The Baton: A John Williams Musical Journey
TV & Film:Film History
Though two composers had won Oscars for their scores on previous Alan Parker films, the director didn't reach out to them to write music for his first straight nonmusical drama in almost 10 years. Neither Giorgio Moroder or Michael Gore would have fit the mold for the music needed for "Angela's Ashes," based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir by Frank McCourt. John Williams had read the book and agreed to do the score, opting to forgo any of the typical Irish instruments that he employed seven years earlier for "Far and Away." Host Jeff Commings examines the score's universal appeal through its two themes played on piano and strings, as well as some cues that were not used in the final film version. As this film was unspooling in theaters in late 1999, Williams was ready to conduct a six-part composition for a short film by Steven Spielberg about the American experience. Enjoy a portion of that composition on this episode as well as we move ahead to the new millennium!
Episode 54 - Raiders of the Lost Ark
Episode 53 - The Empire Strikes Back
Episode 52 - 1941
Episode 51 - Dracula
Episode 50 - Superman
Episode 49 - Jaws 2
Episode 48 - The Fury
Episode 47 - Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Episode 46 - Star Wars
Episode 45 - Black Sunday
Episode 44 - Midway
Episode 43 - The Missouri Breaks
Episode 42 - Family Plot
Episode 41 - Jaws
Episode 40 - The Eiger Sanction
Episode 39 - The Towering Inferno
Episode 38 - Earthquake
Episode 37 - The Sugarland Express
Episode 36 - Conrack
Episode 35 - Cinderella Liberty
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