New Williams fanfare at presidential inauguration?

[nadeama 8]

I haven't seen anything about this on the forum and my post in another thread didn't get any reactions, so I guess it's okay to start a new thread. Sorry if it's been covered and I didn't find it.

 

There was a (very) short fanfare at the inauguration that very much sounded like John Williams. Some of his trademark compositional devices, especially in the 2nd half: repeated 5-note ascending pattern, a bit of polytonality, staccato chord with tonic at the top to end the piece. If it's not Williams, it's someone purposely imitating his style or very strongly influenced by him (to the point of pastiche). If it's Williams, I don't know if it's a new composition or something old that I personally haven't heard before. 

 

You can listen on Youtube, starting at 2:42:22 (just before Trump's entrance):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UXYMPTdC40

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks.

[Thor 8,353]

I don't know, but I can guarantee you 100% that it's not by Williams.

[King Mark 3,713]

wow, that's what I heard from the toilet and I wasn't sure

 

It ends like Liberty Fanfare so I thought that's what I heard but it isn't

 

Does sound like Williams

 

[Jay 39,429]

You guys are nuts, doesn't sound anything like Williams

[King Mark 3,713]

it sounds lifted from Liberty Fanfare

[nadeama 8]

Quote

Guys, it may not be by Williams, but the second half especially sounds very much like it could be him. I've listened to his music for 35 years and am a composer myself, there's no doubt it's similar to his style. It could very well be someone influenced by him though. Thor, I'm curious, how do you know 100%?

 

Lol, I just mistakenly quoted myself and I don't know how to correct now, so I'll leave it like that.

[Disco Stu 15,501]

Because Williams would not have anonymously composed a fanfare for this event.

[nightscape94 965]

Correct, he would not have.

[Tom 5,137]

9 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Because Williams would not have anonymously composed a fanfare for this event.

Why not? 

It would make more sense to say he could not have composed a piece that the organizers would not have proclaimed as by him.

by the way, I don't think it is by him.  I just think he would be okay without credit. 

[nadeama 8]

Well, it's just a little snippet of music, not sure it would have been highly publicized, but my thinking is different anyway.

 

I guess the band is "The President's Own", right? Williams has had a good relationship with them in the past. I was thinking this may be a little snippet of music that they commissioned from him a long time ago, to be played at various functions, e.g. when a dignitary enters an event, or something like that. This is exactly the situation here, so the band leader may have felt it was an appropriate little piece from their repertoire to play at that moment.

 

Again, it may be some other composer, but please listen to it before judging. King Mark and myself can't be the only ones hearing Williams' style, especially in the second half.

[Disco Stu 15,501]

More info here

 

http://www.marineband.marines.mil/Unit-Home/Presidential-Inauguration-2017/

[Will 2,235]

Well well well, not that this is too relevant but two Williams selections were played before the ceremony started:

 

@king mark

 

http://www.marineband.marines.mil/Portals/175/Docs/Programs/170120_prelude_rev2.pdf?ver=2017-01-19-103101-447

 

Liberty Fanfare and Men of the Yorktown. 

 

Still not sure what this "new" bit is. I like it - it is Williams-y!

 

#WilliamsIsASecretTrumpSupporter

 

35 minutes ago, nadeama said:

I guess the band is "The President's Own", right? Williams has had a good relationship with them in the past. I was thinking this may be a little snippet of music that they commissioned from him a long time ago, to be played at various functions, e.g. when a dignitary enters an event, or something like that. This is exactly the situation here, so the band leader may have felt it was an appropriate little piece from their repertoire to play at that moment.

 

Yeah, that's an interesting suggestion. Thanks for bringing this to our attention, whatever it is! It's great!

 

Certainly, very convincing Williams imitations have been created in the past!

 

Has anyone Shazam-ed this?

[Cerebral Cortex 3,358]

Because I'm feeling ornery tonight, I would like to point out the necessity that we remember a certain thread every time there seems to be a mass certainty regarding how a piece isn't Williams. This concludes this JWFan Service Announcement.  

I don't think it's Williams either.

 

[Will 2,235]

3 minutes ago, Cerebral Cortex said:

Because I'm feeling ornery tonight, I would like to point out the necessity that we remember a certain thread every time uncertainties like this pop-up. This concludes this JWFan Service Announcement.  

 

That was one that ended up actually being JW though!

 

I love "scavenger hunts" like this even though it usually isn't Williams. 

[Cerebral Cortex 3,358]

Just now, Will said:

That was one that ended up actually being JW though!

 

My point exactly! 

[Will 2,235]

I'm almost certain now that the fanfare in question is one of the two credited near the bottom of this sheet - http://www.marineband.marines.mil/Portals/175/Docs/Programs/170120_prelude_rev2.pdf?ver=2017-01-19-103101-447 - simply as "Fanfare by The U.S. Army Herald Trumpets" (no composer listed, unlike for most of the pieces). 

[nadeama 8]

I Shazamed it but no results. 

 

Looking at the program at the link provided by Disco Stu (thanks!), there doesn't seem to be any specific Williams selection that it would be. I don't know exactly where in the program this would be at, as I don't know the surrounding pieces to recognize them, so I can't even tell what the title of the fanfare is. But there's nothing explicitly by Williams listed.

 

I guess the author of this little fanfare may forever remain a mystery!

 

Lol Cerebral Cortex! Indeed we should.

[Will 2,235]

Here's a playlist with all the inaugural prelude selections (except for the anonymous fanfares!)

 

 

[nadeama 8]

3 minutes ago, Will said:

I'm almost certain now that the fanfare in question is one of the two credited near the bottom of this sheet - http://www.marineband.marines.mil/Portals/175/Docs/Programs/170120_prelude_rev2.pdf?ver=2017-01-19-103101-447 - simply as "Fanfare by The U.S. Army Herald Trumpets" (no composer listed, unlike for most of the pieces). 

 

Well that sure is frustrating. Maybe a member of "The President's Own", who also happens to be a composer/arranger (and a fan of John Williams)?

[Will 2,235]

3 minutes ago, nadeama said:

I Shazamed it but no results. 

 

Looking at the program at the link provided by Disco Stu (thanks!), there doesn't seem to be any specific Williams selection that it would be. I don't know exactly where in the program this would be at, as I don't know the surrounding pieces to recognize them, so I can't even tell what the title of the fanfare is. But there's nothing explicitly by Williams listed.

 

I guess the author of this little fanfare may forever remain a mystery!

 

Lol Cerebral Cortex! Indeed we should.

 

See above.

 

I think I know where this fanfare is on the program, because at 2:36:30 or so "Hail to the Chief" plays. It only played twice throughout the whole day, once during the pre-ceremony and once during the actual ceremony, near the end. Clearly, this is the pre-ceremony one, and since the unknown fanfare comes right after, it's not hard to figure out where it is. Unfortunately, no composer is listed. 

 

EDIT: Ah, I see you noticed already! 

[nadeama 8]

Damn it, I think I'm going to have to send them an email. lol

 

I should see if they have contact info that they reply to.

[Will 2,235]

Just now, nadeama said:

Damn it, I think I'm going to have to send them an email. lol

 

I should see if they have contact info that they reply to.

 

Yes, send it!

 

Even if it's not JW, I want to know who did this! Maybe they have social media too. 

2 minutes ago, nadeama said:

Damn it, I think I'm going to have to send them an email. lol

 

I should see if they have contact info that they reply to.

 

Maybe try this?

 

marineband.publicaffairs@usmc.mil

[nadeama 8]

Will (or anyone else), do you happen to know what the piece is right after the fanfare (just as Trump is entering)? It would help me to tell them I want info about the fanfare that was played between (Hail to the Chief) and this other piece. The next piece on the playlist you posted is "Hail to the Spirit of Liberty', but that's not what's playing after the fanfare. Shazam no help there either.

[John Dutton 7,378]

Spielberg would never let Williams compose a fanfare for Trump.

[nadeama 8]

2 minutes ago, Rose Dawson said:

Spielberg would never let Williams compose a fanfare for Trump.

 

Haha lol. Not sure even Spielberg has *that* much hold over Williams. 

 

But in all seriousness, whoever the composer is, the piece may very well have been commissioned before the election, when the winner wasn't yet known. Or as I mentioned above, written for a different occasion and repurposed for the inauguration.

[Will 2,235]

21 minutes ago, nadeama said:

Will (or anyone else), do you happen to know what the piece is right after the fanfare (just as Trump is entering)? It would help me to tell them I want info about the fanfare that was played between (Hail to the Chief) and this other piece. The next piece on the playlist you posted is "Hail to the Spirit of Liberty', but that's not what's playing after the fanfare. Shazam no help there either.

 

I don't have time to check right now, unfortunately.

[Will 2,235]

@nadeama, I am 100% certain after further review that the order was as follows:

 

John Philip Sousa* - March, “Hail to the Spirit of Liberty”

 

Mysterious fanfare - officially "Fanfare by The U.S. Army Herald Trumpets"

 

George Drumm - Trio of “Hail, America!”

 

Here that is, by the way:

 

 

So I've told you what plays immediately before and after. 

 

See the very bottom of this sheet, the official program:

 

http://www.marineband.marines.mil/Portals/175/Docs/Programs/170120_prelude_rev2.pdf?ver=2017-01-19-103101-447

 

There are other anonymous fanfares too (at least four others). I'll need to listen to those tomorrow. 

[King Mark 3,713]

We have to get to the bottom of this!

 

The more I listen to it the more it sounds like JW

 

[John Dutton 7,378]

I don't think it's him. I've spoken.

 

You can clearly see some geek behind the band trying to figure out who the composer is.

[King Mark 3,713]

maybe when Williams composed Liberty Fanfare, there  was TV bumpers or something we never heard that was meant to  go on TV broadcasts. one section is direct lift of liberty fanfare

 

and why would they play some random guy's composition when the President comes out

[Incanus 5,801]

I think it is some random guy's composition.

[crumbs 14,870]

I highly doubt Williams would want anything to do with Trump's inauguration. Just my two cents.

 

Not that we really know his political opinions but I doubt they're too far removed from Spielberg's (Hillary supporter).

[nadeama 8]

Don't let politics cloud your judgment about this though. As I said, whoever the composer is, this may have been commissioned even before the election results, or composed for another circumstance and reused here, or the composer may have done it out of respect for the democratic process, whoever the president is, Or he may be a Trump supporter, what do I know. lol

 

Anyway, Williams' absence on the website's program makes me think it's very probably someone else. Definitely a composer very influenced by Williams though,

 

It's very late now and I'm really tired, but I will try sending an email tomorrow and see if there's a way to find out who the composer is. This has piqued my curiosity. And thanks Will for all the info.

[crumbs 14,870]

If they say it was Williams, it's FAKE NEWS!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,415]

If Williams had contributed a piece we would have heard about it, end of story!

 

This is all some GOP plot to get us to watch the ceremony again!

[BloodBoal 7,541]

8 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Because Williams would not have anonymously composed a fanfare for this event.

 

Yes, he would have, if he was ashamed to have composed music for Trump.

[Thor 8,353]

It's ridiculous to even nurture the notion that Williams would write anything in any form or shape for Donald Trump. But of course -- they may have used some of his existing music (providing they didn't need his permission, like with Goldsmith's AIR FORCE ONE thing) or had a composer create 'soundalike' music. I suggest contacting the band through e-mail to find out.

[Quintus 5,449]

8 hours ago, Rose Dawson said:

Spielberg would never let Williams compose a fanfare for Trump.

 

Zionist Spielberg may well have voted for him. 

[nadeama 8]

Alright, I just sent the email. I'll keep you all posted if I ever receive a reply.

 

Wonder if we should make it interesting and open betting on this? 

[Thor 8,353]

I'll bet everything I own that it isn't a new Williams.

[Will 2,235]

14 minutes ago, Thor said:

I'll bet everything I own that it isn't a new Williams.

 

Gee, you'd better hope it isn't. 

 

1 hour ago, nadeama said:

Alright, I just sent the email. I'll keep you all posted if I ever receive a reply.

 

Wonder if we should make it interesting and open betting on this? 

 

Thanks for doing that! 

[airmanjerm 79]

On 1/24/2017 at 7:32 PM, nadeama said:

Damn it, I think I'm going to have to send them an email. lol

 

I should see if they have contact info that they reply to.

 

The group performing there is the US Army Band's Herald Trumpets, which is not affiliated with the "President's Own" Marine Band. Emailing the Marine Band may not get you very much help, although it's always possible whoever answers the email may happen to know. 

 

I believe this is an original work by the Army Band's chief arranger, Mike Brown. The Herald Trumpets are a pretty unique group and nearly everything they perform has to be arranged specifically for the ensemble (I've written a few things for them myself in years past). They play tons of high profile gigs, which means they require a ton of different tunes. And when there's an upcoming event that may require an original fanfare, Mike is the guy. (There's also the chance this was something done years ago and just happened to fit the occasion.)

 

Chief Arranger for the US Army Band is a far cry from just being "some random guy" in the music world, but as for it being JW, I'm pretty sure we'd have read about that already. This also has some of Mike's signature sounds, which sounds at times a little like Williams and Ives having a gin and tonic together. 😄 Do let me know if you hear back from the Marine Band though, with them working together pretty closely for this event it's not hard to imagine the name of the tune might have been written on a gig sheet somewhere. 

 

 

 

 

[nadeama 8]

Thank you for all that info! What you say makes a lot of sense and I bet that's probably it.

 

Maybe they can also give me the appropriate email address to ask this. I'll let everyone know when/if I hear back. 

[Luke Skywalker 1,939]

OK just saw this.

 

It makes sense that someone other composed this and that it is a Williams fan. It could still have been some composition by him commisioned by the government in the past and they would have the right to use it at will....

 

And really to the naysayers, it sounds a lot like Williams, it is just for drums and trumpets, it could be a very toned down version of a bigger cue, and with so little orchestration, you cannot see more Williamisms. If this was a fanfare made for, ie, the entrance of a supposed "king of krakozia" in the Terminal everyone would be nuts of the awesomeness of it (other would be saying it was williams reusing liberty fanfare )...

 

I'm glad Williams did not compose anything for Trump, though.

[Thor 8,353]

It goes without saying that if you're doing an American fanfare for an event like this, it's hard to avoid references to Williams' style -- which has been the very definition of such things at least since the early 80s.

[Will 2,235]

6 hours ago, nadeama said:

Thank you for all that info! What you say makes a lot of sense and I bet that's probably it.

 

Maybe they can also give me the appropriate email address to ask this. I'll let everyone know when/if I hear back. 

 

I guess you could always email the Army Band if the Marine one has no idea (which you're probably already planning on doing, anyway) 

 

@king mark, one thing I'll note is that the sense I got about the Liberty Fanfare-like segment of this piece is that it wasn't a deliberate reference and more just a stylistic trait. This would actually work quite well as a TV bumper, but I'm not sure there's actually any connection to the Liberty Fanfare. An interesting theory, though.

[King Mark 3,713]

My  initial post during the inauguration:

 

On 2017-01-20 at 11:32 AM, king mark said:

did I just heart a bit of  JW Libery Fanfare?  . I was in the other room so not sure

[Will 2,235]

6 hours ago, king mark said:

My  initial post during the inauguration:

 

 

 

 

Well, they did play the actual Liberty Fanfare during the prelude so could that actually be what you heard? Or was this very close to the swearing in? 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,415]

14 hours ago, airmanjerm said:

 

The group performing there is the US Army Band's Herald Trumpets, which is not affiliated with the "President's Own" Marine Band. Emailing the Marine Band may not get you very much help, although it's always possible whoever answers the email may happen to know. 

 

I believe this is an original work by the Army Band's chief arranger, Mike Brown. The Herald Trumpets are a pretty unique group and nearly everything they perform has to be arranged specifically for the ensemble (I've written a few things for them myself in years past). They play tons of high profile gigs, which means they require a ton of different tunes. And when there's an upcoming event that may require an original fanfare, Mike is the guy. (There's also the chance this was something done years ago and just happened to fit the occasion.)

 

Chief Arranger for the US Army Band is a far cry from just being "some random guy" in the music world, but as for it being JW, I'm pretty sure we'd have read about that already. This also has some of Mike's signature sounds, which sounds at times a little like Williams and Ives having a gin and tonic together. 😄 Do let me know if you hear back from the Marine Band though, with them working together pretty closely for this event it's not hard to imagine the name of the tune might have been written on a gig sheet somewhere. 

 

 

 

 

 

Look! A sensible post!

[King Mark 3,713]

56 minutes ago, Will said:

 

Well, they did play the actual Liberty Fanfare during the prelude so could that actually be what you heard? Or was this very close to the swearing in? 

 

It's the short fanfare in this thread