Take a chronological journey through the 60-year career of film composer John Williams!
Episodes
Wednesday Oct 30, 2019
Wednesday Oct 30, 2019
John Williams closed out 1977 on top of the pyramid in Hollywood. He was involved in two of the three highest-grossing films in the United States, and wrote scores for them that brought more attention to symphonic film scores. His final film of 1977, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," required him to participate in pre-production to find a five-note signal that would serve as communication between Earthlings and the aliens. His underscore is full of great themes, including a nod to the "Dies Irae" melody and sweet angelic voices to signify the alien mystery. Host Jeff Commings details the long journey Williams took to complete this project, which began in early 1976 and continued to summer 1980 for a three-minute piece for the controversial mothership interior scene in the Special Edition.
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Almost at the end of the extra music composed for inside the ship, I very clearly heard the melody for “When You Wish Upon a Star!” Thanks for another great episode, Jeff!
Saturday Jan 11, 2020
As for Star Wars, I walked out after the movie ended absolutely in awe. I knew the impact the film would have, and the music as well. I remember remarking to myself on the night of May 25th 1977 that the movie is so good that a lot of boys will love it, and love the music, and I was so excited, happy, and thankful to John Williams for breathing life into the sound of a symphonic film score. It was like he had shocked the world into remembering how thrilling an orchestra could be, and how magnificent music for movies can be.
Wednesday Oct 30, 2019
I've always felt that 1977 was one of the most extraordinary years for movies because two movies opened with a fantasy or science fiction theme and both were successful. The lack of great films in this genre was finally changed after so long when these films were released. Both featured great scores, and perfectly created for the movies they were written for. Undeniably, Star Wars was a tremendous achievement for John Williams, but Close Encounters wasn't just an ordinary score for John Williams, it was a visceral, emotional experience in the theater, mysterious, grand, and inspired. I first saw the movie at the Ziegfeld in New York, and they had a Dolby sound system that was state of the art, and the volume was up as high as they could manage without causing loss of hearing, and hearing the music up loud was indescribably glorious. All the nuance of fear, and alien starships, was crystal clear, and much more effective than a normal volume. I find this score almost as good as Star Wars, but much better than his disaster film scores, and pretty much all of his mid-70's scores.
Wednesday Oct 30, 2019
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