An Award JW Deserves

[Dole 11]

I just discovered that there's a National Medal of Arts which is supposedly the highest honor that the USA can bestow on an artist (like the Congressional Medal of Honor or the Presidential Medal of Freedom). Anyway...it seems a sin that conductors like James Levine, Erich Kunzel, and Leonard Slatkin have been given the honor, while Williams has not. I'm not losing sleep over it or anything, but I think Williams absolutely deserves it. No [mainly] film composer has ever won as far as I can tell.

Here's the list I found on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Natio...Arts_recipients

[Vaderbait1 1]

I just discovered that there's a National Medal of Arts which is supposedly the highest honor that the USA can bestow on an artist (like the Congressional Medal of Honor or the Presidential Medal of Freedom). Anyway...it seems a sin that conductors like James Levine, Erich Kunzel, and Leonard Slatkin have been given the honor, while Williams has not. I'm not losing sleep over it or anything, but I think Williams absolutely deserves it. No [mainly] film composer has ever won as far as I can tell.

Here's the list I found on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Natio...Arts_recipients

You're right. If anyone deserves it, it's him. No one else has come even close to his contribution to American musical art.

[Mr. Breathmask 480]

That's a bit of an overstatement.

[Josh500 1,602]

Hey, Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman both have it! I wonder why Spielberg doesn't have one. Perhaps they're waiting till he's in his eighties or something. Yeah, Johnny definitely deserves one (like he deserves a dozen more Oscars), but that doesn't mean he'll get it. I wonder how they decide who should be given the honor in any given year.

[Vaderbait1 1]

That's a bit of an overstatement.

Why? Can you name any other composer who has had such an effect on the popular psyche? Or created such a vast resume of successful work? As far as music goes (not including bands and vocal work), no one in the last 50 years has come close to his impact in orchestral music.

[Mr. Breathmask 480]

I was thinking of perhaps Aaron Copland and George Gershwin. You did not say anything about "the last 50 years" before. Nor did you limit yourself to orchestral music.

[Vaderbait1 1]

I was thinking of perhaps Aaron Copland and George Gershwin. You did not say anything about "the last 50 years" before. Nor did you limit yourself to orchestral music.

Well, I thought I mentioned film music at least. I'm not so sure about Copland, but yes, you could make an argument for Gershwin, but frankly I still think Williams deserves it more.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

Bruce Springsteen deserves it more then John Williams.

[Red 73]

Williams certainly deserves this award. He needs some kind of life time acheivement prize.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

He has one, it's his bank account.

[Ollie 859]

And the public acclaim and recognition.

[Red 73]

Yeah, but it would make all the difference if he had a statue.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

Who cares about that shit, it's the cash that matters, and the blingy stuff you can buy with it.

[Marian Schedenig 5,520]

I was thinking of perhaps Aaron Copland and George Gershwin.

There also was Leonard Bernstein.

[Mr. Breathmask 480]

I was thinking of perhaps Aaron Copland and George Gershwin. You did not say anything about "the last 50 years" before. Nor did you limit yourself to orchestral music.

Well, I thought I mentioned film music at least.

No. Actually, that would be even more specific than just orchestral music.

But single greatest contributor to American music in general? That is an overstatement.

[Dole 11]

Well at least we can agree that he's done more for American music than Erich Kunzel, the conductor of the Cincinnati Pops, can't we?

[King Mark 2,924]

Yeah,what did Kunzel do to deserve it?

[Ollie 859]

Bringing an appreciation of music, which includes film music, which includes Williams, to the general public.

[Datameister 1,394]

Yup, he deserves it, though I'm not sure the man himself really cares at this point.

[Vaderbait1 1]

I was thinking of perhaps Aaron Copland and George Gershwin. You did not say anything about "the last 50 years" before. Nor did you limit yourself to orchestral music.

Well, I thought I mentioned film music at least.

No. Actually, that would be even more specific than just orchestral music.

But single greatest contributor to American music in general? That is an overstatement.

I seriously doubt that. I know many people are prone to "greatest" syndrome, but I know a fair amount of music, and there are certainly critical greats, but no one has influenced the population of America music-wise (again, talking orchestras here) more than John Williams. Sure, he had inspirations, but those who inspired him did not have the impact on the public at large to the degree he is. I'm not trying to sell them short, but it's clear to me the level of impact made.

[KingPin 194]

Bringing an appreciation of music, which includes film music, which includes Williams, to the general public.

I think Arthur Fiedler, more so than Erich Kunzel, was a pioneer in expanding an appreciation of orchestral music and making it more accessible to the general public (Boston Pops came before Cincinnati Pops). Williams naturally expanded that repertoire to include film music when he succeeded Fiedler. I believe Williams deserves the award, as should Fiedler, were he still alive.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,251]

Phillip Glass!

[Henry B 49]

I was thinking of perhaps Aaron Copland and George Gershwin.

There also was Leonard Bernstein.

And Richard Rodgers.

Williams may be the undisputed winner in the "recognizable film music for epic adventures and dramas of the late 1970s through the 1990s" category, but that's about all that's certain.