A message from JW at the New World Symphony Gala in Miami

[gregmorrison08 18]

Hi everyone, I just joined as a member, and I wanted to share a video from last night’s gala in Miami. Sir Williams (what I call him ) was supposed to attend and had to cancel last minute. Naturally we were very disappointed but thrilled when they shared this video message from him.

I’m sure everyone here like me has been so anxious to see or hear from him since he started canceling appearances last year. So it was both heartwarming and sad to see this message. I knew everyone here would appreciate seeing it as well.

We are so hopeful he will be able to make it to the event in April with Yo-Yo Ma!

[Brando 2,459]

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/15rbMsP2wF/?mibextid=wwXIfr
 

A message from John Williams

[Davis 3,949]

He looks so fragile.

[rpvee 933]

Well, mentally he certainly seems sharp as ever, but his speech has been affected heavily by… something. Some kind of stroke?

 

Glad he was able to record the message, but I wonder if/when we’ll get a better idea of what’s been going on. Wishing all the best to the Maestro!

[Marian Schedenig 10,123]

Thanks for posting this. Slightly more slurred speech than before (but he'd had a bit of that for a while, so it might just be a normal side effect of his age). He also looks a bit statically seated, but otherwise alright. Still makes a fitter impression than Blomstedt (well, he's still a few years younger). "I'll be with you next time for sure" sounds optimistic at least.

[JohnnyD 1,526]

Straight from the man himself. Better safe than sorry, but I am glad he personally sent a message in video and that he will recover from this minor medical issue.

[Manakin Skywalker 5,644]

The slur in his speech is a lot less apparent than I was fearing which is a very good sigh. I'm sure he has access to the best healthcare and therapists available, and looks to be doing relatively well now.

[SilverTrumpet 645]

People were expecting a slur? Was whatever the problem was last year that assumed to be a stroke? 

 

I won't pretend I didn't immediately listen for a slur too.

[Marian Schedenig 10,123]

5 minutes ago, SilverTrumpet said:

People were expecting a slur? Was whatever the problem was last year that assumed to be a stroke? 

 

There were several comments that indicated he might have had one or two strokes. Whether that's reliable intel, or just random reiterated rumours, seems to be unknown.

[Damien F 1,899]

His speech had already developed a slur before this current medical issue so the slurred voice in that video might just be a progression of that.

 

Honestly, it just feels good to see him again after radio silence for so long.

[Tom 5,591]

Maybe his assistants keep drawing curved lines over the words in his speeches.  

[Manakin Skywalker 5,644]

1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

There were several comments that indicated he might have had one or two strokes. Whether that's reliable intel, or just random reiterated rumours, seems to be unknown.

 

It's pretty much an open secret in the industry at this point and word seems to have trickled out over the last year, so it's probably not worth beating around the bush anymore. I just think he didn't want fans to fear the worst or feel bad for him, which is understandable. One stroke is bad enough but two back-to-back is usually a reason for concern.

[artguy360 2,011]

He looks pretty healthy post-stroke. His speech seems the same as before, maybe his pronunciation is a bit more muddled and his slur slightly more pronounced. I wonder if he is able to write anymore.

[Tom 5,591]

if he can talk, he can compose.  whether he wants to...

[Taikomochi 1,320]

I don’t see how he could possibly conduct in this state with regards to the Berlin show, but I’d obviously be happy to be wrong

[Director of Poltergeist 8,048]

4 hours ago, Davis said:

He looks so fragile.

 

Agreed. He looks decrepit and I hate to say it. It's a sad thing to see but this unbelievable man has led an incredible life. Just let him retire.

[Toronto 15]

It has been almost a year since we have heard him, and while I agree it's possible and even likely he had a stroke, I don't hear the slurring as bad except when he talks about his medical issue and how much he wanted to be there. Sounds more like he was just being emotional in those words.  I hope I am right.  Anyone who has been resigned to their home for quite a long time will seem a little bit more sedentary... he has a sense that he can bounce back and perhaps he will!

 

I wonder if his medical issue in 2018 was along the same lines as what he's going through now?

[Taikomochi 1,320]

The other concerning element is how many edits are in the video, like he wasn’t able to read through more than a sentence without having to do another take. Like this edited thing is the best the could put together from multiple takes. He’s probably at least on a little worse shape than this video lets on, if not more. 

[Meredith McKay 7,843]

18 minutes ago, Taikomochi said:

The other concerning element is how many edits are in the video, like he wasn’t able to read through more than a sentence without having to do another take. Like this edited thing is the best the could put together from multiple takes. He’s probably at least on a little worse shape than this video lets on, if not more. 

Maybe he was practicing for his YouTube channel

[mrbellamy 7,278]

Well he definitely looks 93. But he has it together which is truly all I wanted to know. I still see his characteristic positivity. 

 

I will say that watching it made me hate the idea of him conducting or scoring a movie. That's the first time I've felt that. But I hope he is still enjoying the piano and composing as he pleases. 

[Mr. Hooper 5,021]

Oh no... Now I'm wondering if buying a ticket to see him perform is tantamount to elder abuse...

[Director of Poltergeist 8,048]

It's all elder abuse. Feel guilty.

[mrbellamy 7,278]

He should have retired at 65

[Davis 3,949]

5 hours ago, mrbellamy said:

I will say that watching it made me hate the idea of him conducting or scoring a movie.

I couldn’t agree more. He got another chance. He worked all his life. Now he should rest and spend as much time with his loved ones as possible.

[Jurassic Shark 14,944]

10 hours ago, rpvee said:

Well, mentally he certainly seems sharp as ever, but his speech has been affected heavily by… something. Some kind of stroke?

 

It's probably partially due to a bad audio recording done on a mobile phone.

[Thor 9,308]

Not gonna lie -- that video was a total bummer and a bit of a shock to the system. A decisive deterioration in speech and appearance since the last time I saw/heard him. There's no need to mince words about it. But as others have said, it's nice to get some form of update from the man himself. Wishing him a continued recovery!

[Richard P 4,752]

No question in my mind after watching that: he needs to relax and enjoy the rest of his life, score-free. He's 93 and he looks it.

 

And the idea of him composing Spielberg's next movie is ridiculous based on this. Let him rest.

[BB-8 4,958]

Looks like he set up some speakers to give all those DG releases a spin.

[Thor 9,308]

11 minutes ago, BB-8 said:

Looks like he set up some speakers to give all those DG releases a spin.

 

Yes, those speakers were rather odd. Maybe he isn't at home? I always pictured his stereo being an old-school HiFi system with sleak, floor-standing speakers in mahogany or something. Not concert venue speakers.

[Jilal 626]

"Unfortunately, I can't join you because of a (minor?) ... problem."

 

I'm having trouble understanding what he is saying here.

[Marian Schedenig 10,123]

The man has devoted his entire life to making music, has said over and over again for years how composing and making music is his oxygen, is clearly eager to get back to it after a major health setback - and half the forum here seems to want to forbid him to do it, prevent him from enjoying his remaining life the way he obviously wants to. I didn't expect this to turn into a "his body, our choice" controversy. (And if this is deemed a political post, then I counter that this is what's been going on all the time)

[Jilal 626]

7 hours ago, Taikomochi said:

The other concerning element is how many edits are in the video, like he wasn’t able to read through more than a sentence without having to do another take. Like this edited thing is the best the could put together from multiple takes. He’s probably at least on a little worse shape than this video lets on, if not more. 

 

I don't think the splicing together of multiple takes necessarily correlates with the health issue. There don't seem to be more edits than in a typical video message.

 

5 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

The man has devoted his entire life to making music, has said over and over again for years how composing and making music is his oxygen, is clearly eager to get back to it after a major health setback - and half the forum here seems to want to forbid him to do it, prevent him from enjoying his remaining life the way he obviously wants to. I didn't expect this to turn into a "his body, our choice" controversy. (And if this is deemed a political post, then I counter that this is what's been going on all the time)

 

Agreed. Let the man live the rest of his life the way he wants to. He doesn't owe us seclusion for the sake of preserving his health.

[Davis 3,949]

11 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

The man has devoted his entire life to making music, has said over and over again for years how composing and making music is his oxygen, is clearly eager to get back to it after a major health setback - and half the forum here seems to want to forbid him to do it, prevent him from enjoying his remaining life the way he obviously wants to. I didn't expect this to turn into a "his body, our choice" controversy. (And if this is deemed a political post, then I counter that this is what's been going on all the time)

Wake up, man. You’re letting your emotions cloud your vision. He is in no condition to conduct a concert. He is seriously ill. What don’t you get? You want him to live forever - and we all do -, so you don’t want to accept the fact that he just can’t do it anymore. We want him to keep his dignity, to focus on his health. What’s more important in one’s life than his health? We are not selfish. On the contrary. We don’t want him to perform ill and incapacitated just to entertain us. We want him to rest and get better. We think about what’s best for his family, not what’s best for us. We can listen to any of his scores anytime we want, but his wife and family might have very little time left to be with him and vice versa.

[BB-8 4,958]

When 93 years old, we reach… look as good, we will not.

[Jilal 626]

13 minutes ago, Davis said:

Wake up, man. You’re letting your emotions cloud your vision. He is in no condition to conduct a concert. He is seriously ill. What don’t you get? You want him to live forever - and we all do -, so you don’t want to accept the fact that he just can’t do it anymore. We want him to keep his dignity, to focus on his health. What’s more important in one’s life than his health? We are not selfish. On the contrary. We don’t want him to perform ill and incapacitated just to entertain us. We want him to rest and get better. We think about what’s best for his family, not what’s best for us. We can listen to any of his scores anytime we want, but his wife and family might have very little time left to be with him and vice versa.

 

I'm not sure what's so selfish about letting the man himself decide how he wants to spend the rest of his days. Wanting him to "live forever" sounds a lot more selfish to me.

 

I'm sure he's trying to balance his health and happiness, hence why he didn't attend this concert.

[GerateWohl 5,918]

36 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

The man has devoted his entire life to making music, has said over and over again for years how composing and making music is his oxygen

Ok, if he said so, we can take him by his word and not allow him to do other things. We can't let him get away with changing his mind. All current circumstances he must have considered at making such oxygen statements. Otherwise it would be fair to call him a liar.

 

Seriously, the statements from people here about his retirement I see less as recommendations to the maestro than a way to manage the own expectations. 

 

I am sure everyone here wishes the best for the maestro and believes he should do whatever he wants to or what he considers as best for himself. 

[Jesse 81]

Considering we haven't seen him in a year, I don't think he looks particularly older than I would have expected. Actually, I think he looks about exactly as I would have expected, which is, well... a little older than last February at the concerts.
The slurred speech is a bit more noticeable, but he had that already to a lesser extent in the podcast he did last year, and even before.

[Marian Schedenig 10,123]

1 hour ago, Davis said:

Wake up, man. You’re letting your emotions cloud your vision. He is in no condition to conduct a concert. He is seriously ill.

 

Says who? He *was* seriously ill at one point, apparently. From that video, you can't make an accurate diagnosis of his state of health. To me (and some others here) he looks reasonably healthy now, if old - but he *is* old, so that's to be expected.

 

1 hour ago, Davis said:

What don’t you get? You want him to live forever - and we all do -, so you don’t want to accept the fact that he just can’t do it anymore. We want him to keep his dignity, to focus on his health. What’s more important in one’s life than his health? We are not selfish. On the contrary. We don’t want him to perform ill and incapacitated just to entertain us. We want him to rest and get better. We think about what’s best for his family, not what’s best for us. We can listen to any of his scores anytime we want, but his wife and family might have very little time left to be with him and vice versa.

 

That's misrepresenting (repeatedly) what I've been saying. I don't want him to conduct concerts against his will because desperately want to see him live. I want *him* to decide how he wants to spend the rest of his life. And if that means writing music, and trying to still conduct concerts, then that's what he should do. And if he wants to do that even if it might affect his health, that's his choice. If he wants to do these things, I'd rather see him enjoy a slightly shorter rest of his life than live out a few more days in depression.

 

It's his choice. And I'm sure he's reasonable enough that if he decides to attempt to conduct a concert, that's a result of his consultations with his doctors (and surely he has access to excellent doctors).

 

54 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

Ok, if he said so, we can take him by his word and not allow him to do other things. We can't let him get away with changing his mind. All current circumstances he must have considered at making such oxygen statements. Otherwise it would be fair to call him a liar.

 

Of course he's free to change his mind. But clearly he wants to do these things, so apparently he hasn't changed his mind so far.

[Richard P 4,752]

I'll be absolutely clear with my comment: if Williams wants to continue to score or conduct and feels able to - fantastic. Hopefully he's simply recovering from an illness or condition. Of course we shoudn't be telling him what to do with his time.

 

My view is simply that no one should actively expect him to do so, and he should never feel an obligation to his fans to make appearances if he feels he's not up to it any more.

[Davis 3,949]

No one here says that he can’t do what he wants. We all want to live forever, and can say so, but anyone with a sane mind knows that it won’t happen and just because we say in an interview that music is like oxygen to us, life happens, as it did to Williams and he might just not want to accept his own condition and - understandably - he wants to go on.

I think Mike said that Williams still thinks he is 18 and wants to do everything. But he can’t and accepting it at 93 is actually the normal and responsible thing to do, not pretending otherwise, because that’s lying to oneself. Of course he will do what he, his wife wants and what his doctors say, but keeping so many people in doubt whether he can make it or not is not entirely responsible from a 93-year-old man with very serious illnesses.

Whoever wants to play along is their choice, it’s their money, time and energy at the end of the day.

[mrbellamy 7,278]

4 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

The man has devoted his entire life to making music, has said over and over again for years how composing and making music is his oxygen, is clearly eager to get back to it after a major health setback - and half the forum here seems to want to forbid him to do it, prevent him from enjoying his remaining life the way he obviously wants to. I didn't expect this to turn into a "his body, our choice" controversy. (And if this is deemed a political post, then I counter that this is what's been going on all the time)

 

This is why I hope he's still always got a piano nearby with paper and pencil to write every day like he's always said is his routine. I just can't imagine him doing anything with a whiff of a professional favor. Which is not something I really minded as recently as watching the Dial of Destiny behind-the-scenes cause he still looked awesome and cheery and game. But he surely has to be giving up the "_______ is hard to say no to" routine. Which includes his adoring audience. He's already indicated he's fed up with movies but would do it for Steven and that was fine by me. I know he loves conducting and working with musicians but there's also this whole other thing that his presence helps orchestras and attracts ticket-buyers, and that's the frustration going on now with the Berlin thing where it's not a guarantee he'll be there. And now I'm just like, man, you had better be doing these things for yourself. If there is something about being helpful and purposefully lending his talents that is energizing or makes him feel good, then great. 

[Edmilson 10,434]

3 hours ago, BB-8 said:

When 93 years old, we reach… look as good, we will not.

Which is too bad, because it'll be only then that The John Williams Star Wars Collection box will be released 

[Tom 5,591]

My goodness, if Williams is of sound mind, which by all accounts he is, he can do whatever the hell he wants and take whatever risks he wants. If he wants to go bungie jumping or skydiving, that is fine.  It is his choice.  

[Jay 42,358]

I agree with Tom.

 

Davis's posts come across as a bit unhinged.  There was no need to tell Marian to wake up, and there is no need to state that Williams is "seriously ill" as if that is some sort of fact.

The only fact is that he had, last year, "a recent health concern, from which he is expected to make a full recovery", and now, this year, a "minor medical issue", which may or may not be related.

 

I see no reason to state what the man should or should not do as if you are an expert.  It's fine to say what you hope he does, but let's not state our own opinions as facts nor get angry at others for having different opinions.

[BB-8 4,958]

[King Mark 3,827]

Well he's physically aged for sure but his mind seems alright. I doubt he'll be conducting orchestras again but maybe he can still compose if he wants to. After all it's his passion

[Taikomochi 1,320]

I think there is probably a good middle ground of not trying to say what Williams should or shouldn’t do but also being realistic. Based on the available evidence, this does not appear to be a “minor” medical issue. Based on what we can see, this looks very strongly like a stroke, and I don’t think anyone here would call that minor, even if he seems to be doing a lot better than people I’ve met in my own life who’ve had strokes. If so, it’s extremely unlikely he will be conducting ever again. As I said before, I would love to be wrong about this.

[mrbellamy 7,278]

I think the thing we can all agree on is that we just don't want to take him for granted. 

[JohnnyD 1,526]

4 hours ago, Jay said:

I agree with Tom.

 

Davis's posts come across as a bit unhinged.  There was no need to tell Marian to wake up, and there is no need to state that Williams is "seriously ill" as if that is some sort of fact.

The only fact is that he had, last year, "a recent health concern, from which he is expected to make a full recovery", and now, this year, a "minor medical issue", which may or may not be related.

 

I see no reason to state what the man should or should not do as if you are an expert.  It's fine to say what you hope he does, but let's not state our own opinions as facts nor get angry at others for having different opinions.

 

[Quintus 5,679]

Can't Lucasfilm de-age him?