TownerFan

Yes, I think so too.

Found this on FSM message board: I guess there are alternates and unreleased stuff indeed, but in this case I believe the original album presentation is so strong and enjoyable that it doesn't really cry out for an expansion. I'm already happy this score is finally out on CD :cool:

I feel really a JW groupie tonight. Ordered me too! At 2:30am local time!

Wasn't it the other way around? I always thought that the concert piece was adapted from the Monsignore cue? The "Esplanade Overture" debuted in a Boston Pops concert in May 1983, so I guess Williams originally wrote the piece as a concert arrangement for the Monsignor OST album. By the way, the Boston Pops version is further expanded, adding even more panache and virtuosic orchestral performance. I think a recording of the piece was included on the "Fanfare & Themes" bootleg.

If there's a concert piece by John Williams I'd die to hear recorded properly, that's the one. Of course the track "The Meeting in Sicily" on the Monsignor OST is very very similar, but I'd love to hear an official recorded version of the complete piece. There are quite a few stunning passages (like the blaring horns before the finale) that aren't on the Monsignor version.

From Intrada's Forum: Well, guys, I think it's pretty sure given the clues: it's Monsignor. Yay!!! ^_^

Thanks for your tip. Oh, I can't wait to hear it live indeed (as well as many other pieces he will perform in those concerts, dare I say! ^_^) and I'm definitely looking forward to it as one of the highlights. The narrator in the Chicago concert will be Former Senator Alan Simpson (which I guess isn't an actor, so I hope we will be up to the task).

Isn't this one of the loveliest pieces Williams ever did? I was listening to it yesterday after a long time and it gave me a lot of thrills. I can't wait to hear it live next November in Chicago... I especially love the jaunty tuba solo that depicts the yellow Wynton Flyer and the exuberant scherzo which describes the final horse race. These two sections are nowhere found on the original soundtrack. Did Williams composed these pieces especially for the suite or are they unreleased sections of the original score? I saw the movie a looong time ago, so I can't remember.

The Cello Concerto is a great piece, although it's probably one of Williams' most intellectual works. The Violin and Tuba concerti instead are more accessible and lyrical, so maybe it's better to start with those if you aren't accustomed to JW's concert writing.

Last Sunday I had the privilege to hear a live performance of John Williams' Concerto for Horn and Orchestra. It was performed by the local symphony orchestra (the "Giuseppe Verdi" Milano Symphony Orchestra, a very good ensemble), led by conductor Claus Peter Flor and with Radovan Vlatkovic as the soloist. It was a beautiful and moving performance. Hearing it performed live really opened a whole new perception of this masterful work, which I already knew and liked, but still wasn't much studied on my part. I think it's now my all-time favourite Williams' concert piece, along with the Violin Concerto. I was really raptured by the haunting atmosphere of the piece during the performance. I was particularly excited and moved especially by the last two movements ("The Hunt" and "Nocturne"). The orchestra and the soloist really gave a heart-rending reading and the conductor was really apt in keeping the general tone very measured and well-balanced. During the final movement I got shivers down my spines... it's beautiful how Williams captured the melancholic and wistful sensation of a day that fades away. I think this work really shows the wistful, contemplative side of the Maestro, a side that's probably very near to his heart. Let's hope Williams will produce soon a recording of this work. It really deserves to be keeped in some discographic form.

Well, if it isn't more than obvious now, you must remember this: don't f*ck with Steven Spielberg!

He's one of the main staff writers for Film Score Monthly magazine. He's also a free-lance music journalist and a composer too. He was brought on board on the LOTR Complete Recordings project by Howard Shore himself. He's also an extremely clever and nice guy.

My thoughts exactly. Quite what else there is to talk about I'm not sure, but it just exites the fanboys around here when someone asks how great JW really is. Well, I disagree. The fact is Fiery Angel posed what could seem an obvious statement in an articulate and intelligent way, so that it can inspire discussion without being completely fanboy-ish, as me and other people tried to do. However, this kind of discussion seems to actually interest very few people, so let this topic fade away and keep talking about when JW will die or do the umpteenth poll about Top 5 lists of this or that.

My feelings exactly. I too am sorry it's hard to engage a more rounded and insightful musical discussion here, trying to argument the ideas and confronting the opinions more on the music side. The idea on this thread makes a fine coupling with an other recent one started by Marcus, who asked if in the future John Williams will be considered on par with classical composers. Here's my two cents: I too agree with Fiery Angel about Williams being the best composer for films, at least among the living ones. In various discussions I had with music educated people who aren't film music aficionados, they all agree about John Williams' artistic integrity and his amazing technical skills as a composer. If you look at his written scores, you'll see why: his writing is so polished, well-organized and finely crafted. His orchestrational abilities are top-notch and he's so damn good at writing themes and melodies. I'm pretty sure his music will be much more studied and analyzed by music teachers and students in the future. And his music will be considered among some of the finest produced in the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st. I'm confident many of his scores, both for film and concert hall, will be more regularly performed by symphony orchestras around the whole world and put in the same league of the music of the best 20th century composers as Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Walton, Korngold, Lenny Bernstein and Copland.

You can find it HERE. There's also a cute slideshow from the event.

I hope I'll be spirited and healthy as John Williams when I'll be 75 years old. Well, I hope I still will have my hair, btw...

My thoughts exactly. I too strongly believe his music (both for film & concert hall) will be appreciated and revered more and more as the years go by.

Yes, it's already gone This probably slipped under our radars: two weeks ago, at Hollywood Bowl, it was performed a tribute concert to the films of Paramount Pictures, conducted by David Newman (with Leonard Nimoy as guest host). Here you can find a complete report on this concert. However, what struck my attention was that the whole opening sequence from Raiders of the Lost Ark was performed, in sync with the film. Man, I wish I was there...

Exactly what I was thinking. Specially the Duel from Robin Hood. When it comes to swordfights, give me Korngold any day! It seems the collective film music memory here doesn't go back further than 1985

Well, that will be the day I'll very likely stop caring about contemporary film music at all.

My picks: . "Adagio" from Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G . Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem Mass in D Minor . Blue Fairy Theme from A.I. Artificial Intelligence . "Adventures On Earth" from E.T.

Great pictures again! Johnny looks amazingly cool and having so much fun with the orchestra. So, by looking at the pictures, the encores were "The Olympic Spirit" (w/ film montage) and "The Mission Theme". Did he perform anything else?

According to the report from the NYPhil rehearsal by vincehardy, JW said to the audience he'll start scoring Indy IV in two weeks, but the movie is still shooting until mid-October. So, it's very likely he'll start writing an original piece for the teaser trailer.

Cool photos! Thanks for sharing them! I can't wait for the Chicago concerts next November...

You're welcome, my apprentice From what I remember, Neufeld's last credited project for JW was The Terminal, but I believe he didn't orchestrate too much in the years before too (on Bill Wrobel's Harry Potter score analysis, Neufeld is credited with the orchestration for "Hedwig's theme" only, if I remember correctly). I guess he gradually left the main duties to Conrad Pope and his other staff people (Eddie Karam, Larry Rench, Randy Kerber). Kerber is also a top orchestrator, he works regularly for James Horner too.