Since the introduction of sound to movies, the film’s music and score have become an essential part of the movie experience. When a score works well, it communicates that which is unspoken, it tells us the mood, it foreshadows, it
Interview: John Williams
(Here’s an interview with composer John Williams that I wrote for England’s Gramophone magazine back in 2005. Richard Kaufman conducts Pacific Symphony in Williams’s Oscar-winning score to “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” for a screening of the film Saturday night. Tickets here.) By
Scoring ‘E.T.’
Here’s an interesting short documentary (10 minutes) on the making of the film score (by John Williams) to Steven Spielberg’s “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.” Williams and Spielberg have made 23 films together by my count, with at least one more in
Pacific Symphony: August concerts
Pops conductor Richard Kaufman returns to the podium this month to conduct the orchestra in a live-to-picture performance of John Williams’ score to Steven Spielberg’s “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” on Aug. 18 at the Pacific Amphitheater. Williams won the Oscar for
Pacific Symphony: April concerts
For Carl St.Clair and Pacific Symphony, April is the coolest month. It’s all about Carnegie Hall. As in the conductor and orchestra will make their debut there. Yes, it’s a big deal. The 80th birthday tribute to Philip Glass presented
‘Harry Potter’ comes to O.C. courtesy of home-grown conductor
By TIMOTHY MANGAN Only a handful of people will know the answer to the following bit of extreme trivia: Who is the only musician born and raised in Orange County to have conducted the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra,
Great moments in film music: ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ (The Duel)
Music by Ennio Morricone. Notice the play of major and minor harmonies, worthy of Schubert. Also notice that Morricone knows when to be silent. The harmonica music is a leitmotif, brimming with meaning, as the sequence makes clear. The clip
Chopin meets Liszt
A scene from “A Song to Remember” (1944), with Cornel Wilde as Chopin, Stephen Bekassy as Liszt, and Paul Muni as Chopin’s teacher, Prof. Joseph Elsner. I laughed out loud the first time I saw this, many years ago. When
Monster of a movie: Kaufman and Pacific take on ‘Jurassic Park’
By TIMOTHY MANGAN Richard Kaufman, Principal Pops Conductor of Pacific Symphony, answered the door of his classic Encino ranch house the other day in his bare feet and khaki shorts. When he’s not conducting symphony orchestras around the world in
Video: Great moments in film music: ‘The Hudsucker Proxy’
The famous hula hoop sequence from “The Hudsucker Proxy.” Music by Aram Khachaturian.