# Sir Anthony Hopkins Hears The Waltz He Wrote For The First Time



## EwigWanderer (Apr 1, 2014)

Great actor, also composer and human..

http://9gag.tv/p/VvgkR/andré-rieu-and-the-waltz-goes-on-anthony-hopkins?ref=fbl9

Sir Anthony Hopkins Hears The Waltz He Wrote 50 Years Ago For The First Time.


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## aaronnt1 (Apr 3, 2014)

Very impressive! Extremely talented man all round, must have been an amazing night for him. It was a very filmic waltz as the guy said you could imagine it in a any number of scenes.
Thanks for posting.


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## PJMorgan (Apr 3, 2014)

Amazing! You could just feel every moment with him.


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## EwigWanderer (Apr 3, 2014)

PJMorgan @ 3rd April 2014 said:


> Amazing! You could just feel every moment with him.



Yes you can  

This is a video that gives you a good feeling...Feel Good- video :D


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## handz (Apr 3, 2014)

Great vid. thanx for sharing


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## MA-Simon (Apr 3, 2014)

Not accessible from germany :|


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## EwigWanderer (Apr 3, 2014)

MA-Simon @ 4th April 2014 said:


> Not accessible from germany :|



Will this link work?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LGVGekPSzo


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## marclawsonmusic (Apr 3, 2014)

Can't see it in the US, either... oh well...


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## EwigWanderer (Apr 3, 2014)

marclawsonmusic @ 4th April 2014 said:


> Can't see it in the US, either... oh well...



Not even the YouTube link? Weird..


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## marclawsonmusic (Apr 3, 2014)

Yep.. this is what I see... :-(


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## mathis (Apr 4, 2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M57Fi19vcSI


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## snowleopard (Apr 4, 2014)

Of course I knew what a great actor he was, but I had no idea he was this deft of a composer. Cinematically fitting music. Someone should put together a montage of his acting to it.


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## artsoundz (Apr 6, 2014)

Hmmmm.....I listened and its very,very good. So good that I'd be willing to bet someone else had a hand in orchestrating and arranging this piece. It just has that years of experience vibe to that performance. 
Im already impressed with Sir Anthony but would be blown away if, indeed, he did everything.


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## mathis (Apr 7, 2014)

Of course there was a professional arranger/orchestrator working on it, that's without doubt.


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## Studio E (Apr 7, 2014)

Wow! Great recording too!


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## snowleopard (Apr 7, 2014)

I assumed the same too. Still, I'm impressed he had a composer's hand in this. 

I liken it to Clint Eastwood's scores. I wouldn't say any are great, but moments of them are, and none are bad. Plus, he's freely stated he's gotten a lot of help from other professionals. Arranging, orchestrating, producing, performing. Still, it's very impressive to me.


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## musophrenic (Apr 7, 2014)

Thanks for sharing this - so fracking awesome! I think we all thought to ourselves "now did he orchestrate it too?", but that doesn't take anything away from the beauty of the composition itself. The man is a magnificent artist.


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## MA-Simon (Apr 8, 2014)

Nice! Thank you for the link.

But... André Rieu... that lost it for me. 
I don't like this slimy guy.


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## aaronnt1 (Apr 8, 2014)

He has an album of classical pieces called 'Composer' and apparently he collaborated with orchestrator Stephen Barton who is a film orchestrator / composer. That might explain the filmic nature of the orchestration. It's turned out well.


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## re-peat (Apr 8, 2014)

MA-Simon @ Tue Apr 08 said:


> I don't like this slimy guy.


Me neither. That creature embodies everything, and in bloated quantity, I loath about this breed of musician: vaingloriousness, bad taste, populistic and patronizing attitude, vulgar commercialism and that horrible habit of turning great pieces of music into sickening kitsch. (Not sure why, but the Dutch, it pains me to say, always have had a number of these individuals running loose. Must be something in the calvinistic soil, I guess.)

Didn’t think too much of Mr. Hopkins’ waltz either, I must confess. Certainly not bad, but not what I'd call a great waltz. Starts very promising (charming intro), but then quickly settles into a stereotype routine of rather average quality. Seems to me that just about everyone with a fair amount of talent and a bit of flair for the idiom could turn out waltzes like these every day of the week if they put their mind to it. Pretty sure that, if this weren’t signed A. Hopkins — and not forgetting the ‘Sir’-bit of course, cause such things matter to the bourgeoisie — very few people would actually have bothered to feign interest.

_


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## AC986 (Apr 8, 2014)

re-peat @ Tue Apr 08 said:


> MA-Simon @ Tue Apr 08 said:
> 
> 
> > I don't like this slimy guy.
> ...



Didn't want to comment on this thread because good luck to anyone who can get their waltz's played.  

But this kind of thing makes me want to vomit from the off. FFS, he's written a tune that is probably nothing more than a doodle and some clever people turned it into something else. 

And all this audience swooning about. It makes me want to sick up all over them. :idea: 

Or send in Gunther on another strafing mission. :idea: :idea: :idea: 

It's bollocks. The whole thing.


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## rayinstirling (Apr 8, 2014)

Ha!

I just love it when folks cringe. How dare "bollocks" be worth millions.

I've spent a lifetime as a mercenary to music and I don't care who thinks it was all just bollocks o/~


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## AC986 (Apr 8, 2014)

If you want to make millions, then bollocks is generally going to be, let's face it, your only hope. /\~O


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## aaronnt1 (Apr 8, 2014)

I'd never heard of Andre Rieu before so can't comment on what he is or isn't like but those dresses are certainly very kitsch!!! I guess that's part of the fun for those who attend?

I haven't seen any swooning going on, either here or in the audience (apart from his tearful wife, I guess she was either very happy or very bored!) unless you count standing ovations and respectful applause for a guest of honour as swooning. I agree though that there are no doubt many who like it just for the novelty and because it was written by a world famous actor just as there are probably those who automatically dismiss it for the same reasons. There was a really snooty review of his classical album in the Huffington Post, quite funny.

Personally I thought it was *much* better than I was initially expecting when I came to this thread especially when you consider he was in his early 20's when he wrote it, I don't get the impression there are many 20 year old composers today who would be able to write like this. I suppose it's possible he did just write a simple melody only to have an orchestrator fill in all the parts decades later but there's no evidence of that. Shouldn't have any bearing on whether you like the piece or not though.


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## snowleopard (Apr 8, 2014)

I agree Aaron. I thought it was all a little "lite" and a bit fun as well. I didn't detect much self-importance. It's not like Anthony was standing on the roof of the BBC telling everyone in the world how he was the next Beethoven or anything. He actually looked a little humbled listening to it. So what if it's a little pat after a nice opening and a tad long? 

I may have the story a little off, but when Paul McCartney wrote Liverpool Oratorio he reportedly was determined to transcribe it himself (Paul is terrible with sheet music). My understanding is he got about 3 minutes in before calling Carl Davis for help to collaborate. I consider that to be wise. No idiot on the planet would question McCartney's musical acumen. Who cares if he can barely read or write music? He's Paul McCartney, arguably the most important musician on the planet over the last century! 

I mean, if you really want to rail about unwarranted praise or success there are countless rap artists whose "musicianship" you can...


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## AC986 (Apr 8, 2014)

Well…

Thank you Snow for keeping us up to date with the coming and goings of Paul and Anthony. 

o[])


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## Daryl (Apr 8, 2014)

snowleopard @ Tue Apr 08 said:


> No idiot on the planet would question McCartney's musical acumen.


Luckily I'm not an idiot. Most of the time...



snowleopard @ Tue Apr 08 said:


> He's Paul McCartney, arguably the most important musician on the planet over the last century!


Yes, plenty to argue about there. :wink: 

D


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## AC986 (Apr 8, 2014)

Daryl @ Tue Apr 08 said:


> Yes, plenty to argue about there. :wink:
> 
> D



I didn't know that Paul is terrible with sheet music. Did you Daryl?

Does Anthony know this btw?


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## snowleopard (Apr 8, 2014)

Hmmmm, maybe we can get Anthony to rap?


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