John Williams, who turns 94 on Sunday (and I’ll have more to say about him, believe me), is an example of a curious phenomenon: he has been so prolific, and so many of his amazing themes have become part of our popular culture, that I have to remind myself that even I haven’t heard everything he’s written. This is a good example: he scored the movie The Long Goodbye, a noir thriller starring Elliott Gould as private eye Philip Marlowe, in 1973, two years before JAWS and four before Star Wars: A New Hope. This is a live performance of a new version of the main theme from that film, which I have never seen. Not only is it a haunting noir theme all on its own, but within it I can absolutely hear hints of the music that was to come pouring out of this man. It’s just amazing.
This performance features Anne-Sophie Mutter on solo violin, with Williams himself conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
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