[net.music.classical] John Williams: musical ripoff artist

rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (12/31/84)

Hey, I wouldn't say any of this "slander" about John Williams too loudly,
ladies and gentlemen.  I mean, there's this woman at astrovax who reveres
him as a demigod (or a demitasse, or something like that), and if you
accuse Williams of being derivative, stealthful, or unoriginal, she'll
tear your liver out and rip your nostrils open and nail your head to the
floor.  Honest.  Even after you've shown explicit references to the
passages he ripped off.

I got to see a "Star Wars (A New Hope)"/"The Empire Strikes Back" double
feature at a friend's house the other night.  I have to break into sheer
hysterics during the desert scene in which the two droids leave the pod.
To think that excerpts from the Rite of Spring qualify as "original music"
does make me laugh.  But one DOES have to admit one thing about Williams.
Though he is a musical thief, he does know what to steal and when to use
it (and probably how to alter it just enough to avoid lawsuits...).
-- 
"Discipline is never an end in itself, only a means to an end."
						Rich Rosen   pyuxd!rlr