djc242

How come this news isn't on the main page?

MSM - Haha LOL , "good sound memory" is a wonderful euphemism for having ingested large amounts of Williams' music far too frequently.

Yes, I would like to stress that there is/was no money involved with this music - it was just an exercise. -Daniel

Thanks for the positive responses. Some appear more than once, so here's a list of the first uses chronologically: Superman "Krypton" Close Encounters 5-note "door chime" American Journey VI. Flight and Technology theme Jurassic Park "Journey to the Island" JFK theme Far and Away main theme Summon the Heroes (a bass line) Olympic Fanfare fragment Catch Me If You Can "The Float" fragment Call of the Champions Hook "Prologue" theme Empire of the Sun "Jim's New Life" Harry Potter "Quidditch" fanfare Harry Potter "Fawkes the Phoenix" Jurassic Park theme fragment Harry Potter "Hogwart's" Harry Potter "Family Portrait" Hook "flying" theme Star Wars "Across the Stars" Jaws motive Angela's Ashes theme Harry Potter "Hedwig's Theme" E.T. "danger" motive Seven Years in Tibet fragment Star Wars "the Force" Star Wars "Duel of the Fates" Harry Potter "Quidditch" B section Home Alone "Star of Bethlehem" Star Wars "Yoda's Theme" fragment Close Encounters "The Visitors/Bye/End Titles" E.T. theme fragment Superman theme Far and Away secondary theme Star Wars "Throne Room" Some of those are only used as supportive counterpoint, but they're in there. :-) -Daniel

bondo and K.M. - what are your emails?

Just posted a recording of an orchestra piece from 2003 that laced around 20 of JW themes together. This was an orchestration excercise and thought you all might like to hear it (although most of it was replicated by ear, goodness knows it violates a pleathora of copyrights - so it will never see real programming): http://www.myspace.com/emergingcomposer It should automatically play after a few moments of buffering. It'll be interesting to see what you all hear in it. Daniel

Anyone listened to John Eliot Gardiner's cycle with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique (period instrument ensemble)? it's great and those instruments sound so vital - esp. the strings. When something usually says "on period instruments," it means "please excuse the foul sounds and poor intonation." Not in this case; they absolutely rock!! The set also comes with commentary from the conductor on the works (tempi too) and the composer, in three languages.

Greta - yeah I love the stuff the UNT wind symphony plays and it can be nice to be around so much jazz; I am originally from El Paso; what about you?

Jack - I was at school at the Univ. of North Texas (in Denton, TX - just NW of Dallas), so that's the orch. you heard; I do like the Matrix scores -the first being my fav. and a few unused cues from the second; I like the quasi-minimalist stuff in it

I think that is really interesting that two of the finalists post here! Very cool. As Jason said, these clips were all judged with the film clips playing. The orchestra at my university was the one playing the music.

Just wanted to share this with you all and to see what you think: http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/2005/yf...ts3/0,,,00.html (mine's the first clip) ~Daniel Chan

Krosstj, I would generally agree with the previous suggestions. I would use more strings (4 Vlns., 2 Vlas., 2 Vcls., 1 DB, then a flute/picc., clar., hrn, piano, percussion, and depending on your needs, maybe an oboe/english horn, or another hrn or a tpt or tbn. ). The idea is that winds very easily overpower strings, so a few of those would be fine for the balance/blend. Brass can definitely overpower the strings. Best wishes!

As it's been said, I think what shows JW's craft is his ability to interweave the two styles so seemlessly. The concert suite from CE3K [JW Greatest Hits] is a fantastic example - kind of a retro-musical timeline [schoenberg to "When You Wish Upon a Star" to Strauss]. Almost any action cue from Star Wars or Indiana Jones [see "The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword" around 1:21] also uses both musical dialects. As a composer myself, I like to keep all musical styles available, should they be required. For film scoring, that is far more important due to the constant flux of things. All tonal music is not "good" and all atonal music is not "bad," assuming those terms weren't subjective. How a composer handles their craft is the most important issue, I think.

I will be giving my senior composition recital at the Univ. of North Texas on Oct. 16th, 5:00PM (College of Music Concert Hall). A fanfare for 8 trumpets begins the concert, followed by a symphony in 6 movements for a 65-piece orchestra. The symphony is based on 6 stained-glass windows deigned by an artist friend, and they are really beautiful. The piece is nearly programmatic, and will hopefully show some Williams influence. If anyone is interested, please send me a message! ~Daniel

I met him at the 20th Anniversary Premiere of E.T. in L.A. at the after party. He did not stay long as several people were crowding his table and not allowing him to talk with his friends. He was very polite as I told him that his music inspired me and that I was now studying composition, hoping to do film one day. He "gave me his blessing" so to speak and then put his arm around my shoulder for a photo (that did not turn out due to darkness!! damn my photographer!!). I'm not bitter, really. I also saw him in concert at the Horn Concerto Premiere in Chicago. I'm planning on a trip to the concerts in D.C. next year.

I would do an evening of American composers: L. Bernstein Overture to Candide J. Adams Shaker Loops J. Williams American Journey (narrators TBA) - intermission - C. Ives The Unanswered Question A. Copland Sym. No. 3

If one had to assign an academic grade to film scores, almost all of Williams' scores in the past years would receive A's. They may not shine as much as his more obvious ground-breaking moments, but they are unique. More and more film composers are refining their styles and entering new and wonderful periods of their own writing. It is hard to objectionally critique a film score without taking into account the entire body of the film (acting, directing, cinematography, design, etc.). In many cases, the score attempts to accompany a poor film, or one not thought-out as carefully as it should have been. How difficult indeed to write for film in a manner that both underscores the visuals and emotions, and one which exceeds all expectations of this message board.

Oh, the location of the seat is Row R 109, center section on the Melk Floor, dead center of the row (in case you wanted to use the symphony site to see where this seat is). ~DJC

My friend who was going with me to the concert cannot attend, so I have an extra ticket for sale. The seat is on the main floor level, center section towards the back, with a great view. I can tell you what I paid for it and we can negotiate from there. If you are interested, please email me at: djc242@aol.com Thanks, Daniel

The CSO site lists this piece on the horn concerto program. Is this the Oscar medley thing or a different piece?

I hope this will be like his ' cello and trumpet concerti; I liked those a lot. Anyone know the number of movements? I'm thinking three.

Oh, please no! Isn't Ma Williams in her nineties? I think he'll make it till then; he may retire when he hits the big 80, who knows.

In aleatoric music, rhythmic values, and even notes themselves are subject to multiple choices by the performers. Sometimes only duration is specified by the composer; in extreme cases, even the length of the piece itself is aleatory. It's basically a moment of controlled improvisation; in this work, for example, Corigliano gave the violins a passage that had a melody written and above it indicated that first chair was to beginning playing it, followed almost immediately by the second player, then the third, and so on, which creates this very ethereal effect which can be heard on the soundtrack as well in the Main Title cue at just after 1:25. Joshua Bell starts the chain and the section follows. This is only one example. Threnody by Pendereski also contains portions where he draws a thick black band over certain parts of the staff and allows any notes that are within that band to be played, and above it he gives second timings instead of barlines (so the players count seconds, not beats in this case). It can be a useful feature in creating ambiguity in a piece and Corigliano does it in a very pleasing manner.

The performance was fantastic! Those of you in the Dallas area should make a point to go to the Meyerson Sat. night @ 8:00 or Sun. @ 2:30. The four movement, 35 minute work was brilliant, thanks to Joshua Bell's amazing ability. Corigliano incorporated his 17 min. Chaconne which appears as the last track on the soundtrack as the concerto's first movement. He took thematic material from the film to develop the other sections. The second movement is light, with lots of soft fluttering winds and harp. The third movement is achingly beautiful; a tribute to Corigliano's ability to play with emotion. Lots of modern techniques abound the wild fourth movement (which beginnings suddenly after the thrid), including a "crunch" from the violins. A modified quadruple stop with a short but intense bow stoke creates a harsh crunch sound similar to scraping the chalkboard, only it doesn't make you cringe -its actually really cool. While the film score was great, I found this piece to be far more satisfying, especially since he used more of the orchestra instead of mostly strings. Great horn lines with powerful "color" notes really hit the spot. He also included several alleatoric gestures and an incredible accelerando which was notated in a very intriguing way. From seeing the score, Andrew Litton - the conductor had his hands full. An instant standing ovation was received and critics are all ready beside themselves. Some fellow students and I were able to talk with him for about an hour before the show. He does not look down on film music, although he did say it was easier to write, since many considerations are not up to the composer. He spoke highly of Hollywood studio musicians, and said that his Oscar was very heavy to carry! :-) He watches a lot of TV and film in his spare time. He is a very warm, approachable man who knows what he is doing. Check your local symphony listings to see if this piece will be near you - he did mention that some other orchestras around the U.S. will be performing this Red Violin Concerto. For the Bell fans - he is tall, acts very "cool", and has great hair (I should have asked him what shampoo he uses :-) and wears a lot of GAP type clothing. ~Daniel Chan

Does anyone have a good question for John Corigliano? I am attending his concert tonight with the Dallas Symphony which is performing his newly composed Red Violin Concerto, with soloist Joshua Bell. My composition instructor has arranged for us to talk with him an hour before the show and I was looking for some good questions to ask him. The piece is amazing; I attended rehearsal on Tues. and actually sat with Corigliano and went through his score with him! What an amazing composer - there are so many parts of the score that would make "art music" fans proud as well as those of us that just love beautiful music. If there is interest, I can give a post-concert report later tonight. Thanks, Daniel Chan