“I never liked film music very much,” Williams said to The Guardian’s Dalya Alberge, “Film music, however good it can be — and it usually isn’t, other than maybe an eight-minute stretch here and there … I just think the music isn’t there. What we think of as this precious great film music … we’re remembering it in some kind of nostalgic way. Just the idea that film music has the same place in the concert hall as the best music in the canon is a mistaken notion, I think.”
I mean, John Williams can say anything he likes about the quality of film music, he’s certainly earned the right.
I mean, I kind of get it. Soundtrack music – and particularly Williams’ music – is extremely evocative. But it is designed to be paired with scenes from a film, and add to the mood of a film. There is a lot of evocative classical music, which is just as good as setting a tone or a mood, but doesn’t have the advantage of projecting a scene into your eyeballs while you listen.
So maybe it’s just that Williams thinks that writing film scores is a sort of “cheat code” to getting an audience to feel something through music. Still, I don’t mind listening. And isn’t that the true measure of success of a musical piece, that people look forward to listening to it?
I am no Prequel fan, but when it comes to John Williams music, very little beats “Duel of the Fates” for me. That’s some epic shit, with or without accompanying scenes.
has he heard any John Williams scores?
For most movies, yes, for some movies, no. Lord of the Rings has a score that can stand alone.
