The Many Inspirations of John Williams

How many times have you heard that John Williams steals music from other classical composers? I'm not sure exactly why everyone seems to pick on poor Johnny, as every movie composer borrows from someone else. Heck, even classical composers borrow from other classical composers. It is not stealing as long as you take the melody, harmonies, style, and do something different with it. Then it becomes a variation, a tribute, a nod of the hat to the inspiration from which it came.

So how about we pick on poor Johnny?

I'm always filled with joy when I'm listening to random classical compositions on the radio, and I hear something that I recognize from a movie. Just a couple of weeks ago, the radio was playing Korngold's "Much Ado About Nothing" suite for violin and piano, and I heard this over and over again:

After the second time, it hit me that it sounds an awful much like the Star Wars theme ... mainly the minor 7th jump. As soon as I got a chance, I started researching to see if this Korngold character (who--believe it or not--I had never heard of before) was intentionally doing variations on "Star Wars." I was surprised to learn that I had it backwards.

It turns out that Korngold was a prominent movie composer in the 1930s and a major influence on John Williams. This piece very well could have helped shaped the main Star Wars theme (not so much the first five notes, but the ones that follow that--the first five notes come from another piece).

This previous example may be difficult to hear, but I think you'll have no problem making out the rest of the movie themes from the following excerpts. As you listen to each, I've cued up Youtube to play just the pertinent excerpt. However, if you hit replay, it will play the whole video. If you want to get Youtube to re-cue the excerpt, just refresh this blog post (thus giving me more page views -- yay!).

So from here on out, I'm not going to give the answers. You tell me what movie themes the following inspire.

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#1) Korngold - the main theme from "King's Row" -- inspires two different John Williams movies.

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#2 Holst - "Mars" from the Planets

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#3 Stravinsky - "Rite of Spring" (The Sacrifice)

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#4 Richard Strauss - "Death and Transfiguration" (Transfiguration theme)

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These next two go together:

#5a) Stravinsky: Rite of Spring

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#5b) Dvorak: New World Symphony (4th Movement)

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Finally, here are two more bonus videos to show that John Williams isn't alone. See if you can identify movie themes inspired by the following:

Bonus #1) Mahler 1: Symphony #1

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Bonus #2) Saint Saens -- Carnival of the Animals - "Aquarium" (Think Disney on this one)

And there you. I hope you enjoyed going down Movie Inspiration Lane!

PS - Update: I forgot this one. It may be harder to hear, but John Williams has specifically named this piece as an inspiration for "Superman." Plus, it's such an awesome piece, and an awesome performance. Let me know if you hear "Superman."

Spotlight: Haydn's Farewell Symphony

Did you know Haydn, the playful composer, knew how to protest? In the music of symphony #45, he wrote this "message" to Prince Esterhazy. It appears the message was received and the musicians were allowed to go back home a day early.

This is one symphony you have to watch to believe.  The whole thing lasts about 30 minutes, but this clip is just the last movement, so you don't have to wait so long.

Spotlight: The First Noel

Okay -- here we go again. I've started putting together YouTube videos again. This one is "The First Noel," which is included in my newest collection, December.

If you'd like to play this yourself, you can purchase the sheet music either individually, or in the collection December.

The Music Business: One Week Left

I think I can do this. I'm currently shooting for next Saturday (10/22) for the grand opening of Melkim Publishing. I'm still going through a laundry list of things that need to be completed. My printer should arrive Thursday or Friday, and then it will be one final mad dash to make last-minute layout changes. Then I'll flip a switch and be open for business.

I will open with 11 Christmas Selections under the Good Report Music imprint: a section of Melkim Publishing dedicated to the Mormon/Christian Music audience, presenting music meant to be performed in church services.

Six piano pieces will be sold both individually and together in a collection.

• Joy ("Joy to the World" with "Ode to Joy" and "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" mixed in)
• The Child ("O Come, O Come Emmanuel" mixed with "What Child is This?")
• Silent Night
• The Three Kings of Orient Are
• The First Noel
• Far Far Away on Judea's Plains

Five choir pieces will be sold individually.

• We Three Kings for TBB & piano
• Ding Dong! Merrily on High for SAB & piano & organ
• Away in a Manger Medley for SATB & piano & flute (features three different popular melodies)
• The Child for SAB & piano (a choral adaptation of the piano piece above)
• The First Noel for SATB & piano (a choral adaptation of the piano piece above)

I'm looking forward to the big opening: 11 pieces to start off with, and I will be adding more in the months to come. In 2017 I will launch the other imprint, Melkim Classical, which will present secular pieces, targeting the general classical music fan.

Tell all your friends. There is new player in town, and we're going to rock this joint.

Striving for Quality

It all started a little over a year ago when I decided it was time to sell my music. At first I approached the prominent Mormon music publisher, Jackman Music, and another market. It was exciting. The owners of both companies contacted me directly. I answered a few of their questions. I sent samples of my music, and then ...

Yes, that's right. Nothing. I sent a follow-up email, and still ... nothing. Not even a rejection letter.

And that's when it hit me. I didn't need the middle man. New technology exists today that allows practically anyone to self-publish their own music. Over the past year, I've done all kinds of research: printers, paper, the printing process, running a business, etc. And now I'm finally in execution mode.

Of course, I could simply start a dinky website and sell my music as pdf's online, but I decided to do better than that. It's true that the notes on the page are the meat of what I'm selling, but if I want to sell, the product has to look good. I must give the customer quality. When someone receives music from me in the mail, it needs to look as if it had been sent by Jackman Music, or by some other quality music publisher.

Instead of the typical office paper, I will be printing on good-quality text paper, similar to what you see in piano books. Instead of my dinky ink-jet printer that prints everything in gray (when I print duplex), I'm going to use a good-quality commercial laser printer that can print nice images on 12"x18" paper. I'm also obtaining a couple of accessories that will help my piano books look more professional. I will also be investing in some targeted advertising.

I'm going all out, but I'm hoping the good quality will help my music to sell. If the customers are happy, they will come back for more.

In a couple of weeks I will launch the company, so come check it out.

A New Logo

As of today, I have a new logo for the music business.  Check it out:

I can use it in any color I want: 

And I can use just the tiny logo by itself:  

Excited!  I had to pay someone to work it up for me, but I'm ready to use it.  Better watch out!

The Music Business: An Update

It's been a while since I've posted. Part of this is due to spending a lot of time in getting ready to launch my upcoming business. I was shooting for an October 1 opening, but there are a few things that don't seem to want to come together as fast. I can explain more in later posts.

Now that I'm almost ready to open, I'm going to try to squeeze in more posts here. It'll be fun talking about the exciting parts and the annoying, frustrating parts in getting this business started.

For now, I'm excited to say that yesterday I began work on my website, with help from a friend. Right now it's bare-bones, but I'll be changing it up and getting it ready for business. If you hurry, you can check it out in its infancy, before it becomes a fully functional website.

Here's the link: Melkim Publishing

Stay tuned for more details.