Sandor 798 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 From the main page (Concert Works section):1983 - America, The Dream Goes onComposed in 1982, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, for solo vocal, chorus and orchestra. Premiered with the Boston Pops under Williams, during the 1983 season. Famous for being part of the reason Williams temporarily resigned from the Pops in 1984.Available on the John Williams/Boston Pops Recording American Classics and John Williams, the Dream Goes onSo what happened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry B 50 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Perceived lack of respect from musicians during rehearsals. He stormed out of a reading session and resigned. People apologized and convinced him to come back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davros72 1 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 So what happened? According to Wikipedia: Williams almost ended his tenure with the Pops in 1984. Considered a customary practice of opinion, some players hissed while sight-reading a new Williams composition in rehearsal. Williams abruptly left the session and turned in his resignation, reportedly due to mounting conflicts with his film composing schedule as well as a perceived lack of discipline in the Pops' ranks, culminating in this latest instance. After entreaties by the management and personal apologies from the musicians, Williams reconsidered his resignation and continued for nine more years.I'm assuming then that the "new Williams composition in rehearsal" is the piece in question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandor 798 Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 Ok. Thanks for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,723 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Perceived lack of respect from musicians during rehearsals. He stormed out of a reading session and resigned. People apologized and convinced him to come back.I wonder what Williams is like when "storming out" of a reading session. I bet it is not exactly a Bernard Herrmann style storming out. More of a polite yet indignant departure from the stage And in all fairness the piece comes off as so overly patriotic that it turns to a parody on itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 It sure is a terrible piece of music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,799 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 i thought we clarified some time ago that this was a false rumour?Or maybe it was people thought that this was the reason he left the pops in 1993 since we did not know the name of the piece then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,399 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 The closest to rejection the maestro has ever been Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,799 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Resignation and rejection are two oppsite terms...He already resignated Superman II anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 48 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 It's cringeworthy. For some reason it makes me think of the "blacks without soul" segment of Amazon Women on the Moon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davros72 1 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 I wonder what Williams is like when "storming out" of a reading session. I bet it is not exactly a Bernard Herrmann style storming out. More of a polite yet indignant departure from the stage Yeah, I don't see Johnny being the furious "storming out" type. More like you described. Perhaps setting the baton down and stepping down from the podium, perhaps with a polite, "If you will excuse me, please" and then calmly but purposefully walking out of the hall. Just a guess, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie 1,062 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 i thought we clarified some time ago that this was a false rumour?Or maybe it was people thought that this was the reason he left the pops in 1993 since we did not know the name of the piece then.No I believe this was confirmed as being pretty much accurate.I bet Williams threw his baton down and dropped some "F" bombs on the way out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melange 446 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 We of the incident.It was all down to a late appearance by one of the violinists. Poor Johny had simply had enough of these hedonistic antics by the orchestra members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitch 57 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 "Screw you, hippy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,799 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 i thought we clarified some time ago that this was a false rumour?Or maybe it was people thought that this was the reason he left the pops in 1993 since we did not know the name of the piece then.No I believe this was confirmed as being pretty much accurate.I bet Williams threw his baton down and dropped some "F" bombs on the way out. as long as he didnt throw it and impaled someone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marian Schedenig 8,237 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 i thought we clarified some time ago that this was a false rumour?The quality of the piece certainly isn't a false rumour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLUMENKOHL 1,070 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 John Williams even mentioned it in an interview, so it's confirmed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airmanjerm 78 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 As a military band, we're resigned to play this one from time to time. It pretty much gets the same reaction from our musicians. I've heard several different wind band versions/transcriptions, and at first I thought that they were just poor adaptations, until I tracked down the original. (There's an old saying that you can't polish a t*rd...sorry if anyone finds that offensive, but I think this is a good place for that comment). I guess it gets the point across to some members in any audience though, as a patriotic selection.Everything you write can't be a hit I guess; even Beethoven had his crappy works that are rarely (if ever) performed anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Barnsbury 8 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 I like to imagine that he tore off his turtleneck in fury and whipped it toward the offending musicians. In any case, though I haven't listened to the piece in some time, I remember the lyrics being the more cringe-worthy aspect of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,723 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 I think the American Dream song in the film Wag the Dog is pretty much a parody of this piece. It certainly has the same ambience: I laughed so hard when I first saw this film and this scene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Parker 3,040 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Apparently, I am not missing much by never listening to this piece before.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,723 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Take a listen Nick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Parker 3,040 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 I think I know where that link is going to take me, but like a Burger King Whopper, I just cannot resist.EDIT: E.Gadd, this is 50 times worse than any Rick Astley song! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinaismine 64 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Hmmmmmmmm, I kind of like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,723 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 The orchestral setting is very good and upbeat but the lyrics unfortunately ruin the music for me. They are so jampacked with so typical American iconography and rhetoric that it becomes unbearable. Too much sugar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mahler3 478 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 We of the incident.It was all down to a late appearance by one of the violinists. Poor Johny had simply had enough of these hedonistic antics by the orchestra members. There is actually footage of Williams scoulding the orchestra in 1984, Jonathan King (Brits will remember him!) went over to Boston to interview Williams for a BBC entertainment show and Williams was telling the orchestra to stop whistling and said something like, "Don't lower the dignity of this orchestra". They weren't playing America.... though, it was a Copland piece I think.I must dig the video out sometime! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melange 446 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Take a listen Nick! Oh dear (cringe). It's the first time I've heard that (and the last) . Parts of the choral melody reminded me of that Yub Nub Ewok song from Return of the Jedi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datameister 2,057 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Yeah, that piece was new to me, too. The orchestral stuff ain't bad, and I believe in patriotism...but the lyrics are just too over-the-top. Starts to feel too much like a parody than an actual earnest expression of love for one's country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissPadmé 17 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 what is better than thesong otself is the interpretaton by John Denverhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDXYk35y4fI...feature=relatedis that really ERICK KUNZEL? I know williams and kunzel look a little similar.. but that one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,723 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Ah MissPadmé it is the magic of the internet, the land of the truly free. Anybody can post there anything with no idea if it is true or not.And that man is John Williams conducting the piece. Unless Kunzel suddenly went into a strange surgery to transform himself to look less like John Williams after 1985. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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