John Williams

Composer Cagematch!: Your Victor

To review!

ROUND 1
1. Williams vs. Goldsmith
2. Delibes vs. Respighi
3. Vivaldi vs. Schubert
4. Puccini vs. Sullivan
5. Barber vs. Ives
6. Vaughan Williams vs. Hindemith
7. Reich vs. Cage
8. Boulez vs. Webern

ROUND 2
1. Webern vs. Hindemith
2. Cage vs. Williams
3. Respighi vs. Puccini
4. Schubert vs. Ives

ROUND 3
1. Hindemith vs. Williams
2. Schubert vs. Respighi

ROUND 4
1. Hindemith vs. Schubert

Italics denote winner

And now, prepare to be truly shocked and amazed, because the winner is…

Continue reading →

Composer Cagematch! Round 3: Schubert vs. Respighi

JUST KIDDING. Apparently we’re fresh out of surprises ’round these here blogging parts. John Williams never stood a chance against Hindemith, who took the match with ease. And that is the right and proper order of things. Clearly.

So we can turn away from that fight with light hearts, only to get them all bogged down again with another age old question (except maybe not really, assuming we really are fresh out of surprises). Regardless, in this corner, he has nothing bad to say about Ives because really, good show, mein Herr! And really, if anyone can afford to be generous it’s

FRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANZ SCHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERT

And in this corner, he put the rah rah rah in opera! It’s

OOOOOOOTTOOOOOOOORIIIIIIINOOOOOOO REEEEEESPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

No, but actually, I like surprises. I do.

Composer Cagematch! Round 3: Hindemith vs. Williams

WOW. What an exciting match! I don’t know if you saw, but for the longest time Ives was winning. Over SCHUBERT. Isn’t that crazy? I mean, Franz pulled it out in the end, but I wasn’t sure anyone could go toe to toe with him. Let’s hear it for one hell of a competitor in Ives!

And so we move on to round three, because in this corner, it’s the violist with the mostest,

PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUL HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINDEEEEEEEEEEEEEMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITH

And in this corner, modernists? What modernists? It’s

JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHN WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMS

Normally I would say this should be an easy decision, but what with the whole Schubert-Ives thing I don’t even know anymore.

O’er the Land of the Free and the Home of the Concert Roundup

Naturally, everything this week is patriotic. As it should be! Myself, I’m proud to be an American; I’m just ashamed of American cheese.

• The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra skips off to Oregon Ridge for their annual Star-Spangled Spectacular. No program listed on the web site, but I’m sure no cannons will be injured in the performance. July 3 & 4. [ See it! ]
• Meanwhile, the National Symphony Orchestra scurries over to the west lawn of the Capitol building to take part in A Capitol Fourth, which I refuse to watch until they bring back Barry Bostwick as host. Those were the BEST DAYS, guys! Duplicate the best days! Anyway, John Williams is going to conduct something, as well as, in an interesting twist, the BSO Pops conductor Jack Everly. Huh. Go figure. Plus a bunch of pop stars or something… guys, I don’t know who are lot of these people are, in either chronological direction. I’m getting old/young. You can also watch this one live on PBS, of course. July 4. [ See it! ]
• This week at Strathmore: Free summer outdoor concerts continue! [ See the calendar! ]

If you’d like your concert included in next week’s roundup, leave a comment or drop me a line.

Composer Cagematch Round 2: Respighi vs. Puccini

Um… what?

No, seriously. What?

I am whatting because in the last match you chose John Williams over John Cage. I mean, Cage’s stuff can be wonky, sure, but… what?

Oh well. I’m sure the whims of the public are a mysterious thing indeed. No matter; we shall put it behind us and head to more exotic climes. Specifically Italy, because in this corner, he hasn’t got time for dolls! It’s

OTTOOOOOOOOOORIIIIIIIIIIIINOOOOOOOOOOO RESPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

And in this corner, he hasn’t got time for modern major generals! It’s

GIAAAAAAAAAAAAACOOOOOOOOMOOOOOOOO PUUUUUUCCIIIIIIIIIIIIINIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Mm, spaghetti.

Composer Cagematch! Round 2: Cage vs. Williams

So… you guys really like Hindemith, eh? I mean, Webern was fresh off a solid victory. He had tasted blood once before. And yet Hindemith cheerfully trounced him. Very, very interesting, you guys. I shall note it in the logs.

Now let’s head back to the homeland with an All-American match, because in this corner, he never gave Reich a chance! It’s

JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHN CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE

And in this corner, he made Jerry Goldsmith phone home! It’s

JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHN WILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMS

Oh my God, guys, it’s a John Fight! I didn’t even consciously plan that!

Composer Cagematch!: Delibes vs. Respighi

HARRUMPH.

Look, I know I told you it was okay if you voted for John Williams in the last match. And it was. It was okay if you did that. It’s just that MORE of you were supposed to vote for Jerry Goldsmith. Seriously, guys, how did you not get that? Where was the breakdown of communication? I want to know.

Anyway. Williams took Goldsmith. Bah. Whatever. Let’s try this again, shall we? Take yourself out of the modern American movie mindset, because we’re going back to Europe and back in time.

In this corner, his music was so good it brought dolls to life! It’s

LEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOO DEEEEEEELIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIBES

And in this corner, his music was so good it made whales fly! It’s

OOOOOOOTTOOOOOOOORIIIIIINOOOOO REEEESPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

I’m excited for this match – it’s time to stretch a little! Do you go with the prolific Frenchman with the ballet soul? Or the scrappy Italian with the penchant for Rome? Show me who you love!

Composer Cagematch!: Williams vs. Goldsmith

It’s baaaaaaack! Yes, my friends, it’s time for another round of Composer Cagematch!, that spectacular series of cutthroat fights between composers that asks not the question, who is a better composer? but rather, who do you LOVE?

That’s right – throw out all your notions of musicology based merit and vote based on your heart, because the winner is not musicology’s champion – he is the people’s champion!

So where are we starting on this spectacular journey? Well, we were going to start with Schubert, but I still haven’t figured out who’s strong enough to take on Schubert, and I really don’t want to repeat composers, so… we’re starting with two of history’s most successful film composers, folks! And as such –

In this corner, entering the ring with in an imperial march, it’s

JOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHN WIIIIIIIIIIIILLIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMS

And in this corner, he brings honor to us all! It’s

JEEEEEEEEERRYYYYYYY GOOOOOOOOOLDSMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITH

Hey, I know I complain about Williams a lot, but I’ve always liked his Jurassic Park score, and then yesterday I watched Memoirs of a Geisha and found the theme beautiful and looked up the composer and said “Oh.” So you can vote for him; I won’t judge. And Jerry Goldsmith? The Voyager theme? Mulan? The Omen? The Mummy? I mean, this is hard.

But you still have to make your choice.

Concert Roundup: Scarypants Edition

Happy Halloween! You know what’s really scary? Not having your concert attendance for the week all planned out. Here ya go:

• Oh boy. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra proves that it is positively MAGICAL with a program entitled “Wizards and Wands: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” a title which I will look upon dubiously forevermore. Still, aside from the admittedly catchy Williams Potter music, and you can never really go wrong with the Dukas. November 3 at the Meyerhoff. [ See it! ]
• The National Symphony Orchestra makes up for their lack of a concert a couple weeks ago by offering no less than three different programs this week. The first features Beethoven‘s Missa Solemnis, November 1 – 3. The second, on November 2, is a chamber music performance of all-Beethoven, proving that this Eschenbach fellow has great taste. And finally, on November 4, Lang-Lang plays nothing but Mozart and Chopin. Of course. [ See the Missa! ] [ See the chamber Beethoven! ] [ See Lang-Lang! ]
• This week at Strathmore: Joshua Bell, delta bluesman Keb’ Mo’, latin dance. [ See the calendar! ]

If you’d like your concert included in next week’s roundup, leave a comment or drop me a line.

Something seems… different…

“Please,” said Rebekah, “find some way to put these on your blog.” And you know I would do anything America’s most beloved public figure asks of me.* Prepare for some cognitive dissonance – literally.

* Sorry, Bek; couldn’t find the 20th Century Fox version or I would’ve posted that too.