What an overwhelming success for a staged concept that gathered 88 esteemed musicians of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, helmed by the ebullient conductor, Nicholas Buc and aided by hosts, raconteurs par excellence, Andrew Pogson and professor Dan Golding who are the heart of Art of the Score, quipped and bantered while demystifying the mystique behind tonight’s performance celebrating the ‘Golden Boy’ of movie musical composition, John Williams.
This evening its all about fun and nostalgia, transporting the audience from the movie musical themes that have been our cultural milestones to a renewed appreciation of wunderkind Williams’ immense catalogue of cinema arrangements and compositions.
Williams’ impact and influence have shaped the way we hear the movies like no other. he ranks behind Walt Disney himself in terms of sheer volume and acclaim. What great concert-hall composer can compete with the mass art form of the 20th century, the cinema?!
John Williams has been the musical ambassador, so much so, that between 1970 and 1990 the yearly box office was topped by a film with music by the Maestro, every second year- a monumental slew of hits including Jaws, Star Wars, Close Encounters, Superman, Raiders of the Lost Arc, ET: the Extra Terrestrial and Home Alone. Can this be topped? Yes, a full one- fifth of the top 100 films of all time across America have the John Williams touch. His music is in the DNA of our musical culture.
After studying at Julliard with Rosina Lhevinne his path was clear, ” he could write better than he could play,” moving to LA to become an orchestrator and session musician for the film studios.His apprenticeship sounds like the whose-who of musical greats, like Henri Mancini and Elmer Bernstein, while he was composing for television where his work on Gilligan’s Island and Lost In Space, proved invaluable experience.
Though Williams’ early work is full of eclectic and interesting credits– the jazz in Long Good bye (1973) and his Kletzmer- filled folk of his adaptation on the Fiddler on the Roof(1971), his Oscar–he quickly found a niche as the musical voice of films like The Poseidon Adventure(1972), the Towering Inferno(1974) and Earthquake(1974).
When a rising hotshot director, Steven Spielberg asked Williams if he might write music for his film……29 films later… we universally hum and whistle at all the tunes. Remember Jaws, that very sound of a shark has been entwined with Williams’ foreboding two-note motif, much the same way the shrieking strings from Psycho (1960). Then came Star Wars (1977), perhaps the most perfect match for Williams’s nostalgic musical ability across his entire career. In the hands of director George Lucas, Star Wars got its pairing with the master’s music, rendering those melodies, its sequels and prequels, endurable today. He also revived the technique of leitmotif at the movies, a musical melody associated with characters, places or ideas.
Can one imagine a world without the Star Wars main theme, or without that jaunty tune for Indiana Jones. When Williams was inducted into the American Film Institute Hall of Fame in 2016, Spielberg said, “without John Williams, bikes don’t really fly, ‘Dinosaurs do not walk the earth.’ The one thing he has done, more than any award or achievement, he has given the movies belief.
Back on the Tik Tok Entertainment Centre arena stage, stands the award composer/conductor/arranger, Nicholas Buc with a distinguished career in both film and concert music after gaining a Masters degree in Scoring for Film and Multimedia from NY University where he was honoured with the Elmer Bernstein Award for film scoring. He has collaborated with Wynton Marshall’s, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, Chris Botti, Amanda Palmer, Brn Folds and the Cat Empire, as well as serving as conductor and arranger for Tina Arena’s 6 Australian tours and wears many hats arranging for Eskimo Joe, Birds of Tokyo, Missy Higgins, The Avalanches and Lake Street Dive.
Buc is the luminary that is leading arguably the best orchestra in Australia, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, a highly sought after for live film concerts, Buc has conducted the world premiers of Star Wars: the Last Jedi, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Shrek 2, Harry Potter and The Field of Dreams.
To a stunning applause, on walks Alexandra Osborne holding an enviable role on stage as a violinist and associate Concertmaster of the SSO, and who is a versatile career as a solo artist, chamber and orchestral musician, educator and mentor. Osborne’s solo playing of the theme from Schindler’s List gripped at our heartstrings.
The hosts of the concert were Dan Golding and Andrew Pogson. Dan is an Award-winning composer and writer, the host of Sounds on ABC Classic and Deputy Chair of Media and Communication at Swinburne University. Sharing the lively gab-fest was Pogson, a producer, director and jazz musician, the founder and Creative Director of Concert Lab, a concert producing production company.
Pogson has collaborated on premiers for Dr Who Symphonic Spectacular, Babe in Concert, Symphonica featuring Armand Van Helden, Joe Hisaishi and Studio Ghibli. Together they did a splendid job of digging-deep into the intricacies
of the musical compositions wth a humorous tone, adding to the audiences’ enjoyment who responded at ‘curtain call’ with rolling applause and foot stamping.
This concert will further accolades will come the way of the magnificent John Williams.
