GRAUNIAD - Leave your opinion please….
I’m just an amateur hobbyist who writes music for my own enjoyment and none of it is meant to be film music so maybe I don’t have a place in this discussion, but I think Williams has fallen into the trap of thinking that art forms can somehow be compared and ranked. To me they can’t be. Is jazz ‘better’ than reggae? That’s a meaningless question. Music doesn’t ask to be classified or ranked, it just IS… it exists. You can like it or not like it, it can move you or not move you, but it is of itself. Just the opinion of this 64 year old who has only been ‘writing’ music for three years. Other opinions are available! 
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I love that he takes a moment to talk up the fabulous performers bringing his music to life at the Cadogan 
he’s blessed many performers and concert hall audiences with some beautifully crafted arrangements of his amazing themes, IMHO, as have many film composers. I don’t believe there is any place for “ranking” music either, everything that speaks to its listeners is a triumph
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I don’t think he really see things the way the article suggests. Just that negative newspaper filter view of the world.
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I didn’t get negative from the article at all (totally desensitised to newspapers stirring as you say ) just a lovely man very modestly wondering what all the fuss is about… thank you for drawing my attention and allowing me to clarify that I’d hate to be misunderstood
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Yes I always enjoy interviews with composers they often really interesting people as well as artists. John Williams is so modest and keen to praise the people who helped to create his scores.
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Totally agree with you, making music is a gift and a pleasure and like all art forms, beauty is in the eye/ear of the beholder so to those 78 year old muso I don’t really worry about it too much
Some folks love my albums and music, some are not bothered and others probably hate and dismiss it but that’s life and I can live with that
Interesting article. It’s hard to say if music is functional or abstract, because a lot of times it’s a mix of both. Who hasn’t heard The Nutcracker suite outside of watching a ballet? Tchaikovsky wrote it for a functional purpose, but there was a lot of artistry in it. But I do agree that if you’re studying to be a film composer, it’s important to study the scores of Stravinsky or Holst before studying those of John Williams. I think he might say the same thing. Of course, then the flip side is to study Williams’ USE of those techniques and textures in the context of the films he scored.
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I had to sit with this one for a day… If it was anyone else I’d blow it off because it’s obviously crazy talk; HOWEVER Wiliams is essentially Soundtrack Jesus so I gave the article a second look.
On the surface I’d say he’s overthinking the semantics of “art” or giving the “True Scotsman” fallacy a spin. No culturally recognized medium is devoid of context; McLuhan’s wrote a whole book about that sort of thing. There was a similar argument when Ebert said “video games cannot be art” although Roger was not exactly everyone’s favorite game developer.
On a deeper level he may be getting at a point about film production methodology but (and I know this is blasphemy) there are better composers than Tchaikovsky, better philosophers than Socrates, and better writers than Shakespeare. And the kicker, with everything that exists online, plus marketing agencies, and existing playlists getting in the way you will likely never stumble on any of those new talented people because we’re collectively still buying the classics.
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So ‘the medium is the message (massage)’…? 
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