Could you do a video on songs that use the double harmonic scale? I love this scale it's a lot of fun to play, but I don't hear it much except for some surf rock stuff I listen to.
I'm commenting on this video in a first second. I just want to say that this type of content has been done many many many times before, and even some videos have been taken down since I saw the first one. I hope this video shows me something new. Sorry if I sound like an a%%hole.... I won't deleted my comment, I'll just edit it once I've finished the video. Edit: Yep, just finished the video. Nothing new here. A few points out of about 20 I'd like to make: 0:49 - The prominent high strings are a big part of Williams' piece, and the moving notes underneath are just a "mysterious" ostinato. 2:00 - William’s piece is in 3/4 , a completely different feel to a 2/4 (try dancing a waltz to a polka in 2/4). 3:57 - "A clear influence here" - I thought you were going to say Ravel! I didn't think you were going to say Tchaikovsky because that is your next clip. So, on Tchaik at 4:38 - Williams uses just the 'relaxed' 6th interval.... and that's about it. You can also here this beautiful 6th leap in such a piece as Brahms Hungarian Dance No.4 to "settle" the hectic vivace section of music that comes before a molto rit. leading back into a moderato opening theme. 6:37 - Yes it sounds similar- mainly because of the instrumentation and tempo - but when looking at it properly, each instrument is doing something quite different. It just gives the same feel. 7:24 - Jaws vs. Dvorak - Dvorak’s actually sounds like he was taking inspiration from Beethoven’s 5th! Of course we can’t be blind/deaf to that semitone. William's builds up that particular semitone *a lot* more..... so beyond the first three Dvorak bars, it actually turns into some sort of Shostakovian piece rather than Dvorak! 7:49 - Lastly, "The King’s Row". I don't have much to pick on with this one because it does have many things in common with the Star Wars fanfare. However I've seen this "exposed" about 5 or 6 or 7 times before, so it's "old hat" now. Anyway. Not a bad vid, and I'd be happy to link this video to my students.
It’s actually the Han and Leia love theme from Empire that bears the more striking resemblance to that Tchaikovsky violin concerto, rather than Leila’s theme. They all share that initial interval from the fifth to the third above, over the tonic major chord (along with Marion’s theme from Raider’s - Williams seems to associate it with romantic heroines), but the Han and Leia theme continues to closely resemble it even after that.
Han and Leia's theme (some versions of the theme more than others) is to my ears clearly inspired by 1) Leonard Bernstein's "Make Our Garden Grow" and 2) the opening of Henri Mancini's Days of Wine and Roses. Since Williams worked with Mancini, this isn't a stretch. ua-cam.com/video/YPBIEBjwU44/v-deo.html
Don't forget that John Williams worked from a temp track with classical music for Star Wars. George Lucas didn't trust John Williams, thinking he was "just" a jazz pianist, which he also is - and a brilliant one. I adore John Williams. BTW The "Scene D'Amour" by the great Bernard Herrmann, for Vertigo, is basically Wagner's Tristan And Isolde. No human being creates anything from scratch and film composers are always working on the edge of getting fired by the director.
Exactly, he was working within a context at a certain time for a particular purpose. People also forget that Williams has composed concert pieces outside of the strictures of film music.
@@DavidBennettPiano Yes these might be rumors only. I'm talking Berklee music teachers no less. BUT let's assume there was no temp track. The movie that hugely encouraged George Lucas to make his Sci Fi movie (or better: space adventure) was Stanley Kubrick's 2001. It features mostly classical music (I simplify the term for the sake of clarity), which were use in a temp track. Alex North's score was ditched as a last minute decision (again: perhaps rumors, but they persist). So John Williams was very likely composing as closely as possible to a "soundalike", so he can reference back to exiting pieces and be on the safe side. J.W. was recommended to Lucas by Steven Spielberg. As far as I can tell one has a harder time finding inspirations that turned into soundalikes in later John Williams scored movies. I am not arguing, just sharing my thoughts. John Williams gets a lot of criticism. I believe it's for the fact that he isn't edgy and experimental (except for some cool atonal parts, say in Close Encounters). Going for pure beauty makes you an easy target.
@@DavidBennettPiano Paul Hirsch, the editor of Star Wars, has stated clearly that they were using temp tracks. He's even done lectures on it. You can easily find UA-cam videos of the editor of Star Wars himself stating this as fact.
As stated by others they used no temp track. But nevertheless: When you're composing for a movie you're giving the director what they want! If they ask for "Something in the vein of [insert another composer]", then they get exactly that. John Williams are often being scolded for borrowing from others, but that is how scoring a film works. Since he's a high-profile composer, who have borrowed from other high-profile composers, it's easy to blame him. But he works no differently than any other film composer.
His voice is NOT distinct. If you play classical music to people in public, 9/10 of them will say, "OH is that John Williams? blah blah blah." I've tested it with hundreds of different artists with the same result. He is a plagiarist, plain and simple, and the fact that he doesn't even partially credit the original artists makes him a scummy composer.
@@TalmoTheSell OH I thought I deleted this one because I came across as emotional. John Williams is a hack, but he does deserve a tiny bit of credit for his arrangement skills.
One of the greatest film composers of all time and composers draw inspiration all the time from given pieces and soundscapes. Lucas did want his film to have a classical feel and cited several examples of the sound of the composers you mention here for John to craft his music like. It’s all great and different enough overall to appreciate the music and time that went into it
Yes! Cheap shot and inacurate to alllege that Williams ripped off other composers. Whose work btw is not protected by copyright. So Williams actually could have lifted it entirely. Of course he did not. All artists are influenced by some other artists.
And it's interesting how complex the flow of inspiration gets when you also consider that Stravinsky, Dvorak, and Holst used themes/tune from folk traditions in their own music.
He also drew a lot from Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and obviously, Wagner to create leitmotifs for his film scores. Just like Mozart and Beethoven drawing from Haydn and Bach. My mentor once told me: "an average composer imitates; a great composer steals." Williams is a modern examplar of it.
I think autocorrect hit you there. It's stole, not Drew. He stole the works. He gives no credit at all, even in interviews, to the original artists. He is a scam composer.
@@gergoretvari6373 If that were the case, then yeah... but Williams didn't steal 5 notes. He stole entire 8 measure phrases. He stole entire compositions and rearranged them. He is not a composer, and nobody who knows the old greats considers him one. He is an arranger with an inflated ego, and since he doesn't credit those he plagiarized, he is a scummy person.
I think this approach is wrong, what Williams is doing is not being influenced but borrowing. The relationship between Beethoven and Mozart is not similar.
I, ve always thought the same. Nevertheless, his themes and soundtracks are so good and appropriate and definitely they are golden classics themselves.
I may be influenced by my love of the films he writes for, but when Williams “borrows” from these preceding compositions, I feel he actually makes them better. Or at least, more accessible.
@@kenvives nah if you look at it as a piece of music the classical pieces work better I think because they arent supposed to underline a certain movie scene but are made to express something single handedly and separated from any other sources In the end it's all subjective of course
I find one that people always miss is the Luke and Leia theme with Leonard Bernstein's "Make Our Garden Grow" from "Candide." Being that Williams and Bernstein knew each other, I wouldn't be surprised Williams borrowed it from Bernstein.
All of these examples are true and I've "felt" them for decades. However, there is still a "John Williams" sound that is original enough that his music is always recognizable as a John Williams score. Sabrina, Accidental Tourist, Jurassic Park, E.T. and of course Harry Potter are some of his best amongst the typical of the John Williams sound..... He was responsible for starting me at a young age with classical music composers so I have a warm place in my heart for great film music.
David, I'd like to see you do a similar comparison using Howard Shore's brilliant Lord of the Rings score. I'm curious what, if anything, was inspired by other sources.
@@thegoodgeneral lol! What the hell are you talking about? Who said David's video was original or not? Also, I don't think you've been on the internet since 1994. I have.
@@frankfrank7921 my point is if you want you see his take on Shore’s LotR, all you need to do is search on the Internet and see anyone writing on the subject and you’re going to find everything you will hear in David’s video on the subject.
On the Jaws theme, John Williams credited “Man” from Disney’s Bambi as his inspiration. Man featured a three note motif that slowly increased tempo each time. It stuck with him since he first heard it as a child in the theater. He went back to it, changed the key, and dropped the third note to get his Jaws theme.
Williams also incorporated some themes from Debussy’s La Mer in his Jaws score as I’ve read. George Lucas originally wanted to use The Planets suite for Star Wars, but couldn’t get the rights, so he asked John Williams to compose something similar to or in the vein of The Planets.
before any commenters get carried away, let's clear one thing up: Anyone who seriously tries to claim that John Williams plagiarized anything is simply demonstrating how little they understand the film music industry. 90% of time what actually happened is the Director specifically requested “hey, I was thinking this scene could kind of sound like this“ and so the composer basically has no choice but to write a new music that sounds similar enough to the pre-existing music to make the Director happy. Williams does this just as much as other composers do, he’s just more famous so the times he does it gets more attention. If there’s ever *actual* plagiarism, there’s legal action taken. Like when action was taken against Hans Zimmer for copying Holst’s Mars music in gladiator. or when action was taken against Tyler bates’ score for 300 for plagiarizing music from Titus.
Merci beaucoup. A Piano professor told me about a student that wanted to drive his neighbour nuts. So he practiced his scales and ended them all on the leading tone, never playing the tonic. He moved out in less than 2 months.
Really glad you brought up Tchaikovsky, I think there are even more examples (ex. both the Swan lake theme and Vader's theme end in an extremely similar fashion, virtually the same notes). Once again, excellent video.
I don’t see this as giving John Williams a hard time. In fact, I think the fact that he was inspired by classical composers keeps classical music alive. He is one of my favorite examples when having the age old debate of is it “plagiarism” or is it “inspiration” with someone.
Another Holst inspiration is the opening to Venus and the opening of the force theme. The shape and feel is very similar and I’ve heard the similarity for a long time
In the movie Minority Report, in the Spyders scene, J W has definitely borrowed from Bohuslav Martinu’s 6th Symphony around the middle of the second movement. Doesn’t last long but immediately recognisable.
That part at 2:58 is actually even more strongly heard at the start of the movie as the Star Destroyer flies overhead. That segment is basically the part from Holst but with the stings building and building as they go.
Since Star Wars took place long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, I think Stravinsky, Holst etc must have been influenced by John Williams rather than the other way round...😂
When i first heard Tchaikovsky's Swan lake, i immediately thought it was the Anakin vs. Obiwan theme. And i swear if you listen to Swan Lake's Turning Point, you can hear the Darth Vader theme!!
We all know 'Star Wars' to be an all-time movie classic, but some have suggested that at the time of production it was looked upon as just another space opera? Was Williams aware this film was going to be immortal at the time he composed it?
There’s another “inspiration” moment that I think gets overlooked. It’s the second movement of the Neilson violin concerto which inspired a moment in Jurassic Park. The melody, chords, and orchestration are almost identical.
Crazy as Ive listened to the SW soundtrack since I was a kid in late 70s, continuing on to this date AND once you mentioned the composer and part of the film I suddenly knew which piece you were going to match them to!! I cant believe I hadnt made these connections before!
These composers were not a source of inspiration for John Williams, but a source of material for John Williams. Had the works he ‘borrowed’ from been under copyright, he probably would have been sued.
Perhaps you should try to match the level of proficiency in question. Try it! See whether you can offer similar based on existing works. You have to have some talent to be able to do these things.
Similarities can indeed be unconscious. I was reminded of this yesterday when, several hours after writing a song, I realized it was reeeeeeally similar to the opening song of Disney's animated _Cinderella._ Just add an extra measure before the end of each line and you get the start of my melody and chord progression. Of course, it diverges soon after that, but I couldn't un-hear it, so I fiddled with the opening a bit to make it less noticeable 😂 it's also reminiscent of "In My Life" from Les Misérables, but only for that first ascending line.
You should’ve also featured sugar plum fairy and the motif he used in home alone that resembles it. Also from the nutcracker, but I think it specifically, is one of the most obvious examples of “borrowing” and influence of all his works.
Always loved this topic! The third movement of Dvorak’s 9th makes me think Star Wars as well… maybe it gives me Dual of the Fates vibes?… can’t put my finger on it
What about the most significant Williams composition? It's that music that plays when Gilligan steps on the Skipper's head while getting into the top hammock. Yep, John Williams wrote that.
The Imperial March from the Empire Strikes Back was based on A Spoon Full of Sugar Makes the Medicine Go Down from Mary Poppins. Once you hear it, you cannot un-hear it.
I think the Leia's theme comparison is a little bit of a long shot. Sure it's the same key and the same interval to start off but the rest of it for me is sufficiently different enough for it to be nicked. But yes I agree with these on the whole. He's very good at finding inspiration and adapting it beautifully to fit what he's writing for.
Well done! I had noticed some of these, but you've catalogued far more. So the difference between "borrowed from" and "violated copyright" is a matter of waiting 70 years after the composer has died. Thanks!
The twittering woodwinds at the beginning of the Flying theme from ET are a direct pinch from the last movement of Hanson's Romantic Symphony.Check it out!
I think it's important to note that directors tend to give composers quite clear instructions on what they want for the soundtrack of their film. Since the soundtrack is created rather late into the production of a film, directors usually accompany the scenes they've shot so far with already existing music to simulate what watching the film might be like when it's finished. So whilst composers commonly look for inspiration in pre-existing music, it is in many cases also down to the director telling the composer that they'd really love something that sounds a lot like piece x in that one scene and something that sounds like piece y in another. They sometimes just get so used to watching a scene and listening to that piece that they feel having anything else as the soundtrack would be wrong. Great video btw^^
Great video. In my mind, the most obvious example is ET - the famous Moonlight Bike Ride theme is lifted directly from the cello solo at the end of the last movement of Dvorak’s Dumky Trio, just modulated to D major but otherwise not changed at all.
IMO the death star exploding music is much, much closer to the end of the first movement of Mahler's 2nd symphony. A more obvious lift from Tchaikovky's violin is the main theme from the movie, The Right Stuff.
There is another one: The beginning of Leia's theme is nearly exactly, far more than from Tchaikovsky, the second theme of the second movement of Richard Wagner's Piano Sonata in B-flat.
As a songwriter, I learned a long time ago that it's virtually impossible to create anything 100% original. It was actually very liberating to realize that. The context from which I am speaking is the 3 minute pop/rock song. Now if you consider writing two hours of soundtrack music then there's going to be a massive amount of "borrowing", consciously or not. It shouldn't, but I wonder if that takes the luster off of people like John Williams in the eyes of some?
It doesn't in my opinion. He's a musical genius and the only composer currently that comes even remotely close is Hans Zimmer Guys like Williams don't come around often.
THIS ISN'T FAIR AT ALL.😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅 I apologize for the rant in advance. ✌✌✌✌✌This is a pet peeve for me, as I heard this so much at the Conservatory of Music in Sydney, by composition teachers and Jazz teachers, who should know better, who talk of these soundtracks as proof that John Williams is kind of a fraud. to the point where I felt; 'You know what, I'd rather be at home listening to great works, than drowning myself in debt with this stuff. George Lucas hired John Williams for Star Wars to conduct these pieces, note for note. inspired by Kubrick's 2001. George had the entire movie scored with the recordings, john was to simply come in and conduct them in a way that blended them into the film more cohesively. John has always been of one mindset. He did not want to start a trend in the film industry of taking composers' works and placing them in movies, robbing them of their free association, especially when the composers were not alive to okay such usage. He was looking out for, and protecting these composers' works. I also doubt anybody was expecting what was going to happen with episode 4. 😅😅 My goodness, that was a shock to everyone. It was supposed to be just a cool sci-fi fantasy film, to be forgotten in time. When I first heard the rite of spring around 19 years of age, I heard it as it was meant to be heard, and it blew my mind. I didn't feel the connection to Star Wars at all. I was in Stravinsky's world he created. The connection came much later when I revisited the Star Wars movies, and thought, oh, that's interesting, then I researched why this happened, and it came from George Lucas's own mouth that that was what happened. Sadly, I can't say the same for Wagner. Some of his most brilliant moments were simply grave robbed. Occasionally, film directors come to John with classical pieces they are insistent he uses. I'm sure Home Alone was the same thing. John's ability to gently and eloquently communicate his ideas to the director in a way the director understands is part of the reason so many directors wanted to work with him. He is not opaque and vague, his communication methods are gentle and intelligent, and people trust his ideas because he's fucking brilliant. George was very lucky he listened. Star Wars would have been a forgotten children's sci-fi movie without John's work. I think, The only time he has used a piece of music as it is, was in 'Empire of the Sun,' as J.D Ballard wrote of how his mother played Chopin on the piano, and even that is very obscured in the movie's mix. There may be other times, but that is the main one that comes to mind. For me, I get bummed when I hear a piece by Wagner that is magnificent, and one should think of the incredible genius of the piece, and I think about damn helicopters full of idiots with machine guns flying over Vietnam intimidating poor villagers, or a gorilla smashing bones. This is grave robbing. other times, like Adagio for strings, in Platoon, the beauty is not lost, as the feel of the piece is honored by the subject matter and the lived experience of Oliver Stone. But, this happens in music. you want to like 'Pet Sounds' by the Beach Boys, or Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumors,' but you think of television commercials. Damn. Kubrick did this a lot, and his movies are great, but he gave us one thing magnificent, whilst robbing something else magnificent. As Damian Marley said in Patience "They thief all the scrolls and thief all the gold and even the bare bones, some of the worst paparazzi I've ever seen and ever known, put the worst of display and that's all that's ever shown." 🙏🙏 John also helped stop this trend from spreading, whilst reinvigorating and single-handedly saving the orchestra as a viable profit-making entity. Movies were heading toward the electronic score, as money could be saved. And orchestras were running out of money. The London Symphony Orchestra, for example, was struggling. I also remember as a young child at school, on excursions seeing orchestras. Beethoven is not much fun for a bunch of 8-year-olds. Indiana Jones starts playing, and everyone's eyes light up. We all loved those moments. Now, the same composition teachers, are taking for granted that these orchestras are available, through grants, to play their pieces. But never stop to think about why this is as possible as it may have been. which is a shame. o heard silly things at university. 'Philip Glass is an idiot," Hmm 🤔"John Williams loves horns too much." hmm🤔 bullshit like this, it makes me feel the teacher is leaning to the snob side. That is such a total vent lol. I apologize. I just do not like how many talk of Williams. As though he is a borrower who writes music for children. He's the greatest composer of my lifetime. ✌✌🎹🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼 t may have been. which is a shame. o heard silly things at university. 'Philip Glass is an idiot," Hmm 🤔"John Williams loves horns too much." hmm🤔 bullshit like this,
I came here because I noticed that Across the stars from Star Wars Episode 2 is ''inspired'' by Thaikovsky's Swan Lake. I believe you are giving John too much credit. He is clearly heavily influenced at best or blatantly stealing at worse. What he does is more akin to hiphop music sampling 80's hits or popmusic remixes. It wouldn't be so bad if he actually gave credit like in those examples, but he doesn't. He is guilty of pure plagiarism in many cases and nothing less.
And this is all music always, intended or not. I think in cases like with John Williams it's that he's such a renowned composer borrowing from other very renowned composers it's so easy to cross check. But if you found the inspirations I think a video like this could be made for every composer. Great video, thanks
So interesting David, thank you. It also seems in most of the examples that John Williams even wrote his pieces in exactly the same key as the 'inspiration' pieces! I thought he might have been tempted to change keys just to make the similarities slightly less in your face. Still a genius, as you say!
OK, Lucas sorta was 'inspired' by Herbert's 1965 *Dune* for half the stuff in the 1977 "A New Hope", ie. Star Wars. The first time I had the 'aha' moment with JW was a section from Dvorak's 9th [3rd movement i think[ which sounded just like "Duel of the Fates." After that i started noticing a lot. But i adore the great man...
Most of Howard Hanson’s Symphony No. 2 sounds like the “Jaws” score. Not to mention Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” 4th movement. And even more by Maurice Ravel’s La Valse. Also part 3 of Debussy’s La Mer (the sea).
John Williams royally ripped off the Star Wars theme. Listen to Elie Siegmeister's piano work, "Sunday in Brooklyn". The second movement, "Sunday Driver" has the theme note for note in the middle of the movement. The work was written in 1946. Everybody thinks Williams thought it up. He didn't. Things like this really burn my cookies.
Not John Williams. But in the category of "Composers associated with Spielberg", I'm utterly convinced that Dave Grusin's "Fratelli Chase" (aka the Goonies' theme music) was very strongly inspired by Beethoven's Waldstein I
Another fun example: Prokofiev. Suite from The Love for Three Oranges. 03. March... just try and listen to it without seeing ewoks. Funny thing is, note-for-note they're not that similar but, yeah, I always see ewoks when I hear that Prokofiev piece.
Oh here we go again, another video claiming JW plagiarised Holst for Star Wars. They are undeniably similar. But this is absolutely intentional. It has been well-documented that George Lucas wanted Star Wars to sound like music from The Planets (for obvious reasons). It is fair to make these comparisons, but you should make it clear in your video that JW was instructed to make it sound like Holst, otherwise it is a cheap attack. Your final summary was absolutely correct though. Listen to early Beethoven- it sounds like Mozart. Listen to Mozart's sacred works- it sounds like Handel. These composers stand on the shoulders of their highly influential predecessors. If they are quoting or borrowing, it is not the case that they are lazy, but they are inspired and admire these wonderful works of art.
They all do it. John Ottman did a big Respighi borrow for Superman Returns. I recall Previn's soundtrack for Rollerball being nearly straight Shostakovich.
The Mars bit resembles more Epîsode 4 intro with the very long shot of the Imperial Star Destroyer; just saying, in rythm at least. Korngold theme for King's Row also resembles Williams Superman theme. There also is a small bit of Imperial March in Beethoven's 6th Symphony.
I've dropped this comment on other John Williams plagiarism videos, but no one has ever responded. The Yoda theme is, pretty much note for note, a ripoff of the 1942 Cary Grant movie "Talk of the Town", starting at around the 39 minute mark.
Actually IMHO Jerry Goldsmith was far better at taking the listener to another world, clearly in the Vulcan scenes in Star Trek The Motion Picture one actually feels like you are on another world, rather than being reminded you are hearing some British Vaughan Williams Elgar William Walton rip off as I do when listening to a JW score. This isn't any criticism I just find Goldsmith more accurate and rather less upfront "borrowing" from him, but Goldsmith clearly had his influences too, they were just maybe a lot more subtler than Williams.
Can't fault John for this. Might as well dump on Rachmaninoff for writing "Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini" or Brahms for turning a student drinking song into the "Academic Festival Overture".
the leia tchaikovsky comparison was a bit of a stretch, though some of the others were pretty striking. But honestly there's so much classical music out there that you could almost always find something that's similar to something else.
Here's how it works boys and girls... "A great artist never borrows his ideas from other artists... he STEALS them !" Igor Stravinsky. Actually, Picasso said that first, but Stravinsky stole the quote. They used to sit in Paris and drink wine, with other friends, and yak till the wee hours. To go back in time and sit in a corner and watch these characters!!
I can't think of a John Williams score that isn't based on another classical piece. Andrew Lloyd Webber did the same, listen to Memories from the musical Cats and then Bolero by Ravel.
John Williams when he's not scoring for a film is pretty great too. Yah, there is a Vaughn Williams Tuba Concerto and a John Williams Tuba Concerto: ua-cam.com/video/GyiDwtve-LY/v-deo.html
Try out Apple Music Classical with a free trial: apple.co/DavidBennettPiano 🎵(Free trial available for new users only)
Congratulations on being sponsored by Apple, man! That's a great leap forward for your channel :)
No thank you.
Why would you promote a FAANG company trying to take control of classical music?
You created this (unoriginal) video for the sole purpose of promoting Apple Music Classical didn't you
@@Nilmand so? This is a great video and he deserves money for the high quality content he puts out
Could you do a video on songs that use the double harmonic scale? I love this scale it's a lot of fun to play, but I don't hear it much except for some surf rock stuff I listen to.
1:35 Stravinsky sustains a D Minor and creates a masterpiece
I sustain a D Minor and have to repeat the school year
😂
D minor for a year? Gosh, that’s really sad 😊
Thanks for this video. Fascinating and great to see the scores as well as listening to the similarities.
3:20 Neptune
7:48 Korngold "Kings row"
I'm commenting on this video in a first second. I just want to say that this type of content has been done many many many times before, and even some videos have been taken down since I saw the first one.
I hope this video shows me something new. Sorry if I sound like an a%%hole.... I won't deleted my comment, I'll just edit it once I've finished the video.
Edit: Yep, just finished the video. Nothing new here. A few points out of about 20 I'd like to make:
0:49 - The prominent high strings are a big part of Williams' piece, and the moving notes underneath are just a "mysterious" ostinato.
2:00 - William’s piece is in 3/4 , a completely different feel to a 2/4 (try dancing a waltz to a polka in 2/4).
3:57 - "A clear influence here" - I thought you were going to say Ravel! I didn't think you were going to say Tchaikovsky because that is your next clip.
So, on Tchaik at 4:38 - Williams uses just the 'relaxed' 6th interval.... and that's about it. You can also here this beautiful 6th leap in such a piece as Brahms Hungarian Dance No.4 to "settle" the hectic vivace section of music that comes before a molto rit. leading back into a moderato opening theme.
6:37 - Yes it sounds similar- mainly because of the instrumentation and tempo - but when looking at it properly, each instrument is doing something quite different. It just gives the same feel.
7:24 - Jaws vs. Dvorak - Dvorak’s actually sounds like he was taking inspiration from Beethoven’s 5th! Of course we can’t be blind/deaf to
that semitone. William's builds up that particular semitone *a lot* more..... so beyond the first three Dvorak bars, it actually turns into some sort of Shostakovian piece rather than Dvorak!
7:49 - Lastly, "The King’s Row". I don't have much to pick on with this one because it does have many things in common with the Star Wars fanfare. However I've seen this "exposed" about 5 or 6 or 7 times before, so it's "old hat" now.
Anyway. Not a bad vid, and I'd be happy to link this video to my students.
...and Imperial mach and Chopin funerl march?
2:25 They originally used Holst as a placeholder and Lucas said "make it like that"
It’s actually the Han and Leia love theme from Empire that bears the more striking resemblance to that Tchaikovsky violin concerto, rather than Leila’s theme. They all share that initial interval from the fifth to the third above, over the tonic major chord (along with Marion’s theme from Raider’s - Williams seems to associate it with romantic heroines), but the Han and Leia theme continues to closely resemble it even after that.
I always thought he got that from Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet.
Parts of the main SW theme resemble March Slave also
@@wtk6069 and how about Duel of the Fates resembling Beethoven 5th?
@@0live0wire0 Also, the "Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme" borrowing from Chopin's "Funeral March" from his 2nd. Piano Sonata.
Han and Leia's theme (some versions of the theme more than others) is to my ears clearly inspired by 1) Leonard Bernstein's "Make Our Garden Grow" and 2) the opening of Henri Mancini's Days of Wine and Roses. Since Williams worked with Mancini, this isn't a stretch. ua-cam.com/video/YPBIEBjwU44/v-deo.html
The Holst Mars movement is in some ways more similar to the music accompanying the opening scene of Star Wars (1977).
Don't forget that John Williams worked from a temp track with classical music for Star Wars. George Lucas didn't trust John Williams, thinking he was "just" a jazz pianist, which he also is - and a brilliant one. I adore John Williams. BTW The "Scene D'Amour" by the great Bernard Herrmann, for Vertigo, is basically Wagner's Tristan And Isolde. No human being creates anything from scratch and film composers are always working on the edge of getting fired by the director.
Exactly, he was working within a context at a certain time for a particular purpose. People also forget that Williams has composed concert pieces outside of the strictures of film music.
I have heard some sources mention a temp track, but George Lucas claimed that he never used a temp track for Star Wars.
@@DavidBennettPiano Yes these might be rumors only. I'm talking Berklee music teachers no less. BUT let's assume there was no temp track. The movie that hugely encouraged George Lucas to make his Sci Fi movie (or better: space adventure) was Stanley Kubrick's 2001. It features mostly classical music (I simplify the term for the sake of clarity), which were use in a temp track. Alex North's score was ditched as a last minute decision (again: perhaps rumors, but they persist). So John Williams was very likely composing as closely as possible to a "soundalike", so he can reference back to exiting pieces and be on the safe side. J.W. was recommended to Lucas by Steven Spielberg. As far as I can tell one has a harder time finding inspirations that turned into soundalikes in later John Williams scored movies. I am not arguing, just sharing my thoughts. John Williams gets a lot of criticism. I believe it's for the fact that he isn't edgy and experimental (except for some cool atonal parts, say in Close Encounters). Going for pure beauty makes you an easy target.
@@DavidBennettPiano Paul Hirsch, the editor of Star Wars, has stated clearly that they were using temp tracks. He's even done lectures on it. You can easily find UA-cam videos of the editor of Star Wars himself stating this as fact.
As stated by others they used no temp track. But nevertheless: When you're composing for a movie you're giving the director what they want! If they ask for "Something in the vein of [insert another composer]", then they get exactly that. John Williams are often being scolded for borrowing from others, but that is how scoring a film works. Since he's a high-profile composer, who have borrowed from other high-profile composers, it's easy to blame him. But he works no differently than any other film composer.
I think it's pretty amazing how even pointing all of the similarities and inspirations, Williams' voice is still very distinct
I feel like that's proof that, no matter what you borrow from, your personal voice is going to come through in whatever it is you do.
His voice is NOT distinct. If you play classical music to people in public, 9/10 of them will say, "OH is that John Williams? blah blah blah." I've tested it with hundreds of different artists with the same result. He is a plagiarist, plain and simple, and the fact that he doesn't even partially credit the original artists makes him a scummy composer.
@@drakemallard1486 Who hurt you man
@@TalmoTheSell OH I thought I deleted this one because I came across as emotional. John Williams is a hack, but he does deserve a tiny bit of credit for his arrangement skills.
@@drakemallard1486 Ok, give me an example
One of the greatest film composers of all time and composers draw inspiration all the time from given pieces and soundscapes. Lucas did want his film to have a classical feel and cited several examples of the sound of the composers you mention here for John to craft his music like. It’s all great and different enough overall to appreciate the music and time that went into it
Yes! Cheap shot and inacurate to alllege that Williams ripped off other composers. Whose work btw is not protected by copyright. So Williams actually could have lifted it entirely. Of course he did not. All artists are influenced by some other artists.
It's one thing to draw inspiration, and another thing to copy the lines note for note. He's a scam artist. Stop defending theft.
And it's interesting how complex the flow of inspiration gets when you also consider that Stravinsky, Dvorak, and Holst used themes/tune from folk traditions in their own music.
Thanks for showing actual scores and highlighting notes being played - would studies like more like this
He also drew a lot from Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and obviously, Wagner to create leitmotifs for his film scores. Just like Mozart and Beethoven drawing from Haydn and Bach. My mentor once told me: "an average composer imitates; a great composer steals." Williams is a modern examplar of it.
I think autocorrect hit you there. It's stole, not Drew. He stole the works. He gives no credit at all, even in interviews, to the original artists. He is a scam composer.
@@drakemallard1486 using 5 notes from a piece or a song and creating something different with it isn't exactly stealing
@@gergoretvari6373 If that were the case, then yeah... but Williams didn't steal 5 notes. He stole entire 8 measure phrases. He stole entire compositions and rearranged them. He is not a composer, and nobody who knows the old greats considers him one. He is an arranger with an inflated ego, and since he doesn't credit those he plagiarized, he is a scummy person.
I think this approach is wrong, what Williams is doing is not being influenced but borrowing. The relationship between Beethoven and Mozart is not similar.
I, ve always thought the same. Nevertheless, his themes and soundtracks are so good and appropriate and definitely they are golden classics themselves.
I may be influenced by my love of the films he writes for, but when Williams “borrows” from these preceding compositions, I feel he actually makes them better. Or at least, more accessible.
@@kenvives nah if you look at it as a piece of music the classical pieces work better I think because they arent supposed to underline a certain movie scene but are made to express something single handedly and separated from any other sources
In the end it's all subjective of course
I find one that people always miss is the Luke and Leia theme with Leonard Bernstein's "Make Our Garden Grow" from "Candide." Being that Williams and Bernstein knew each other, I wouldn't be surprised Williams borrowed it from Bernstein.
Definitely doesn't seem like an accidental similarity. Love that operetta!
The Kings Row example is mind blowing.
All of these examples are true and I've "felt" them for decades. However, there is still a "John Williams" sound that is original enough that his music is always recognizable as a John Williams score. Sabrina, Accidental Tourist, Jurassic Park, E.T. and of course Harry Potter are some of his best amongst the typical of the John Williams sound..... He was responsible for starting me at a young age with classical music composers so I have a warm place in my heart for great film music.
David, I'd like to see you do a similar comparison using Howard Shore's brilliant Lord of the Rings score. I'm curious what, if anything, was inspired by other sources.
The ring theme was taken from Leonard Bernstein's "Glitter And Be Gay" from his opera Candide
lol you think there’s some originality to David’s video here? This stuff has been repeated by people on the Internet for like… 30 years.
@@thegoodgeneral lol! What the hell are you talking about? Who said David's video was original or not? Also, I don't think you've been on the internet since 1994. I have.
@@frankfrank7921 my point is if you want you see his take on Shore’s LotR, all you need to do is search on the Internet and see anyone writing on the subject and you’re going to find everything you will hear in David’s video on the subject.
On the Jaws theme, John Williams credited “Man” from Disney’s Bambi as his inspiration. Man featured a three note motif that slowly increased tempo each time. It stuck with him since he first heard it as a child in the theater. He went back to it, changed the key, and dropped the third note to get his Jaws theme.
Williams also incorporated some themes from Debussy’s La Mer in his Jaws score as I’ve read. George Lucas originally wanted to use The Planets suite for Star Wars, but couldn’t get the rights, so he asked John Williams to compose something similar to or in the vein of The Planets.
before any commenters get carried away, let's clear one thing up: Anyone who seriously tries to claim that John Williams plagiarized anything is simply demonstrating how little they understand the film music industry. 90% of time what actually happened is the Director specifically requested “hey, I was thinking this scene could kind of sound like this“ and so the composer basically has no choice but to write a new music that sounds similar enough to the pre-existing music to make the Director happy. Williams does this just as much as other composers do, he’s just more famous so the times he does it gets more attention.
If there’s ever *actual* plagiarism, there’s legal action taken. Like when action was taken against Hans Zimmer for copying Holst’s Mars music in gladiator. or when action was taken against Tyler bates’ score for 300 for plagiarizing music from Titus.
Merci beaucoup.
A Piano professor told me about a student that wanted to drive his neighbour nuts. So he practiced his scales and ended them all on the leading tone, never playing the tonic. He moved out in less than 2 months.
Really glad you brought up Tchaikovsky, I think there are even more examples (ex. both the Swan lake theme and Vader's theme end in an extremely similar fashion, virtually the same notes). Once again, excellent video.
I don’t see this as giving John Williams a hard time. In fact, I think the fact that he was inspired by classical composers keeps classical music alive. He is one of my favorite examples when having the age old debate of is it “plagiarism” or is it “inspiration” with someone.
I did a whole unit on this when I taught elementary school music! It was one of my favorites to teach!
Another Holst inspiration is the opening to Venus and the opening of the force theme. The shape and feel is very similar and I’ve heard the similarity for a long time
Yeah I feel like that one is overlooked a lot
Also Venus influenced Yoda's Theme. There are many similarities.
In the movie Minority Report, in the Spyders scene, J W has definitely borrowed from Bohuslav Martinu’s 6th Symphony around the middle of the second movement. Doesn’t last long but immediately recognisable.
That part at 2:58 is actually even more strongly heard at the start of the movie as the Star Destroyer flies overhead. That segment is basically the part from Holst but with the stings building and building as they go.
And 4:07 is even closer to "Han Solo and the Princess" from Episode 5 than it is to Leia's Theme.
HAHAHA, you got me! I was like, “That’s the Rite of Spring”, they are very close!!
Since Star Wars took place long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, I think Stravinsky, Holst etc must have been influenced by John Williams rather than the other way round...😂
When i first heard Tchaikovsky's Swan lake, i immediately thought it was the Anakin vs. Obiwan theme. And i swear if you listen to Swan Lake's Turning Point, you can hear the Darth Vader theme!!
This guy John Williams is a jerk. He just copy music from great composers and presents it at his own. He should be deprived of all his awards.
"Overt inspiration." 😂😂😂
The more I learn about music, the more I contemplate where the copyright line is and should be.
He is in good company - Andrew Lloyd Webeer has snitched bits of Mendelssohn's (Andante) and Brahms' (Finale)Violin Concertos.
You know who else was inspired by Holst's planets pieces?? None other than Black Sabbath.
We all know 'Star Wars' to be an all-time movie classic, but some have suggested that at the time of production it was looked upon as just another space opera? Was Williams aware this film was going to be immortal at the time he composed it?
Even Star Wars main theme is a quote from Korngold’s King’s Row
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Williams is no "inspired" by great composers. He just copy their music. Shame on him
7:49 ok this is super mindblowing!
There’s another “inspiration” moment that I think gets overlooked. It’s the second movement of the Neilson violin concerto which inspired a moment in Jurassic Park. The melody, chords, and orchestration are almost identical.
"Stealing from one source is plagiarism. Stealing from several sources is research."
Awesome video as always, David! John Williams is one of the GOATs when it comes to film composers.
I'll take Bernard Hermann. YMMV.
Crazy as Ive listened to the SW soundtrack since I was a kid in late 70s, continuing on to this date AND once you mentioned the composer and part of the film I suddenly knew which piece you were going to match them to!! I cant believe I hadnt made these connections before!
These composers were not a source of inspiration for John Williams, but a source of material for John Williams. Had the works he ‘borrowed’ from been under copyright, he probably would have been sued.
Perhaps you should try to match the level of proficiency in question. Try it! See whether you can offer similar based on existing works. You have to have some talent to be able to do these things.
Similarities can indeed be unconscious. I was reminded of this yesterday when, several hours after writing a song, I realized it was reeeeeeally similar to the opening song of Disney's animated _Cinderella._ Just add an extra measure before the end of each line and you get the start of my melody and chord progression. Of course, it diverges soon after that, but I couldn't un-hear it, so I fiddled with the opening a bit to make it less noticeable 😂 it's also reminiscent of "In My Life" from Les Misérables, but only for that first ascending line.
"Good composers borrow, Great ones steal" - Stravinsky
You should’ve also featured sugar plum fairy and the motif he used in home alone that resembles it. Also from the nutcracker, but I think it specifically, is one of the most obvious examples of “borrowing” and influence of all his works.
Always loved this topic! The third movement of Dvorak’s 9th makes me think Star Wars as well… maybe it gives me Dual of the Fates vibes?… can’t put my finger on it
It has a similar rhythm.
The Vanilla Ice of orchestral music. 😂
Your lack of faith disturbs me.
The Star Wars theme also sounds like Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet. Nearly every film composer has used Holst as inspiration.
Love this! I knew a few but not all. Planning to share with my fellow music loving friends. Thanks!
we all stand on the shoulders of giants
What about the most significant Williams composition? It's that music that plays when Gilligan steps on the Skipper's head while getting into the top hammock. Yep, John Williams wrote that.
The Imperial March from the Empire Strikes Back was based on A Spoon Full of Sugar Makes the Medicine Go Down from Mary Poppins. Once you hear it, you cannot un-hear it.
I hear absolutely no similarity!
@@wyattstevens8574, I just put both of them up and I have to agree with you. But I can't prove a negative. Of that, I'm positive.
I thought i was the only one… THANK YOU!
He writes variations on other musicians
"Based on"
that is copied, not based on.
I think the Leia's theme comparison is a little bit of a long shot. Sure it's the same key and the same interval to start off but the rest of it for me is sufficiently different enough for it to be nicked. But yes I agree with these on the whole. He's very good at finding inspiration and adapting it beautifully to fit what he's writing for.
***Ed Sheeran liked this video***
Well done! I had noticed some of these, but you've catalogued far more. So the difference between "borrowed from" and "violated copyright" is a matter of waiting 70 years after the composer has died. Thanks!
Strawinski died in 1971.
The twittering woodwinds at the beginning of the Flying theme from ET are a direct pinch from the last movement of Hanson's Romantic Symphony.Check it out!
is Mmm Bop?
my man sampling like a god over here
Isn't this Interpolation?
I think it's important to note that directors tend to give composers quite clear instructions on what they want for the soundtrack of their film.
Since the soundtrack is created rather late into the production of a film, directors usually accompany the scenes they've shot so far with already existing music to simulate what watching the film might be like when it's finished. So whilst composers commonly look for inspiration in pre-existing music, it is in many cases also down to the director telling the composer that they'd really love something that sounds a lot like piece x in that one scene and something that sounds like piece y in another. They sometimes just get so used to watching a scene and listening to that piece that they feel having anything else as the soundtrack would be wrong.
Great video btw^^
yeah, Lucas told WIlliams he wanted 30s orchestral style and different themes for each characters, like Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf
Also "Theme from Superman (Main Title)" (1978) ≈ Max Greger's "Fanfare March for the 20th Summer Olympics, Munich 1972." 👍
2:42 Mahler 2nd symphony (1888/94) ua-cam.com/video/sHsFIv8VA7w/v-deo.html
Hey David - super interesting as usual 👍 Good composers borrow - great composers steal 😊
Great video. In my mind, the most obvious example is ET - the famous Moonlight Bike Ride theme is lifted directly from the cello solo at the end of the last movement of Dvorak’s Dumky Trio, just modulated to D major but otherwise not changed at all.
IMO the death star exploding music is much, much closer to the end of the first movement of Mahler's 2nd symphony.
A more obvious lift from Tchaikovky's violin is the main theme from the movie, The Right Stuff.
There is another one: The beginning of Leia's theme is nearly exactly, far more than from Tchaikovsky, the second theme of the second movement of Richard Wagner's Piano Sonata in B-flat.
As a songwriter, I learned a long time ago that it's virtually impossible to create anything 100% original. It was actually very liberating to realize that. The context from which I am speaking is the 3 minute pop/rock song. Now if you consider writing two hours of soundtrack music then there's going to be a massive amount of "borrowing", consciously or not. It shouldn't, but I wonder if that takes the luster off of people like John Williams in the eyes of some?
It doesn't in my opinion. He's a musical genius and the only composer currently that comes even remotely close is Hans Zimmer Guys like Williams don't come around often.
There is also the ET theme that's almost identical to the end of Dvorak's Dumky Trio, even the same tonality
THIS ISN'T FAIR AT ALL.😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅
I apologize for the rant in advance. ✌✌✌✌✌This is a pet peeve for me, as I heard this so much at the Conservatory of Music in Sydney, by composition teachers and Jazz teachers, who should know better, who talk of these soundtracks as proof that John Williams is kind of a fraud. to the point where I felt; 'You know what, I'd rather be at home listening to great works, than drowning myself in debt with this stuff.
George Lucas hired John Williams for Star Wars to conduct these pieces, note for note. inspired by Kubrick's 2001. George had the entire movie scored with the recordings, john was to simply come in and conduct them in a way that blended them into the film more cohesively.
John has always been of one mindset. He did not want to start a trend in the film industry of taking composers' works and placing them in movies, robbing them of their free association, especially when the composers were not alive to okay such usage. He was looking out for, and protecting these composers' works.
I also doubt anybody was expecting what was going to happen with episode 4. 😅😅 My goodness, that was a shock to everyone. It was supposed to be just a cool sci-fi fantasy film, to be forgotten in time.
When I first heard the rite of spring around 19 years of age, I heard it as it was meant to be heard, and it blew my mind. I didn't feel the connection to Star Wars at all. I was in Stravinsky's world he created. The connection came much later when I revisited the Star Wars movies, and thought, oh, that's interesting, then I researched why this happened, and it came from George Lucas's own mouth that that was what happened.
Sadly, I can't say the same for Wagner. Some of his most brilliant moments were simply grave robbed.
Occasionally, film directors come to John with classical pieces they are insistent he uses. I'm sure Home Alone was the same thing. John's ability to gently and eloquently communicate his ideas to the director in a way the director understands is part of the reason so many directors wanted to work with him. He is not opaque and vague, his communication methods are gentle and intelligent, and people trust his ideas because he's fucking brilliant. George was very lucky he listened. Star Wars would have been a forgotten children's sci-fi movie without John's work.
I think, The only time he has used a piece of music as it is, was in 'Empire of the Sun,' as J.D Ballard wrote of how his mother played Chopin on the piano, and even that is very obscured in the movie's mix. There may be other times, but that is the main one that comes to mind.
For me, I get bummed when I hear a piece by Wagner that is magnificent, and one should think of the incredible genius of the piece, and I think about damn helicopters full of idiots with machine guns flying over Vietnam intimidating poor villagers, or a gorilla smashing bones. This is grave robbing.
other times, like Adagio for strings, in Platoon, the beauty is not lost, as the feel of the piece is honored by the subject matter and the lived experience of Oliver Stone.
But, this happens in music. you want to like 'Pet Sounds' by the Beach Boys, or Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumors,' but you think of television commercials. Damn.
Kubrick did this a lot, and his movies are great, but he gave us one thing magnificent, whilst robbing something else magnificent. As Damian Marley said in Patience "They thief all the scrolls and thief all the gold and even the bare bones, some of the worst paparazzi I've ever seen and ever known, put the worst of display and that's all that's ever shown." 🙏🙏
John also helped stop this trend from spreading, whilst reinvigorating and single-handedly saving the orchestra as a viable profit-making entity. Movies were heading toward the electronic score, as money could be saved. And orchestras were running out of money. The London Symphony Orchestra, for example, was struggling. I also remember as a young child at school, on excursions seeing orchestras. Beethoven is not much fun for a bunch of 8-year-olds. Indiana Jones starts playing, and everyone's eyes light up. We all loved those moments.
Now, the same composition teachers, are taking for granted that these orchestras are available, through grants, to play their pieces. But never stop to think about why this is as possible as it may have been. which is a shame. o heard silly things at university. 'Philip Glass is an idiot," Hmm 🤔"John Williams loves horns too much." hmm🤔 bullshit like this, it makes me feel the teacher is leaning to the snob side.
That is such a total vent lol. I apologize. I just do not like how many talk of Williams. As though he is a borrower who writes music for children. He's the greatest composer of my lifetime. ✌✌🎹🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼
t may have been. which is a shame. o heard silly things at university. 'Philip Glass is an idiot," Hmm 🤔"John Williams loves horns too much." hmm🤔 bullshit like this,
There's also Brahms' Piano Concerto No.2 and the Star Wars theme.
Dvorak's Symphonic Variations ----> E.T Theme
Chopin's Funeral March ---> Imperial March
I came here because I noticed that Across the stars from Star Wars Episode 2 is ''inspired'' by Thaikovsky's Swan Lake.
I believe you are giving John too much credit. He is clearly heavily influenced at best or blatantly stealing at worse. What he does is more akin to hiphop music sampling 80's hits or popmusic remixes. It wouldn't be so bad if he actually gave credit like in those examples, but he doesn't. He is guilty of pure plagiarism in many cases and nothing less.
And this is all music always, intended or not. I think in cases like with John Williams it's that he's such a renowned composer borrowing from other very renowned composers it's so easy to cross check. But if you found the inspirations I think a video like this could be made for every composer. Great video, thanks
So interesting David, thank you. It also seems in most of the examples that John Williams even wrote his pieces in exactly the same key as the 'inspiration' pieces! I thought he might have been tempted to change keys just to make the similarities slightly less in your face. Still a genius, as you say!
OK, Lucas sorta was 'inspired' by Herbert's 1965 *Dune* for half the stuff in the 1977 "A New Hope", ie. Star Wars.
The first time I had the 'aha' moment with JW was a section from Dvorak's 9th [3rd movement i think[ which sounded just like "Duel of the Fates." After that i started noticing a lot.
But i adore the great man...
Great video, also Prokoviev, which you can hear very clearly in his music for Return of the Jedi-
Most of Howard Hanson’s Symphony No. 2 sounds like the “Jaws” score. Not to mention Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” 4th movement. And even more by Maurice Ravel’s La Valse. Also part 3 of Debussy’s La Mer (the sea).
John Williams royally ripped off the Star Wars theme. Listen to Elie Siegmeister's piano work, "Sunday in Brooklyn". The second movement, "Sunday Driver" has the theme note for note in the middle of the movement. The work was written in 1946. Everybody thinks Williams thought it up. He didn't. Things like this really burn my cookies.
Not John Williams. But in the category of "Composers associated with Spielberg", I'm utterly convinced that Dave Grusin's "Fratelli Chase" (aka the Goonies' theme music) was very strongly inspired by Beethoven's Waldstein I
Another fun example: Prokofiev. Suite from The Love for Three Oranges. 03. March... just try and listen to it without seeing ewoks. Funny thing is, note-for-note they're not that similar but, yeah, I always see ewoks when I hear that Prokofiev piece.
Oh here we go again, another video claiming JW plagiarised Holst for Star Wars. They are undeniably similar. But this is absolutely intentional. It has been well-documented that George Lucas wanted Star Wars to sound like music from The Planets (for obvious reasons). It is fair to make these comparisons, but you should make it clear in your video that JW was instructed to make it sound like Holst, otherwise it is a cheap attack. Your final summary was absolutely correct though. Listen to early Beethoven- it sounds like Mozart. Listen to Mozart's sacred works- it sounds like Handel. These composers stand on the shoulders of their highly influential predecessors. If they are quoting or borrowing, it is not the case that they are lazy, but they are inspired and admire these wonderful works of art.
"Catch Me If You Can" (2002), end credits and several other points and Lou Harrison: Piano Concerto (1983/1985) movement IV. Allegro moderato.
They all do it. John Ottman did a big Respighi borrow for Superman Returns. I recall Previn's soundtrack for Rollerball being nearly straight Shostakovich.
The Mars bit resembles more Epîsode 4 intro with the very long shot of the Imperial Star Destroyer; just saying, in rythm at least. Korngold theme for King's Row also resembles Williams Superman theme.
There also is a small bit of Imperial March in Beethoven's 6th Symphony.
0:20 David should have said HEAVILY inspired.
"HEAVILY inspired" -Charles the French
I've dropped this comment on other John Williams plagiarism videos, but no one has ever responded. The Yoda theme is, pretty much note for note, a ripoff of the 1942 Cary Grant movie "Talk of the Town", starting at around the 39 minute mark.
Actually IMHO Jerry Goldsmith was far better at taking the listener to another world, clearly in the Vulcan scenes in Star Trek The Motion Picture one actually feels like you are on another world, rather than being reminded you are hearing some British Vaughan Williams Elgar William Walton rip off as I do when listening to a JW score. This isn't any criticism I just find Goldsmith more accurate and rather less upfront "borrowing" from him, but Goldsmith clearly had his influences too, they were just maybe a lot more subtler than Williams.
Can't fault John for this. Might as well dump on Rachmaninoff for writing "Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini" or Brahms for turning a student drinking song into the "Academic Festival Overture".
the leia tchaikovsky comparison was a bit of a stretch, though some of the others were pretty striking. But honestly there's so much classical music out there that you could almost always find something that's similar to something else.
I've always known williams is a plagiarist . And BTW I dont need apple to listen to great music, thanks anyway .................
Here's how it works boys and girls...
"A great artist never borrows his ideas from other artists... he STEALS them !"
Igor Stravinsky.
Actually, Picasso said that first, but Stravinsky stole the quote. They used to sit in Paris and drink wine, with other friends, and yak till the wee hours.
To go back in time and sit in a corner and watch these characters!!
I can't think of a John Williams score that isn't based on another classical piece. Andrew Lloyd Webber did the same, listen to Memories from the musical Cats and then Bolero by Ravel.
The Stravinsky sounds better of course. But you know "Stravinsky said "I don't barrow I Steal" so said the most original composer of the 20th century.
John Williams when he's not scoring for a film is pretty great too. Yah, there is a Vaughn Williams Tuba Concerto and a John Williams Tuba Concerto:
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