John Williams Piano Day

I make no attempt to hide the fact that I love John Williams’ music. I’m not so much a conniseur as Nigel is – I don’t clamour for every bit of information, like when Maurice Murphy retired from the LSO, and so the Superman theme won’t sound the same ever again; or who is J.W’s frequent collaborator. But I enjoy his music just as much – in fact, much more than other popular songs, which I hardly listen to. Also, John William’s the top amongst my classical playlists.

Also, a lesser known fact is I do play the piano, and I like the piano. And I was thinking, why not make today, March 3rd, John Williams Day, and Piano Day? Or even better, John Williams Piano Day!

Today, I’m going to show you five (5) not-very-famous YouTube videos that feature lots of talent in the piano, and what I think about them. I’ve looked thru YouTube and vetted thru hundreds of crappy videos. What I’m looking for is skill in piano (i.e. the ability to handle complex notations on both hands). Bonus points to those who arranged their own music. And also, I looked for detail and effort.

Here are the top 5, starting at number 5:

5. Schindler’s List
   
   Ah… Schindler’s List. Who can forget the haunting music of Itzhak Perlman’s violin? In the piano version, her tempo is gone, but I still rate it better than the most popular Schinder’s List player¹. Why? Simply put, hers is slighly more technical than the most popular guy’s, and also it is quite visible she put some effort into playing it. I’d have have StarryAngel’s Schinder’s List², as hers is really detailed, but she made too many mistakes.
4. Can You Read My Mind (Superman Love Theme)
   
   If you listen carefully, this is actually a variation of the original Williams’ composition. I suspect this was a made-for-piano sheet music. But the reason why I listed him is once again, technical skills. Not much admittedly, but still far more skillful than his bumbling competition on YouTube. Not Maksim-ish skills, nor Lang Lang’s subtlety (or lack thereof haha), but still far better than the rest. There was one more³ that sounded really good, but it wasn’t played by the uploader, so I didn’t include it.
2. Jaws
   
   This one is tied with the one below – Indiana Jones Theme Song. The two-tone menacing soundtrack is really faithfully replicated here with the piano. The piece is filled with tiny details that made the song awesome, tiny undertones that mimic water and danger. And they didn’t go unmissed in the piano version. I’ve seen many people on youtube just playing the two tones, but this one outshines the rest on the basis of detail. Also, there are some audible variances to the original theme, and I welcome that.
2. Indiana Jones Theme Song
   
   Again, this one scores for the detail and effort put into the piece. Also, the self-made variation. I believe this piece is not from a sheet music, but an original arrangement. This is tied with the Jaws piece because I simply can’t or won’t make the distinction who’s better. They both each have their strengths and weaknesses, the Indiana Jones piece being that the player couldn’t keep time well enough – I caught the timing off abit in the middle. But still a very good play.
1. Star Wars Theme Song
   This one is so good that anything you hear after this one pales in comparison. Also, it doesn’t have an embed link, so to watch it, click here. The devil is in the details. This guy managed to replicate most of the orchestra on the piano. That’s right, you didn’t read wrong, he managed to replicate most of the orchestra on the piano. How awesome is that! I challenge you to top that! (HT: Nigel)

Bonus:
You’ve read so far. Here’s a bonus – a really good version of Korobeiniki on the piano:

Footnotes:

1. click here to watch Schlinder’s List on Piano [↩]
2. click here to watch Theme from Schinder’s List (Piano) [↩]
3. click here to watch [↩]