Orchestral music walloped me when I entered a man’s home a few years ago. I was flabbergasted that a devotee of professional football and dinner theater was blaring what initially sounded like Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen.
The joke was on me. Upon rushing to his entertainment center I discovered he was enjoying a John Williams score for a Star Wars flick. Until that moment I hadn’t understood how closely the prolific film composer based his sound on the works of Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss and Wagner.
As a weirdo who rarely watches movies, the new compilation Legacy is a revelation. Much of the 78 minutes performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles and the Wiener Philharmoniker is entirely new to me.
Seemingly everyone else has long appreciated Williams’ Pops-style themes. What they lack in nuance is made up for in the pleasure they offer. I suspect Williams has composed hours of additional music that merits comparison to Wagner. For now, I’m hooked on the hits I’d missed.