John Williams' Suspenders

[Nick Parker 3,017]

While listening to War Horse a bit ago something occurred to me: John Willliams really loves using suspended (apparently sometimes called quartal) chords. They have driven so much of his music since at least the 1970's (where those chords were pretty common) that sometimes it makes my mind stagger like an inebriated ostrich on stilts. There are so many examples to choose from, the trick is deciding which ones to leave out (these are from memory):

All of the Elegy and Seven for Luck

At least the first movement of the Bassoon concerto

Jaws (the Shark Cage Fugue most obviously)

The Empire Strikes Back (especially those strings starting at about 7:40 or so in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssJ3v2swJBg)

Star Wars (especially the Yavin music)

Rosewood

A.I.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Earthquake (that really nifty piano line that bobs through the whole opening)

As aforementioned, there are probably a whole slew of other examples but it would take the duration of all the above examples to list them all. I don't have any legitimate philosophical analyses on his use of them (it sure makes his music sound groovy!), and I'm not even sure if it is worthy of a thread, but I thought it was interesting enough an observation for at least a strand. Has anyone else noticed this?

[King Mark 2,924]

I don't really understand what you mean , but I'm sure it's part of why JW's music sounds great

K.M.Who thought this was about Williams wearing suspenders

[Not Mr. Big 3,589]

That's what I thought too. Still not quite sure what the suspenders thing quite means though.

[Thor 5,273]

That's what I thought too. Still not quite sure what the suspenders thing quite means though.

Ford Thaxton has the trademark on the suspenders in Film Score World.

Suspense music (i.e. the traditional style with stingers, suspended notes and lots of tremolo sneaking-around music) has never been my favourite part of film music, neither by Williams or anyone else. The exception is when they utilize a more romantic idiom, what I call "delicious darkness". Like Chris Young's HELLRAISER score of Williams' own THE FURY. Or much of Beltrami's stuff. Or when they go straight out avantgarde, like IMAGES.

[Sharkissimo 1,971]

Think what what the OP is talking about are quartal chords - or fourths in parallel motion. i.e. try playing G-C-F-Bb-Eb on the piano. You'll also notice there, you're spelling out an Eb 6/9 chord, a favourite of Leonard Rosenman, Alex North, John Williams and others. Basically put it's a major triad with an added 9th and 6th.

It's also important to note that Irvin Kirshner tracked some of ESTB with Paul Hindemith, whose self-constructed musical idiom often contained fourths and fifths.