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Why John Williams?


GerateWohl

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Recently, reading a lot of threads and comments around here I found a lot of criticism for certain works of John Williams and a lot of appreciation for music work where I thought, I especially adore John Williams because his music is better than that.

 

Then there is the frequent question in many minds, how can you be a John Williams and a Hans Zimmer fan at the same time? Isn't it rather possible to claim, your favourite composers are Igor Strawinsky and John Williams than your favourite composers are Hans Zimmer and John Williams, because the first two have musically more in common than the last two?

 

Anyway, I don't want to start a new bashing thread on any other composers, but I would like to know what do you appreciate in John Williams that makes you a John Williams fan.

Is it the musical excellence, the classical quality, the rhythmic complexity, is it just that some of his themes are so recognizable? What makes his music so unique for you?

 

And is John Williams your favourite composer anyway or are you just here for the Tolkien thread? Questions. Questions.

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2 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

OK, here's a more serious answer: 

- His melodic gifts.

- His ability and persistency to (almost) always have something interesting going on in his music, be it counterpoint, rhythmic patterns, harmonic changes and so on.

- His ability to turn even mediocre ideas into good pieces through solid workmanship.

I can connect to that.

What I find especially interesting, that to me there is with all the quality and complexity there is always a transparency and recongizable structure in the music. It is like it is brilliant and interesting, but I as a musical amateur are actually able to follow what is going on there in the music.

 

He manages to walk the path between overwelming and underwelming the listener like noone else. At least that's my impression. 

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1 minute ago, GerateWohl said:

I can connect to that.

What I find especially interesting, that to me there is with all the quality and complexity there is always a transparency and recongizable structure in the music. It is like it is brilliant and interesting, but I as a musical amateur are actually able to follow what is going on there in the music.

 

He manages to walk the path between overwelming and underwelming the listener like noone else. At least that's my impression. 

 

Well said. I agree that he's usually good at creating structures that are easy to follow. His two last films are an exception, although hardly his fault...

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8 minutes ago, Tom said:

To alter the Twain quip about Wagner, Williams' music is as good as it sounds.  

So, you mean the quality of the music relies on the sound quality of its performance or recording?

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His music makes me feel good things.

 

I've speculated that the reasons why include his balance between accessibility and interestingness, his tendency to put jazz harmonies and voicings to unexpected orchestral use, his ability to write a great melody, and his mastery of the full palette of orchestral colors. But it's not as though I'm consciously checking off those boxes. I just...like his music.

 

To look at it from another perspective, I think the genesis of my fandom had a lot to do with my exposure to (and immediate love for) Star Wars during critical childhood years, the availability of a few Williams recordings in the house for me to start appreciating on their own, and the fact that both of my parents were instrumentalists who gently fostered an appreciation for music without forcing it on me.

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1 hour ago, Tom said:

To alter the Twain quip about Wagner, Williams' music is as good as it sounds.  

 

To alter even further - Williams' music sounds like it possibly might not be as good as it sounds but it actually is.

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I came from a classical background, so what attracted me to Williams was the genius and integrity of his musical craft, which to my ears places him right up there among the greats.

 

Now, to answer the OP about how someone can like both Williams and someone like recent Zimmer. It has to do with what they are primarily interested in.   A lot of folks like John Williams because they like film music in particular and deem him a great film composer.  There are other film composers who are inferior to him in a strictly musical sense but who are still as good and even perhaps better film composers.  A lot of Goldsmith and Silvestri and Zimmer will never be part of the classical canon (as I argue much of John's oeuvre will be), but they are musically fit works that serve their films very well and are still engaging to listen to on their own.  

 

Other folks get into film music primarily because they love movies and tend to gravitate towards scores from the films they like, even if the style and quality varies a lot.

 

As for myself, l listen to all lot of different music so I can enjoy different composers by compartmentalizing them in a sense.

Williams is in the classical compartment.  Guys like Zimmer are in a more pop orchestral compartment. 

Strengths and weaknesses can then be assessed in context. 

 

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1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Is there an interview available about this?

Probably, artguy360 to the Conrad Pope Interview on thelegacyofjohnwiĺliams? That was really a great Interview by Mauricio.

1 minute ago, bruce marshall said:

LEAVE the essays to the PROFESSIONALS!

😝

Äh, why?

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One of the few, if only thing, I like about Shark is his short, to the point posts.😍

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

These are just normal ways to express oneselves, Bruce.

Who are you, Thor?

😝😜😝😅😅😅😅

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Jeez Bruce.  If you don't want to read long posts, simply close the thread and read a different one instead.  You telling others how you feel they should alter their posting style is not welcome


This is the John Williams subforum on a John Williams message board, of course people have things to say about his music.  Nobody here did anything wrong.

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Jurassic Shark is a nice guy, but his comedy is diluted by posting so frequently every post has a low possibility of being really funny.  If he posted less frequently and saved up his comedy juice for fewer posts the overall success rate would be much higher

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