Celebrating John Williams, Part 2 | You Gotta Hear This! Ep. 10 feat. Troy Baker
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- Опубліковано 4 лют 2025
- Part 2 of my personal celebration of John Williams' ongoing legacy, recounting personal stories and how I truly don't think I'd have been bold enough to pursue this career had I never met him as a teenager.
Part 1 here:
• Celebrating John Willi...
More episodes of YOU GOTTA HEAR THIS:
• You Gotta Hear This
Edited by Dallas Crane
Troy:
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Me!
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Troy described you perfectly when he said, "your wonderment is contagious." Since you've started this show I've certainly started gushing over soundtracks to my friends more often.
as i get older(32), ive learned that its not asking for more, its being content and appreciating what is already before you. even songs/movies we have long loved, it can become mundane and we can grow tired of it.
our perspectives are what make or break our experiences. i agree with you comment lol sorry, long winded, as Mr Wintory can be at times :)
Same here,couldn't agree more!
Now there needs to be a bonus episode for John Williams, now that he returns to star wars for the Obi Wan theme.
I saw A.I. when I was 10 or 12. I watched it with my mom and I think I hugged her for an hour after it, I clung to her like my life depended on it.
Mr. Wintory, I know I may be repeating myself from previous comments on these episodes, but I cannot thank you enough for all that you share on this podcast, the greater extent of your UA-cam channel, and beyond that. With the admiration you share (particularly in this episode) for John Williams and his humanity as a real person, I feel I have to say: I don't think I've come across a single composer like yourself, with such an unwavering passion and eager personality to share the greatest of the art form, as well as shine light on your personal colleagues. Not to mention, I treasure your own music greatly (my favorite has to be your score to ABZU, as it consistently makes me tear up). I just see a lot in you of what I want in my own future as a composer, and as a person who's passionate about what he does.
Man, this episode got me emotional and contemplative so many times. LOVED the stories and all those little magical human connections that often get lost with time.
I sang Past Life Melodies by Sarah Hopkins in a choir while standing in a half circle around a balcony in an old assembly hall once. I felt like it was actually easier to hear each other in a way. It was really cool when we got to the throat singing part. The overtones popped like crazy, and we could see the audience looking up wondering where the non-existent woodwinds were hiding. Super fun.
I can't wait for you guys to be taking on Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore and Danny Elfman and Austin pulling out the most interesting little pieces from their scores and hearing stories about them and the musicians etc.!
I love how evocative the ark theme is. The first couple naa-naa-na's read as "This thing is powerful and should be respected." The next line, the one that starts from a little higher, reads as "and you don't understand it and you should fear it".
It communicates those ideas so damn clearly I'd be surprised if anyone hears it differently.
It definately hits the "The Hebrew God doesn't mess around" vibe.
This part about how human he is almost made me tear up man..
because in the end, this kind of humility towards one's talent and impact is all i can see over your own channel, and the channels of so many talented composers
Thanks to him, and thanks to you for reminding us everyday how possible the journey is ^^
Really means a lot to read
@@awintory
That last one, “Stored Memories”, my memory just kicked up movies with Christmas carolers singing outside your door when you’re sitting a room away. Just that sound hit me with those….I guess memories.
How wonderful that you got to meet him with such special connections for each conversation - Ms. Williams helping you to meet him after playing Angela’s Ashes, doing an arrangement for a special piece from A.I, and then being invited to Mr. Courage’s funeral… such lovely stories and such a contagious love of good music. Thank you for sharing your insights with us Mr. Baker and Mr. Wintory - I will be thinking on these for a very very long time. Listened to this on my lunch break while away from the recording studio I intern at. So inspirational.
John Williams said in an Interview that Images would be more the direction he would be going in were he to do more Concert works. And in a recent Interview he was asked if his Concert Work was more his own voice than Film Music, and he said he doesnt really know himself. And on a different Occasion he mentioned that he doesnt really believe in something like "high" and "low" artforms. I think he just has fun writing Music off all kinds of different Styles, its just in film he writes what is best for the film, while in Concert works he comes up with something completely on his own. I dont think he is Ashamed of his film work. He is jus tvery critical of his own work in general and doesnt look back that much on what he has wrote for film. But thats true for his Concert work too because he revised many of the pieces he wrote plus doesnt really promote them as much as he could if he wanted to.
That was the one thing I came to realize when interviewing composers for my show. These composers a just people, who have done some great things, but people just the same.
Mr. Wintory, can I call you Steve? (Little PWL Joke) I've adored this series and have hoped since episode 1 that you'd do an episode on Mr. Williams. This 2-parter did not disappoint. Music is a hobby for meI'm first and foremost a movie guy. You can't discuss those two things together without the mention of John Williams. Being a child in 1993 sitting in a seat in a theater, seeing a brachiosaurus, an actual dinosaur, stretching from floor to ceiling on a huge screen, accompanied by a wondrous and majestic melody on strings and horns is a moment that changed my life and from a very young age determined my career path. I was a 4 year old kid who'd seen a dinosaur, and I wanted to make movies about dinosaurs. That memory wouldn't have had the effect or the staying power that it does without the miraculous work of John Williams, and I know I am only one of many who've had similar experiences with his work.
Thank you, as always, for so candidly sharing your passion with us, Mr. Wintory.
As someone from Pennsylvania, of all the fascinating stories you shared this time, the most jaw dropping to me was that your family was down for a spring break trip to Pittsburgh.
Shout out to them
None of us had been there before!
As a Star Wars fan, I just want to say thank you for not playing one bit of it, and instead showing us other aspects of John Williams's work we didn't know about or tend to forget. Great work!!
"He's a man" just made my day. Thanks for all the stories!
As someone who has even had a radio show devoted to soundtracks, this is pure joy. I wish I had this kind of idea back then. I could have played less and talked more, and maybe brought some people in to talk about the subject. And people would have paid waaay more attention to anything that was actually played, and perhaps learned to value it a little more.
I'm partially inspired by a concert I went to when I was 18; Boulez conducting the London Symphony at Carnegie Hall. They ONLY did the Rite of Spring. The entire first half of the concert was spent discussing the piece on stage, and the second half they played it. It was a revelation to 18 year old me. And for the audience too
@@awintory I had a similar experience, though not because of the programming. I was taken backstage by my friends/teachers in the trumpet section of the Utah Symphony to listen to the Rite of Spring, and hang out with the associate conductor and score-read with him while they rehearsed. Then, seeing the performance later that night. Super fun!
I fucking love this show, I love the stories, I love troys analogies and his own curioustiy and questions, I love how exubarantly and passionately you both speak but especially you Austin about all of these cues, and especially, I love the music. They way you described the choral cue in A.I. Immediatly made me think of the Temple of Light theme in the first Fable game, by Russel Shaw. Incredible theme and just hauntingly beautiful music that is woven in with my childhood and it moved my soul. Time to listen to some Williams discography I think..
If my childhood had a soundtrack, Fable’s would be it. Few games had a larger impact on my taste than that series.
There is so much here on a man who is most likely my favorite composer and a huge part of my childhood but I wanted to just take a moment to say: that part of Journey is actually my favorite cue in the whole score.
Thank you Austin and Troy for these podcasts. Puts a smile on my face everytime :) so glad i found you guys, stay safe and much love
The way Troy describes you is so damn accurate! That's one of the many reasons I think you're amazing and makes me so happy to see others being inspired by it.
That sound sculpture in Images gave me crazy flashbacks to the Rube-Goldberg-esque machines at the Museum of Science in Boston. Very cool stuff!
I remember in the Fall of 2019 when one of my professors sat me and my classmates down and put the score to Williams' Violin Concerto in front of us. We all looked at him with an expression of pure, dumbfounded disbelief in the middle of listening to it. He remarked something along the lines of: "this is what John Williams was really all about before Hollywood," with an almost mournful tone. Hearing you mention how divisive the issue of film vs concert was back in the day, and even speculating on Williams' own attitudes towards that percieved "choice," was quite the eye-opener. Thanks again for another amazing entry in this amazing series, Austin!
So interesting to frame that mournfully. I find a lot of Williams' concert music to be trapped in that mid-20th century academic sense of what music 'should' sound like versus coming from the soul. It seems he considers film a job and concert music more personal, yet it REALLY seems like a virtuosic bit of self deception in which he reacts soulfully to his mere 'job' of film music, and writes from a place of near total intellect in the concert hall.
In my experience in the world of higher academics, soulful writing is often seen as lesser, if not irrelevant in the face of modern, more abstract and intellectual forms of music rooted in styles that arose in the mid-20th century, hence my instructor's mournful attitude in his remark about Williams' fame via film.
Austin, your videos are an incredible feat. These discussions seem effortless for both you and Troy, which really highlights that when you are passionate about something, you can ramble on about it FOREVER 😂
I'm only just at the beginning of the podcast, but I hope you take a closer look at Duel of the Fates. In my opinion, it's one of his greatest works. I get chills every time I listen to it.
You're probably thinking of Raphael, Troy. Renoir was an impressionist painter in France contemporary with Van Gogh. But I understand what you mean. :) Thanks for all the fun stories and insights, guys. I found this podcast recently and I have been loving it.
Just wanted to say that I had a very similar experience to your high school Williams experience. I met Timothy Zahn in the early 00s at a convention (while dressed badly as Mara Jade and nervous as hell!). Humanizing him gave me the confidence to keep writing
WOW!! I read Heir to the Empire and was totally into that series back in the 90s :)
@@awintory Yeah I just listened to the newest audio book version and it is still really fun!
I just remember his answers to some (often dumb) audience questions and they were so *normal,* in a good way. Just very much reminded me of your comment about "a polite but not particularly charismatic dude with oddly soft hands!" LOL
Man, I envy you. I unfortunately live in a corner of the world he might never set foot in, but hearing you tell these stories about him made me happy because I knew my opinions about him as a person were correct. He really is one of my idols, and I always am grateful that we live in a world where a man like this exists, and lives for 90 years. Thanks for this and hopefully you'll return to him soon.
P.S. I was right! Memoirs of a Geisha is one of his best scores, although his reasoning is so much better than mine.
This show is just amazing. I’d not heard any of those cues before and hearing your personal story (plus insights) attached to each was great. Thank you.
I love a lot of John’s music, no question, but the small bridge in the main Star Wars theme was one of the first pieces of music where I acknowledged what the composer was doing. Going from the main hero theme to one of the villain themes, transitioning via the bridge back into the main theme, is always something my ears tune into.
His compositional craft is immaculate, that's for sure
Please Austin, release it as a podcast
I honestly don't know much at all about any of this..
But I find these videos very interesting & love the passion for the music. 👍
YES I WAS HOPING YOU'D BRING UP AI, best Williams (Geisha not withstanding), best Spielberg, one of the best child performances. Brilliant.
Fantastic! Thank you guys SO much for this series. Whenever any of these drop, I immediately stop what I’m doing and watch it form beginning to end. ESSENTIAL listening.
Thank you so much
@@awintory You’re so welcome. I’m so envious that you’ve met JW so many times. I’ve seen him conduct twice (once with Spielberg in Atlanta in 2012), but I’d give anything to actually shake his hand.
"Heartbeeps" and "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind" shared a producer. Which explain how John Williams was brought on board.
As always, thank you so much for the gift of these videos. I'm currently both designing and teaching a college course on film music and this Thursday, I plan to spend the whole day on Williams. While I'll certainly have to touch upon the well-established classics (no complaint), I was very much hoping to expose the students to some of his lesser-known work that demonstrates how he's so much more than just Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, etc. These two episodes have been such a godsend at a time when I'm starting to forget what sleep is.
The only other sort of out of the box clip I knew for sure I'd be showing (and it's one that wouldn't work for You Gotta Hear This! as it depends on the visuals), is the cue about 8 1/2 minutes into Presumed Innocent (I think it might be called Carolyn's Office?) where Harrison Ford is looking for something suspicious on an old computer. There's this repeating piano line that Williams uses throughout the score and it plays while Ford clicks through multiple screens of data. Then, when a screen comes up with one line missing, Williams just subtly plucks one note out of the repeating phrase. I was lucky enough to have this shown to me in a class when I was attending NYU film school and it always stuck with me as just a masterful idea and one of the most subtle hits I'd ever seen in a cue. I've shown the clip in the past when teaching a day or two of film music for a broader music history class, and it never ceases to amuse me watching the students try and identify what just happened - and then seeing their expressions when they understand.
In any event, I'm glad I now have some additional "obscure" examples to draw from. Your channel continues to provide me with so much worthwhile content for this class, on top of just being incredibly entertaining and satisfying. Cheers.
PRESUMED INNOCENT is in general a deeply under-appreciated score!
As always, this was a fascinating coverage of Williams' work. The story behind the choir in A.I. blew my mind. Thank you for these conversations, Austin. I'm crossing my fingers that you'll cover Morricone and Don Davis in the future. Greetings from Ecuador!
Awesome video as always, thank you for making these :)
As a trumpet player John Williams is always so fun to play (I am probably very biased tho :D ), I think my favourites are the Olympic Fanfare and the March from 1941.
I’m always fascinated when you bring up the idea of music being tightly woven into the mechanics of a game vs just abruptly switching in and out of combat music for example. It’d be cool to see a video or something where you talk about specific games that implement this well.
Likely to be part of many future videos!
This series and both of you are great at taking things that I have no knowledge of (besides John Williams) and making them super interesting but still easy to understand. Thanks Austin!
Oh yeah here we go again! Another great Play Watch Listen DLC for free!
I was just listening to part 1 glad this is up
Part 1 was great. My two year old daughter loved the theme from checkers 😁
Ah yes was waiting for part 2 of this! Great conversation between troy and yourself about a living legend! Happy he returned for obi wan!
Tbh. I think you should do a greatest hits type YGTHT, would just like to see you and Troy be like kids in a sweet shop, I’d be right there with you, would also. Like to see a HZ vid, early vs current. Love this series so much.
I agree with Troy on "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence", I went to see it, and I was not one of the film's haters, but it's definitely not a movie I want to see again.
Great episode as always. Couldn’t sleep so I’m watching at 6am. Words are hard. No idea what I was originally going to say, but here’s a comment anyway.
This is like listening to a conversation I have with my closest friends. I love it. I’m here shouting out things like “Alexander Courage did Star Trek!” and “Family Plot is the movie you’re thinking of!” etc. More of this please.
Hahah sorry for subjecting you to my momentary Hitchcock memory block!
@@awintory not at all-it’s like a fun quiz! A few years back the Phoenix Symphony did a Star Trek vs Star Wars concert (twas awesome, as you can imagine). I was in the front row, and as the conductor was talking about various composers and mentioned Deep Space 9, I randomly blurted out Dennis McCarthy and the guy looked stunned. Nerd.
Oh, that piece from A.I. is not “Stored Memories” on my La-La Land release, it’s “Journey Through The Ice (Part 1)”.
It was Raphael, Michelangelo's adversary, who did the walls of the Sistine Chapel.
Crimebusters kind of reminded me of Goldsmith's Gremlins efforts.
I’m ready for this - love the series, thanks for making my workday better!
Love this series you keep showing me music I've never heard. Would love a Hanz Zimmer episode sometime 👀
Love this!
Thank you Austin !
I love the podcast guys! It'd be cool if the tables ever flipped for an episode!
I loved this episode so much ♡ especially all the little side stories - started tearing up a couple times !
You should do a star wars special where you go through the different composers of Star wars.
Austin, I hope being that you're a Goldsmith fan would also discuss the Goldsmith-Williams connection. By that I mean you would let Troy listen to some cues that Williams played piano for Goldsmith for; such as the track "A Game of Pools" from Studs Lonigan. I believe this was the score that prompted Goldsmith to declare: "we have lost a very good pianist".
He referenced that score (without naming it) in part 1 so I'm hoping it'll happen.
Yes I looooove STUDS LONIGAN, both musically and for its trivia
@@awintory yes indeed. BTW, this year is not only Williams' 90th year, but this would have been Elmer Bernstein's 100th birthday. He was also one of my favorite composer along with Goldsmith. Maybe it would be nice if you also make a tribute video for him, as I know you arranged his music from "To Kill A Mockingbird" a few years back.
I was looking through your videos to see if you ever interviewed Joris de Man, and I can't see that you did. It would be interesting to hear what you guys discuss. I've enjoyed hearing his music since Killzone 1, and with Horizon Forbidden West out, I am listening to some of his music again. Horizon Zero Dawn has beautiful music so I'm excited to hear what's in the new game. I've always felt too that he never got much praise for his contributions to the games he composes the soundtracks to when they are often very good.
I'm working my way through many composers to chat with and he's among them! We'll make it happen for sure
Out of all of Williams' love themes, how many of them begin with that major sixth interval? It seems to be a recurring thing.
Personal fave is the theme right at the end of Empire. I think it's called "Han and the Princess". Actually I think that's my fave Williams theme of all time. Makes me tear up.
30:10 new ringtone
What a joy, where can i get the music? It is not in itunes…
Pd: did you know that in heart beeps appears the actor that play baron harkonnen in lynchs 1984 dune?
My collection from buying CDs from specialty labels like Varese Sarabande, Intrada, La La Land etc.
Finally! Haven't listened to it yet but I hope pt3 is coming soon too.
Hey Austin can you share with is if you have any plans for how often we can expect episodes? I can imagine your schedule as a composer obviously comes first but I'm wondering what your plans for youtube are.
No part 3, this little mini-series is done. And *on average* we aim for once per month
SInce you mentioned the 15 minute cue "Adventures on Earth" in passing, I look forward to hearing the concert version performed live at work next Friday.
I guess they have put it on the program to acknowledge Williams 90th Birthday.
I have to say though, that while I usually really like the concert versions of his pieces, Williams should have left that cue untouched. I very much prefer the original uncut and unchanged film version, to the 6 minute shorter concert version. Too bad that he only ever performs the shortened version when he is conducting his works. I would have killed to hear the original on the Vienna Album.
Sure I feel that. But most concerts don't have that much real estate to offer up for a single piece. Audiences tend to prefer breadth over depth, jumping from to film to film and not going so deep on one. I do believe the Golden State Pops under the baton of Steven Allen Fox here in LA have actually done the entire 15 min version live before!
@@awintory I should really start watching the whole thing, before commenting. I progressed a little further to the point where you told the anecdote about the composer who upon being asked what music he likes to listen to for passion.
And while I understand your reaction, I have seen an interview with John Williams, held at his home, where he gave the exact same answer: "I don't listen to music any longer. Music is work."
I have talked to people at my work, who all are professional musicians, and quite a lot of them gave the same answer.
A variation of this was a conductor friend of mine who answered, the reason why he doesn't listen to music at home is because he basically holds the same believe that Sergiu Celibidache held about recorded music: It's lifeless and just a shadow of the experience of sitting at a concert.
So he likes to listen to music in concert, he likes to perform, but he doesn't like to listen to recordings at home, other than in preparation to conduct.
And as to your question, whether Williams ever felt the need to touch up one of those pieces he constantly conducts, I'd say that is most definately the case.
He did it in "Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra" which he changed sometime between him rerecording it for the Sony Classical releases "The Spielberg Collaboration" in the mit 90's, where it shows up in its original form with an added concert ending (as if audiences always need two loud bangs to know that a piece is over instead of two pizzicato plucks like it originally ended) and the present.
Because the version he performs now has added segments. Which sadly sound out of place because they sound more like 2010's Williams than 1980's Williams.
So the program fell victim to the invasion and instead of assorted pieces to celebrate Carnival, which would have included "Adventures on Earth", the program is Beethoven's 9th.
Thanks for nothing, Putin!
I swear, Troy Baker looks like a different guy every single time.
Thanks for playing Heartbeeps, especially "Crimebuster" A friggin' classic score for an absolutely trash film! He essentially did the film because he knew the producer, Michael Phillips, who produced Close Encounters.
I've always wondered why he did that film. So baffling
Austin do you think you could score a Star Wars project and if you were to, do you think you would emulate or at least try to emulate John Williams?
My dream would be a project akin to Powell's brief for SOLO (my least favorite SW film probably ever, yet the best modern SW score!). He managed to *channel* Williams with direct imitation, and also while retaining Powell-isms. That would be my dream direction on a SW project
@@awintory I'm so curious as to how that would sound now? So many composers have put their stamp on the music and if you were too that would make my day. Gordy Haab has really done of a good job of imitating John Williams and I think Clint Bajakian too.
this is completely off topic for this video, but did you happen to catch last week's guild chat for guild wars 2? (made me think of your past interview with Lena Raine) it was about an hour and a half almost completely about the soundtrack for the upcoming expansion. Maclaine talking about his misconceptions of Korean music was really interesting... would love to see yall chat sometime if it's possible.
He and I are already scheduled to :)
@@awintory excellent!
I still believe Williams would've gotten the Oscar for Geisha if he had not also been nominated for Munich that year.
I've long assumed the same. Tragic.
Is it Anne Martindale Williams? That’s what Google was bringing me. Principal cellist since 79.
Yes it is! I googled afterward too, and should have beforehand!
This is genuinely one of the best things on UA-cam. If we had to convince aliens not to blow us up I'd show them this
This may be my new favorite comment ever
😊
Thanks for another fascinating talk, Austin. I love how you picked some true "deep cuts" here. Steve Erdody was guest last year on my podcast show and he shared a lot of great stories and insight about his work with John: thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2021/07/26/stephen-erdody-podcast/