October 25, 2007
Sour Notes or Special Occasion? John Williams' National Anthem
How can you not love John Williams? He has given us some of the most memorable, mesmerizing film scores in cinematic history. Superman, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark! Films that are forever captured in multiple generations' minds and memories - and Bostonians can proudly puff out our chests and note that, given his longstanding ties to the Boston Pops, he is totally ours.
So we wouldn't be surprised to know that there was a lot of glee at Fenway and TV Land last night knowing that Williams would be leading a specially-arranged rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner." And we imagine that we weren't alone in thinking about how neat it was to see Williams decked out in his Red Sox finest as he stood in center field with members of the Pops' brass section.
Then the song started and we paused our conversations to listen. About ten seconds in, those gathered with Bostonist collectively grimaced over what sounded like an extremely...off note.
Did someone actually miss a note as John Williams conducted? At Fenway? Before Game 1 of the World freakin' Series?
Apparently not. One person's sharp notes is another person's Very Special Arrangement. Because the note repeated itself several times. It was one of several funky score action moments that the anthem featured.
Several bloggers have been politely describing the anthem as "odd" (Inside MENC), "unusual" (Blogcritics Magazine), and "a little off, as if the brass had warped like woodwinds in the Fenway rain" (Roger Catlin, Hartford Courant).
Bostonist's take? We have nothing but respect for the maestro, but we humbly admit that we described it as "Darth Vader is trying to mess out the American people before he orders the Storm Troopers to take over Fenway Park." A little off-kilter, rather forboding, and not quite right.
View and judge for yourself: the video is available here (scroll down until you see "Williams conducts anthem" on the left side).
In the meantime, we'll just look forward to hearing his new take on Indy when the new Jones movie comes out.
Image of Williams conducting soundcheck Wednesday provided by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
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The sox aren't even worth Danny Elfman, let alone Williams.
I heard them practicing in the afternoon before the game and it sounded dreadful...as if a couple of musicians weren't quite familiar with the tune.
I don't BELIEVE all of these comments about "sour" notes, etc. It was just a different harmonic that was slightly dissonant. It was very much in the style which Williams writes, especially his contemporary compositions (non-film score). After the first two stanzas, the arrangement became absolutely heroic with driving percussion and brass flourishes and runs that were reminiscent of his Olympic themes.
One take on what Williams was trying to accomplish might be that the beginning was representative of the struggles our country has faced and the second part was how we triumphantly persevere.
I have actually read comments that the dissonance was Williams' way of expressing his dislike for the Iraq war. Appalling. He's much too classy a gentleman to pull something like that.