September Program: Lights, Camera, Music!
Comments by Music Director John Thomas Dodson
John Williams has written music for movies that everyone knows. If you mention Jaws, people can hum those two notes that just shout, “Get out of the water!” Or if you say “Star Wars,” you can remember themes associated with many of the characters from Darth Vader to Princess Leia. Williams has accompanied the movie antics of Indiana Jones, E.T, and Harry Potter, as well as a host of other immortals of the silver screen. We’ll be starting our season with the great white shark of Jaws, the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park, and a collection of super heros and other characters from across the universe.
This is a concert for the youngest to the oldest to enjoy, so bring the family along and make an afternoon of it by staying afterwards for the free reception.
What better place to be than in Dawson Auditorium to experience the beginning of the ASO season in person? See you there!
Program Notes by Beryl McHenry
John Williams (1932 – )
With 45 Oscar nominations, 20+ Gold and Platinum records, 21 Grammys, and scores of other awards, including Golden Globes, Saturns, BAFTAs, and at least a dozen honorary doctorates, John Towner Williams is one of history’s most recognized and respected composers for the world of cinema. He currently holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for any living person. He is a member of the American Classical Music Hall of Fame and the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. In 2004, he was honored at Kennedy Center. In 2005, his score for the first Star Wars film was selected by the American Film Institute as the greatest American movie score of all time. His scores for Jaws and E.T. are also on that list, at positions 6 and 14.
But John Williams is also a composer of serious concert works that have been performed by Mistislav Rostopovich, Andre Previn, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Leonard Slatkin, and Joshua Bell, among others. These include the Essay for Strings, Sinfonietta for Winds, song cycles, and concerti for flute, violin, clarinet, trumpet, tuba, cello, bassoon, and horn, as well as fanfares for the 1984, 1988, and 1996 Summer Olympics, the 2002 Winter Olympics, and a work for the Special Olympics. He has also composed theme music for the NBC Nightly News, and numerous television series (remember Peter Gunn?). His theme music from The Patriot was played after Barack Obama’s election victory speech, and he composed additional music for the inauguration. He was principal conductor of the Boston Pops from 1980 to 1993 and is now the conductor laureate for that group. Williams is also an accomplished pianist and has provided solos for many scores as well as appearing on a number of classical recordings in Europe.
Williams’s movie style is large and expansive, inspired by the huge works of such composers as Wagner. His trademark in movie work is the use of thundering themes, most suited to science fiction and fantasy films such as Star Wars, Superman, E.T., Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Close Encounters and Harry Potter.
Now 77, Williams has commitments well into the future, but has expressed a desire to focus more on concert works and on teaching tools to familiarize children with the world of symphonic music. In the meantime, whenever the average American is in the movie theater, the hotel lobby, the doctor’s office, the sports arena, attending a parade, or a hundred other places, he or she is likely to hear a bit of John Williams somewhere in the background.