Well, I'm getting back into the swing of things, and hopefully I'll be back onto a weekly release schedule for these blogs. Well just this weekend I had the honor of witnessing a performance firsthand of one of my favorite names in movies: John Williams.
Yes, the cinematic maestro himself apparently plays two concerts at the Hollywood Bowl every year, and thanks to my recent move I was able to see him conduct the LA Philharmonic Orchestra live and in person! Major props go out to the staff at the Hollywood Bowl and everyone in the orchestra and choir, you guys all made the concert amazing. But I'm going to focus on John Williams for the rest of this blog post.
When I think about the term, "Movie Magic," I usually think about breathtaking visuals or amazing acting. There's a lot of actors or post-production companies that help these moments come to life. I usually don't think of music. I'm not trying to discredit music. I'm saying the music is magical on its own! And no composer's scores fit my definition of magic more than John Williams's. With a few exceptions, John Williams music is the only kind of music that can give me chills both watching with it in a movie and listening to it on its own. Some of my friends have seen me get lost replaying Star Wars in my head while I listen to the Battle of Hoth theme on my headphones, or how I go through all the highs and lows at the end of Return of the Jedi with the Battle of Endor Theme, and so on. The Superman Theme always evokes the image of the Man of Steel swooping in to save the day. John Williams is famous for pairing musical motifs with characters, emotions, and images.
So it's safe to say I was reliving those images and emotions while listening to Williams conduct the orchestra. But I didn't have to do all the imagining myself. At one point during the Superman Theme I saw a shooting star overhead, and it was pretty hard not to think of Superman saving the day again. John Williams talked about some of the movie magic he grew up with and played some clips of related films while playing music. He took it a step further and played the last reel of ET while conducting the score live. It was great watching everyone lean forward in their seats and experiencing the perfect blend of story, acting, and music that is ET. There was even some crying. I may or may not have been a part of that.
All in all, never forget how much a great musical score can add to a movie. The original Star Wars just plain didn't work until John scored the movie. And I sure wouldn't be writing to you about how great it was to see ET with everyone if I just had to watch and listen to this:
So thank you, John Williams, for reminding me that a great cinematic score is magic all on its own. A great score can work without the visuals, but not the other way around. Hat's off to you!