Archival Research and the Study of the Concert Presentations of Film Music

The Case of John Williams and the Boston Pops

Authors

  • Emilio Audissino University of West London

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jfm.30701

Keywords:

Arthur Fiedler, Boston Pops orchestra, film music in concert, John Williams

Abstract

Film music has increasingly populated the concert programs inthe last twenty years. Yet, the presentation of the film-music repertoire in concerts is a corner of the film–music fieldthat has received little scholarly attention. Archival research combined with the study of audio–visual documents in particular is the key to reconstruct the story of the presentation of film music in concerts. As a case study, I present the findings of the research that I conducted in Boston, U.S.A., in 2010 and 2011. Its aim was to demonstrate John Williams's seminal contribution to the legitimization of film music as a viable concert repertoire during his tenure as conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra—“America's orchestra”. The results showed very convincingly that John Williams's association withthe most trend–setting and visible orchestra in the U.S.A. has been a major force and a seminal influence for the acceptance of film music as a legitimate concert repertoire.

References

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Published

2016-08-30

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Audissino, E. (2016). Archival Research and the Study of the Concert Presentations of Film Music: The Case of John Williams and the Boston Pops. Journal of Film Music, 6(2), 147-163. https://doi.org/10.1558/jfm.30701

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