The Fabelmans recording session photos

[Maestro 147]

Looks like a certain somebody was at Sony this week...

[Disco Stu 15,495]

So we know there's celeste in the score!  

 

What a schedule to keep for a 90 year old man.

[Tom 4,640]

Past tense as well.  It looks like it is done or at least the piano part is, which in this case probably also means the former.  

[crumbs 14,305]

Wow, he's already back from Vienna and was recording Fabelmans 3 days ago?

 

This man is unbelievable!

[eitam 364]

And now there is a new John Williams score in the world 

[JTN 2,002]

Maestro Williams is certainly not wasting any time. Could be he's already started composing the score to Indiana Jones 5. 

[Andy 4,092]

Inspiring beyond words.  What a Gift to the world!

 

I had no idea that recording was already taking place.  Keep it up, Maestro!

 

 

[JohnnyD 1,221]

2 hours ago, Maestro said:

Looks like a certain somebody was at Sony this week...

Maestro John Williams, the greatest of all time. Nuff’ said.

[Edmilson 7,398]

I can't wait to hear Williams' emotional piece for piano for this movie. I'm gonna love it if this is at least as good as "Remembering Emilie and Finale" 

[Tom 4,640]

"Mr. Williams, please put on this nametag."

"Um, sure."  

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

23 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

I can't wait to hear Williams' emotional piece for piano for this movie. I'm gonna love it if this is at least as good as "Remembering Emilie and Finale" 

I really love Williams' newer "unadorned piano solo" sound (With Malice Towards Towards None, Blue and the Grey, Dear Basketball (end credits), Mother and Daughter)

[Alex 2,833]

It’s probably a deliberate thing, JW going from one thing to another in a short space of time. Keeps him active and switched on.

[crumbs 14,305]

Off the top of my head, almost every non-Star Wars Williams score since Tintin has ended with a piano solo, so I won't be surprised if this one follows suit!

 

I'm sure the score will be fantastic and heartfelt. I'll be over the moon if he's written anything that rivals the Blue Fairy theme from A.I.

[Ludwig 1,120]

With a celeste, it'll be even more poignant than solo piano, maybe something like "Remembering Petticoat Lane" in orchestration but in structure more like the piano solos you guys are mentioning here. Considering that parts of the score (played on piano, mind you) made Spielberg weep as Williams played it, whatever the music is on celeste, it seems bound to be of the deeply emotional kind. Poignance, melancholy, nostalgia, would all be really rich emotions for Williams to score.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Interesting that he's using a real celeste instead of Kerber on synth.  I was under the impression that for recording sessions of the last 20 years he pretty much always used a synth celeste.

[Luke Skywalker 1,793]

Or the book thief

[Jay 37,323]

Well, I was going to embed the full size pictures since the OP only posted a screenshot, and now it annoyingly looks like he has taken them down so we'll probably never get them

 

https://www.facebook.com/robert.thies.9

 

 

[Maestro 147]

Have no fear!

 

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,179]

7 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Interesting that he's using a real celeste instead of Kerber on synth.  I was under the impression that for recording sessions of the last 20 years he pretty much always used a synth celeste.

 

Perhaps he's become used to the real thing after conducting it in all those concerts.

[Tom 4,640]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

Well, I was going to embed the full size pictures since the OP only posted a screenshot, and now it annoyingly looks like he has taken them down so we'll probably never get them

 

https://www.facebook.com/robert.thies.9

 

 

I wonder if TPTB made him take it down.  He did not reveal anything that has not already been released, other than his involvement.  Oh well.

 

Can you imagine being this dude--what a milestone in his career.  And, with pictures of him and Williams at the keyboard together.  

[Cerebral Cortex 3,357]

1 hour ago, Maestro said:

 

 

Holy moly, Williams and Spielberg look like brothers in that pic. Williams looks incredible.

[Tom 4,640]

It is funny how Spielberg/Lucas/Ford, etc. now look to be in the same age bracket as Williams.  In the pictures from the 70s and early 80s, it looks like a full generation or more separates them.  

[BrotherSound 2,242]

2 hours ago, Maestro said:

 

Judging by that reflection at the left, if I’m not mistaken, it looks like they set up some baffles to decrease the size of studio, probably to better accommodate a smaller orchestra, a la Stanley & Iris, The Accidental Tourist, The Book Thief, etc.

[crumbs 14,305]

Anyone want to try and transcribe?

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

5 minutes ago, crypto said:

Anyone want to try and transcribe?

It's the Flintstones theme

[Manakin Skywalker 4,891]

2 hours ago, Maestro said:

Have no fear!

 

 

 

He sure looks a lot better than those professional photos taken last month.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

9 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Interesting that he's using a real celeste instead of Kerber on synth.  I was under the impression that for recording sessions of the last 20 years he pretty much always used a synth celeste.

That is a good observation. Perhaps the celeste parts are completely solo, with no orchestral accompaniment - I get the impression that he preferred synth celeste because it’s much easier to control and blend the sound with the orchestra when mixing. Or maybe as others have pointed out he just wants the real thing now!

 

Looking forward to the score, even if the movie isn’t really my cup of tea. Spielberg going completely introspective and sentimental isn’t something I generally vibe on much these days.

[Brando 1,857]

3 hours ago, Maestro said:

Have no fear!

 

 

I see Spielberg is taking wardrobe advice from cool youth pastors. I dig it! 

[Tom 4,640]

23 minutes ago, Brando said:

I see Spielberg is taking wardrobe advice from cool youth pastors. I dig it! 

 

[Jay 37,323]

4 hours ago, Maestro said:

Have no fear!

 

Great work!! Thank you!!! 

3 hours ago, Tom said:

It is funny how Spielberg/Lucas/Ford, etc. now look to be in the same age bracket as Williams.  In the pictures from the 70s and early 80s, it looks like a full generation or more separates them.  

 

Right?! 

[Antonb 118]

This news is music to my ears!

[BuzzLightyear 143]

Very exciting!!

 

Is this the first time we see John Williams sitting at a celesta? 

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,429]

Fantastic news! Can't wait to hear this score, I'm sure it will be beautiful

[WilliamsStarShip2282 308]

9 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

 

He sure looks a lot better than those professional photos taken last month.

 

My guess is they took those shots when he rolled out of bed because they made him look ANCIENT and I was thinking I only saw him at Tanglewood in August and he looked really good. And not a "really good for 90" thing, I know people turning 70 that look older than he does.

[eitam 364]

He didn't have his glasses and the light was whiter on those photos. 

[mrbellamy 6,272]

It's always been kind of an odd thing with Williams in the last decade where sometimes he seems 20 years younger and then sometimes you catch glimpses of him where he really looks or sounds his age. 

 

I remember my barber telling me years before Joan Rivers died, like mid-2000s, that she saw her at the airport and couldn't believe how feeble she was compared to how she was on TV. Very slow and needing assistance walking. As if when she would just casually stroll out on a talk show that was the one thing she could do all day. Williams undoubtedly has things going on at his age we're not aware of nor should we be, and I can't assume that when we see him at work on stage or in the studio that he's just like that all the time at home, or even once the cameras are off. I definitely feel like it's no joke whenever he splits up conducting duties. Not like we have to bite our nails over it but I don't think it's quite like "I feel fantastic but eh, better chill for a sec to be safe! Doctor orders, lame!"

 

Having said that it's still amazing he can do it and obviously he's in pretty awesome shape for 90. But he's 90! 

[Marian Schedenig 8,179]

6 minutes ago, mrbellamy said:

It's always been kind of an odd thing with Williams in the last decade where sometimes he seems 20 years younger and then sometimes you catch glimpses of him where he really looks or sounds his age.

 

Has anyone ever actually *seen* William Ross?

[WilliamsStarShip2282 308]

57 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Has anyone ever actually *seen* William Ross?

 No, he's just a conspiracy theory

[King Mark 3,626]

Actually I'm hoping there's not too much piano.  The Finale from BFG is a bit meh and understated  IMO

[crumbs 14,305]

What about all the gorgeous piano writing in the final cues of War Horse, Lincoln, Book Thief and The Post?

 

Piano seems to be JW's go-to instrument for closing scores now.

[Fabulin 3,510]

32 minutes ago, crypto said:

Piano seems to be JW's go-to instrument for closing scores now.

It sounds a bit like music contracting back to where it came from, reminding the audience of its human (and pianistic) origin. Like the end of a home recital.

[Tom 4,640]

Who knows the exact music for the closing scene, but if this indeed is the final S/W collaboration, I cannot imagine a more fitting end than a reflective, bittersweet piano piece.  

[Disco Stu 15,495]

If I had my druthers, the Spielberg/Williams collaboration would end how it began.... with harmonica solos!

 

And pedal steel guitar.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

On 19/03/2022 at 3:19 PM, JTW said:

Maestro Williams is certainly not wasting any time. Could be he's already started composing the score to Indiana Jones 5. 

 

Heck, he's probably started writing Indy 6 by now!

 

2 hours ago, Tom said:

Who knows the exact music for the closing scene, but if this indeed is the final S/W collaboration, I cannot imagine a more fitting end than a reflective, bittersweet piano piece.  

 

Cue Throne Room.

[JTN 2,002]

9 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Heck, he's probably started writing Indy 6 by now!

 

 

Cue Throne Room.

I would LOVE that. I don't even need a new film, just his music. He could write an Indiana Jones Symphony. 

[eitam 364]

38 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

If I had my druthers, the Spielberg/Williams collaboration would end how it began.... with harmonica solos!

 

And pedal steel guitar.

 

And no OST release ? 

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

24 minutes ago, JTW said:

He could write an Indiana Jones Symphony. 

 

I would love that!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

16 minutes ago, eitam said:

 

And no OST release ? 

 

Give us something to pine for for the next 50 years!

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,429]

I hope there will be another score after The Fabelmans just to round up the collaboration to 30 long features

[Edmilson 7,398]

7 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Has anyone ever actually *seen* William Ross?

Everyone knows that William Ross is actually the moniker used by several orchestrators, arrangers and additional composers that actually write the music in Williams' movies, while JW himself is busy taking pics with the cast and crew and going on promotional tours.