30 – 31 January LABS (Lunds Akademsika Blåsarsymfonkiker/ Lund’s Academic Symphonic Wind Orchestra) and LAK (Lunds Akademiska Kör/ Lund’s Academic Choir) performed two concerts of film music, in the St Andreas Church in Malmö on Saturday, and in the assembly hall of Lund’s university on Sunday. The two ensembles together plus a number of soloists equaled at least 80 people on stage, maybe as much as 90. We played music from Lord of the Rings (Howard Shore) and Henry V (Patrick Doyle). The main composer of the weekend was John Williams. From his extraordinary repertoire we played Star Wars Saga, a medley of themes from the original trilogy, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List and Duel of the fates from Star Wars Episode I.

Williams is a living legend in the world of film scores. I’ve listened so much to his music through the years, but this was the first time I actually played it. I felt as excited as the little kid I saw in the audience who probably had never heard Star Wars live before. The way he marveled at the percussion section really made my day. Williams’s music, as well as the Star Wars films, is highly romantic, almost exaggeratedly romantic. I always loved exaggeration. Caricature for me is usually more real than realism. But that’s just me.

I listened to the complete scores for the original Star Wars trilogy at work all day today, since I wasn’t ready to leave that far away galaxy just yet. These clips are from our sunday concert in Lund. Enjoy!