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The New Coffee Room

  1. TNCR
  2. General Discussion
  3. John Williams is terrific

John Williams is terrific

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  • CopperC Online
    CopperC Online
    Copper
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    And today he is 90 years old

    Here, 10 of John Williams’ all-time greatest film themes, ranked:

    https://www.classicfm.com/composers/williams/john-best-film-music-themes/

    Fun stuff

    1 Reply Last reply
    • 89th8 Online
      89th8 Online
      89th
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      Great list. Hard to go wrong with any of them. I have often said the superman score is overlooked, glad to see it was number five on this list.

      George KG KlausK 2 Replies Last reply
      • 89th8 89th

        Great list. Hard to go wrong with any of them. I have often said the superman score is overlooked, glad to see it was number five on this list.

        George KG Offline
        George KG Offline
        George K
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        @89th said in John Williams is terrific:

        the superman score is overlooked

        ⬆

        This. Movie music doesn't get much better than this.

        "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

        The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

        89th8 1 Reply Last reply
        • George KG George K

          @89th said in John Williams is terrific:

          the superman score is overlooked

          ⬆

          This. Movie music doesn't get much better than this.

          89th8 Online
          89th8 Online
          89th
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          @george-k said in John Williams is terrific:

          @89th said in John Williams is terrific:

          the superman score is overlooked

          ⬆

          This. Movie music doesn't get much better than this.

          Cooper's link only has part of the Superman theme, my favorite part is at the 2:03 mark of this video. It really layers all the various musical elements at once, which is even more fun since the overall theme has an unusual "rhythm".

          Link to video

          1 Reply Last reply
          • 89th8 89th

            Great list. Hard to go wrong with any of them. I have often said the superman score is overlooked, glad to see it was number five on this list.

            KlausK Offline
            KlausK Offline
            Klaus
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            @89th said in John Williams is terrific:

            I have often said the superman score is overlooked

            I've listened to it. I actually didn't know it before, but I understand now why it is often overlooked 🙂

            1 Reply Last reply
            • 89th8 Online
              89th8 Online
              89th
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              I'm surprised (but not) that Jaws wasn't on the list. It really was a game-changer in terms of movie scores, although by itself it isn't very listen-worthy.

              1 Reply Last reply
              • AxtremusA Away
                AxtremusA Away
                Axtremus
                wrote on last edited by Axtremus
                #7

                Outside of the movies, I also like this John Williams piece:

                Link to video

                No other piece of sports meet music comes close to its grandeur and majesty.

                89th8 1 Reply Last reply
                • AxtremusA Axtremus

                  Outside of the movies, I also like this John Williams piece:

                  Link to video

                  No other piece of sports meet music comes close to its grandeur and majesty.

                  89th8 Online
                  89th8 Online
                  89th
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  @axtremus Yeah that is a really terrific score.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  • KlausK Offline
                    KlausK Offline
                    Klaus
                    wrote on last edited by Klaus
                    #9

                    He's terrific, but:

                    Hans Zimmer > John Williams on sound design.
                    Ennio Morricone > John Williams on melody.

                    Don Davis doesn't have a huge œuvre yet, but I really liked his Matrix soundtrack.

                    89th8 1 Reply Last reply
                    • KlausK Klaus

                      He's terrific, but:

                      Hans Zimmer > John Williams on sound design.
                      Ennio Morricone > John Williams on melody.

                      Don Davis doesn't have a huge œuvre yet, but I really liked his Matrix soundtrack.

                      89th8 Online
                      89th8 Online
                      89th
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #10

                      @klaus said in John Williams is terrific:

                      Hans Zimmer > John Williams on sound design.

                      Agreed on that... Hans is a complete magician when it comes to movie scores. I disagree about Morricone, but also don't know enough of his work to debate that.

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      • George KG Offline
                        George KG Offline
                        George K
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        Out of curiosity, I found Williams' Violin Concerto on Apple Music. It is about as far from "Movie Music" as you can imagine.

                        Listening to it this morning, I was reminded of something that @Larry said years ago: A real musician can pretty much perform/write in whatever genre he wants. Look at the movie music of Shostakovich and compare with his so-called "serious" music.

                        "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                        The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                        RenaudaR 1 Reply Last reply
                        • George KG George K

                          Out of curiosity, I found Williams' Violin Concerto on Apple Music. It is about as far from "Movie Music" as you can imagine.

                          Listening to it this morning, I was reminded of something that @Larry said years ago: A real musician can pretty much perform/write in whatever genre he wants. Look at the movie music of Shostakovich and compare with his so-called "serious" music.

                          RenaudaR Offline
                          RenaudaR Offline
                          Renauda
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #12

                          @george-k

                          I really like DDS’ film music. I have quite a bit of it on record. The one thing that always makes me smile is how much of it is copied by the likes of John Barry and other film music composers since the 1960s.

                          Elbows up!

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          • George KG Offline
                            George KG Offline
                            George K
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #13

                            The talent for writing "film music" is something that always struck me as being so daunting.

                            Yeah, one can compose your own stuff for your own audience, and for your own professional satisfaction.

                            But to do it for the satisfaction of someone else is something else. The older I get, the more I pay attention to the music of a movie (or even a 2nd-rate TV show - Reacher) and I'm impressed with the work of the musicians.

                            I can't imagine the struggle DDS had with juggling both muses.

                            "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                            The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                            RenaudaR 1 Reply Last reply
                            • George KG George K

                              The talent for writing "film music" is something that always struck me as being so daunting.

                              Yeah, one can compose your own stuff for your own audience, and for your own professional satisfaction.

                              But to do it for the satisfaction of someone else is something else. The older I get, the more I pay attention to the music of a movie (or even a 2nd-rate TV show - Reacher) and I'm impressed with the work of the musicians.

                              I can't imagine the struggle DDS had with juggling both muses.

                              RenaudaR Offline
                              RenaudaR Offline
                              Renauda
                              wrote on last edited by Renauda
                              #14

                              @george-k

                              From what I have read it was very difficult for DDS, but he did manage to compose a lot which he referred to his confidants like Weinberg, Shebalin and Khachaturian as being “for the desk drawer” and would only receive public performance when the circumstances permitted. Still, in DDS’ sarcastic way he slipped in a lot of quotations and fragments of his “for the drawer” compositions into his film and stage music without anyone in authority taking notice.

                              Elbows up!

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