John Williams Conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra - May 4 2016

[nightscape94 965]

Tributes! For Seiji is basically a concerto for orchestra, and is quite cool.  Every section of the orchestra has a chance to shine.  The whole piece is well constructed and realized; going through different moods and colors.  It has a section highlighting that classic Williams lush, thick, string writing, and the brass doesn't have it easy, that's for sure.  Has a few false endings too.

[Thor 8,238]

2 hours ago, nightscape94 said:

Tributes! For Seiji is basically a concerto for orchestra, and is quite cool.  Every section of the orchestra has a chance to shine.  The whole piece is well constructed and realized; going through different moods and colors.  It has a section highlighting that classic Williams lush, thick, string writing, and the brass doesn't have it easy, that's for sure.  Has a few false endings too.

 

Yeah, it's a fine piece. But one would think -- after all these concert performances -- he would find a way to record it soon. It must be the most-performed Williams concert piece not to have an official recording.

[Incanus 5,795]

On 1.5.2016 at 11:55 PM, Thor said:

 

Yeah, it's a fine piece. But one would think -- after all these concert performances -- he would find a way to record it soon. It must be the most-performed Williams concert piece not to have an official recording.

Throw in Soundings and it would be a great musical pairing for an album!

[Thor 8,238]

46 minutes ago, Incanus said:

Throw in Soundings and it would be a great musical pairing for an album!

 

Sure -- but that's barely 30 minutes combined. Then you can just as well throw in a few more unreleased concert pieces!  

 

(I do have excellent-sounding bootleg recordings of both pieces, btw, so I would actually rather have some that I only have in crappy-sounding bootleg recordings, like the clarinet concerto etc. But in terms of having official recordings of everything, both For Sejii! and Soundings should get their due).

[Incanus 5,795]

2 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

Sure -- but that's barely 30 minutes combined. Then you can just as well throw in a few more unreleased concert pieces!  

 

(I do have excellent-sounding bootleg recordings of both pieces, btw, so I would actually rather have some that I only have in crappy-sounding bootleg recordings, like the clarinet concerto etc. But in terms of having official recordings of everything, both For Sejii! and Soundings should get their due).

Yes yes, naturally the album would need more content. But something like the clarinet concerto and On Willows and Birches and studio recording of oboe concerto and horn concerto would certainly be welcome. Not to mention all the unrecorded pieces.

[nightscape94 965]

Viola Concerto!

[nightscape94 965]

Violin concerto rehearsal. 

 

 

[nightscape94 965]

Williams is sitting 8 feet away from me in the audience. I had no idea he was there until the conductor pointed him out.  I'm at the end of one isle with he at the end of the adjacent one. 

[Will 2,230]

Make sure to give us a report! I so wish I could be there. Having just become a John Williams fan recently, I have never seen the maestro live. I sure hope I'll get that chance sometime. 

 

Pretty cool that this concert is on Star Wars Day -- May the 4th Be With You!

[nightscape94 965]

Just got back.  I'll probably try to write a review tomorrow.

 

Encore (conducted by Williams):

 

Theme from Schindler's List

Scherzo for X-Wings

Imperial March

[crumbs 14,814]

3 hours ago, nightscape94 said:

Williams is sitting 8 feet away from me in the audience. I had no idea he was there until the conductor pointed him out.  I'm at the end of one isle with he at the end of the adjacent one. 

Did you whisper in his ear, "Are you scoring Episode 8?"

 

[Joe Brausam 216]

A good friend of mine is in the orchestra, and was really kind in letting me come back stage.  An amazing concert!

[Not Mr. Big 4,730]

16 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Did you whisper in his ear, "Are you scoring Episode 8?"

 

"I'll try"

[Ricard 2,254]

ABC NEWS REPORT:

 

http://6abc.com/society/the-sounds-of-the-silver-screen-come-to-the-kimmel/1324153/
   

[crumbs 14,814]

He looks pretty sprightly and happy there. Certainly nothing lacking as far as his conducting goes, either!

[Jay 39,241]

Great pics Joe and Nightscape!

 

How was Scherzo for X-Wings live?

[Joe Brausam 216]

I think Scherzo was faster than he took it on the OST - it was great!  It was cool, I was at the first public performance of this piece when it was in Chicago, and now I got to hear Williams do it as well!  Lots of energy in that piece - it's even better live than on the recordings!

This is a bit of Scherzo.

IMG_1658.MOV

[Jay 39,241]

[aviazn 273]

2 hours ago, Joe Brausam said:

This is a bit of Scherzo.

IMG_1658.MOV

Yessss! Thanks so much for this. This is the tempo I've always wanted to hear it at. I'll always wonder why the tempo on the OST is so uneven.

[Joe Brausam 216]

55 minutes ago, aviazn said:

Yessss! Thanks so much for this. This is the tempo I've always wanted to hear it at. I'll always wonder why the tempo on the OST is so uneven.

 

I know - I wish I had recorded the whole thing!

[nightscape94 965]

13 hours ago, crumbs said:

Did you whisper in his ear, "Are you scoring Episode 8?"

 

 

When he took the stage, and before he started conducting the Scherzo, he said "I told the producers I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the next one, but told them I didn't want anyone else doing it either."  It was certainly meant as a joke, and got a great laugh.

 

3 hours ago, Joe Brausam said:

I think Scherzo was faster than he took it on the OST

 

Most definitely.

[TownerFan 5,098]

3 hours ago, nightscape94 said:

 

When he took the stage, and before he started conducting the Scherzo, he said "I told the producers I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the next one, but told them I didn't want anyone else doing it either."  It was certainly meant as a joke, and got a great laugh.

 

Quote of the year. I guess it's probably what he really feels about it

[Not Mr. Big 4,730]

3 hours ago, nightscape94 said:

When he took the stage, and before he started conducting the Scherzo, he said "I told the producers I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the next one, but told them I didn't want anyone else doing it either."  It was certainly meant as a joke, and got a great laugh.

Was he referring to TFA or VIII? 

[nightscape94 965]

VIII

[ocelot 549]

Definitely sounded better there than on the OST!

[pro-arte 22]

That fast tempo ?

 

 

[Ricard 2,254]

Review from Philly.com

 

Quote

The evening was designed to be more than just reliving your favorite musical/celluloid moments from the Indiana Jones films, not to mention Star Wars, Jaws, Dracula, and The Book Thief. Five or so video interludes had principal guest conductor Denève asking Williams the questions that a passionate and intelligent admirer would, inevitably looping around to this one: How, exactly, does he come up with his famous melodies? Now a tad frail at age 84, Williams admitted that for the first week or two of working on a film, he has no idea what he's doing. You have to love a guy like that.

 

Full review

 

[crumbs 14,814]

20 hours ago, nightscape94 said:

When he took the stage, and before he started conducting the Scherzo, he said "I told the producers I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the next one, but told them I didn't want anyone else doing it either."  It was certainly meant as a joke, and got a great laugh.

 

Great quote, that. I hope it makes the front cover of his VIII OST. 

 

Whether jokingly said or not, I think John is being quite honest there. It would be very hard letting go of Star Wars after 7 scores; it's become his magnum opus and he realises that. As modest as John is, I'm pretty certain he steadfastly believes he's the only person capable of doing justice to the themes he's spent 40 years writing.

 

Come to think of it, I don't recall any other comments from JW (jokingly or otherwise) where he appeared so protective of his own work?

[Jay 39,241]

16 hours ago, nightscape94 said:

VIII

 

Really?  Sweet!

(At least he didn't out right say he wasn't gonna do it!)

[Balahkay 629]

It's interesting that Williams didn't come out and say he's going to score VIII.  Is scheduling the hold up here?  Is Disney waiting for the right time to announce a composer, Williams or otherwise?  We're still not 100% sure that Williams is going to score Spielberg flicks next year. The suspense is killing me...

[Loert 2,630]

3 hours ago, crumbs said:

Come to think of it, I don't recall any other comments from JW (jokingly or otherwise) where he appeared so protective of his own work?

 

He talked a bit about about this aspect in the Capital Radio interview in 1978, when he was discussing Meco's SW album. Basically, he said that he was appreciative of the album but he was quite clear that it didn't agree with his vision, at least at that time. You can listen to this excerpt below (it was posted on the JWFan frontpage some time ago):

 

 

But I think it's important to note that he admits that other arrangements can improve on the original...

 

Some time later, he said this:

 

Quote

I hadn't heard of either disco or Meco. When I was asked to listen to Meco's now-famous recording, I was a little apprehensive, wondering how a pop record could be made from "The March from Star Wars" and what it would be like. I immediately liked what I heard and sensed that a genuine communication was taking place. Meco took things forward another step by bringing Star Wars to a vast audience who otherwise would not have heard it in its original symphonic setting. I am most grateful to Meco for all of this and I am delighted that 'disco' and 'Meco' are now household words.

 

which seems to be a much more open-minded approach.

 

But a few years ago somebody on another forum apparently contacted JW's publisher (Hal Leonard) to ask about the legality of arrangements of JW's work, and Hal Leonard replied with: "John Williams is actually a client of ours who expressly denies any arrangements of his works in any format". (source, bottom of page) Though I'm a bit confused by this because there are so many arrangements of JW's works out there (both published and un-published) - what about all the high-school level concert band arrangements of Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones...etc.? Did all of those have to be specifically approved by Williams? What about all of Luhl's piano arrangements and recordings? I'm not sure exactly how HL would enforce a rule like that.

 

In any case, I guess the least one can say about Williams' position on the subject is that he's very serious about his work and the way through which it is disseminated. Therefore, that statement at the orchestra about him not wishing other people to score the next SW film appears to me to be in his nature (in particular after listening to that interview excerpt) despite its tongue-in-cheek context. I don't see it as egotistical at all though - after all, being the expert musician that he is, he must be very sensitive to re-arrangements of his own work, given all the efforts he put into composing his "original vision" of the work in his studio, an "original vision" which he seems quite serious about. However I only have those three quotes to go by, which is not much...if someone else has any additional evidence of his opinion on the topic, that would be interesting to hear.

 

(btw I keep talking about arrangements, which is of course different than somebody else composing new music based off some of your music, but at the end of the day it is all working off other composers' legacy in a way)

[Not Mr. Big 4,730]

I have a feeling that Williams is waiting to see the film (presumably in rough-cut form) before deciding to score it. 

[mrbellamy 6,681]

Yeah, that could be. I think the fact that he was so smitten with TFA and Daisy Ridley is encouraging that he would be genuinely interested in continuing Rey's story specifically, not just out of obligation because it's Star Wars. It seemed like a very positive experience for him altogether.

 

I'm more worried about Rian Johnson's process and what he might be asking of Williams. I'm hoping the fact that they stuck to their same shooting schedule as if it were a May release means that he can start ASAP with a long post-production and they could once again give him a nice low pressure schedule to be working on it with leeway for his conducting and the Spielberg projects. I mean, they'll be done shooting by the end of the summer? That should give them plenty of time to get their shit together so that Williams can get his hands on it before too long, right?

 

If Johnson is the kind of guy who knows what he wants, it shouldn't be a problem, but I fear another David Yates "He wanted a rough cut too early and I got scared!" claim....

[Not Mr. Big 4,730]

Rian Johnson working as the director both excites and frightens me.  On the one hand, his eccentric musical sensibilities could really bring out something different from Williams.  On the other hand, his eccentricity might "scare" Williams away from the project.

[mrbellamy 6,681]

Hehe, though you have to think Johnson would probably not want to be the guy who scared John Williams away from Star Wars.

 

Williams has his comfort zone but it seems like he's never shied away from the new thing when a director actually wants it. I don't think he'd have a problem if Johnson wanted a weirder soundscape. Maybe they'd bring in some "special guests" for certain effects, though....

 

But yeah, the idea of somebody with a little more unconventional approach to music and drama getting a shot at the Star Wars playground with John Williams, that's an exciting prospect to me.

[Not Mr. Big 4,730]

We're being reported on!

[mrbellamy 6,681]

Stop looking at JWFan like that, Movieweb. It makes us feel uncomfortable.

[Not Mr. Big 4,730]

 

 

[crumbs 14,814]

I'm with you, Mr. Big. I reckon he's waiting for the first cut and he'll decide after that.

 

Here's hoping Johnson knocks it out of the park!

[mrbellamy 6,681]

We should have a poll. What will John Williams' reaction to Episode 8 be?

 

 

 

 

[SilverTrumpet 642]

You know, coming from a guy who didn't mind starting a new Star Wars era with a new composer who could at least capture the Star Wars spirit, after he started the new trilogy, and TFA score quickly becoming an absolute favorite, I would hate a reality where VIII and IX were scored by someone else.

[Biodome 714]

Will there be any published recordings of the event? I'd love to see a video of the whole thing

[Not Mr. Big 4,730]

Somebody at The Force.net posted this.  Sounds like utter BS to me.

 

[crumbs 14,814]

It's essentially the same result, except this guy claims he outright told producers he didn't want to do VIII rather than he "wasn't sure." You could also interpret the quote as John conceding he was so enamored by Daisy in TFA that she's enough to get him onboard with scoring Rey's journey to becoming a Jedi Knight (even if he feels indifferent about the saga itself).

 

Maybe Daisy needs to sit down for lunch with John and tell him how much Rey's Theme meant to her. That should seal the deal!  

 

[Incanus 5,795]

I am sure Daisy could turn his head.

[Muad'Dib 1,855]

9 minutes ago, Incanus said:

I am sure Daisy could turn his head.

 

[chinaismine 64]

54 minutes ago, Mr. Big said:

Somebody at The Force.net posted this.  Sounds like utter BS to me.

 

 

Yeah, I was at the concert too and this Twitter guy is way off.  Nightscape has the quote correct.

[Incanus 5,795]

7 minutes ago, Michael said:

 

Yeah I think the head has already been turned. Now Daisy needs to keep it turned until episode IX.

[crumbs 14,814]

I really hope Rey remains the heart and soul of this new trilogy, whether that journey becomes a descent into darkness (the prequel trilogy done correctly) or her rise into the light (the original trilogy recycled).

 

Either direction gives Williams plenty to work with, although my heart says that the more tragic alternative would result in the superior Williams score. After all, look what he came up with for the soulless characters in the prequel trilogy!

[Cerebral Cortex 3,358]

2 hours ago, crumbs said:

It's essentially the same result, except this guy claims he outright told producers he didn't want to do VIII rather than he "wasn't sure." You could also interpret the quote as John conceding he was so enamored by Daisy in TFA that she's enough to get him onboard with scoring Rey's journey to becoming a Jedi Knight (even if he feels indifferent about the saga itself).

 

The situation kinda sounds equivalent to if Williams was Luke at the end of TFA, and, instead of a lightsaber, Daisy is handing him his baton, and he is unsure whether to take it and reprise his Star Wars scoring duties or to leave it and never return to that world.