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John Williams Hollywood Bowl Concert September 1st, 2012


scallenger

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Nice. I've always loved Marion's theme. Such a great nod to the classic, romantic film score. Reminds me of Laura, and David Raksin.

It is indeed a warm stylistic nod to the romantic scores of old and I am glad JW finally wrote a full length development of it. Also Laura is one of JW's personal favourites I believe. Have you checked out Perlman's version of the theme on Cinema Serenade 2 album with JW conducting? :)
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...and the new arrangement of Marion's Theme!

That's interesting, was it a completely new arrangement? or the "marion's theme/crate' from the sound track?

As far as I can understand it from the comments people are really refering to the new proper concert arrangement of Marion's Theme Williams composed at Steven Spielberg's urging in 2008 for Boston Pops concerts that more or less coincided with the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He also composed a full length concert arrangement of Irina's Theme, which was performed in the same concerts.

Not sure if it was at Spielberg's request, but the arrangement is one of the movements of the "Adventures of Indiana Jones" suite, along with "Swahsbucklers" and "Irina's Theme", prepared back in 2008, and published by Hal Leonard.

Just for curiosity sake, here you have the "Adventures of Indiana Jones" movements:

The Adventures of Indiana Jones

I. Swashbuckler (The Adventures of Mutt)

II. Marion's Theme

III. The Crystal Spell

IV. A Whirl Through Academe

V. Irina's Theme

VI. Raiders March (from Raiders of the Lost Ark)

Score at Hal Leonard.

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...and the new arrangement of Marion's Theme!

That's interesting, was it a completely new arrangement? or the "marion's theme/crate' from the sound track?

As far as I can understand it from the comments people are really refering to the new proper concert arrangement of Marion's Theme Williams composed at Steven Spielberg's urging in 2008 for Boston Pops concerts that more or less coincided with the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He also composed a full length concert arrangement of Irina's Theme, which was performed in the same concerts.

Not sure if it was at Spielberg's request, but the arrangement is one of the movements of the "Adventures of Indiana Jones" suite, along with "Swahsbucklers" and "Irina's Theme", prepared back in 2008, and published by Hal Leonard.

Just for curiosity sake, here you have the "Adventures of Indiana Jones" movements:

The Adventures of Indiana Jones

I. Swashbuckler (The Adventures of Mutt)

II. Marion's Theme

III. The Crystal Spell

IV. A Whirl Through Academe

V. Irina's Theme

VI. Raiders March (from Raiders of the Lost Ark)

Score at Hal Leonard.

I think it was Spielberg himself, who in jest or seriousness mentioned "commissioning" Marion's Theme from Williams in one of the 2008 concerts. :)
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Yes, Marion's theme was also a wonderful arrangement that was unexpected when I saw the program. Here is my video for the second Gil Shaham piece that was performed, "Remembrances" from Schindler's List. I have to admit, I was expecting (and hoping for) the main theme as I do not recall "Remembrances" being played a lot at his concerts. Also, this piece was my favorite of the 4 that he performed.

Enjoy folks!

http://youtu.be/4EhrbSKGfvg?hd=1

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This was my 13th consecutive year going, and while it's always a great time, I was really excited to see him have a little more variety than in the past few years. Having the choir play a few selections was a real treat as well which he hasn't done in years. I also enjoyed the fact that the film cut of E.T. he used didn't have the guns replaced by walkee talkies. :) Here are a few clips I got:

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That was simply awesome!!! :D And well played by the orchestra, the pace as brisk as it should be! The montage was also wonderfully put together with much swashbuckling cheek and bravado.

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Just for curiosity sake, here you have the "Adventures of Indiana Jones" movements:

The Adventures of Indiana Jones

I. Swashbuckler (The Adventures of Mutt)

II. Marion's Theme

III. The Crystal Spell

IV. A Whirl Through Academe

V. Irina's Theme

VI. Raiders March (from Raiders of the Lost Ark)

Score at Hal Leonard.

Interesting, is the recording available for purchase that you're aware of? Would like to own that.

Now this is simply awesome:

Wow, great stuff. I hadn't noticed before what a wonderful 'sword fight' cue that is - another great nod to classic film scores. Sounds like Korngold, but better! Thanks for posting. And what a perfect final scene with Indy's 'sword' fight. hahahaha. Looks like a lot of fun.

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Just for curiosity sake, here you have the "Adventures of Indiana Jones" movements:

The Adventures of Indiana Jones

I. Swashbuckler (The Adventures of Mutt)

II. Marion's Theme

III. The Crystal Spell

IV. A Whirl Through Academe

V. Irina's Theme

VI. Raiders March (from Raiders of the Lost Ark)

Score at Hal Leonard.

Interesting, is the recording available for purchase that you're aware of? Would like to own that.

The suite in full has been already performed here in Europe, Williams himself conducted a few of those movements in Tanglewood, but no commercial release exists.

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Absolutely lovely. :)

Indeed. This must have been magical to hear live.

What? After the flute solo the second chord with the strings is different than in ost?

The cello section was either incredibly off or it played a wrong note.

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What? After the flute solo the second chord with the strings is different than in ost?

The cello section was either incredibly off or it played a wrong note.

Yes that might be the case, someone in the section(or the whole section) played very loudly a wrong note giving the expression of the wrong chord.

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What? After the flute solo the second chord with the strings is different than in ost?

The cello section was either incredibly off or it played a wrong note.

Yes that might be the case, someone in the section(or the whole section) played very loudly a wrong note giving the expression of the wrong chord.

The basses and second violins are playing the third of that particular chord. In the conductor score it shows it as E-flat on both staves, but on the OST you can hear that it is most definitely E-natural. Maybe a typo on the publisher's part, or maybe Williams wanted to change the sound for some unknown reason.

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I finally had a chance to share my thoughts on the concert (the first one on August 31):

I have been to four JW Hollywood Bowl and this was Probably the best. As you can see from the program it was not just the usual smattering of his most well known tunes...there was some really cool stuff that I had never heard in concert before.

The pieces chosen were also playable given the set up of the orchestra. I remember one year he played "Dance of the Witches," and during the trumpet solo at the end the sound was lost to the whirring of the orchestra. I'm not sure it would be possible to change that without a studio mix or a microphone. This time none of the pieces felt like that--sure the mix did not sound exactly like the definitive recordings, and as a trombonist I would have loved to hear more prominent low brass, but the most important parts were always the most prominent, and the details were never lost.

In terms of unreleased arrangements, this concert was a gold mine. We got the new arrangement of "Song for World Peace," which was awesome (although the new piece seems to climax twice, which is a little strange). We got the concert version of Marion's Theme, beautifully performed. We. Got the concert suite from War Horse, with a very nice flute solo (although to be honest I thought the decrescendo at the end of the first phrase was a little too much). And even "Adventure Continues" (which was played at the fastest tempo I have heard at any live concert) some new feature--there was an extra boom-tzzzz to fill a moment of silence (not a fan) and a horn sustain was added during the first false ending, probably to stop people from clapping to early (also, the video montage for this sequence was he best I have seen).

The choir, which I believe hasn't been used at a JW Bowl concert since my ffirst concert in 2005, was amazing. "Dry Your Tears Afrika" was my favorite, and I thought that despite a moment of confusion that resulted in some muddled lyrics it was better than the City of Prague recording of the concert version.

Gil Shaman was fantastic. You could see how enthusiastic he was through his body language and facial expression. "Remembrances" was amazing.

The ET piece was fantastic. There was not a dry eye in sight. During the rehearsal there was a tech lady standing on the stage wiping her eyes.

A funny moment was when Williams played the Superman theme and everybody started waving a light saber, thinking it was from Superman. He saved most of the popular stuff for the encores, and it was great fun given the casual fandom of almost all of the audience. They were waiting throughout the entire concert for Star Wars, and JW waited to relieve them.

But for me, the greatest moment was...meeting John Williams. I'm not going to post any pictures (because I don't post any pics of myself on this board), nor will I reveal exactly how it happened because it was made clear to me that some people had let me slip through some cracks to meet the man, and it cannot be a regular occurrence. I wouldn't blame some of you for not believing me (and frankly I don't really care :) ). I will say that the maestro was truly gracious, and I feel incredibly blessed to have made this legendary encounter. :)

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Great report indy4! And congratulations for getting to see the Maestro himself! Judging by the videos it was truly a night to remember.

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Now this is simply awesome:

[media=]

It's Tintin. Not TinTin or Tin Tin. Capital T, small i, small n, small t, small i, small n. Tintin.

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Great review indy4! thanks for sharing.

We got the concert version of Marion's Theme, beautifully performed.

Does anybody have or know of a video clip of this from the concert? would love to hear it.

But for me, the greatest moment was...meeting John Williams.

Wow, what a fantastic treat that must have been!

I've been to some JW concerts at the bowl, but not recently, and it seems he's doing much more integration with film using the giant screens, which I like. The use of the giant screen with The Duel, and ET looked great from what i saw on the clips people have posted. Just curious, did anybody notice if he was using a monitor himself to follow along hit marks in the screen? The duel looked like it had some good sync, and ET which I know was so brutal when they first scored it, that it took a few tries, and Spielberg even recut the cue after telling JW to just conduct the music without the film, naturally. Wondering how difficult that was to sync up that night.

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What? After the flute solo the second chord with the strings is different than in ost?


The cello section was either incredibly off or it played a wrong note.


Yes that might be the case, someone in the section(or the whole section) played very loudly a wrong note giving the expression of the wrong chord.


The basses and second violins are playing the third of that particular chord. In the conductor score it shows it as E-flat on both staves, but on the OST you can hear that it is most definitely E-natural. Maybe a typo on the publisher's part, or maybe Williams wanted to change the sound for some unknown reason.


Indeed! that's odd.. I believe it is a typo, but on the other hand- Williams must notice such a major difference??
sound weird to my ears.. but just because I am used to that opening from the film/OST.

he already played it "wrong" before:
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Thanks everybody!

I've been to some JW concerts at the bowl, but not recently, and it seems he's doing much more integration with film using the giant screens, which I like. The use of the giant screen with The Duel, and ET looked great from what i saw on the clips people have posted. Just curious, did anybody notice if he was using a monitor himself to follow along hit marks in the screen? The duel looked like it had some good sync, and ET which I know was so brutal when they first scored it, that it took a few tries, and Spielberg even recut the cue after telling JW to just conduct the music without the film, naturally. Wondering how difficult that was to sync up that night.

For most of the video syncing, he and the orchestra used a click track. I remember hearing him say at the rehearsal something like "Okay, now let's bump it up to 180" as he put on a headphone set. He also used it for Olympic Spirit and for the first two thirds of "Adventures on Earth"

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Well I didn't really get to say much because I didn't want to waste his time. I shook his hand and thanked him profusely for his music. I was with my mom and he commented on how young she looked ("Mom? I can't do the math..."). In retrospect I wish I had said something more specific (ie "x score is amazing") but I'm still just grateful for the opportunity to meet the man. I'm thinking of writing him a letter detailing exactly how grateful I am about his work.

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Thanks for the tip! :D okay I will try again. Hopefully it works.

I have finally compiled my videos into a list in order of the program for your convenience. Enjoy! :)

CONCERT PROGRAM

  • A Salute to the Olympic Games -
  • Bugler’s Dream/Olympic Fanfare Theme -

  • Song for World Peace -

  • The Olympic Spirit -

  • “Dartmoor 1912″ from War Horse -

  • “The Duel” (“The Adventure Continues”) from The Adventures of Tintin -

  • Presenting Gil Shaham
  • “Por Una Cabeza” (from Scent of a Woman) -

  • “Remembrances” from Schindler’s List -

  • Excerpts from Fiddler on the Roof -

  • ENCORE:
  • Theme from Laura (Not listed on the program) -

  • INTERMISSION

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Great write-up indy. It definitely looks like it was an amazing night. And congrats on having been able to meet the maestro himself. What a great moment it must have been!

Indeed! that's odd.. I believe it is a typo, but on the other hand- Williams must notice such a major difference??

sound weird to my ears.. but just because I am used to that opening from the film/OST.

he already played it "wrong" before:

[media=]

Huh. Maybe multiple scores have been exposed to that typo as I sure don't think thats right. Strange to hear it get past Williams though.

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  • Superman March -

  • Marion’s Theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark -

  • Three Selections for Chorus and Orchestra
  • Call of the Champions -

  • “Dry Your Tears, Afrika” from Amistad -

  • “Duel of the Fates” from The Phantom Menace - Cal State University Singers -

  • Finale from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial -

  • ENCORES:
  • Luke and Leia from Return of the Jedi -

  • Main Title from Star Wars -

  • The Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back -

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I have finally compiled my videos into a list in order of the program for your convenience. Enjoy! :)

Wow, great! Thanks! Loved it. You guys were right, Marion's theme concert piece is great, I wish it were on CD. Very good selection, looks like a great night!

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That's because when you hear it live you get so scared because you think for a moment that the entire piece may unravel. On video in retrospect you know it's just an isolated incident.

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Huh. Maybe multiple scores have been exposed to that typo as I sure don't think thats right. Strange to hear it get past Williams though.

Yes, def. so, because the "mistake" is in the officially published Hal Leonard JW Signature Edition of War Horse (dartmoor, 1912), which John Williams, and others of course, use in concert.

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