John Williams on reworking the classics – his own
This article, John Williams on reworking the classics – his own, originally appeared on CBSNews.com
In the hills of western Massachusetts, the mid-summer breeze carries the scent of honeysuckle and the sound of genius. This is Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and of its best-known artist-in-residence, John Williams.
The maestro actually lives in Los Angeles, but he says Tanglewood is where he's done some of his best work. "Its effect on me is very spiritual and very exciting," he said. "And I've written so much music here, so many film scores in this place. Right here, I come every summer – 'Star Wars' films, 'Indiana Jones' and 'Schindler's List,' 'Harry Potter,' a great percentage of that work done physically here."
And what astonishing work it is.
Williams is the most-honored movie composer of all time, with five Academy Awards (so far). And he has 51 Oscar nominations, more than any other living person. Only Walt Disney has more.
"I know you're a very modest man…" said correspondent Tracy Smith. "But do you ever allow yourself that moment to step back and say, 'Wow. Look what I've done!'"
"Tracy, I'll be completely honest with you: It's very hard for me to take complete pleasure in anything that I've made," Williams replied. "You can love it and you can love it all, but you can always see things that could be improved.
"I wish I had the kind of personality I could say, 'Ah, this is fantastic.' But I don't think it's that – in the art of music, I don't think there's any place for that kind of vanity. I don't know who else could possibly feel that way given the shoulders we stand on."
"But your shoulders are pretty broad and strong at this point. You're part of that foundation now."
"Well, I couldn't get into the NFL!" he laughed.
Maybe not, but what John Williams does, takes a different kind of muscle.
"I've now been coming here for 39 years every summer. A delight – happily conducting the orchestra briefly each year. And it's a big part of my life, and the perfect antidote to the Hollywood activities that I do the rest of the year. So, it keeps me, maybe not young, but hopefully a little fresh."
Like the movie, the musical score is itself a classic, telling the story as no words ever could. Writing it, Willliams said, took everything he had.
Smith asked, "How all-consuming is your work when you are composing?"
"It's a great privilege to be able to work the way I work," he said. "But it is so intense that you neglect things."
Like? "You can neglect people. You can neglect family. I have wonderful children. My late wife is gone. But my present wife is very happy. But it does so consume your life, this work, which it really shouldn't. A lot of the work that I do is certainly not that important. But the process of doing it is so all-consuming, just to suggest the word you used, that that is the truth of it. It's isn't a sometimes thing. It's a full-time thing."
For more info:
"Anne-Sophie Mutter and John Williams: Across the Stars" (Deutsche Grammophon), available on CD (Amazon, Barnes & Noble), Vinyl (Amazon, Barnes & Noble), Digital Download (Amazon, Google Play, iTunes) and Streaming (Spotify)John Williams' music on CD and downloads:- John Williams on iTunes- Intrada Records- Varese Sarabande RecordsTanglewood Learning Institute
Story produced by John D'Amelio.
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