Classic Ross Amico

Tag: John Williams

Incredibles & Animated Film Scores on Picture Perfect

With Elastigirl and family heading back to theaters next week, I thought now would be as good a time as any to get back into the “swing.”

On the next “Picture Perfect,” we’ll sample from music from “The Incredibles” (2004), alongside that for three other computer-animated features.

Pixar’s sly superhero satire was composer Michael Giacchino’s first major feature and his break-out success. The now much-in-demand Jersey native has gone on to write music for the “Jurassic Park,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Planet of the Apes,” “Star Trek,” and “Star Wars” series. But arguably his most charming and lyrical work has been for the Disney-owned animation studio.

For “The Incredibles,” director Brad Bird had originally hoped to enlist John Barry, who popularized the swinging espionage “sound” through his work on the James Bond films. When the veteran composer demurred, insisting he had moved on and had no interest in looking back, Giacchino was hired to out-Barry Barry.

As a nice counterbalance, we’ll also hear selections from Giacchino’s Academy Award-winning score to Pixar’s poignant adventure “Up” (2009). “Up” was nominated for Best Picture at the 82nd Academy Awards, only the second animated feature ever to be included in that category.

We’ll continue in the realm of computer animation with music from “Ice Age” (2002). The score was composed by David Newman, son of Golden Age heavy-hitter Alfred Newman, brother of Thomas Newman, and cousin of Randy Newman.

We’ll also hear some of John Williams’ music for “The Adventures of Tintin” (2011), after the comic book adventurer created by the Belgian artist and writer Hergé. Tintin’s popularity in Europe failed to translate into big domestic box office, comparatively speaking, but the score is Williams’ best of its kind – an exciting adventure piece full of leitmotifs and great action cues – since the first Harry Potter film.

In a day when so many films sport scores made up of droning electronics, punctuated by colorless action cues, the computer-generated feature seems to attract composers who still understand how to write music.

I hope you’ll join me for an hour of “animated” scores this week, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, this Friday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

June 8, 2018
John Williams Bequests Scores to Juilliard

At 86 years-old and with one more “Star Wars” score to finish, John Williams is thinking about getting his affairs in order. It’s just been announced that Williams has bequeathed his complete library of film scores and concert music to Juilliard. At least now we won’t have to worry about them being consumed by the Pacific once California is hit by “The Big One.”

NEW YORK –– The Juilliard School announced today that it has received a bequest from Academy Award-winning composer and conductor John Williams of his complete library of concert music and film music scores as well as his sketchbooks. Mr. Williams, who studied piano with longtime Juilliard faculty member Rosina Lhévinne, announced the gift at a special alumni event held in Los Angeles at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills, where Mr. Williams was also presented with a President’s Medal by Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi.

Acknowledging this gift, Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi said, “We are deeply grateful to John for his extraordinary generosity in bequeathing Juilliard his extensive library of both concert and film scores. John has been a wonderful friend and colleague for many years. His artistry, creativity, and endless imagination make him one of the most admired and respected musicians of our time. His gift will be a unique resource for all of our musicians at the school, particularly composition students who can study first-hand John’s breadth and versatility as a composer.”

“Since my earliest days as a fledgling piano student, I have looked up to the Juilliard School as the Mecca for the study of music in our country and beyond,” Mr. Williams said. “It’s therefore a privilege for me to donate my sketches, papers, and scores to Juilliard, to be made available to those students particularly interested in the intimate processes of film scoring.“

PHOTO: Williams receives an honorary doctorate from Harvard University. Sorry, guys, it’s all going to Juilliard…

March 6, 2018
Film Composers’ Concert Music

What’s that you say? You could care less about the Oscars? Perhaps then you’d be interested in a little counterprogramming. This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll both deny and complement the ceremony by listening to concert works by composers better known for their work in film.

Franz Waxman was a two-time Academy Award winner, honored with back-to-back Oscars, in 1950 and 1951, for his work on “Sunset Boulevard” and “A Place in the Sun.” Some of his other classic scores include those for “The Bride of Frankenstein,” “Rebecca,” “Rear Window,” “Peyton Place” and “The Nun’s Story.”

In 1955, he was traveling from California to Zurich to conduct a new piece commissioned by Rolf Liebermann. When Waxman reached New York he was met with a request from Lieberman’s office for program notes for the impending premiere. Waxman was forced to admit he hadn’t yet begun work on the piece, which he had planned to write during the ocean voyage. Fortunately, he was accustomed from his experience in Hollywood to write very quickly. The result was his “Sinfonietta for String Orchestra and Timpani.”

Five-time Academy Award winner John Williams – whose 51st nominated score, for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” is in contention tonight – is of course very well-known for his collaborations with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. Over the years, he’s also accrued an impressive quantity of concertos. One of the more immediately attractive of these is his Tuba Concerto of 1985, written for the 100th anniversary of the Boston Pops.

Finally, we’ll turn to three-time Academy Award winner Miklós Rózsa, honored for his work on Alfred Hitchcock’s “Spellbound” in 1945, the Ronald Colman thriller “A Double Life” in 1947, and “Ben-Hur” in 1959. He also composed quite a bit of concert music, including concertos for Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, Janos Starker, Leonard Pennario and Pinchas Zukerman.

Rózsa, Hungarian by birth, turned to film after a period of struggle as a young artist in Paris, where he learned from Arthur Honegger that he was able to pay the rent by supplementing his concert music with cinematic efforts. Rózsa’s “Theme, Variations and Finale,” Op. 13, of 1933, preceded the start of his film career by a few years. He revised the piece in 1943, by which time he had already completed his classic fantasy scores for Alexander Korda’s “The Thief of Bagdad” and “Jungle Book,” and was on the verge of becoming a leading composer of film noir.

“Theme, Variations and Finale” received performances by Charles Munch, Karl Böhm, Georg Solti, and Eugene Ormandy. It was also one of the works that featured on the legendary concert that launched Leonard Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic, on November 14, 1943, when the young assistant conductor substituted at the last minute for an ailing Bruno Walter.

I hope you’ll join me for an hour of concert music by composers better known for their work in film – “Against Type” on “The Lost Chord” – this Sunday night at 10:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

PHOTOS: Has anyone here seen Kelly? (Clockwise from left) John Williams wins the Oscar for “Star Wars;” Franz Waxman and Miklós Rózsa receive their awards from the hands of Gene Kelly

March 4, 2018
Olympic Music Fever Film Composers Soundtrack

Nevermind the flu – we’ve got ourselves a case of Olympic Fever!

This week on “Picture Perfect,” in honor of the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, we’ll try something a little different, since most of the music we’ll be listening to was, strictly speaking, not written for film. However, all of it was composed by artists closely associated with film. Much of it will be ceremonial music, heard during the opening ceremonies and television broadcasts, but we’ll also have a suite from a score composed for a documentary on the games.

Featured composers with include Leo Arnaud (a Ravel pupil who worked on “The Wizard of Oz” and went on to write THE classic Olympic theme), Angelo Badalamenti (David Lynch’s composer of choice), Lee Holdridge (a multifaceted musician who is the recipient of seven Emmys and a Grammy), Basil Poledouris (composer of “Conan the Barbarian” and “Lonesome Dove”), and John Williams (‘nuff said).

I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription is Olympic music, on “Picture Perfect,” this Friday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

February 9, 2018
John Williams Turns 86 Happy Birthday Maestro

Happy birthday, John Williams, 86 years-old today.

Here’s a clip of Williams conducting at a recording session for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” in December of 2016. Note the the opening crawl on the monitor in front of the podium.

February 8, 2018

Tag Cloud

RECENT POSTS