Jess 0 Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 Hi, im doing a report on John Williams at school as we have to choose our most influential practitioner and write 3000 words on them so i thought who could be more influential than the man himself, aha. Basically i need to find out about what inspired him to become a film score producer and what aspects of his personal/working life may have influenced his style or anything really, does anybody have anything they can share with me?Thanks guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datameister 2,044 Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 He was best known as a jazz musician originally - back when he was Johnny Williams. Although he doesn't write much jazz anymore, there are still influences in the types of chords and rhythms he uses. Professionally speaking, he got his start as a studio musician, playing piano for other people's scores. Then he gradually moved into orchestrating and arranging, followed by some television scoring and finally actual film scoring.Unfortunately, resources on John Williams' life are rather scarce, but you can find interviews on YouTube and whatnot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess 0 Posted June 15, 2010 Author Share Posted June 15, 2010 He was best known as a jazz musician originally - back when he was Johnny Williams. Although he doesn't write much jazz anymore, there are still influences in the types of chords and rhythms he uses. Professionally speaking, he got his start as a studio musician, playing piano for other people's scores. Then he gradually moved into orchestrating and arranging, followed by some television scoring and finally actual film scoring.Unfortunately, resources on John Williams' life are rather scarce, but you can find interviews on YouTube and whatnot. Thanks very much thats great! i certainly didn't know that aha thank you x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,251 Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 There was that one article someone posted here not too long ago, that had quotes from himself and his daughter about his personal life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess 0 Posted June 15, 2010 Author Share Posted June 15, 2010 There was that one article someone posted here not too long ago, that had quotes from himself and his daughter about his personal life.Thanks very much ill have a look x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,369 Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2010/05/11/john_williams_celebrating_30_years_with_the_boston_pops/?page=full Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess 0 Posted June 15, 2010 Author Share Posted June 15, 2010 http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2010/05/11/john_williams_celebrating_30_years_with_the_boston_pops/?page=fullThank youuu x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indy4 155 Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 There a great interview with Richard Kaye where JW talks about his beginnings. If you don't have time to get it soon, I can give the important aspects:- he started as a piano player for the Columbia Studios Orchestra in the mid 1950s- Morris Stollof (spelling?) was the head - he was 24 when he made the audition- they worked Mon-Fri, doing all different genres and types of scores - he started by orchestrating little sequences for friends- at 26 in 1959, Stollof asked JW to compose his first score (in the interview he says Because They're Young, but I though Daddy-0 was his first score...)- unless a giant (bernstein, etc.) came in, STollof was used to conducting all the scores. He had to visit the hopstial during the recording of JW's score, so JW got to conduct it- now he is a "defensive conductor" or something like that, meaning he always conducts his own works for fear of another conductor interpreting them differently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess 0 Posted June 15, 2010 Author Share Posted June 15, 2010 There a great interview with Richard Kaye where JW talks about his beginnings. If you don't have time to get it soon, I can give the important aspects:- he started as a piano player for the Columbia Studios Orchestra in the mid 1950s- Morris Stollof (spelling?) was the head - he was 24 when he made the audition- they worked Mon-Fri, doing all different genres and types of scores - he started by orchestrating little sequences for friends- at 26 in 1959, Stollof asked JW to compose his first score (in the interview he says Because They're Young, but I though Daddy-0 was his first score...)- unless a giant (bernstein, etc.) came in, STollof was used to conducting all the scores. He had to visit the hopstial during the recording of JW's score, so JW got to conduct it- now he is a "defensive conductor" or something like that, meaning he always conducts his own works for fear of another conductor interpreting them differentlyThanks very much thats amazing x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,715 Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 I suggest you visit this page where there are many JW related articles, many from the Boston Globe, before, during and after Williams' tenure as the conductor of Boston Pops, written by a music journalist Richard Dyer.A good article that provides basic info on Williams on that site is "Where is John Williams Coming From?" but there are many other interesting insights to the man there.I hope this helps! And I recommed these articles to everyone here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess 0 Posted June 15, 2010 Author Share Posted June 15, 2010 I suggest you visit this page where there are many JW related articles, many from the Boston Globe, before, during and after Williams' tenure as the conductor of Boston Pops, written by a music journalist Richard Dyer.A good article that provides basic info on Williams on that site is "Where is John Williams Coming From?" but there are many other interesting insights to the man there.I hope this helps! And I recommed these articles to everyone here.Nice one thanks x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diego 21 Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 He likes turtlenecks... a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Brigden 7 Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 He likes turtlenecks... a lot.And he has webbed feet, which he considers a major factor in his success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melange 446 Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 He likes turtlenecks... a lot."Listen,to be a member of the John Williams appreciation society you'd have to 'really' love Turtleknecks""I do!""Oh yeah? How much?""A LOT!""Right, you're in" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,399 Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 He got the Schindler's List gig 'coz Mozart is a fossil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,715 Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 Classic JW fan discussion. It always turns into a talk about the turtlenecks. I guess you could say it is the most defining thing for most fans. That and making fun of JWs stock answers to interviewers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airmanjerm 78 Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 There's an article I posted here on Jwfan a while back that was from the March Air Force Base newspaper ("The Beacon") back in 1952 when he was the Staff Arranger for the Air Force Band at March AFB then. It has a lot of good biographical information from that time. He was only about 20 years old then, and he wasn't really famous yet. So...give that a shot. (Anyone on here have a direct link for that? I looked and couldn't find it, but it was posted on the main page for a while. If not I can re-post it when I get home.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,369 Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 http://jwfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=16627 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PIANOMUSICIAN1991 0 Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 Hi, im doing a report on John Williams at school as we have to choose our most influential practitioner and write 3000 words on them so i thought who could be more influential than the man himself, aha. Basically i need to find out about what inspired him to become a film score producer and what aspects of his personal/working life may have influenced his style or anything really, does anybody have anything they can share with me?Thanks guys His father was a jazz musician, a drummer. He was around jazz greats during his early years. He took up piano, amongst other insturments such as cello and clarinet. He was a jazz recording artist (Pianist) originally. He started arranging jazz music and then when he moved to LA with his family, studied composition privately. He was a good pianist all round, classical, jazz you name it. He got into being a musician in the Hollywood orchestras in the 50s, playing on such themes as Peter Gunn by Henry Mancini. He then became an orchestrator in the studios for well known film composers at the time such as Franz Waxman and Max Steiner. He also did do some ghost writing. You could say he was influences and got the knowledge of film composing from watching the 'masters' at work in the studios. He soon started to get film composing work for B movies and Tv themes and such like, until getting his huge breaks with Jaws, Starwars and ET etc. Thats my little summary for you. Hope its helpful,Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airmanjerm 78 Posted June 16, 2010 Share Posted June 16, 2010 http://jwfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=16627Thanks Jason! Figured that was still here somewhere... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488 Posted June 16, 2010 Share Posted June 16, 2010 That vintage article is chilling. In a couple decades he'd be creating some of the most iconic music for the most popular movies of all time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted June 16, 2010 Share Posted June 16, 2010 He also likes trees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,251 Posted June 16, 2010 Share Posted June 16, 2010 And democrats. But let's stop right there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,340 Posted June 16, 2010 Share Posted June 16, 2010 He also likes trees.Does he still smoke plant leaves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Crichton 4 Posted June 16, 2010 Share Posted June 16, 2010 Lets not forget his raging Funyon obsession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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