# Questions for John Williams?



## Jacob Fanto (Jul 24, 2022)

Hi everyone,

I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to chat with and interview the great maestro himself in a few weeks time. I certainly want to make it a priority to pose interesting questions, ones that haven't been asked over and over. I've got a bunch in mind, but I also wanted to see if I could draw some original questions from any of you wonderful musicians on this forum. Keep in mind they should be for general audiences, so no "How did you decide to combine x scale with y scale in bar with contrapuntal motion in ... etc."


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## HarmonKard (Jul 24, 2022)

Q: _How much do you charge for private tutoring?_


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## HarmonKard (Jul 24, 2022)

In all seriousness, tho, ask him if he would be willing to do a guest Q&A here, like what they do on the gearspace forum.


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## Futchibon (Jul 24, 2022)

I'd be interested to hear his comments on the influence of The Planets on the Star Wars soundtrack.


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## Cdnalsi (Jul 24, 2022)

Futchibon said:


> I'd be interested to hear his comments on the influence of The Planets on the Star Wars soundtrack.


Yeah, specifically using the same voicings in the same keys and almost identical rhythms. But more than likely this won't be asked and answered. Goes too close to plagiarism in my book.


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## CT (Jul 24, 2022)

That's an easy answer that's been around for decades. Lucas wanted the actual Holst suite itself in there, Williams convinced him to go with an original score that had bits of the Holst flavor in it. Pretty simple....

Please ask him why he doesn't respond to my letters.


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## ka00 (Jul 24, 2022)

Who does he think is the next John Williams? Or maybe just generally are there any current film composers he appreciates.


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## Trash Panda (Jul 24, 2022)

Who is his favorite living composer?


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## LudvigGhoul4 (Jul 24, 2022)

has he been asked about sample libraries before? i would like to know what he thinks of them and if he would have used them if the were available in the 70s/80s


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## Jacob Fanto (Jul 24, 2022)

ka00 said:


> Who does he think is the next John Williams? Or maybe just generally are there any current film composers he appreciates.


Yes, this second Q is great. I’m definitely thinking of asking for some of his thoughts on modern film scores. Betting on a kind softspoken jab


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## Jacob Fanto (Jul 24, 2022)

LudvigGhoul4 said:


> has he been asked about sample libraries before? i would like to know what he thinks of them and if he would have used them if the were available in the 70s/80s


I had planned on asking something like this. I don’t think I’ve heard any of his thoughts on samples. Would be interesting to hear, although I’m sure he’ll say he’d stick with pencil and paper anyway. A traditional composer, he is.


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## LudvigGhoul4 (Jul 24, 2022)

Jacob Fanto said:


> I had planned on asking something like this. I don’t think I’ve heard any of his thoughts on samples. Would be interesting to hear, although I’m sure he’ll say he’d stick with pencil and paper anyway. A traditional composer, he is.


i'm pretty sure about that too


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## Gingerbread (Jul 24, 2022)

I'd be genuinely interested to know why he moved away from his jazz piano roots, and went more toward a traditional orchestral direction. Would he ever consider composing some jazz-flavored works?


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## Jish (Jul 24, 2022)

There has got to be a truly value-worthy question with regards to his very early days doing TV around/in midst of Goldsmith and Schifrin, but it would have to be specific enough to be of real interest and not simply drift off into, "oh yes, that was all very nice and interesting, ect". Wish I could hone in on exactly what it would be, but that's probably why you're doing the interview and not me  

When he said in a past interview that the passing of a close loved one around the age of 40 made him know almost exactly _how_ he wanted to score moving forward from especially a deeper emotional perspective, would he elaborate more on that? Meaning, how did that 'epiphany' of feeling/emotion translate into the craft itself. Link here:



I get that these are two questions that are more specific and even more 'personal' than he is likely accustomed to ('uh, like...so like, just how did you write the themes from _Jaws_ or SW?') but really these may be among the last opportunities we have to ask someone like him questions that frankly just have more meaning and depth than how he writes x motif or what it was like working with Spielberg and Lucas for the twenty-thousandth time.


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## Trash Panda (Jul 24, 2022)

Jish said:


> how he writes x motif or what it was like working with Spielberg and Lucas


Ooh! Those are good ones. Make sure to ask these!


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## synergy543 (Jul 24, 2022)

Does he 'consciously' use the Alpha Chord in his action writing as observed by Mark Richards analysis? How about the octatonic scale?


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## Jett Hitt (Jul 24, 2022)

Ask him why his film music and concert music differ so much. Why, when it was obvious that his film music spoke to the entire planet, he chose to write his concert music in such an unpalatable style.


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## PeterN (Jul 24, 2022)

How much does his orchestrators do and how much of credit should they get for his works.


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## Illico (Jul 24, 2022)

Did he dream about a day job (other than music), which one?


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## CT (Jul 24, 2022)

Jett Hitt said:


> Ask him why his film music and concert music differ so much. Why, when it was obvious that his film music spoke to the entire planet, he chose to write his concert music in such an unpalatable style.


Where's that eye-roll reaction?


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## pz_music (Jul 25, 2022)

I would love to know if he has ever considered doing a masterclass-type thing where he would talk through his craft. Even a few hours of him just talking through techniques of composition and orchestration and how he applies them would be such a goldmine!


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## Loïc D (Jul 25, 2022)

First and foremost @Jacob Fanto you are a lucky man and thank you for giving us this opportunity.
I hope these following question are not bland.

- did/does he tutor composers?
- how does he work : is he preparing themes in advance and pick them to use on a score or is he writing score from blank point?
- what is his interaction with orchestrator along the score creation (from the beginning or when themes are settled)?
- does he still work on piano first?
- when writing concert music, does he work with pictures in mind?
- any book / work he’d recommend to study?
- does he do any mockup? (he or his team)
- how did the industry change from the 70s/80s and did he have to change the way he works? (like, asking for mockups first, does he get access to movie earlier or later than before, relation with directors & producers & music producers, recording sessions,…)
- any advice for aspiring (or even established) composers?
- he’s one of his kind now… what does he think about “modern” scoring?
- and what would he do if he had to start now?
- in his 60s scores, there were guitars or other pop instruments. In the 70s/80s a bit of synth but he was never too much into this, opposite to other composers at the time. Why didn’t he extend the use of pop instruments in his career?
- are there movies he regrets NOT doing?
- how did he manage to never get rejected? (pure luck? good mood? smart agenda?)
- how does retirement from film industry feel now?


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## Alex Fraser (Jul 25, 2022)

I'll reiterate the thanks to Jacob again!
Here's a couple:

Given that JW doesn't get the opportunity to hear his scores (in virtual form) prior to the recording...is he ever surprised by how they sound outside of his "inner ear"?

Does he prefer the sound of a particular scoring stage to others?


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## Zedcars (Jul 25, 2022)

Great opportunity! 

Have you ever had any disagreements with movie directors about a particular musical direction or maybe specific music cue? How was this resolved?


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## Mrmonkey (Jul 25, 2022)

If _he _could describe ‘the Williams sound’ how would he?

Is there one film that he never got to score but would love to, what would it be? Does he ever imagine music for other films or does he have pieces that he loves but cannot fit into anything he is making?

How does he feel about the transition towards synth and more atonal music in big budget films?

Is there a particular theme from another composer that he hears now and thinks ‘damn,I wish I wrote that!’

How does he keep grounded? Does he feel that his fame means directors, producers or don’t say no or that they aren’t keen on a piece? 

When he is writing music just from inside his head and paper, how does he hear it? Say with the Jedi theme, does he hear the whole thing with all the instruments? Just the key melodies? Is his brain basically a huge DAW that plays back an entire orchestral ensemble? What does he think of how technology and the ease of access to things like BBCSO discover enable idiots like myself with no musical training to make music?


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## Jacob Fanto (Jul 25, 2022)

Mrmonkey said:


> If _he _could describe ‘the Williams sound’ how would he?
> 
> Is there one film that he never got to score but would love to, what would it be? Does he ever imagine music for other films or does he have pieces that he loves but cannot fit into anything he is making?
> 
> ...


Lovely. Thank you.


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## ed buller (Jul 25, 2022)

when he was writing so much Irwin Allen action/adventure sci-fi TV music in the sixties, how did he achieve such complex harmonic textures under such time constraints, and did he devise a system to help ?

did he exploit these techniques in later films ?



best

e


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## ed buller (Jul 25, 2022)

Pele or Messi ?

best

e


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## Loerpert (Jul 25, 2022)

I wonder what Williams' opinion is on the current trend where scores are becoming less and less thematic / less leitmotifs.


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## NoamL (Jul 25, 2022)

What a wonderful opportunity @Jacob Fanto

PLEASE ask him about his *action music*, nobody ever does!


Perhaps something like this:

_"In your 'action music', that's often at 'scherzo' tempo, you use a kaleidoscopic, ever-shifting musical language. People have analyzed your language as rooted in octatonicism, set theory, and even jazz harmony. What are you thinking about when you write these cues? Do you have harmonic or tonal devices that you reach for again and again when the music needs to feel tense or frantic and keep the audience off balance?"_

The question could be workshopped a bit more - perhaps @Dom Sewell or @Ludwig have thoughts



It's a little deep for a general audience but I think this is one of the most interesting and valuable things you can ask him from a forum of composers. Because (you don't have to say this to him) the complexity and nuance of his action music is the *#1 thing* separating the 'JW Style' from what most people write today. Lots of people write big thematic music. The difference is when they need to score a chase scene or a fight scene then everything becomes very square and out comes the string ostinatos and 'cinematic percussion.' I do this too. There are lots of us out here that can write a perfectly passable ripoff of John's "thematic music" like "Flying" from E.T. but we can't write an action cue like he does.


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## ed buller (Jul 25, 2022)

NoamL said:


> "In your 'action music', that's often at 'scherzo' tempo, you use a kaleidoscopic, ever-shifting musical language. People have analyzed your language as rooted in octatonicism, set theory, and even jazz harmony. What are you thinking about when you write these cues? Do you have harmonic or tonal devices that you reach for again and again when the music needs to feel tense or frantic and keep the audience off balance?"


yup....this

e


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## CuriousDan (Jul 25, 2022)

Is there any hope to preserve scores for future audiences? Being tied to a movie, generally difficult to access/perform live and with a high risk of being forgotten within a couple of decades, depending of the movie's success.
(Asked by an organist who's trying to transcribe best suited themes and cues).


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## Jacob Fanto (Jul 25, 2022)

Thanks all. Great stuff here.


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## Jacob Fanto (Jul 25, 2022)

NoamL said:


> What a wonderful opportunity @Jacob Fanto
> 
> PLEASE ask him about his *action music*, nobody ever does!
> 
> ...


I am in the midst of an action cue JW-style right now. It is thrilling but you are correct, so difficult. I will share my finished piece on here when I’m done!


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## NoamL (Jul 25, 2022)

CuriousDan said:


> Is there any hope to preserve scores for future audiences? Being tied to a movie, generally difficult to access/perform live and with a high risk of being forgotten within a couple of decades, depending of the movie's success.
> (Asked by an organist who's trying to transcribe best suited themes and cues).



His papers are bequeathed to Juilliard. So all the original work will be preserved, although rights to engrave and publish, I'm not sure if they get those.


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## JF (Jul 25, 2022)

Jacob Fanto said:


> I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to chat with and interview the great maestro himself in a few weeks time. I certainly want to make it a priority to


I remember meeting him around 2010 backstage at the Boston Pops and I was able to chat for a few minutes alone. One of the most memorable nights of my life. Unfortunately, every question I had went out of my head when I met the man--so write your questions down! He was very nice. I do remember the one piece of advice he had was to "never give up". As cliche as it sounds, we all know composition takes years of practice...
I also did not want to come across as "that fan" and so I didn't get a picture with him, and now I regret that decision whenever I think about it.

Enjoy the moment, Jacob.


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## Jacob Fanto (Jul 25, 2022)

JF said:


> I remember meeting him around 2010 backstage at the Boston Pops and I was able to chat for a few minutes alone. One of the most memorable nights of my life. Unfortunately, every question I had went out of my head when I met the man--so write your questions down! He was very nice. I do remember the one piece of advice he had was to "never give up". As cliche as it sounds, we all know composition takes years of practice...
> I also did not want to come across as "that fan" and so I didn't get a picture with him, and now I regret that decision whenever I think about it.
> 
> Enjoy the moment, Jacob.


I’ve met him and spoken with him before! So I definitely know what you mean about everything you had planned to say kind of flying out of your head.


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## Windle (Jul 25, 2022)

As he's been working at such a high level for so many years with an incredible list of successful and memorable scores, does he ever feel in competition with his younger self?


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## Scottyb (Jul 25, 2022)

What an unbelievable honor! Like someone else has mentioned would love to hear his thoughts on sample libraries and if he ever uses them. Hope it goes well and congrats on this!


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## Chris Schmidt (Jul 25, 2022)

Ask him if he uses Fruity Loops and how I can make an Orchestral "beat" like Star Wars?

Alternatively, I would be interested in what he thinks about modern film and orchestral music and what it will be like after his time. 

What does he think about the impact computers have had on the craft of composition? That would also be a big one.


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## JDK88 (Jul 25, 2022)

Paper or plastic?


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## Loerpert (Jul 26, 2022)

Chris Schmidt said:


> Ask him if he uses Fruity Loops and how I can make an Orchestral "beat" like Star Wars?
> 
> Alternatively, I would be interested in what he thinks about modern film and orchestral music and what it will be like after his time.
> 
> What does he think about the impact computers have had on the craft of composition? That would also be a big one.


I actually made a Star Wars beat in Fruity Loops once xD. Perfectly possible.


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## MartinH. (Jul 26, 2022)

Chris Schmidt said:


> Alternatively, I would be interested in what he thinks about modern film and orchestral music and what it will be like after his time.


1 semitone pitchbends downward for the next 10 years...




NoamL said:


> PLEASE ask him about his *action music*, nobody ever does!


Couldn't agree more.


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## Jacob Fanto (Aug 6, 2022)

Here it is! So far


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## aaronnt1 (Aug 6, 2022)

Wow lucky you! I'd like to know when was it he first realised he had such an awesome gift for melody? As we know, from Star Wars onwards he wrote brilliant melody after brilliant melody after brilliant melody but he was already in his 40's by this point and nothing in his very prolific career in film and TV up to then really suggested he had such a knack for writing great tunes. Did he not try to write great melodies before; did the material not really call for it or did something change in his musical tastes, mastery and learning that unlocked this latent talent later on in his life?


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## Elois (Aug 28, 2022)

Not sure if the event did happen yet or not, but I would like to ask him :

"If you had one advice for a young composer, what would it be ?"


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## timbit2006 (Aug 28, 2022)

Futchibon said:


> I'd be interested to hear his comments on the influence of The Planets on the Star Wars soundtrack.


If you're willing to look hard enough in one interview where he talks with some lady he mentions something about taking inspiration from other pieces in his composing. I'm going to try to find it as well but it might be tough.
EDIT:

And here it is, it's pertaining to the Jaws theme in particular. I can't remember if there was more to this particular interview. I think there was also something else I watched but it was from some facebook page.


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## R.G. (Aug 28, 2022)

timbit2006 said:


> ...pertaining to the Jaws theme in particular. I can't remember if there was more to this particular interview. I think there was also something else I watched but it was from some facebook page.


Jaws is...



plus...



...put through JW's flawless merging machine.


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## R.G. (Aug 28, 2022)

Whoever gave my comment the forlorn emoji is welcome to elaborate if you're able. Otherwise it doesn't really communicate anything of substance.


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## NoamL (Aug 28, 2022)

I think it doesn't do any good to go looking for fragments of classical music that vaguely resemble JW's work because I don't think that replicates how he thinks about music, also it only furthers all the bad "JW is a plagiarist" takes all over the Net.

I think we should study JW for what he writes and not look too hard for antecedents. I don't think he listened to Dvorak and went "I can use that" and then put it "through his flawless merging machine," I believe he has his own musical ideas.

For what I can see, the Jaws score is really built around the Eb maj / A maj sound that you hear right at the beginning. 

The oscillation between those tonal centers creates this ambiguity, like are we hearing E7b9#11 or A7b9#11 here?



There are two shark themes, one outlines a dominant 7th, and the other is an oscillating 2nd (half or whole step, both are in the score in various cues).

And both of those, can be used to continually extend that tritone ambiguity because they admit multiple 'readings' of the tonic at the same time.

Here is a cue from that score that I transcribed ages ago, I think that shows how he works out his ideas. No dvorak to be found here. 'sall about those tense tritones and uneasy shifts!

That's just my take and maybe more horizontal, less harmonically oriented interpretations of the score are valid too. I didn't mean to derail the thread but you asked so you deserved a fuller answer


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## HarmonKard (Aug 28, 2022)

NoamL said:


> I think it doesn't do any good to go looking for fragments of classical music that vaguely resemble JW's work


Of course it does! It's always useful to see where the master got his masters from.



NoamL said:


> because I don't think that replicates how he thinks about music


How he thinks about music is not something we should ignore, regardless of whether or not those fragments replicates how he thinks.



NoamL said:


> also it only furthers all the bad "JW is a plagiarist" takes all over the Net.



Yeah, I am no fan of these people who put forth these plagiarism claims. 



NoamL said:


> I think we should study JW for what he writes and not look too hard for antecedents.



I think it useful to do both. I cant speak for anyone else, but I find it useful to know where the composer I am studying got his chops from.



NoamL said:


> I don't think he listened to Dvorak and went "I can use that"



Oh, I _definitely_ think he did that. Not that there is anything wrong with that, because there isn't. 



NoamL said:


> I believe he has his own musical ideas.



He absolutely has his own musical ideas. But where did those ideas come from? Dvorak, Strav, Holst, and so on.


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## R.G. (Aug 28, 2022)

NoamL said:


> I think it doesn't do any good to go looking for fragments of classical music that vaguely resemble JW's work because I don't think that replicates how he thinks about music, also it only furthers all the bad "JW is a plagiarist" takes all over the Net.


Thanks for elaborating. 

You read a whole lot into my post. It was a casual comment responding to the video prior. Before I saw Jaws, I already knew the Dvorak 9 and Le Sacre very well, and when I heard the shark bits in the score, that's what triggered in my mind. But it wasn't anything like, _"Aha, John. I caught you!"_

So the comment wasn't a musicological observation, or about the score in general, or a "JW is a plagiarist" comment. I've seen what you're talking about, though, but find no purpose trying to reason with such people—the _"but muh Kings Row'ers"_—since I imagine it'd be less productive than watching grass grow.



NoamL said:


> I think we should study JW for what he writes and not look too hard for antecedents.


Certainly agree.



NoamL said:


> I don't think he listened to Dvorak and went "I can use that" and then put it "through his flawless merging machine," I believe he has his own musical ideas.


Yes, but again, I wasn't implying _any_ of that. I don't envision such simplistic scenarios. BTW, "flawless merging machine" was a sincere compliment. Whether we like it or not, we're not writing in a vacuum, and the accumulation of most of what we've heard in life up to the point of a specific act of composition is all rolling around upstairs.

Of course John Williams has his own musical ideas, and the flawlessness (imv) of the seemingly endless stream of them gives me no end of joy. Not just his themes, but all the other stuff, too. The kinetic-infused action pieces, and, with a more closeup view, the way he can turn on a dime. A favorite of mine is when the boy scouts get off their horses in Last Crusade, following the serious foreboding of all those string clusters and suspense triggers in the low winds and horns. JW pranked us. He's a perfect storm of awesome.

Your analysis transcription is good.


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## Simon Passmore (Sep 16, 2022)

Jacob Fanto said:


> Here it is! So far



Well done with this by the way! Good fun to try and spot all the SW references in it.

02.09 onwards is maybe a little bit too close to the original though.... 😅


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## PeterN (Dec 19, 2022)

What happened with this one, was the interview completed?


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## TWY (Dec 19, 2022)

Does he smoke pot?


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## handz (Dec 19, 2022)

PeterN said:


> What happened with this one, was the interview completed?


He asked him about the Planets and The Rite of Spring, his body is yet to be found.


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## Henrik B. Jensen (Dec 19, 2022)

handz said:


> He asked him about the Planets and The Rite of Spring, his body is yet to be found.


“The police has found his body - they believe he was killed with a blunt object, perhaps an oboe or a bassoon.”


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## Jacob Fanto (Dec 19, 2022)

PeterN said:


> What happened with this one, was the interview completed?


Unfortunately the opportunity was missed.. his manager called it off stating that JW was too busy with the Indy 5 score among other things. Quite a bummer, but hopefully another time! You all asked some great questions.


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## dcoscina (Dec 19, 2022)

Please ask him what he's listening to these days, how it informs his own modern compositional tendencies, and what seminal masterworks he listened to when he was young that have carried through and continues to inspire him today.

I'm actually listening to Superman right now and I'm still blown away by this sophistication of writing.


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