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Does anybody out there find the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber soppy?
Most of us have been taken with "Don’t cry for me Argentina" ... shown last night on our local TV with Madonna in the title role of Evita Peron (to ALW’s mushy music) ... and there was I hoping to be educated in the 1936 rise to fame of Evita Peron ... but what a let-down ... necessitating a remote switch of channels after half an hour of lumpy viewing.
However, upon reflection, and going back many moons ... I can remember a respected bridge friend flying all the way to London, and returning home ecstatic over "The Phantom of the Opera" ... ferreting a lucid description of what it was all about however, resolved into a gasping dose of mindless words like "amazing" ... somehow the ditties pass me by ... to be more explicit, the stuff is found to be nauseous and worthy of the ashcan.
But what do you chaps think?
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There was a time when Pianist Corner was my first morning port-of-call, over a strong cup of tea (terribly English ... don’t you know!!) ... but now the passion seems to be waning ... must be getting old!!
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But what do you chaps think?
A good mate of mine always talks about Lloyd Webber using such colouful language... and I quite agree! Most of his stuff is just past bearing... remember the Requiem?
Jason
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I have a love hate relationship with ALW... It was b/c of him and Phantom of the Opera that I first became interested in musicals and the piano actually. Hey, I was a young teenager at the time! (But then I prefered Raoul over the Phantom...)
Don't love his recent stuff. But, I'd have to say Jesus Christ Superstar is my fav of his. Watch it ever Holy Week!
Elizabeth @->-->--
Kimball 4520, Yamaha CP70-B, Yamaha PSR-150
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I like his more classical approach to some music, but not his modernistic music. But it is all very well written. ALW is the closest thing a classical musician ever became to a world famous rock star status.
Hailun HU7P 1799 John Broadwood and son square 1800 George Astor London square 1810 Gibson and Davis New York square 1830 John Broadwood and sons square
Aeolian-Hammond BA player organ Conn 652 theater organ 1922 Kotykiewicz two manual harmonium 1880s karn pump organ
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I must admit I don't know too much about him, and though I found Jesus Christ Superstar enjoyable I don't like him because he plagiarized a theme from Echoes by Pink Floyd. I love that masterpiece!
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the man is a thieve, and whoever likes his music is a reciever, what's the panel's opinion on J. Wiliams, Hollywood, USA?
Longtemps, je me suis couché de bonne heure, but not anymore!
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I think ALW has written some great melodies, and I like a lot of what he has written, but not everything. As far as him having plagiarized Pink Floyd I'm betting it wasn't intentional. I myself am not a fan of Floyd (not knocking them just isn't my style of music) and have heard very little of their music (I think Dark side of the Moon is the only one of their albums I've ever listened to all the way through) if you played me the recording in question I probably couldn't tell you who it was. I'm guessing that ALW probably hasn't heard a whole lot of their music either. There are only so many notes in a scale and so many ways to combine them, it's very difficult to actually sit down and try to play a decent melody that has never been played before. Try it sometime!! I've heard many a popular tune that has a melody that's been lifted from one of the great masters. Even some of the great masters wrote music based on themes already written by someone else. Most jazz is based on Standards from the 30s and 40s. That AWL used a theme that is similar to something Pink floyd wrote, doesn't really concern me. Many other composers have done the same thing (most of it I'm sure was unintentional, even if they were successfully sued for it).
Retired Army reserve Bandsman who now plays for the Joy of Music!!
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I just suspect that he had quite some classical training, just like his brother, Julian, the cellist, and that he exactly knows where to take what from, only his audience, well, just doen't know, heck, they think they went really to the opera after having been at 'the Phantom', same applies to the average cinema-crowd being mesmerized by harmonically castrated Prokofiev in any modern H.wood-prod.
Longtemps, je me suis couché de bonne heure, but not anymore!
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the man is a thieve, and whoever likes his music is a reciever, what's the panel's opinion on J. Wiliams, Hollywood, USA? Well I actually like some of the scores of John Williams. I'll at least admit (here) to liking the Star Wars stuff. Sure, it's all a combination of Brahms, Puccini, Strauss (R), Wagner, Elgar, Prokofiev... Mr. Williams knew where to mine. But calling him a 'thieve' seems a bit rough on the guy. I would hazard that without exception most film composers do the same thing. Max Steiner and Erich Korngold were incredibly equipped composers -they got their Germanic training from the fountain- and I don't see much wrong with it. What did you expect anyway? And quite frankly I think those men wrote glorious movie scores.
Jason
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Thanks fan for that ... doesn’t all the stuff you’re mentioning (a la Star Wars) fall into the genre of quality “mood music†... so popular and well-orchestrated to eventually qualify as movie symphonic music ... your mention of Erich Korngold has me in full support of his contribution to this type of music.
Why, there’s swaggering swordsman Errol Flynn in The Sea Hawk, as privateer Captain Geoffrey Thorpe, poking the Spanish Armada in the eye for Queen E1 (Dame Flora Robson) ... while the Oscar-nominated score skilfully knits the many intrigues together, for the hero to finally get his gal, turncoat Lord Wolfingham get a sliver of steel through his treacherous gut (for nefariously backing Spain) , and Queen Elizabeth making a rousing closing speech ... for England to build a brave new fleet of men’o’war ... hurrah for the Brits!!
But in closing, can’t support your modest defence of Andrew Lloyd Webber ... he doesn’t begin to match the class of Korngold, Steiner and Williams ... the chappie makes me want to puke ( vomit, throw up, get sick ... thus the remote ) ... sorry about that.
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Soppy isn't the word I'd use. I love Webber's music. Have since Jesus Christ Superstar in the 1970s. Was very impressed when I first saw the Evita movie a few years ago. I discovered then that Madonna actually can sing -- who knew? I was amazed. Now the word soppy fits the pop music that made her rich.
You gotta love Cats. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was pretty cool. Starlight Express has one of the best blues pieces I've ever heard called Poppa's Blues as well as a lot of other cool stuff. Whistle Down the Wind was excellent. Phantom was brilliant and I can't wait to hear the music from the new one Love Never Dies which is a sequel to Phantom. The overture is on youtube and it's very good.
Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of the great composers of all time in my opinion. Probably the most versitile since he crosses into all genres. Can you think of another composer that can do rock, opera, orchestrial, jazz, blues, flaminco, pop etc etc and do them all well? But even Webber can't please everybody. And some people think Mozart is soppy.
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Phantom was brilliant and I can't wait to hear the music from the new one Love Never Dies which is a sequel to Phantom. The overture is on youtube and it's very good. Without hearing the music itself, I've hear it's pretty good. But... I refuse to give it a try, mainly cause it butchers the story, imo. I think it ended fine where it ended.
Elizabeth @->-->--
Kimball 4520, Yamaha CP70-B, Yamaha PSR-150
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it butchers the story, imo. I think it ended fine where it ended. Phantom ended in a cliffhanger -- the howling mob was coming for him and that's where it ends. We don't know if they caught him or if he escaped. I can't wait to find out what happened to him. Of course you're free to obstain.
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What a load of bilge ... that should have come from kbk.
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Without being a huge fan of A.L.Webber, it has to be said that he's composed some very fine, and interesting music. Here is one of his more recent compositions performed during the Eurovision song contest, an event with audience figures sometimes quoted to be between 100-600 million international viewers - quite a scoop for Wendl & Lung which I believe is the piano that ALW appears to be playing. HEREFor all the ALW detractors in this thread, can we please hear any of your own compositions in order to make a fair comparison......
Currently working on:- C Major scale (r/h only - starting with the pinkie finger)......
Dear Noah, We could have sworn you said the ark wasn't leaving till 5. Yours sincerely, The Unicorns
(Sent from my Sinclair ZX81)..........
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What a load of bilge ... that should have come from kbk. I resemble that remark.
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For all the ALW detractors in this thread, can we please hear any of your own compositions in order to make a fair comparison...... The same should be requested of the ALW fans, for the same reason, don't you think?
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For those who possess the good taste to appreciate such things-- I listened to the soundtrack CD of Love Never Dies for the first time last night. It is, in a word, brilliant - both the music and the story.
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Piano
by Gino2 - 04/17/24 02:34 PM
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Piano
by Gino2 - 04/17/24 02:23 PM
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