Star Wars: John Williams Recovering From Hospitalization

Star Wars fans were shocked to learn that iconic composer John Williams had to cancel appearances [...]

Star Wars fans were shocked to learn that iconic composer John Williams had to cancel appearances due to being hospitalized last week, though we can now breathe a sigh of relief as Williams is reportedly out of the hospital and resuming his previously scheduled commitments.

SoundTrackFest confirmed the news about Williams leaving the hospital, which also noted that he will be returning to Los Angeles, California.

While the nature of the illness was never disclosed, with the composer being 86 years old, even the tamest health issue could cause complications. Luckily, Williams is proving to be as everlasting as the music he has created in his impressive career.

Shortly after the announcement was made last week that Williams would have to cancel a performance, his management team released a statement reading, "John is so sorry that an illness prevents him from conducting Friday's concert, and he's grateful to his friend Maestro Dirk Brass for taking the podium in his place. He so wishes he could be with everyone, and the knowledge that 5,000 of his friends will be joining together to celebrate his music is a great comfort to him as he recovers. He wishes everyone a very joyous evening of music."

Dating back to Star Wars: A New Hope, Williams' score has been an integral component of the franchise, as we enjoyed the film's opening theme before meeting a single character. Williams crafted not only the scores to the original trilogy, but also the prequel trilogy, and concludes his tenure in the galaxy far, far away by crafting the score for Star Wars: Episode IX.

According to Mark Hamill, who more fans would likely recognize from the series, Williams deserves the most praise for making the saga what it is, other than George Lucas.

"Aside from George Lucas, nobody deserves more credit for the success of Star Wars than John Williams," the actor shared with Variety.

The actor went on to recall the experience of watching Williams compose a live recording of the score to Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

"It's indescribable, how he elevates every scene. He's got to understand the emotion of the scene, the dynamics of whatever conflict we're trying to portray, as deeply as an actor does," Hamill confessed. "In a way, that's even more complex. As an actor, you're only one person, one instrument in the orchestra. He's the entire cast."

Fans can hear Williams' final Star Wars score when Episode IX lands in theaters in December of 2019.

[H/T SoundTrackFest]

2comments