WHEN STEPHEN Bell ascends the podium in Leisureland to conduct the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in an evening of music by John Williams, he will do so, not only as a lifelong fan of film scores, but as someone who has worked with John Williams himself.
John Williams, composer of some of the greatest and most memorable music for film, such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Superman, ET, Schindler’s List, and Jurassic Park, turns 90 this month, and to celebrate, Music for Galway presents a concert of his music with the RTÉ CO, with Stephen Bell conducting.
Indeed this week saw the appointment of Stephen as principal guest conductor of the RTÉ CO. Clearly, the Force is strong with this one.
“I’m thrilled,” Stephen tells me during our Monday afternoon interview. “I’ve worked with the orchestra since 2015. They are terrific and versatile musicians, they work hard and play hard, and I love that ethos and atmosphere. For 30 years I was in the BBC Concert Orchestra, so having been in a broadcast orchestra gives me a perspective, an understanding, of the challenges in having such a broad repertoire. We have to be chameleons and switch styles off the top of our heads.”
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Stephen Bell conducting the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
The concert takes place on Thursday February 10 at 8pm and it will mark Stephen’s debut appearance in Galway. “I’ve played in Dublin before, so for me, to take this concert on the road and to parts of Ireland we don’t always tour, is great,” he says.
'A lifelong fascination'
Described in 2011 by International Record Review as “one of the most gifted younger British conductors”, Stephen Bell studied at the Royal College of Music under renowned conductor Norman Del Mar. He has since worked with the Royal Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Hallé, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, ERT National Symphonic Orchestra (Athens ), Brighton Philharmonic, and Ulster Orchestra.
From Bury, Lancashire, Stephen did not grow up in a musical family, but his parents sent him to piano lessons, and were encouraging of their son's musical talents. “My parents were very supportive,” he says. “That’s key for any young musician. You have to be dedicated, and practice, and make those networks, but to keep going you need that support from your parents.”
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Stephen Bell conducting the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
Bury is about 10 miles from Manchester, and Stephen’s first visit to the big city would be formative in more ways than one.
“I remember going to the cinema a lot in the 1970s and 1980s and my first time in Manchester was to see The Empire Strikes Back,” Stephen recalls. “To grow up listening to soundtracks, and from that era, so many of them were John Williams scores. It’s led to a lifelong fascination with it and how it works.”
‘Nobody does it better’
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John Williams.
Williams' music is as essential to films he composes for, as are the main characters in those films. His scores capture, enhance, and explore those character’s essential qualities and personalities as much as their actions and dialogues. It is impossible to imagine those films without them. Great though they are, they would be lesser without Williams’ music. And yet, the finest of Williams compositions can stand alone as great orchestral works.
Little wonder, that when it comes to film music, Stephen declares, “there is nobody better than John Williams”.
“The opening theme for Star Wars is one of the most recognised pieces of music in the world,” he says. “It’s partially due to the success of the film, but it is also partially due to the quality of the music. That opening note! It just grabs you by the throat and says ‘You’re coming on an adventure with me!’ What a way to start a film!”
Stephen discusses the essential qualities of Williams music, and also why he matters as a composer for orchestra.
“Williams can make you laugh, make you cry, make you hide behind the sofa. I’m fascinated by the way he marries the visuals with the music. Music touches us in different ways. It reminds us of a place, or of a time, or of a person, but how do you do that in real time? How does it make you feel in the moment, when you are watching the film? John Williams does that better than anybody else. Nobody will surpass him.
“What I also love, and in particular in the Star Wars films, is the way he can indicate things almost subliminally. Think of the ‘Imperial March’. It’s a very menacing piece. Sometimes you hear it in the background, and Darth Vader may not even be on screen, but that music says he is about to be or his influence is not far away, even if, in the moment, you don’t clock that that is happening. It’s Wagner-esque! It’s a clever way of identifying a character. Think of Jaws. You only need to hear those two low notes and you know who and what it is. Other composers also did that, but John Williams took it to a new level and did it on a grand scale.
“He almost single handedly revived the continuation of orchestral music for films. In ‘golden era Hollywood’, all the major studios had their own orchestras, but when Williams began working, movie soundtracks were tending towards the pop song and other forms, rather than orchestras. He went against that and maintained the tradition of the orchestra, and in doing so inspired a later generation of composers like Hans Zimmer, Michael Kamen, and Alexandre Desplat, who have carried that on.
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Stephen Bell conducting RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
“His music is a joy to perform as well. It’s very busy, very lively. A lot of film music is very static and atmospheric, but with John Williams, there is always plenty to play. It’s exhilarating from start to finish.”
Meeting John Williams
Stephen is a hugely respected and in-demand conductor. He is also a player of the French Horn as a member of an orchestra, and it was in this mode that he worked with John Williams, recording the soundtracks for Attack of the Clones and Revenge of The Sith in the iconic Abbey Road studios in London.
“That was a real ‘pinch yourself’ moment,” Stephen admits. “I was standing in the control booth at Abbey Road, watching the screen listening to the ‘Battle of the Heroes’ [the theme for the climactic duel between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi]. On one side of me was John Williams, on the other was George Lucas. That was quite something. It was also fascinating for me as we had just recorded the music and were watching how it synced up with that scene from the film, and realising we were watching it for the first time - among the first people to do so.”
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John Williams.
Meeting Williams, Stephen admits to being “a little star struck”, but was impressed by how “very quietly spoken, very modest” the composer was. He was also startled by Williams’ discipline and work rate.
“He has a complete 100 per cent focus when he is working,” says Stephen. “That is an important thing. He is able to change a piece very quickly, off the top of his head, if he thinks it will work better, and it shows the kind of command he has to hear the music in such clarity and detail.”
Tickets are €30/27/26/15 via www.musicforgalway.ie or 091 - 705962.
