Dudamel awakens the force

A post by Gustavo Dudamel started running around Facebook on Tuesday morning. Back in October John Williams contacted Dudamel and asked him to conduct the opening and closing credits of the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Williams had one requirement. Dudamel was not to tell a soul.

The day came and in walks Dudamel to the surprise of all. Not only were the orchestral musicians working with the greatest living composer, now they got to add the hottest rising conductor — although it could be said that Dudamel has already arisen.

This was a clever move by Williams. What better way to infuse the most unmistakable music on the planet with new energy? Yes, it is the most unmistakable music on the planet. I’d say that on a global scale it has surpassed Beethoven’s Fifth or The Ride of the Valkyries.

That’s pure conjecture on my part but think about playing those three pieces of music for anyone on the street. They will recognize all three but only be able to name one — Star Wars.

In the body of the post, Dudamel casually states, “John Williams is the Mozart of our day,” and then continues with his story. Of course, the comments on the post had a few naysayers who were incensed by the reference to Mozart.

I, having just called Williams the greatest living composer, am going to make a case for him being the Mozart of our day.

As untouchable as Mozart is — a member of anyone’s top three composers — he was not primarily an innovator. His music was innovative but not in the same way as Beethoven, Wagner, or Stravinsky.

Mozart perfected the musical forms in which he wrote. He perfected the string quartet and the concerto. He developed the piano sonata and symphony but he didn’t really change them. The argument can be made that he would have if he had lived. No doubt.

Mozart was also prolific. He wrote mountains of music at a pace that would have, if he had lived longer, been impossible to consume.

How about John Williams? He too is innovative without being an innovator. He has perfected the motion picture soundtrack and he has been prolific. The stain that Williams has to bear as a composer is that of commercialism.

His music has made mountains of money. That’s something, but I don’t know if it’s a reason to be critical of the music itself.

The music made Star Wars. Without the soundtrack, A New Hope is a new flop. The acting is bad, the script is cliché, and though the visuals are incredible, that could also be said of any number of movies that didn’t become Star Wars. The difference was the music.

I think we tend to overlook this aspect in the success of movies. Dances with Wolves is not a new story. It’s your typical "fish out of water" tale, yet people went nuts for the music. Gladiator is a retelling of Ben Hur in many ways, but Hans Zimmer’s music is unforgettable as is Miklós Rózsa in Ben Hur. The list goes on: Braveheart, Glory, Rocky, E.T..

Don’t give me that look. E.T. was a success in great part because of the music of John Williams.

The story is 2000 years old and it's about a being that arrives in the suburbs of the Roman Empire, makes a strong connection with a small group of followers, heals the wounded, tries to “phone home” in the Garden of Gethsemane, is wrongfully killed by the authorities, rises from the dead, and ascends into heaven after saying, “I’ll be back.”

E.T. is Jesus and John Williams is the greatest living composer.