JCM

I didn’t have a great view of the screens, did anyone catch who all the taped video messages were from? I could tell the one was Anne-Sophie Mutter, and Steven Spielberg at the end (who also then introduced a surprise addition to the program - Itzhak Perlman performing the theme from Schindler’s List), but I couldn’t make out the first two for sure.

I LOVE Giacchino, overall...but it just bothers me that he essentially lifted Holst’s Mars for the entire “World’s Worst Water Feature” track...like it’s not even in disguise. I hope/wonder if he credited Holst in the liner notes/credits. It actually took me out of the movie yesterday,... I was like “ok, why am I hearing “Mars?””.....

Look who else was in attendance!

In addition to the audio being available for download off iTunes, you can also purchase the Signature Edition score of the piece from jwpepper.com or halleonard.com I think it's around $35. -JCM

"Adagio" for Strings - Samuel Barber. I don't know how anyone can't sit outside on a quiet day or night, listen to that, and NOT be effected somehow. It's just beautiful. I also am a big fan of Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 1 - " A Sea Symphony". Especially the beginning of the fourth movement. There are so many others, but those two were ones I became very familiar with in college....Adagio because Sam Barber was born and raised a few blocks from my school of music, and Vaughan Williams because we performed it. Great music.

One thing I've definetly noticed in more of the bombastic, march-type tunes is he likes to keep a pedal point (usually an ostinato of some sort) in the bass, while moving parallel major triads around above it. Some good examples might be March of the Slave Children, some of Raiders March, parts of Yoda's Theme, etc. Also, to add some dissonance to those major chords he'll often add the major seventh just below the triad. So a chord stacked from bottom up: "BCEG" Does that a TON in Raider's March and Superman. Another one of my favorite orchestration things he does is his use of woodwind & harp flourishes. One example would be in Jurassic Park (Journey to the Island). I was driving home from a rehearsal with a piccolo player friend of mine last night, and we were listening to some various Williams tracks, and he commented that "Williams writes the best piccolo parts." -JCM

No doubt Adagio is fantastic. It has some incredible moments in it, and I think you appreciate it more each time you listen to it. I think there are some moments in Empire of the Sun that give me a similar feel...different, more uplifting, but similar. Another one of my favorites that give Williams a run for his money is Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 1 - "A Sea Symphony". AMAZING piece. I often wonder what Williams might have written if he didn't spend most of his time composing for film, or the Olympics etc... Not that I don't LOVE the stuff he has written, but I don't think something on the scope of the Sea Symphony would be at all out of his reach, were he to focus on writing something like it. Didn't he write a first Symphony? Or am I mistaken? I know his Sinfonietta, but I seem to recall hearing he wrote a first symphony? -JCM

Just for the record, that's not a marching band, but a Military Concert Band joined by some other high school students. And Robert W. Smith, the guy who did the arrangement, is a well known band composer, and has done several good Williams arrangements. -JCM

I agree that both Hunchback and Pocahontas are great scores, but I don't think either movie had the impact or staying power that Mermaid, Beauty, and Aladdin did. I also think Lion King was huge. Visually, I consider that to be the apex of Disney's animation. But maybe that's just me. As for Enchanted, the new thing Menken is working on, I have high hopes for it, considering the lyricist is composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz, who is the guy behind the lyrics & music for Wicked, Pippin, Godspell, and a ton of others. It also has some heavy-hitter singers involved, including Idina Menzel (the original Elphaba from Wicked, and the original Maureen in RENT), and Paige O'Hara...the voice of Belle! So here's hoping...could be good! -JCM

Laudamus te. Laudamus. Laudamus te. Laudamus. Exsultate justi in Domino. Exsultate in Domino. Exsultate justi in Domino. Rectos decet ladatio. Alleluia, Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia Salvator Dominus Salvator mundi. Quitollis Peccata mundi. Salvator Dominus Salvator mundi. Quitollis Peccata mundi. Alleluia, Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia Exsultate justi in Domino. Rectos decet ladatio. Laudamus te. Laudamus. Laudamus te. Cantate ei. Canticum novum. Cantate ei. Canticum novum. Laudamus te. Laudamus. Laudamus te. Exsultate justi in Domino. Exsultate in Domino. Exsultate juste in Domino. Rectos Decet ladatio. Alleluia, Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia Cantate ei. Cantate Canticum. Exsultate justi in Domino. Rectos De Cetladatio. Exsultate justi in Domino. Exsultate in Domino. Just typed it in off the sheet music. Some parts have multiple voices singing different lines...but all the lyrics are there. -JCM

I have the set as well, and it IS great! Although if you enjoy a narration-free "Prologue", you can always just listen to "Aquarium" from Camille Saint-Saens "Carnival of the Animals". The Prologue is an obvious ripoff of it. Great music nonetheless. -JCM Yeah, I know! I first realized that when I listened to the music from Impressions de France at Epcot, which uses various classical pieces. Still, Menken made more cinematic, and it works great. Ray Barnsbury Definetly works great! Sets the perfect tone for the movie. On a side note, with the exceptions of the Lion King, and Tarzan (both of which I do enjoy)...Disney movies have severely suffered from the loss of Menken's writing. He (and Ashman & Rice) really gave the life to Mermaid, Beauty, and Aladdin. (The others are good..but I consider those three to kinda be the Disney animated "trinity," if you will.) -JCM

I have the set as well, and it IS great! Although if you enjoy a narration-free "Prologue", you can always just listen to "Aquarium" from Camille Saint-Saens "Carnival of the Animals". The Prologue is an obvious ripoff of it. Great music nonetheless. -JCM

Yeah, Ridgewood is about 1/2 hour or 20 min outside NYC. I heard he lives in the area of NJ that we rehearse. So I'll definetly keep you informed if he does actually join our group! -JCM

Interesting little anecdote... I play in a very good community wind ensemble in Ridgewood, NJ called the Ridgewood Concert Band. Well last night we're at rehearsal, the first for our March concert, and about mid-way through the rehearsal, our conductor looks to the side of the room, and says "Oh, hi Johan! Everybody, you probably know my friend, Johan de Meij!" He was sitting there for most of the night, and I didn't even notice!! I guess they are friends from their days in conservatories. But rumor had it he might be joining our group and playing Trombone. That would be a trip! Just thought I'd share! -JCM

No news on this in almost a month??

Binding on the short side would work, but since you're reading it as if it were portrait, it's pretty hard to read if binded on the short side. You can get a bunch of stuff on the web. Look for more torrents than direct downloads. I also just put up my list and traded for what I had.

Hi all, I thought about posting this in the Trading Board, but I thought I might get a better response posting it here. I just got into trading sheets of score cues, and (for example) have printed out the complete score to Jurassic Park on 11 x 17 paper. I want to keep it as best I can, but Staples, etc don't have binding machines that deal with paper that large. I was wondering if anyone on the board has had experience trying to neatly bind something that large (both size wise, and length - about 400 pages), and if so, what you used. I've had a few thoughts, but I'd like to hear if anyone else has tried doing this! Thanks! -JCM

The first time I met Williams was at Tanglewood. So it IS doable. Here’s what we did: It was a Tanglewood on Parade concert, we were there most of the day. At one point before the main concert, we walked over to the right side of the Shed to the side entrance that people usually line up near to meet the conductors. We peeked in through the gaps of the blinds behind one of the windows, and saw Williams at a desk about 4 feet away! I’ve got some pictures of it somewhere, but you couldn’t see much – you had to move from side to side to know it was Williams for sure. After the concert, we went over to the same area, and stood near the line of people waiting. Once they told us that Williams wouldn’t be coming out that night, we continued sneaking around to the right. Through some lines of shrubs/trees, and found ourselves in the back parking lot behind the Shed. You could see the rear stage door, and several “nicer” cars parked. We hung around the edge of the lot, and just waited. After about 10 minutes, we saw Williams and his driver exit the Shed. We walked over (as did a few other small groups of people). He was very gracious, and took time to talk with all of us, take pictures, and signed programs, cds, etc. He didn’t seem in a rush, and was great to talk with. After about another 10 minutes, he got in his car and left. We hung around for another few minutes hoping maybe to see Lockhart, but we didn’t see him before we decided to head home. The second time I met him was at Symphony Hall in Boston. Just waited by the stage door on the right side of the building. You’ll see his Lincoln towncar there. I could tell you the license plate, but that would be a little too stalker-ish for me  You’ll probably be able to tell, because if he’s conducting, there’s usually just his car there. If there’s a guest there might be 2, but you should be able to figure out which is Williams’. I would imagine though, with Tanglewood, that if a security person had seen us, and had been in the right mood, they probably would have stopped us from going back there – so just give it a shot, but I make no promises that it will work! However, even if Williams doesn’t come out, and you can’t get around to the lot, stick around the right side of the Shed. A different year we were there, and I was at the right side after a concert when I saw a short, shaggy-haired man in a komono. It was Seji Ozawa, watching the fireworks! I walked up to him, shook his hand and thanked him for a great concert. He was very nice, talked with me for a minute, and then we enjoyed watching the fireworks together. I was kicking myself for leaving my camera and stuff with the rest of my family. In any event – it’s possible to meet these people – just go for it!

Not a full score, but Goldsmith wrote about a 5 minute piece for Disney's ride " Soarin' " which I enjoy. Works great with the ride, but is an enjoyable piece to listen to on it's own. The ride has you "soarin" over california in a hanglider. -JCM

I unfortunately don't have that piece of information. That was my hope when I picked the week to take my group to Boston, but it seems he's at least not there Memorial Day Weekend. Since we already had our trip approved for those dates, I didn't even bother asking for details about the other weekends. If you call up their group sales office, they can probably tell you. They have two numbers - 617-638-9345 or 800-933-4255. I'd suggest pretending you're planning a group trip and trying to decide what weekend to go. Maybe you're organizing a jwfan.net trip to see Williams conduct! Good luck! -JCM

It all depends on how you handle it. I am taking my HS band to Boston for our trip this spring. I called up their group sales to ask about the performances the particular week we're going (Memorial Day Weekend). They have the whole schedule, they're just not releasing it publicly yet. If you're looking for info, I'd say call up group sales and ask as if you're taking a group and want info on which weekend to go. And FYI...memorial day weekend is "And All That Jazz" featuring jazz guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli. -JCM

My thought after seeing the movie was that since they explain that Smith and Neo are each other's opposites, that they balance their equation. When Neo allows Smith to assimilate him into another Smith, he completely unbalances the equation, and therefore Smith is destroyed. At least thats what seemed to make sense to me. I read this paper back when Reloaded came out...it discussed all the mythological and philosophical ideas that the movies are based on. I wish I could find it, cause it was really facinating. But I think we can get more out of the movie if we keep those type of things in mind...for instance: obvious Biblical references..just look at the position Neo is laying in after he dies. The Merovignian - he represents the Greek god of the underworld, Pluto. Wife's name is Persephony (Goddess of the Underworld), he's wearing a red shirt (suggestive of the devil), and when they get in the elevator to go to his club, they press the "HELP" button, and the P is crossed out, so it says "HEL" or Hell. just a few thoughts -JCM - who likes the movie more and more after thinking about it...but still doesn't get the point of the little girl.

I'm a senior Music Composition/Music Ed double major at West Chester University in PA. My influences are JW, Stravinsky, Debussy, Copland, Bernstein, and my composition teacher, Robert Maggio. I've had my pieces performed in school so far...nothing too big yet (I did get the orchestra here to read a quick fanfare I wrote for Orchestration class...) but I only started my comp major last year...so i still have 3 more semesters of composition classes to go. I write all sorts of music...have done small instrumental ensembles, pieces for solo voice and piano, my most recent finished comp is a 4 movement piano suite, and right now i'm working on a piece for male choir. -JCM

I thought that was an exceptional concert! I think that was the fifth or sixth time i've had the pleasure of seeing Williams conduct, but every other time it has been with the Boston Pops. I thought it was a real treat to hear the Philly Orchestra play his music. I don't know if anyone else thinks this, but I can hear a difference in the orchestras... I felt the orchestra last night had a deeper, and darker sound than the BPO, which gave the pieces just a SLIGHTLY different sound to my ears...the brass was a little less bright than the Pops brass. I really enjoyed the program as well, gave a little for every type of Williams fan...the causal fan enjoyed Star Wars, and Raiders March, while some of us nuts probably got more out of hearing The Cowboys, or Far and Away. Now you wanna complain about something? How about most of the fireworks show (with the tiny exception of the finale)...they were horrible! the only part that I enjoyed were the TNT blasts that echoed across the fields, and set off car alarms!! -JCM - also...Williams talked at this concert much more than I have ever heard him talk at any other performance, which I really enjoyed as well...it's so cool to hear what he has to say about his own work.

It's gonna be sweet...i'm going with my girlfriend, and the rest of the staff of Villanova's summer music program...hope to meet up with some of my Kappa Kappa Psi and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia brothers at the concert!! Yay West Chester U!!! Hi Jerome! -Jarred