Prom 8 - 20.07.17: Celebrating John Williams

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:30 Thursday 20 July 2017 ON TV
Royal Albert Hall

John Williams:
Overture to Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Raider's March from Raiders of the Lost Ark
Main Theme from Jaws
March from Superman
Suite for Cello and Orchestra from Memoirs of a Geisha - Sayuri's Theme
Viktor's Tale from The Terminal
Dartmoor, 1912 from War Horse
Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
A Child's Tale: Suite from The BFG
Flying Theme from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Theme from J.F.K
Prayer for Peace from Munich
Dry Your Tears, Afrika from Amistad
Devil's Dance, from The Witches of Eastwick
Escapades (No. 3) for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra from Catch Me if You Can
March of the Resistance from Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Rey's Theme from Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Main Title from Star Wars: A New Hope


Jamal Aliyev cello
Annelien Van Wauwe clarinet
Jess Gillam presenter
Keith Lockhart conductor
BBC Concert Orchestra


Winner of five Academy Awards, 22 Grammy Awards and seven BAFTAs, John Williams is among the greatest of film composers. His scores for Star Wars, Harry Potter, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and the Indiana Jones films have made him a household name.
The BBC Proms celebrates his extraordinary achievements in a concert to mark Williams's 85th birthday. Keith Lockhart - a long-time colleague of Williams at the Boston Pops Orchestra - conducts the BBC Concert Orchestra in an evening featuring excerpts from the composer's best-loved scores, as well as some lesser-known gems.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Good to see the concert ends with a fine bit of Korngold. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJwa9mX0bxA

Incidentally, the BBC listed the (inexplicable) American title of the Harry Potter film. Duly corrected here.

[Serial_Apologist]

Oh - not the more famous one who played classical guitar, had a band called Sky, and whose daughter Kate plays fine jazz piano, then?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Oh - not the more famous one who played classical guitar, had a band called Sky, and whose daughter Kate plays fine jazz piano, then?

When I was much younger, I thought they were one and the same.

[Serial_Apologist]

When I was much younger, I thought they were one and the same.

As did I!!!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

... and not forgetting:

http://www.beckerensemble.com/pages/johnwilliams.dwt

[Stanfordian]

Oh - not the more famous one who played classical guitar, had a band called Sky, and whose daughter Kate plays fine jazz piano, then?

Not the one once married to the presenter Sue Cook then!

[maestro267]

Normally I tend to steer clear of non-art-music Proms (y'know, stuff that isn't concertos or symphonies or what-have-you), but I am rather partial to John Williams' film music, so I might give this one a go. Whenever I hear the ET music, it tends to stay in my head for hours afterwards.

[oddoneout]

Oh - not the more famous one who played classical guitar, had a band called Sky, and whose daughter Kate plays fine jazz piano, then?

I must confess that when I read the OP my first thought was 'Oh, right, that John Williams.

When I was much younger, I thought they were one and the same.

I remember being confused for a good while that the Ant[h]ony Hopkins that my friends talked about didn't seem to bear much resemblance to the one I knew about....

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Normally I tend to steer clear of non-art-music Proms (y'know, stuff that isn't concertos or symphonies or what-have-you), but I am rather partial to John Williams' film music, so I might give this one a go. Whenever I hear the ET music, it tends to stay in my head for hours afterwards.

The Korngold extract I posted earlier also contains a bit of the Superman theme.

[bluestateprommer]

Good to see the concert ends with a fine bit of Korngold. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJwa9mX0bxA

Incidentally, the BBC listed the (inexplicable) American title of the Harry Potter film. Duly corrected here.

Don't know if you ever found this quip from the Horoscope section some years back from "America's Finest News Source", namely The Onion

"Gustav Holst will appear to you in a dream and refuse to leave until you agree that John Williams has been ripping him off for years."

On the semi-more serious side, regarding Jess Gillam, I think that she will be the saxophone soloist in the Catch Me If You Can selection, unless she's somehow doing double duty as a presenter, where KD has that particular assignment.

On the question of "Sorcerer's Stone" vs. "Philosopher's Stone", as the token representative of my country, I can try to explain. Namely, for the US market, because the presumption was most Americans would be too culturally and historically ignorant to understand the meaning behind the term "philosopher's stone", that part of JKR's title was tweaked for this side of the pond. Plus, for this Prom, you have an American composer, and an American conductor; hence the choice of the American version of the title there. (In some fairness to a portion of my compatriots, I do know of several acquaintances who took the trouble to acquire a British version of the book with the original title.)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

On the question of "Sorcerer's Stone" vs. "Philosopher's Stone", as the token representative of my country, I can try to explain. Namely, for the US market, because the presumption was most Americans would be too culturally and historically ignorant to understand the meaning behind the term "philosopher's stone", that part of JKR's title was tweaked for this side of the pond. Plus, for this Prom, you have an American composer, and an American conductor; hence the choice of the American version of the title there. (In some fairness to a portion of my compatriots, I do know of several acquaintances who took the trouble to acquire a British version of the book with the original title.)

It's not exactly paying the Americans a compliment to make such an assumption. There are culturally ignorant people on both sides of the Atlantic, I can assure you.

[BBMmk2]

I think that John Williams is probably about the best film music composer around. He certainly changed directors view of music in films, especially when Star Wars came about. It's a pity that Saving Life of Private Ryan Hymn to the Fallen is not featured.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Perhaps this is a missed opportunity to perform some of Williams' concert works.

[french frank]

Perhaps this is a missed opportunity to perform some of Williams' concert works.

Yes, indeed - considering these 'lighter' Proms are intended for new Proms-goers/viewers, presumably to encourage them further towards the standard Proms fare. On the other hand, considering that such works seldom find their way into concert programmes, perhaps it's a case of the cobbler (no disrespect) sticking to his last.