Intrada Records announced the release of a newly expanded and remastered soundtrack 3-CD limited edition of John Williams' triumphant score for The Patriot, the historical epic drama from 2000 directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Mel Gibson as a hero of the American Revolution.

The Academy Award-nominated score by Maestro Williams is a powerful, ambitious work full of stirring emotions enhancing the rousing adventure aspect of the film, but also replete with lyrical moments accompanying the inner feelings of the characters, including tender folk-like violin solos by Mark O'Connor. The score has plenty to offer in terms of themes and leitmotifs: a sonorous Americana theme and fanfare-like material for main hero Benjamin Martin; a gorgeous love theme for the characters of Anne and Gabriel; a haunting trumpet solo echoing Benjamin's traumatic war memories; plus a handful of secondary motifs. Williams also addresses the period in which the film takes place with authentic fife-and-drum music.

The new soundtrack release is mastered, edited and produced for Intrada by Mike Matessino and presents the complete film presentation of Williams' score on Disc 1 and 2, plus a solid selection of alternate cues and a generous selection of source music tracks, including several composed by John Williams (got to thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com for the full track listing). A remastered presentation of the original Hollywood Records soundtrack album from 2000 rounds off the third disc. The 3-CD set also features a colorful booklet with film stills and in-depth liner notes by John Takis.

The release will be available to order starting January 20th at Intrada.com and will begin shipping immediately afterwards.

Intrada has graciously allowed The Legacy of John Williams to present an exclusive preview of this magnificent new release, hosted by Maurizio Caschetto and Tim Burden, including a full unreleased track ("The Defeat At Charleston").

Special Thanks to Roger Feigelson and Jeff Johnson at Intrada, Mike Matessino and John Takis.

Sing a song for the glorious season!

The Legacy of John Williams presents a special Christmas episode of its podcast series to celebrate the music of the Maestro during this magical, lyrical time of the year together with friends and a few esteemed guests, a sort of Christmas party with people gathering to exchange wishes and reminiscing what made us fall in love with John Williams’s music when we were kids. For this occasion, Mike Matessino joins Tim Burden and Maurizio Caschetto as co-host of the talk.

Kicking off the festivities is journalist, author and lecturer Jon Burlingame, USA’s leading writer on the subject of music for films and television. Burlingame has interviewed John Williams many times over the years, becoming friendly with the composer and chronicling with accurate reporting the many milestones of his career.

The talk continues with another renowned authority on film music: author and writer Jeff Bond. Joining afterwards are several first-time guests on the podcast: New York-based musicians Deniz Cordell and Annie Pasqua, soundtrack producer Neil Bulk and LOJW Contributing Writer Miguel Andrade. Returning guests Jason LeBlanc and John Takis round off the table of this special Christmas episode.

It’s time to grab your favourite Holiday drink, sit down in the comfort of your chair, put the headphones on and feel that gingerbread feeling while listening to this cheerful conversation among friends and connoisseurs sharing their love for John Williams’s music and going somewhere in their memory to tell about how it all began.

Read more at https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2024/12/23/podcast-christmas-special/

When it comes to the world of percussion in the orchestral canon, very few musicians in the world can bring to the table the same level of expertise, knowledge and mastery as Neil Percy, the Principal Percussion of the London Symphony Orchestra since 1990 and Head of Timpani and Percussion at the Royal Academy of Music since 2000.

Neil performed in more than 150 film soundtracks, working with such composers as John Williams, James Horner, Patrick Doyle, Trevor Jones and Alexandre Desplat with their music for films such as Harry Potter, Star Wars, Braveheart, Notting Hill, Twilight: New Moon and Unbroken, to name a very few. His experiences with John Williams are among Neil’s most cherished memories of playing with the LSO, as he matured a sincere love for the Maestro’s music over the years.

In this conversation, Neil Percy sits down with The Legacy of John Williams to talk about his career in music, the fulfilling of his dream of being part of the LSO and his many memories of playing for John Williams on such film scores as Star Wars and Harry Potter, and also on several studio recordings conducted by the Maestro, offering his unique perspective as a percussion player.

Read more at https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2024/11/29/neil-percy-podcast/