Episode 75 - Jurassic Park

04/22/20 • 55 min

The Baton: A John Williams Musical Journey

Host Jeff Commings counts the score to "Jurassic Park" as the gateway to becoming a John Williams fan, and he's joined by David Kay to talk about the aspects of the score that introduced a generation of people to Williams' music. They talk at length about the rousing fanfare that plays at the introduction to the island where the bulk of the action takes place, as well as the uncharacteristically gentle music that shows the dinosaurs for the first time. There is plenty of terror music for the dangerous raptors that consume half the humans on the island, and the two also ponder why Spielberg and/or Williams decided to change the music for a part of the finale.

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Episode 74 - Home Alone 2

It was a natural and easy decision for John Williams to agree to write the score to "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" since the original film was so successful and garnered much praise for the Maestro's score. But, was his enthusiasm still there when he saw that the sequel was pretty much a rehash of the original in new locations? The answer seems to be a resounding yes. Though there are many musical moments directly lifted from the first film. Williams does his best to put in some new touches, though he doesn't create much a of a new sound as he did in previous sequel scores. Host Jeff Commings highlights some of the new material, including the new songs Williams and Leslie Bricusse wrote, and theorizes why the Pigeon Lady (played by Oscar winner Brenda Fricker) didn't get a theme.

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Episode 76 - Schindler's List

Host Jeff Commings presents his longest solo episode to date, discussing the Oscar-winning score to the 1993 drama "Schindler's List." It's 13 minutes longer than the amount of original music Williams composed for the 192-minute film. In addition to discussing the often-told backstory of Williams' reluctance to accept the job, you'll learn about the three locations in which the score was recorded and why the Boston Symphony Orchestra was picked to play a portion of the score. You'll hear musical excerpts from many of the score's highlights, including the 12-minute cue that sets up the bulk of the film and the heartbreaking music for violinist Itzhak Perlman during the Auschwitz scenes. But the episode goes beyond discussion of "Schindler's List," stepping into 1994 during Williams' time off from film scoring as he created two concertos for celebrated musicians.