Tanglewood 2021 season includes several Williams concerts

[igger6 983]

On 8/16/2021 at 9:37 AM, Tom said:

 

 

If you only knew how often this exact reference gets made in my family on a myriad of topics.  Frasier will never be topped.

 

Not that anything is more important than acknowledging a Frasier reference, but...

 

1.) Overture to the Oscars is great!  It doesn't reach the commanding heights of catchiness of much of his previous pops concert music, but it just brims with movie magic and glitz.  I love the sound of the opening!

 

2.) Can any old peon listen to the Sunday broadcast online, or is this geographically limited?

[Jay 41,649]

On 8/15/2021 at 5:37 PM, Jay said:

Williams was waiting right at the side door and as soon as Lockhart exited, Williams entered to the largest applause of the night so far!

 

 

 

The applause as Williams entered the stage and walked across it to take his place at the podium was wonderful, another step up in enjoying the whole night that the change in weather already had been.  I always keep my eye out to see how Williams is doing, and I am happy to report he seemed to have even more pep in his step then he had just a few weeks ago for the Violin Concerto #2 premiere - perhaps he too was invigorated by the change in weather!  As is typically the case, as the applause died down he began the first selection right away, without saying anything to the audience.

 

Overture to the Oscars

 

It’s always nice hearing a new Williams composition, and especially nice you go to a concert with no knowledge that you’d even be hearing one!  I assume this was commissioned for the opening of the Academy Museum next month, and it is certainly fitting for such an event.  Full of resplendence and elegance, I have a feeling this will become a staple of Academy Awards broadcasts going forward as well.  Here’s hoping a studio recording gets released at some point!  After the piece finished, Williams took to the microphone for the first time of the night:

 

“Thank you very much.  I wonder if you are as happy to see me as I am happy to see YOU

 

<massive audience applause>

 

After eighteen months of no concerts, no rehearsal, no television… Hollywood was really a dry place for a year and a half!  It is wonderful to be back with you and back with the orchestra <audience applause> and like me probably many of you have watched the Olympics on NBC, and they have done so beautifully, presenting the Olympics.  And my association with NBC is a long time one, I've written the music for Meet The Press, the Nightly News, the Today Show, and Sunday Night Football, and let’s see, the Olympics in Los Angeles and Seoul Korea, and Atlanta, and Keith Lockhart and I did the Olympics in Salt Lake City, the Winter Olympics I think it was in ‘02.  It's already nearly 20 years!

 

And you will see tonight, some fabulous footage that we were fortunate enough to have allowed us to use by NBC and the Olympic Committee.  And these fabulous images I know you will agree when you see them, were put together by Susan Dangle of WGBH in Boston, and it’s quite a... they chose so many treasured faces, there’s a shot in there of Kobe Bryant I can't get over, it's so beautiful.  When you watch this I think you’ll enjoy it.  Olympics.”

 

 

Olympic Fanfare and Theme

 

This is, simply, one of my favorite pieces of music of all time, and one that wows with me its power every time I get to hear it live.  This performance was no exception, and was the absolute highlight of the evening for me.  The Pops played the piece perfectly, with a lot of enthusiasm, capturing all the power the piece contains.  Tremendous.  The video montage of athletes from across many years of Olympics competitions was nicely done (though admittedly, I spent more time watching the orchestra playing the music and did not focus on it too much).  The audience erupted into quick and enthusiastic applause when Simone Biles showed up in the montage.  Then, Williams grabbed the mic again:

 

 

“Here is something that I wanted to show you and have you hear.  It’s from a film called Big Friendly Giant, which Steven Spielberg made 2 or 3 years ago, which not too many people saw <audience laughter> But it was written by um, oh dear... Charlie and the Chocolate Factory <audience helps him out> Thank you very much - Roald Dahl!  And it’s called Big Friendly Giant.  

 

And Steven wanted to make this film for technical reasons, because he wanted to present an adult man, the giant, having scenes and playing the entire film with a young girl, 8 or 9 years old, small enough to be held in his hand.  And he would take the little girl to the land of dreams, and find dreams, searches for them - good dreams not bad ones - and capture them and enclose them in bottles.  And then the giant could distribute these to children throughout the world.  And what you’ll see here is a montage put together from this, of all the searching for the dreams, and the orchestra - particularly the flutes - will accompany all this choreography and these gyrations.  And the lighting I think you’ll agree is very beautiful.  I hope you enjoy this.  Big Friendly Giant.”

 

A Child’s Tale: Suite from The BFG

 

This is a favorite of Williams scores for me, and one of the best works of his recent output.  I love that Williams seems to be particularly fond of it, developing this lengthy (this performance ran slightly over 7 minutes) suite from most of its themes and ideas, and taking the time to introduce it and highlight what he’d like the audience to pay attention to.  The montage was a nicely done assembly of the parts of the film that showcase Sophie and the BFG’s friendship, and their adventures with the dreams.  The whole adventure with the Queen is not shown, and the bad Giants were not featured much either.  It was nicely done, and overall, this really shows how much can outlive the films they were written for.  I don’t know how many people in the audience who had not seen this film might have been compelled to go see it after this night, but they might be more inclined to listen to the music again.

 

“Thank you.  This is from Indiana Jones, Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra.  And the reason for "Motorcycle" is that we had Sean Connery and Harrison Ford on a motorcycle being chased by Nazis, and they had to get away very quickly.  And I had to write this piece to accompany that scene.  Unfortunately when I went to the theater to hear the scene, all I could hear was the motorcycle.  So I resolved to make it a piece for Orchestra.  Motorcycle and Orchestra, without the Motorcycle.  All right!”

 

 

Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra from The Last Crusade

 

This is the wonderful, updated concert arrangement version that premiered some time after the initial concert arrangement version (the one heard on The Spielberg / Williams Collaboration album).  I was so thrilled to get this selection instead of something like The Raiders March or Adventures of Mutt; This was another major highlight of the evening.  The performance was wonderful, and since I am not very familiar with the newer changes this arrangement has, I got to enjoy some musical surprises for the first time since Overture To The Oscars.

Marion’s Theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark

 

This was the wonderful arrangement from 2008 that I have heard a few times, yet enjoy hearing very much every time.  Unlike the later Han Solo and the Princess arrangement, this arrangement could have easily been done at the time of the original film and felt at home there.  I have always loved this theme, and this arrangement of it is a great selection for any film music concert.

 

Throne Room and Finale from Star Wars: A New Hope

 

Perhaps because of time length limitations for the concert, Williams didn’t say anything after the Indiana Jones selections, and instead launched into this after a not very long applause break following Marion’s theme.  Much like the Scherzo, I am always thrilled to hear this piece performed live instead of the Main Title arrangement yet again, and the Pops did not disappoint at all with a great performance of it.

 

The applause afterward was the loudest and longest yet of the night, as Williams seemed to really appreciate the audience immensely before leaving the stage, only to come back relatively quickly for the first encore

 

The Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back

 

There is nothing left to say about this, I think I have heard it at seemingly every Boston Pops Film Night concert I have ever attended, and it always sounds great.  The audience began applauding long before its final chord, which didn’t surprise me at all.  As the applause continued, Williams left the stage only to return… with Keith Lockhart!  I thought this meant that there would be no second encore and he was going through the final motions of the night, but that was not the case!  Instead, both Williams and Lockhart went up on the podium, and then Lockhart stepped down and to the side and let Williams begin conducting:

 

Flying from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

 

Another classic I’ve heard a million times, but the music is so good how can you complain?  I was mostly fascinated by trying to figure out what was going on on-stage.  Williams was conducting and Lockhart was standing off the to the side watching… until suddenly, Williams stepped down (and of course, all the musicians know this piece so well, they don’t need a conductor to keep going perfectly), and Lockhart stepped up and after a bit, started conducting himself!  I had my eyes locked on Williams, who had slowly stepped downs towards the violin section, and had to move one of their stands a bit to make room for himself.  He then slowly turned and observed each section of the orchestra as they played his music to Lockhart’s conducting, and he seemed to just really be enjoying being literally in the middle of all this happening.  Towards the end of the piece, they swapped spots again, and Williams conducted to the end while Lockhart watched.  

 

Then, both men bowed and made sure to highlight all the musicians on stage as the applause kept going and going, until Williams eventually made his classic “sleepy time” pose, generating the usual laughter from the audience, and they made they way out the side door and the standing ovation continued for a while until it was clear the night was over and the stage lights came on.

 

A truly magical evening of music, and one of the best film music concerts I have ever attending.  I was so thrilled to see Williams in excellent health, to hear one of his newest compositions, to hear many favorite pieces played splendidly, and to enjoy it all with an enthusiastic crowd in the gorgeous weather outdoors.

 

As we walked back to the parking lot, the sky constantly lit up with amazing lightning bolts, and in fact the coming rain only arrive literally as we were entering our car.  One last little bit of happenstance to end a wonderful night.

[Jay 41,649]

@Ricard why does the main page article indicate that Men of Yorktown March was played?

[Tom 5,410]

I really enjoy the love being shown to BFG in multiple threads.  It is a magical score with unique touches that separate it from his Hook/Potter magic sound, and has a top-tier concert suite (Williams nailed these longer suites with the "more recent" scores: Warhorse, The Book Thief, TFA, and BFG).  

[Jay 41,649]

TFA doesn't have one long suite track though like those others, just a unusually high number of normal length selections

[Miguel Andrade 1,462]

51 minutes ago, Jay said:

@Ricard why does the main page article indicate that Men of Yorktown March was played?

 

Probably copied from the upcoming broadcast program that will likely include selections from the Lockhart album.

[Matt S. 618]

28 minutes ago, Jay said:

TFA doesn't have one long suite track though like those others, just a unusually high number of normal length selections

What about The Jedi Steps and Finale?

[Jay 41,649]

I guess I don't think of that as a concert-only suite (like the War Horse, Book Thief, and BFG ones) because it's almost the same as the film/album version

[Falstaft 2,205]

17 hours ago, Jay said:

Fabulous images I know you’ll agree, put together by Susan Dangle of WGBH Boston, and it’s quite a... they chose so many treasured faces, there’s a shot in there of Kobe Bryant and it all looks so beautiful. When you watch this I think you’ll enjoy it.  Olympics.”

 

Beautiful summary!

 

It was really touching JW singled out Bryant like this. 

[Jay 41,649]

Everything he said that night was touching (or funny).  You could really tell how happy he was to be performing for an audience again, as well as directly talking to them and thriving off the feedback.  It really came through in everything he said.  You can just tell this man has absolutely no desire to retire and live a quiet life.  He wants to keep composing and he wants to keep performing.  It's great.

[Antonb 119]

So the concert is streaming today on CRB ? I think that is around midnight uk time isnit?

[Miguel Andrade 1,462]

4 hours ago, Antonb said:

So the concert is streaming today on CRB ? I think that is around midnight uk time isnit?

 

Yes.

[Jay 41,649]

Listening to the broadcast of this night now

 

https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2021-08-13/film-night-with-the-pops-and-john-williams-2021

 

 

I got home while they were playing the Men of Yorktown from the Lights Camera Music CD.  After that, the announcer just pretended like the audience had to retake their seats after an intermission, only to be presented by Keith Lockhart introducing John Williams, and then there was a very short amount of applause before Overture for the Oscars started.

This isn't how it went down.

 

Keith Lockhart said all that right after Casablanca, and Williams came out to a nice beefy applause that lasted a bit before he quieted things to start the second half.  There was no intermission.

 

Oof, the announcer just messed up again.  After Olympic Fanfare and Theme, he talked about how the Bops recorded that during lockdowns in their own homes and it got mixed together and released... but they didn't do that for this piece.  They did that for Summon The Heroes

[lairdo 906]

My wife and I are out driving to friends but the timing worked out perfectly and we heard Casablanca, then the recorded Yorktown March.

 

And then the big (well small) new piece which we both loved. My wife said after it finished “I want that.” I assured her I would capture the stream later tonight and put it on her phone. (And once again proving she is my true soulmate as she has been for nearly 30 years.)

 

Now enjoying BFG’s suite. (The Olympic theme was nice too as always. Which was done for ABC for the LA 84 games not NBC but who is going to correct him?)

[igger6 983]

I swear, "Throne Room" arrangements are my Everest when it comes to all things Williams, and I'm confused again.  This seemed like a version that went through all the concert paces—e.g., the moment when everyone stops and we get a misterioso solo oboe version of the Force theme—before going into the End Title.  That certainly doesn't happen in the film version, and the Special Edition soundtrack has been my go-to version of this cue forever.  Is there a released version somewhere that corresponds exactly to the version they played on this broadcast?

 

Now that I think about it, maybe Lucas can go back in and add a shot of Chewie pining for a medal, and Williams can score it with that oboe line...

[Matt S. 618]

8 minutes ago, igger6 said:

I swear, "Throne Room" arrangements are my Everest when it comes to all things Williams, and I'm confused again.  This seemed like a version that went through all the concert paces—e.g., the moment when everyone stops and we get a misterioso solo oboe version of the Force theme—before going into the End Title.  That certainly doesn't happen in the film version, and the Special Edition soundtrack has been my go-to version of this cue forever.  Is there a released version somewhere that corresponds exactly to the version they played on this broadcast?

 

Now that I think about it, maybe Lucas can go back in and add a shot of Chewie pining for a medal, and Williams can score it with that oboe line...

 

This was the extended concert version that has been around since Williams prepared the Star Wars suite in 1977.  It's been recorded MANY times... by Mehta, Gerhardt, Kunzel, Dudamel, and JW himself, among several others.

[Miguel Andrade 1,462]

50 minutes ago, Jay said:

Listening to the broadcast of this night now

 

https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2021-08-13/film-night-with-the-pops-and-john-williams-2021

 

 

I got home while they were playing the Men of Yorktown from the Lights Camera Music CD.  After that, the announcer just pretended like the audience had to retake their seats after an intermission, only to be presented by Keith Lockhart introducing John Williams, and then there was a very short amount of applause before Overture for the Oscars started.

This isn't how it went down.

 

Keith Lockhart said all that right after Casablanca, and Williams came out to a nice beefy applause that lasted a bit before he quieted things to start the second half.  There was no intermission.

 

Oof, the announcer just messed up again.  After Olympic Fanfare and Theme, he talked about how the Bops recorded that during lockdowns in their own homes and it got mixed together and released... but they didn't do that for this piece.  They did that for Summon The Heroes

 

This particular announcer has been doing this kind of errors since forever... for a while he kept saying that Williams first film score was Sugarland Express. And this went for a few seasons, whenever they were playing some excerpts for Spielberg films.

[WilliamsStarShip2282 326]

Did anyone happen to record it?

[Antonb 119]

I have enjoyed it but have made abit of a hash of taping it with audacity, hope someone has done a better job 

 

[Jay 41,649]

1 hour ago, igger6 said:

I swear, "Throne Room" arrangements are my Everest when it comes to all things Williams, and I'm confused again.  This seemed like a version that went through all the concert paces—e.g., the moment when everyone stops and we get a misterioso solo oboe version of the Force theme—before going into the End Title.  That certainly doesn't happen in the film version, and the Special Edition soundtrack has been my go-to version of this cue forever.  Is there a released version somewhere that corresponds exactly to the version they played on this broadcast?

 

Check this out :

 

https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/34063-what-are-the-definitive-recordings-of-jws-star-wars-concert-pieces/&do=findComment&comment=1829927

[crumbs 15,365]

The concert is now available on demand on their website, though only a low-res 192kb/s MP3. You can right click and download here.

 

Wonder if the livestream had a higher bitrate? Can anyone with recordings compare?

[Pellaeon 596]

This came up here after the broadcast:

 

 

Not sure if or where this info will be available after today. So just in case, here are the links:

 

Hooray for Hollywood ArkivMusic iTunes

 

Suite from Lawrence of Arabia ArkivMusic iTunes
 

Excerpts from An American in Paris ArkivMusic iTunes

Not that the links work (yet?), as far as I can tell…

[Miguel Andrade 1,462]

7 hours ago, Pellaeon said:

This came up here after the broadcast:

 

 

Not sure if or where this info will be available after today. So just in case, here are the links:

 

Hooray for Hollywood ArkivMusic iTunes

 

Suite from Lawrence of Arabia ArkivMusic iTunes
 

Excerpts from An American in Paris ArkivMusic iTunes

Not that the links work (yet?), as far as I can tell…

 

That's not a link to buy the live recording, but a recording of the piece. CRB has worked that way for ages with their playlists.

8 hours ago, crumbs said:

The concert is now available on demand on their website, though only a low-res 192kb/s MP3. You can right click and download here.

 

Wonder if the livestream had a higher bitrate? Can anyone with recordings compare?

 

Haven't had the time to compare, but by experience, the live stream is usually better.

[BB-8 4,617]

Overture for the Oscars would be a fine opening for the Berlin concerts! It contains so much of Williams' recent styles and harmonic elements.

[aj_vader 573]

I have usually said the Brass is lacking in performances of Imperial March by Boston Pops in the past, they proved me wrong with that performance!  BRAVO! 

 

It's just a shame the strings are so quiet (likely too far from the mics). 

A few timing issues, but the feeling was fantastic. 

[Jay 41,649]

My thoughts after listening to a bunch of the radio broadcast last night, is that this is a poor recording of this concert.

 

Things sound a bit tinny and distant in this recording, when in person everything sounded amazing.  For example, just listening to "Olympic Fanfare and Theme" performed by the Pops and conducted by Williams on the "By Request" CD sounds more like what I experienced at this concert, than last night's broadcast of this concert.

[pete 1,061]

He made some changes to Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra again, right? 
1. OST Version

2. Williams Spielberg Collaboration

3. Gustavo Dudemel "Celebrating John Williams" CD and concerts 

4. This new one?

[Alejandro 28]

Did the announcer say that the Olympic Fanfare was recorded individually by the players during the lockdown?  Or did he say correctly that it was Summon the Heroes.  I remember the Lockhart concert of Williams’ music earlier this year had some errors in the commentary, too. 

[Antonb 119]

Highlight for me was The BFG suite and A great sweeping version Marion's theme from Raiders.  Normally love the bike chase music from Last Crusade but found it lacked a bit of punch! Just my feelings on it, but overall really enjoyed it.

 

[Jay 41,649]

6 hours ago, Alejandro said:

Did the announcer say that the Olympic Fanfare was recorded individually by the players during the lockdown?  Or did he say correctly that it was Summon the Heroes.  I remember the Lockhart concert of Williams’ music earlier this year had some errors in the commentary, too. 

 

 

On 8/29/2021 at 7:49 PM, Jay said:

 

Oof, the announcer just messed up again.  After Olympic Fanfare and Theme, he talked about how the Bops recorded that during lockdowns in their own homes and it got mixed together and released... but they didn't do that for this piece.  They did that for Summon The Heroes

 

On 8/29/2021 at 8:41 PM, Miguel Andrade said:

 

This particular announcer has been doing this kind of errors since forever... for a while he kept saying that Williams first film score was Sugarland Express. And this went for a few seasons, whenever they were playing some excerpts for Spielberg films.

 

[Steve 648]

I don't like that nowdays they only perform the shortened Olympic Fanfare. The original is much better.

[Jay 41,649]

I just went through the broadcast of the Tanglewood CRB broadcast, and fixed up all my transcriptions of what both Lockhart and Williams said at the show.

 

So you don't have to scroll back up to see all the fixes, here is what Lockhart said:

 

 

 

 

"Hello friends!  Thank you, welcome to Film Night at Tanglewood!  We started out appropriately with "Hooray for Hollywood" because that's what we are saying here tonight.  Tonight we explore the wonderful world of film music, the most recent genre of the music that we play on up here on this stage.  When you think about it, the talkies started in 1929, it's not even a century yet, and what a rich legacy we already have.  A lot of that rich legacy is due to a man who will be following me later on the podium tonight, you may have heard of him - John Williams

 

<massive audience applause>

 

I just like saying his name because I like getting applause <audience laughter>

 

But, I'd love to start out with some great, classic movie scores from a little bit earlier on.  First up is the epic 1962 Lawrence of Arabia.  One of Maurice Jarre's first film scores, his first collaboration with director David Lean.  That movie clocks in at 3 hours and 48 minutes.  It had an intermission.  And you can't say "Look on the bright side, it's 10 minutes shorter than Gone with the Wind".  <audience laughter>

 

Lean first tried to hook up with William Walton, the British film composer, and Malcolm Arnold, before settling on the relatively unknown Jarre.  And the result of course was a 30 year relationship between Lean and Maurice Jarre that resulted in such great movies as Dr. Zhivago, Witness and Ghost.  Here is some great music and great scenes from Lawrence of Arabia."

 

~

 

“Don’t you just love that musical?  1951, An American in Paris directed by Vincente Minnelli, choreographed by Gene Kelly, and starring Gene Kelly of course.  There's nothing to say about that, it's just the most perfect dancing and the most perfect music.

 

You know, the way we’re attracted to film, it’s not just about great scores, it’s not even just about great pictures, it’s also about the stars, these luminaries who light up our lives. We have a little tribute now, that was put together by Susie Dangle and Dick Bartlett, to one of the most radiant stars of any generation, the great Audrey Hepburn <audience applause>

 

You'll see her in many different things, but I should point out to you that towards the end you’ll see her dancing with Fred Astaire, that’s from 1957’s Funny Face, and when John saw this montage, he looked at it and he said “Hey, I played piano on that movie!” <audience laughter> So there you go, a bit of Hollywood history.  Featuring our concert master Alexander Velinzon and set to the music of John’s score to the revival of Sabrina in 1995, this is a tribute to Audrey Hepburn.”

 

~

 

“Nino Rota’s mesmerizing score to 1972’s The Godfather.  But you knew that. <audience laughter> I’d like to end my portion of the program with a truly extraordinary score by the Viennese war-time refugee Max Steiner, for the 1939 film Casablanca.  <audience applause>

 

Who would have thought that a movie made from an obscure never-produced play called “Everybody Comes to Rick’s” that was made as a war-time propaganda film and happened to be, also, the first romantic lead by a relatively unknown actor named Humphrey Bogart would turn out to be one of the immortal romances of all time.  I’d like to leave this portion of the program with some great music from Casablanca."

 

~

 

“Thank you ladies and gentleman and may I say, this is such a privilege to make music with this wonderful orchestra in front of this wonderful crowd, and really go down memory lane with so many great films.  Now comes the next problem of how you introduce the person that I’m supposed to introduce... I could go over a list of awards but that doesn’t seem to do justice to someone who has so transformed and fulfilled the medium of film music.  It’s been my honor and pleasure for now going on 26 years to be a colleague of this man, and I’ve learned so much over that period of time.  But I'd say the greatest thing about John Williams, ladies and gentlemen, at least in this case, is that I don’t have to follow him. <audience laughter>  Ladies and gentlemen, John Williams!”

 

~

 

The CRB version fixed Lockhart's blunder by deleting out "1939" from his sentence about Casablanca, and removed what he said about An American In Paris as well.

 

Here is what Williams said

 

~

 

 

“Thank you very much.  I wonder if you are as happy to see me as I am happy to see YOU

 

<massive audience applause>

 

After eighteen months of no concerts, no rehearsal, no television… Hollywood was really a dry place for a year and a half!  It is wonderful to be back with you and back with the orchestra <audience applause> and like me probably many of you have watched the Olympics on NBC, and they have done so beautifully, presenting the Olympics.  And my association with NBC is a long time one, I've written the music for Meet The Press, the Nightly News, the Today Show, and Sunday Night Football, and let’s see, the Olympics in Los Angeles and Seoul Korea, and Atlanta, and Keith Lockhart and I did the Olympics in Salt Lake City, the Winter Olympics I think it was in ‘02.  It's already nearly 20 years!

 

And you will see tonight, some fabulous footage that we were fortunate enough to have allowed us to use by NBC and the Olympic Committee.  And these fabulous images I know you will agree when you see them, were put together by Susan Dangle of WGBH in Boston, and it’s quite a... they chose so many treasured faces, there’s a shot in there of Kobe Bryant I can't get over, it's so beautiful.  When you watch this I think you’ll enjoy it.  Olympics.”

 

~

 

“Here is something that I wanted to show you and have you hear.  It’s from a film called Big Friendly Giant, which Steven Spielberg made 2 or 3 years ago, which not too many people saw <audience laughter> But it was written by um, oh dear... Charlie and the Chocolate Factory <audience helps him out> Thank you very much - Roald Dahl!  And it’s called Big Friendly Giant.  

 

And Steven wanted to make this film for technical reasons, because he wanted to present an adult man, the giant, having scenes and playing the entire film with a young girl, 8 or 9 years old, small enough to be held in his hand.  And he would take the little girl to the land of dreams, and find dreams, searches for them - good dreams not bad ones - and capture them and enclose them in bottles.  And then the giant could distribute these to children throughout the world.  And what you’ll see here is a montage put together from this, of all the searching for the dreams, and the orchestra - particularly the flutes - will accompany all this choreography and these gyrations.  And the lighting I think you’ll agree is very beautiful.  I hope you enjoy this.  Big Friendly Giant.”

 

~

“Thank you.  This is from Indiana Jones, Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra.  And the reason for "Motorcycle" is that we had Sean Connery and Harrison Ford on a motorcycle being chased by Nazis, and they had to get away very quickly.  And I had to write this piece to accompany that scene.  Unfortunately when I went to the theater to hear the scene, all I could hear was the motorcycle.  So I resolved to make it a piece for Orchestra.  Motorcycle and Orchestra, without the Motorcycle.  All right!”

[Will 2,292]

Great quotes from JW. I wonder if he realizes his Today show music is no longer used by NBC (as far as I can tell), and his Sunday Night Football theme has been massively re-arranged, in a similar manner to how Star Wars trailers adapted JW's themes. 

 

 

(Realistically, JW probably doesn't care that much about these things, if he is even aware of them. But he might justifiably be at least a tad annoyed.)

 

For reference, this was JW's original Sunday Night Football cue (used only for 2 or 3 years after its composition in 2005 or 2006):

 

 

[Dr. Know 393]

I have to say the performance of the Olympic Fanfare and Theme was really excellent -- it is also one of my all-time favorite JW pieces and I am always happy when it shows up on a program.

[Thor 9,201]

On 9/1/2021 at 6:42 PM, Jay said:

"Hello friends!  Thank you, welcome to Film Night at Tanglewood!  We started out appropriately with "Hooray for Hollywood" because that's what we are saying here tonight.  Tonight we explore the wonderful world of film music, the most recent genre of the music that we play on up here on this stage.  When you think about it, the talkies started in 1929,

 

More like 1927.

 

On 9/1/2021 at 6:42 PM, Jay said:

But, I'd love to start out with some great, classic movie scores from a little bit earlier on.  First up is the epic 1962 Lawrence of Arabia.  One of Maurice Jarre's first film scores,

 

Jarre had done about 20 movies prior to LAWRENCE.

 

On 9/1/2021 at 6:42 PM, Jay said:

“Don’t you just love that musical?  1951, An American in Paris directed by Vincente Minnelligene,

 

Vincente who?

 

On 9/1/2021 at 6:42 PM, Jay said:

he CRB version fixed Lockhart's blunder by deleting out "1939" from his sentence about Casablanca, and removed what he said about An American In Paris as well.

 

Well, that's good, at least.

 

On 9/1/2021 at 6:42 PM, Jay said:

“Here is something that I wanted to show you and have you hear.  It’s from a film called Big Friendly Giant, which Steven Spielberg made 2 or 3 years ago

 

5 years ago, John. But I can forgive the grasp of time at your age. I'm beginning to lose track myself.

 

Nitpicking aside, thanks for the transcription, Jay!

[Jay 41,649]

31 minutes ago, Thor said:

Vincente who?

 

Weird, I dunno what happened there, but that was my typo not his. I fixed it

[thx99 1,928]

PBS will be airing the Violin Concerto No. 2 premiere concert from Tanglewood on Great Performances on November 12.  Here's an excerpt they posted on Facebook:

 

 

And a PBS site for the clip: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/anne-sophie-mutter-performs-john-williams-violin-concerto-pp/13154/