# John Williams and the LSO (Video Event)



## zolhof (May 6, 2021)

The 90-minute discussion features former and current members of the LSO discussing and sharing their stories and memories about working with John Williams over the years.



Featuring Guest Panelists

Sir Clive Gillinson, former LSO Cellist and Managing Director
David Cripps, former LSO Principal Horn
Maxine Kwok, LSO First Violinist
David Jackson, LSO Percussionist
Sue Mallet, LSO Planning Director


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## Toecutter (May 6, 2021)

I have the video playing in the background, did the planning director of the LSO just threw shade at James Horner? The host talks about Horner very fondly and her response is "but the thing about James' music is that everything hinged on synthesizers, he would have a bank of synthesizers in the control room and that was the huge difference between James' music and John's music" 
like so many stuff someone in her position can say about the late and great JH and that's the best she got? Synthesizers?! She sounded very dismissive


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## zolhof (May 6, 2021)

Toecutter said:


> I have the video playing in the background, did the planning director of the LSO just threw shade at James Horner?


I don't think so—at least I didn't interpret it that way.  Context is important, she was saying that even though the LSO could adapt to every genre of music, technology itself has changed and Abbey Road wasn't flexible enough to deal with directors making last minute changes to the picture. Hence why the last film recorded by Williams at Abbey Road was Revenge of the Sith, in 2005. Everything else, apart from The Book Thief, was recorded at the Sony/MGM stage.

To my understanding, her comment about Horner was more on the tech side. He did complain on the Aliens making of that he was given a 30-year old facility barely able to patch in synthesizers, or handle some of the things he wanted to do electronically.




"They were so behind the times, the mixer who's brilliant in Star Wars, was out of his league with this kind of a movie, which needed all kinds of modern recording techniques."


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## CT (May 6, 2021)

zolhof said:


> Everything else, apart from The Book Thief, was recorded at the Sony/MGM stage.


Parts of Memoirs of a Geisha were also done at UCLA's Royce Hall, and Lincoln was done with the CSO; I'm not sure if they came to L.A. for the sessions or if they were done in Chicago.


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## zolhof (May 6, 2021)

Mike T said:


> Parts of Memoirs of a Geisha were also done at UCLA's Royce Hall, and Lincoln was done with the CSO; I'm not sure if they came to L.A. for the sessions or if they were done in Chicago.


Yes, Lincoln was recorded at the Symphony Center with the CSO. I was referring to the scoring stages, it never occurred to me that Williams hasn't recorded any music at Abbey Road since 2005. Revenge of the Sith sounds amazing!


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## Toecutter (May 7, 2021)

zolhof said:


> To my understanding, her comment about Horner was more on the tech side. He did complain on the Aliens making of that he was given a 30-year old facility barely able to patch in synthesizers, or handle some of the things he wanted to do electronically.
> 
> 
> 
> "They were so behind the times, the mixer who's brilliant in Star Wars, was out of his league with this kind of a movie, which needed all kinds of modern recording techniques."


Horner was a real dude, I miss him 

He always spoke his mind out but you never know who's going to hold a grudge. I remember an interview where he said some brutal stuff about Gabriel yared that didn't age well XD I think this sort of thing hurt his career and adding insult to injury we had the Zimmer craze that made Horner and other contemporaries less relevant in the 2010s. Sucks... I'd love to hear what he would be doing now, probably concert work.


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