“You know how it is when someone asks you to ride in a terrific sports car, and then you wish you hadn’t?”

That’s how American composer John Adams describes his piece, “Short Ride in a Fast Machine“. Of note here is the wood block part – it plays a steady beat, like a metronome, in time with the orchestra, but not always on the same strong beat as the other instruments. Every once in a while, it skips a half-beat.

If you live anywhere near where  I do, the rain is really coming down today!

Art imitates life; you can find all kinds of musical attempts to capture the spirit of a good cleansing storm. You got your gentle snow storm, your generic winter storm, and then you got your classic thunderstorm, compliments of Gioachino Rossini and his opera, The Barber of Seville. Like most Italian opera, it’s light and elegant.

John Williams is easily the most-performed living composer. His film scores are so good that they can elevate an average movie to epic status. Seriously, Star Wars would not be what it is without its music. There are plenty of good film composers, but Williams stands out in his ability to write memorable melodies that become as iconic as the movie itself – merely mention one of the movies he scored, and you’ll hear the music: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jaws, Superman, ET, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEneq8fKpQw&ab_channel=AntonioCabralAntonioCabral