A personal favorite composer, John Williams, recently hit a new milestone with his 64th Grammy nomination for the track “The Book Thief” from the original soundtrack album of the same title. It has been nominated for Best Instrumental Composition at this year’s Grammy Awards, presented for albums released between Oct. 1, 2013, and Sept. 30, 2014.
I know the Williams’ Oscar nominated score from the album, but only recently saw the movie itself. I was curious how well it would work with the images and story; how well it might meet the visions of the director and underline, enhance the playing by lead Sophie Nelisse. No surprise, to all of the above, it did beautifully and I think the score is a masterpiece – in the classic sense. This track is currently playing on Mood’s Sunday Pops and Silver Screen channels.
Williams has received a total of 21 Grammys, including recent wins for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Memoirs of a Geisha, and Munich. This places him 8th on the all time win list, tying him with Kanye West. This leaves only 11 to go to surpass the great Sir Georg Solti.
The 57th Grammy Awards will be held in Los Angeles on February 8, 2015 (John Williams’ birthday).
– Submitted by Jim Fisher, Music Design