A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Photo Credits: © Kristian Schuller (Anne-Sophie Mutter). © Kristin Pulito (John Williams). Album Cover Art © 2019 Deutsche Grammophon On August 30, 2019, Deutsche Grammophon (a Germany-based subsidiary of the U.S. conglomerate Universal Music Group) released Across the Stars: Anne-Sophie Mutter - John Williams , a 12-track album which presents some of Academy Award and Grammy-winning composer/conductor John Williams' breathtaking movie themes. Rearranged for solo violin and orchestra by Maestro Williams, this collection of film themes is performed by the world-renowned German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles, under the baton of Maestro Williams himself. As I wrote in my review of the August 2019 CD: "Across the Stars: Anne-Sophie Mutter - John Williams is a wonderful showcase for two masterful musicians. Once again, the legendary composer and conductor weaves his magic as an orchestrator by taking compositions that were ...

As a fan of classical-styled film scores, I've developed an affinity for the works of various composers who work mostly in this genre. Topmost among these artists is, of course, John Williams, but as moviegoers and music lovers know, there are other composers who enhance the moving images we see on those theater screens with their compositions. I first became aware of the late James Horner when Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kha n premiered in June of 1982. Director Nicholas Meyer, anxious to give his entry in the Star Trek franchise its own identity apart from the less-than-acclaimed first motion picture, commissioned the young Horner to write a score that evoked the nautical traditions Meyer wanted to infuse into his vision of Starfleet and the starship Enterprise . He asked for, and got, music that calls to mind seagoing sailing frigates and the age of Horatio Hornblower, albeit with a 23rd Century backdrop of dueling starships. Considering Horner's penchant for composing sco...

(C) 2018 Alex Diaz-Granados and CreateSpace (an Amazon company) It is February 1998. 33-year-old Jim Garraty is a respected history professor and bestselling author who lives in New York City. Popular with both students and readers, Jim seems to have it all. Fame, a nice apartment in Manhattan, and a reputation as one of the best World War II historians in the U.S. But when he gets a cryptic email from his best friend from high school, Jim is forced to relive his past - and a trip to his home town of Miami reopens old wounds he thought had healed long ago. Q.: How - or why - did you choose your characters' names? Did you go through a phone book and choose names at random or did you name Jim, Marty, and Mark after people you know? A.: Jim Garraty - or as Stephen King would put it, my I-guy - was, in every iteration of the story (from a CRW-2001 assignment to finished product), Jim Garraty. I'm not sure why I chose James/Jim/Jimmy as his first name; I just knew that...

Slipcover for John Williams: Greatest Hits 1969-1999. Designed by Roxanne Slimak. (C) 1999 Sony Classical/Sony Masterworks Official Sony Classical Video: The Reivers: Main Theme On November 2, 1999, Sony Classical released John Williams: Greatest Hits 1969-1999, a two-disc collection of movie themes and event-related orchestral works composed and conducted by the five-time Academy Award-winning composer and Laureate Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. Culled from various recordings with different ensembles – including the aforementioned BPO and the Tanglewood, Boston, London, and even Skywalker Symphony Orchestras, this popular recording celebrates the first 30 years of Maestro Williams’ stellar – and ongoing – career as the go-to master of film scores and commissioned “special events” orchestral pieces. Produced by Laraine Perri and designed by Sony artist Roxanne Slimak, John Williams: Greatest Hits 1969-1999 distributes 28 themes and “special events” compositions by ...

(C) 2012 Decca Records On February 21, 2012, Decca Records released A Celebration: John Williams & the Boston Pops Orchestra, a 2-CD compilation album with over two hours’ worth of film themes, show tunes, easy listening compositions, and light classical works. Originally produced in 2004 by the same British label, A Celebration was re-issued in honor of Maestro Williams’ 80 th birthday. To mark the eightieth birthday of the renowned composer and conductor John Williams, Decca celebrates his time as principal conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. In this quintessentially American programme. Williams’ unrivaled contribution to film music is showcased through performances of his most memorable themes and other Hollywood favourites, complemented by a second disc of Broadway numbers and timeless songs. – Producer’s blurb, A Celebration: John Williams & the Boston Pops Orchestra Produced by Raymond McGill, A Celebration presents 30 orchestral works, divided evenly...