Klarinet Archive - Posting 000037.txt from 1997/05

From: "David B. Niethamer" <niethamer@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: Music, performance, and marching bands
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 18:16:53 -0400

Mark Charette wrote:

>>Maybe the "Star Wars Theme" isn't the "Marriage of Figaro", but
>>they stem from the same needs.

On 5/1/97 2:17 PM, Lord Rob responded:
>
>The Star Wars Theme may not be "The Marriage of Figaro", but it
>DOES stem from Puccini's opera "Manon Lescaut"! (Just like the
>Jaws theme is just an obvious ripoff of Dvorak's 9th Symphony.)

I always thought the one bit of original music John Williams wrote was
the Jaws theme. While it is similar to Dvorak 9, it bears an even more
striking resemblance to Prokofiev's "Battle on the Ice" from Alexander
Nevsky - plagiarized, even.

But Stravinsky said that good composers borrow from other composers -
great composers steal!

David

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
niethamer@-----.edu
dbnclar1@-----.com
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

This message sent from Claris Em@-----.0