happy at first that the screen was just a broadcast of the players. It was fun seeing them, you know, actually play the music. It was like that for the whole first half.
 
THEN, the second half was the usual montages of things while they play the music. The first one was the photos an footage of JW over the years set to Superman which I'm sure everyone here has seen. Indiana Jones had a montage of Harrison Ford being cool and then for the Marion's Theme section of Raider's March it was her...............and then every female in the series. Should've just stuck with Marion.
 
Some of the pieces like Motorcycle and Orchestra and Adventures of Han (a favorite of mine as far as newer pieces go) didn't have pictures on the screen so you got to see the orchestra again, but unlike in the first half, the center screen right above the conductor's podium always had a photo of the Star Wars suite score cover on there....and being white it was super super bright which made it hard to see the orchestra both in real life and it messed up the lighting on the video of the group too, which was a weird oversight. 
 
We were in the shed for the first time since 2018...I don't know if people were so rude back then or if this is a new thing and we just live in a more fallen world than usual. People were getting up and down during the pieces being played, just walk all over the place blocking sight of the stage, I had to get up a bunch to let people out to do whatever the heck they had to do. The weirdest part? It was all older people. Late 60s or older. Didn't see one rude young person. Lots of putting the bright flashlight on their phone to look at the program to figure out what's playing, and then being elderly, they forget to put the light out. 
 
Overall we still had a great time. Music was beautiful. Stargazers and Adventures of Han were highlights for me. Luckily those included the video closeups of the players. The oboe player looked like he was judging people the whole time, and the harpist was absolutely fantastic during Stargazers. She happened to be on stage during intermission when we traditionally go up and peek on stage so we waved and complimented the piece and her face lit up which was really sweet.
 
 
Very fun day as always. Definitely doesn't have the wow factor as previous years. No surprise performances of things that never get played like Anakin's Theme or some lesser known Williams scores that never get performed, and of course its sad that he's not there anymore, but I can't say no to a night out to see music like this.

Wanted to share some thoughts, I'll probably have more later:
 
Like a few people said, it was pretty standard. No surprises, nothing awe inspiring, not even any deep cut old film music, it was just JW stuff which maybe threw me off a little?
 
The performances were all beautiful. There were a couple times it sounded like the orchestra was out of sync with one another but I wasn't sure if that was because I was watching them play on the screen so much because the closeups were so good. 
 
Speaking of the screen, I was really really happy at first that the screen was just a broadcast of the players. It was fun seeing them, you know, actually play the music. It was like that for the whole first half.
 
THEN, the second half was the usual montages of things while they play the music. The first one was the photos an footage of JW over the years set to Superman which I'm sure everyone here has seen. Indiana Jones had a montage of Harrison Ford being cool and then for the Marion's Theme section of Raider's March it was her...............and then every female in the series. Should've just stuck with Marion.
 
Some of the pieces like Motorcycle and Orchestra and Adventures of Han (a favorite of mine as far as newer pieces go) didn't have pictures on the screen so you got to see the orchestra again, but unlike in the first half, the center screen right above the conductor's podium always had a photo of the Star Wars suite score cover on there....and being white it was super super bright which made it hard to see the orchestra both in real life and it messed up the lighting on the video of the group too, which was a weird oversight. 
 
We were in the shed for the first time since 2018...I don't know if people were so rude back then or if this is a new thing and we just live in a more fallen world than usual. People were getting up and down during the pieces being played, just walk all over the place blocking sight of the stage, I had to get up a bunch to let people out to do whatever the heck they had to do. The weirdest part? It was all older people. Late 60s or older. Didn't see one rude young person. Lots of putting the bright flashlight on their phone to look at the program to figure out what's playing, and then being elderly, they forget to put the light out. 
 
Overall we still had a great time. Music was beautiful. Stargazers and Adventures of Han were highlights for me. Luckily those included the video closeups of the players. The oboe player looked like he was judging people the whole time, and the harpist was absolutely fantastic during Stargazers. She happened to be on stage during intermission when we traditionally go up and peek on stage so we waved and complimented the piece and her face lit up which was really sweet.
 
 
Very fun day as always. Definitely doesn't have the wow factor as previous years. No surprise performances of things that never get played like Anakin's Theme or some lesser known Williams scores that never get performed, and of course its sad that he's not there anymore, but I can't say no to a night out to see music like this.

Wanted to share some thoughts, I'll probably have more later:
 
Like a few people said, it was pretty standard. No surprises, nothing awe inspiring, not even any deep cut old film music, it was just JW stuff which maybe threw me off a little?
 
The performances were all beautiful. There were a couple times it sounded like the orchestra was out of sync with one another but I wasn't sure if that was because I was watching them play on the screen so much because the closeups were so good. 
 
Speaking of the screen, I was really really happy at first that the screen was just a broadcast of the players. It was fun seeing them, you know, actually play the music. It was like that for the whole first half.
 
THEN, the second half was the usual montages of things while they play the music. The first one was the photos an footage of JW over the years set to Superman which I'm sure everyone here has seen. Indiana Jones had a montage of Harrison Ford being cool and then for the Marion's Theme section of Raider's March it was her...............and then every female in the series. Should've just stuck with Marion.
 
Some of the pieces like Motorcycle and Orchestra and Adventures of Han (a favorite of mine as far as newer pieces go) didn't have pictures on the screen so you got to see the orchestra again, but unlike in the first half, the center screen right above the conductor's podium always had a photo of the Star Wars suite score cover on there....and being white it was super super bright which made it hard to see the orchestra both in real life and it messed up the lighting on the video of the group too, which was a weird oversight. 
 
We were in the shed for the first time since 2018...I don't know if people were so rude back then or if this is a new thing and we just live in a more fallen world than usual. People were getting up and down during the pieces being played, just walk all over the place blocking sight of the stage, I had to get up a bunch to let people out to do whatever the heck they had to do. The weirdest part? It was all older people. Late 60s or older. Didn't see one rude young person. Lots of putting the bright flashlight on their phone to look at the program to figure out what's playing, and then being elderly, they forget to put the light out. 
 
Overall we still had a great time. Music was beautiful. Stargazers and Adventures of Han were highlights for me. Luckily those included the video closeups of the players. The oboe player looked like he was judging people the whole time, and the harpist was absolutely fantastic during Stargazers. She happened to be on stage during intermission when we traditionally go up and peek on stage so we waved and complimented the piece and her face lit up which was really sweet.
 
 
Very fun day as always. Definitely doesn't have the wow factor as previous years. No surprise performances of things that never get played like Anakin's Theme or some lesser known Williams scores that never get performed, and of course its sad that he's not there anymore, but I can't say no to a night out to see music like this.

Wanted to share some thoughts, I'll probably have more later:
 
Like a few people said, it was pretty standard. No surprises, nothing awe inspiring, not even any deep cut old film music, it was just JW stuff which maybe threw me off a little?
 
The performances were all beautiful. There were a couple times it sounded like the orchestra was out of sync with one another but I wasn't sure if that was because I was watching them play on the screen so much because the closeups were so good. 
 
Speaking of the screen, I was really really happy at first that the screen was just a broadcast of the players. It was fun seeing them, you know, actually play the music. It was like that for the whole first half.
 
THEN, the second half was the usual montages of things while they play the music. The first one was the photos an footage of JW over the years set to Superman which I'm sure everyone here has seen. Indiana Jones had a montage of Harrison Ford being cool and then for the Marion's Theme section of Raider's March it was her...............and then every female in the series. Should've just stuck with Marion.
 
Some of the pieces like Motorcycle and Orchestra and Adventures of Han (a favorite of mine as far as newer pieces go) didn't have pictures on the screen so you got to see the orchestra again, but unlike in the first half, the center screen right above the conductor's podium always had a photo of the Star Wars suite score cover on there....and being white it was super super bright which made it hard to see the orchestra both in real life and it messed up the lighting on the video of the group too, which was a weird oversight. 
 
We were in the shed for the first time since 2018...I don't know if people were so rude back then or if this is a new thing and we just live in a more fallen world than usual. People were getting up and down during the pieces being played, just walk all over the place blocking sight of the stage, I had to get up a bunch to let people out to do whatever the heck they had to do. The weirdest part? It was all older people. Late 60s or older. Didn't see one rude young person. Lots of putting the bright flashlight on their phone to look at the program to figure out what's playing, and then being elderly, they forget to put the light out. 
 
Overall we still had a great time. Music was beautiful. Stargazers and Adventures of Han were highlights for me. Luckily those included the video closeups of the players. The oboe player looked like he was judging people the whole time, and the harpist was absolutely fantastic during Stargazers. She happened to be on stage during intermission when we traditionally go up and peek on stage so we waved and complimented the piece and her face lit up which was really sweet.
 
 
Very fun day as always. Definitely doesn't have the wow factor as previous years. No surprise performances of things that never get played like Anakin's Theme or some lesser known Williams scores that never get performed, and of course its sad that he's not there anymore, but I can't say no to a night out to see music like this.

Wanted to share some thoughts, I'll probably have more later:
 
Like a few people said, it was pretty standard. No surprises, nothing awe inspiring, not even any deep cut old film music, it was just JW stuff which maybe threw me off a little?
 
The performances were all beautiful. There were a couple times it sounded like the orchestra was out of sync with one another but I wasn't sure if that was because I was watching them play on the screen so much because the closeups were so good. 
 
Speaking of the screen, I was really really happy at first that the screen was just a broadcast of the players. It was fun seeing them, you know, actually play the music. It was like that for the whole first half.
 
THEN, the second half was the usual montages of things while they play the music. The first one was the photos an footage of JW over the years set to Superman which I'm sure everyone here has seen. Indiana Jones had a montage of Harrison Ford being cool and then for the Marion's Theme section of Raider's March it was her...............and then every female in the series. Should've just stuck with Marion.
 
Some of the pieces like Motorcycle and Orchestra and Adventures of Han (a favorite of mine as far as newer pieces go) didn't have pictures on the screen so you got to see the orchestra again, but unlike in the first half, the center screen right above the conductor's podium always had a photo of the Star Wars suite score cover on there....and being white it was super super bright which made it hard to see the orchestra both in real life and it messed up the lighting on the video of the group too, which was a weird oversight. 
 
We were in the shed for the first time since 2018...I don't know if people were so rude back then or if this is a new thing and we just live in a more fallen world than usual. People were getting up and down during the pieces being played, just walk all over the place blocking sight of the stage, I had to get up a bunch to let people out to do whatever the heck they had to do. The weirdest part? It was all older people. Late 60s or older. Didn't see one rude young person. Lots of putting the bright flashlight on their phone to look at the program to figure out what's playing, and then being elderly, they forget to put the light out. 
 
Overall we still had a great time. Music was beautiful. Stargazers and Adventures of Han were highlights for me. Luckily those included the video closeups of the players. The oboe player looked like he was judging people the whole time, and the harpist was absolutely fantastic during Stargazers. She happened to be on stage during intermission when we traditionally go up and peek on stage so we waved and complimented the piece and her face lit up which was really sweet.
 
 
Very fun day as always. Definitely doesn't have the wow factor as previous years. No surprise performances of things that never get played like Anakin's Theme or some lesser known Williams scores that never get performed, and of course its sad that he's not there anymore, but I can't say no to a night out to see music like this.

John Williams would despise this.  Be ashamed.

You're right to question whether America (as we know it) will exist for a 250th anniversary. It's certainly being reshaped into something that hardly resembles the country 'America' once represented.
 
 
It's a pointless hypothetical because the people responsible for commissioning such a piece have neither the class nor intelligence to recognize his contribution to American culture, nor any respect for the arts.
 
In any event, there's zero chance Williams will associate himself with this "administration." At a certain point you put politics aside and recognize sheer bastardry for what it is. 
 
There's a greater (albeit slim) chance of him writing a new piece for the 2028 LA Olympics, assuming the rest of the world isn't boycotting by that stage.

As the country’s unofficial Composer Laureate (per the JW Composer box set from Sony), it would be fitting if JW felt inclined to write something to commemorate America’s quarter-millennium of existence. 
 
On the other hand, I can also see why he would pass on it, given his age and maybe also the fact that we may be unable to recognize this country as America in a year’s time.
 
Setting politics aside to the extent possible, though, it seems like this would be a milestone tailor-made for him. Would he take on a commission for such a piece, do you think?

People were expecting a slur? Was whatever the problem was last year that assumed to be a stroke? 
 
I won't pretend I didn't immediately listen for a slur too.

They probably don't want to do a "Yippie! He's back!" announcement just in case something comes up health wise and he has to cancel.
 
I'm sure they had to deal with a lot of crap from customers when he backed out. 

Now his Facebook post says the 21st. Did they change it?

Sorry folks...couldn't resist.
 

A very timely release. ;-)

Hope it has the David Arnold demos.

So I guess nobody had much to say about the experience itself, huh?
 
We ended up staying home and listening to the radio version. We had lawn seats like we have traditionally done and lucked out with in recent years. That plus JW not being there, knowing it'll rain, having a ton to do at home and knowing we'd be home super late, and then the set list didn't look all that exciting anyway. It was a fine night of Chinese food...though the Chinese food wasn't great. 

There are at least a couple slightly obscure prequel motifs that show up multiple times in the show so far, all of which are in cues credited to Cameron Moody (guy's apparently only 21 and really knows his stuff!)
 
There's a one-off transitional melody in Attack of the Clones right before Anakin and Obi-Wan are introduced. It was also used as a "theme" for the Republic in SWTOR, so it's fitting in Acolyte as well, seemingly representing the Jedi. Although in this case it's generally only the first half of the full melody.
 
AOTC:
republic_clones.mp3
The Acolyte:
republic_acolyte.mp3
 
There's also a reoccurring motif in Revenge of the Sith that Frank Lehman dubbed the "Sith mystery" motif. Each time it appears in the film the notes are slightly changed up a bit. The version in The Acolyte is no different in that regard, being only 5 notes instead of 6.
 
ROTS:
sithmystery_sith.mp3
The Acolyte:
sithmystery_acolyte.mp3
 
I might as well also point out that about 2 years ago someone here (don't recall who) posted a video of Cameron Moody conducting a composition of his at only 19 (!), and people were commenting that he should work on a Star Wars project. Funny how that worked out, only a couple years later!
 
 

Why'd they play the Kylo Ren music at the end?

Why'd they play the Kylo Ren music at the end?

Yeah, even though they "expect him to make a full recovery", what else are you going to write there? 
 
"We regret to inform you that John Williams has to cancel his appearance at this concert. He's totally going to die soon. It ain't lookin' good." ?

Yeah, even though they "expect him to make a full recovery", what else are you going to write there? 
 
"We regret to inform you that John Williams has to cancel his appearance at this concert. He's totally going to die soon. It ain't lookin' good." ?

i am still thinking about going.  i did already take the day off of work.
 
it will still be a magical summer night hearing the music, and i've never been to Tanglewood.

I'm out. 

The legendary STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE soundtrack world broadcast premiere story as told by yours truly on the day of its 25th anniversary broadcast.
 
-----
 
On May 1, 1999, Erik Woods had the great pleasure of premiering the soundtrack to STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE by John Williams to the world on his soundtrack radio program, CINEMATIC SOUND. Little did he know that while his show was on the air, the server and network at Mohawk College, the home of C101.5 FM, were dying... and it was all because of this show. Here's the story of how a little soundtrack radio program disrupted internet service at Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario, for three days!