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Williams interview on Classic FM (Aug 29th, 8pm UK time)


BB-8

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Didn't William Ross conduct all the non-Holt Obi-Wan Kenobi sections?

 

And didn't the LSO perform the first Harry Potter OST at Air Lyndhurst Studios and Abbey Road Studios in London? Classic FM just said "recording orchestra" conducted by John Williams....

 

What a superficial and badly prepared 2 hours...junk food level!

 

 

No wonder Williams was pushing to get back to work on Indy 5 ("down to wire").

 

 

5 hours ago, pete said:

was that it? 17 minutes with a few music clips? 

I had predicted 6 minutes of pure Williams talk.

 

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34 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

Classic FM is a music station... you didn't honestly expect them to just have two hours of Williams talking did you?

 

(obviously, yes you did :lol: )

 I did.. Well I expected more than 10 minutes of Williams talking. I'm a dreamer!

I just realized the James Bond quote wasn't in the 17-minute video.. So it's not the whole interview regardless of how much I was expecting

 

So what else is missing from the 17-minute video? And does anyone have a link to the 2-hour broadcast? 

 

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The questions were a little bit on the generic side, referring just to his most popular works and not much else. But I gather this was not addressed to fans or connoisseurs, but mostly to their classical music audience.

 

That being said, JW looks very jovial and happy. He seems truly enjoying himself in this stage of his life, imbibing himself with all the love he gets from wherever he goes and whoever he meets. It's impossible not to smile when you hear him talking with such joy and gratitude about music.

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I am still wondering who Classic FM is actually addressing. The superficial layman? Or the old aged pensioner who avoids using the internet, has a limited record collection and is happy with zapping into "soothing classics"?

 

Audio interviews with JW have certainly been done/presented better by other "networks" over the past couple of years, e.g.:

 

Gramophone

John Williams on writing a new violin concerto for Anne-Sophie Mutter | Gramophone

 

BBC

 

KUSC

https://media.kusc.org/audio/2020/01/20200131-Williams-Star-Wars.mp3

https://media.kusc.org/audio/2018/02/2018-02-15-williams-the-post.mp3

 

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52 minutes ago, BB-8 said:

I am still wondering who Classic FM is actually addressing. The superficial layman? Or the old aged pensioner who avoids using the internet, has a limited record collection and is happy with zapping into "soothing classics"?

 

Audio interviews with JW have certainly been done/presented better by other "networks" over the past couple of years, e.g.:

 

Gramophone

John Williams on writing a new violin concerto for Anne-Sophie Mutter | Gramophone

 

BBC

 

KUSC

https://media.kusc.org/audio/2020/01/20200131-Williams-Star-Wars.mp3

https://media.kusc.org/audio/2018/02/2018-02-15-williams-the-post.mp3

 

They don't know themselves I think.

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This is exactly what I should have expected from Classic FM to be honest. I used to regularly listen on my communte to and from work, but stopped after I kept hearing the same pieces of music every day.

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5 hours ago, BB-8 said:

I am still wondering who Classic FM is actually addressing. The superficial layman? Or the old aged pensioner who avoids using the internet, has a limited record collection and is happy with zapping into "soothing classics"?


Very much the latter, is my understanding. 
 

To quote PDQ Bach, ‘Listening so easy, you don’t even know you’re listening.’

 

Mark

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To be fair, ClassicFM is just about the only website other than JWFan that routinely has Williams among history's greatest composers.

It's an easy target, but I dunno... am I the only one here who can't be bothered to see them as the blasphemous antichrist?

 

Btw. Williams seemed very alert and witty in his answers, which bides well for the Indy score.

 

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I thought most of Williams responces were given inspite of the interviewer, not because of him. "Did you know that that two-note Jaws motive would make you a superhero?" Wtf? Sounds like a questions a middle school student would write.

Nothing about inspirations, recent albums, and concerts, and nothing really about future projects and plans except Indy.

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I'm wondering whether the interviewer was so excited that he was unable to bring any logic into the sequence of the questions and themes.

 

I mean just imagine sitting in front of the man himself.

 

I think one would certainly need some common ground or a strong topic to have a meaningful conversation, otherwise you just end up exchanging polite platitudes.

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He's a presenter, he should have been able to do that. I would have been able to suppress my excitement, I think, because I would be aware of how important it was. You can become a fanboy in the last minute.

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Last grumble: To get the same responces from Williams, he needed only to have said, "Hi John" "Your job is hard", "Jaws", Star Wars", "Harry Potter", "Superman", "Indy 5", and "bye John". And from his comments, there was no evidence of research and preparation beyond knowing Williams scored those films.

 

Grumbling aside, it was lovely hearing John say that he's having much more fun of late, and I like how he described Spielberg's idea for Jaws music being similar to Images as crazy.
 

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1 hour ago, pete said:

Last grumble: To get the same responces from Williams, he needed only to have said, "Hi John" "Your job is hard", "Jaws", Star Wars", "Harry Potter", "Superman", "Indy 5", and "bye John". And from his comments, there was no evidence of research and preparation beyond knowing Williams scored those films.

 

Grumbling aside, it was lovely hearing John say how that he's having much more fun of late, and I like how he described Spielberg's idea for Jaws music being similar to Images as crazy.
 

 

And for a change, the "all-dead" anecdote did not feature.

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28 minutes ago, Garrett said:

When he says that 30% of the film is complete… does he mean 30% of the writing? Or 30% of the recording?

 

I'm sure he meant writing as he mentioned that he just about had all the thematic material (new themes) written. And this was back in early July, so two months ago. 

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This station is declining alarmingly quickly. ON their request show: "I'd love to hear part of Beethoven's moonlight sonata, it's my favourite song." No correction. Then they play this:

 

is it me, or did they use to be better? I'm switching to Lyric FM I think.

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2 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

This station is declining alarmingly quickly. ON their request show: "I'd love to hear part of Beethoven's moonlight sonata, it's my favourite song." No correction. Then they play this:

 

is it me, or did they use to be better? I'm switching to Lyric FM I think.

I therefore prefer BR-Klassik and, when in a UK mood, BBC Radio 3.

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2 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

This station is declining alarmingly quickly. ON their request show: "I'd love to hear part of Beethoven's moonlight sonata, it's my favourite song." No correction. Then they play this:

 

is it me, or did they use to be better? I'm switching to Lyric FM I think.

In all fairness, the Pathetique is the better sonata--though the first movement is best.  

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5 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

Well my favourite song remains Harry's Wondrous World, sang by Boston Pops.

I prefer it sung by the Berlin Philharmonic because of the ritardando.

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