John Williams is the man

Amen Richard, I love the kudos (positive points) you gave regarding John Williams. He is my favorite composer. You might be interested to know that my wife and I when we went to London in May got to see the changing of the guard. Can you guess which composers music was played by the Royal Band that day? John Williams of all things. I truly felt “right at home” in London at the sight and hearing of his music. It is great to know you appreciate his music as well.

The man is a shear musical genius.

You got a complete copy of the orchestral score of “Star Wars”? Awesome. Wow. I’m 39 and even hearing that you got that from JW does MY heart good.

Richard, great point on the Bach and Mozart part. I never intended to even put JW currently in the same breath as Bach or Mozart. However, who is to say that in a couple hundred years JW might be looked at in the same way we look at Mozart and Bach 200 years earlier from now? Question: What composers do you think 200 years from now people will think about like we today think about Bach or Mozart?

Oh Tony, Michael Jackson won’t be one of them? There is bound to be some non-Symphonic composers that should be “included in the mix” don’t you think? If so who would you include if not Jackson?

For me I like to look at Symphonic music from the context of the era and compare it to our era now. The equivilent to “rock music” of the 1700’s I believe would be the music of Mozart. So for myself to extrapulate to the future I personally believe Jackson COULD be the “Mozart of the 2200’s”.

If you don’t believe that Mozart music was the rock and roll of the day even though it happens to be symphonic in nature who would you think could be in that category of rock and roll of the day and what comparisons to today would you make with past eras of music centuries old? Just curious because this IS an interesting discussion.

Tony, I already knew you were being tongue and cheek. I was just wondering about your opinion if there would be any non-symphonic music as popular or famous as Mozart or Bach. Your analysis I agree. I know it is a little “oversimplistic” to seperate out symphonic vs. non-symphonic. It is just there are very few symphonic composers I like other than the ones everybidy knows aka Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi, and the like. I guess when I see the culture of music today I don’t see as much “appreciation” for symphonic or “classical style’ (notice I said “style’ in to distinguish beetween a musical period “Classical”) . It seems the “non” style of both is what is popular currently. Which begs the question if there will be in 200 years rock n roll, blues, etc that would be as famous as Bach, Mozart or Beethoven in 200 years like those artists are 200 years before now.

So I wonder Tony from what we both have said if Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and the like will have a diminishing affect on music 200 years from today in light of this current diminishing appreciation?

What music or artist/composer (if any) do you believe was the rock n roll of the 1700’s? Great discussion and I truly have learned so much from you on this subject. I will lokk at the composers you have recommended.

I don’t think the influence of Bach and company will diminish at all. That ws really the point of my reflection: it isn’t about who is or was popular, but who has left an lasting influence. Bach was largely unknown for years - even during his lifetime, the Brandenburg Concertos were never played; Telemann and Buxtehude wrote more pieces than he did. It was only in the 19th C when Felix Mendelssohn championed his music that he became popular again. However, in the business itself he had a continuing influence: youmg Wolfgang Mozart used to play his Preludes and Fugues, as did Beethoven (listen to the fugue in the slow movement of the Eroica Symphony - wow!); I think it was Beethoven who said “He was the father of us all.” Vaughan Williams was a great Bach fan - I read a lovely story of him visiting his friend the organist of St Paul’s Cathedral, and after dinner they went into the Cathedral and the organist played Bach for the great man; I wish I’d been a fly on that wall! Come to the late 20th C, and listen to Procol Harum’s “Whiter Shade of Pale” - directly influenced by Bach. In the more symphonic style, the composer Leopold Stokowski orchestrated Bach’s works for his orchestra in the 1930s - his idea was that Bach in writing for the organ was working with the biggest and most versatile instrument of his day, while the modern symphony orchestra was now the biggest and most versatile - so what would Bach have done with that? I had a few LPs of his work from the 1970s, and loved them, but now Jose Serebrier has done some CDs of them, because he worked with Stokowski, so the tradition continues and will therefore continue to influence.

As to the ‘rock and roll’ of the 1700s, well, Mozart’s operas were smash hits (the ‘cinema blockbusters’ of their day). Schubert was very popular in Vienna. Many composers were popular where they were, but were unknown elsewhere. But there is another genre worth examining: hymn tunes. Certainly Charles Wesley wrote hymns to be sung to the popular tunes of his day - if you want to hear them as they were, not turgified by serious church organists, listen to Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band (there’s a link from her site at http://www.maddyprior.co.uk/) or try something by the West Gallery Music Association (go to http://www.wgma.org.uk/) - really lively versions of hymn tunes we’ve probably sung, but enough to get your feet tapping!

While I’m quoting websites, the most popular classical music radio station in the UK is CLassicFM - if you visit the website at http://www.classicfm.co.uk/ you will find lots of resource material, and you can listen online. It has the feel of any popular music station, but the music is classical. It is fun - if you don’t mind some of the adverts. And the fact that if you’re listening elsewhere in the world, the breakfast programme doesn’t come at breakfast-time, etc. Give it a try! I always have it on in the car or in the background in my study.

On DH’s musing about classical composers as the rock musicians of their day: I love the scene in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure where Beethoven (pronounced beath-uvven, of course) is let loose on the keyboards in the shopping mall.

Dude! Whoah!

Pachelbel’s Canon in D, anyone?

Thanks guys for the explaination. I personally like the “Bad” video so for me it wasn’t “jumping the shark”. Maybe I’m the type of person who likes things “over the top”.

Tortoise, I LOVE that movie “Bill and Ted”.

Woahhhh, Tort. ; how narly of you to dig such awsome dudes as “Bill and Ted”.