Las Abejas, or "The Bees," is a Christian pacifist civil society group of Tzotzil Maya formed in Chenalho, Chiapas in 1992 following a familial property dispute that left one person killed. When members of the community took the injured man to the nearest town for medical attention, they were accused of attacking him themselves and jailed. When family members realized what had happened, they began a pilgrimage on foot to San Cristóbal de Las Casas. Along the way, Christian pacifists in other villages joined the group, which is dedicated to peace, justice, and anti-neoliberalism. Las Abejas freed their companions and grew as an organization.

When the Zapatista Army of National Liberation uprising took place in 1994, Las Abejas stood in solidarity with the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional's (EZLN) ends and principles, but not their violent means. They paid a high price for their support however, when on December 22, 1997, forty-five of their members were massacred while praying in a church, in what has come to be known as the Acteal Massacre.

Origins[link]

Roots[link]

The catalyst for the formation of Las Abejas was a land dispute that occurred in 1992, but the roots of the organization go back to the work of the progressive Roman Catholic Church in Chiapas, particularly under the leadership of Bishop Samuel Ruiz. Bishop Ruiz, who was influenced by Liberation Theology and in particular by the meeting of Latin American bishops (the Latin American Episcopal Conference) in Medellin, Colombia in 1968. The Catholic Church and its pastoral workers, under Bishop Ruiz's leadership, began to focus on defending the dignity of the poor, with an emphasis on encouraging peasants to find in the Bible a message of liberation from oppression. The pastoral workers introduced the language of human rights as a way to denounce what many saw as systems of oppression.^[1]

Las Abejas also began in a distinct political context. Chenalho, the municipality where Las Abejas was formed, had long been a stronghold of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, or PRI), but economic difficulties in the 1970s and even more so in the 1980s gave other political parties the opportunity to strengthen. Several peasant organizations, some allied with particular political parties, also formed during this time.

Several events in the months preceding the formation of Las Abejas were also important. The Xi'Nich' March for Human Rights of the Indigenous Peoples was a march of about 700 indigenous people from Palenque, Chiapas to Mexico City. The march, which began on March 7, 1992, was to protest government corruption, political repression, and cuts in spending in rural areas that affected indigenous populations. A second march, from various indigenous areas to San Cristobal de Las Casas, occurred on October 12, 1992, attracting as many as 10,000 participants concerned about indigenous rights. Protesters toppled a statue of Diego de Mazariegos, the Spanish conquistador who had founded the colonial city. Beyond the many participants in the two marches, likely including many from Chenalho, the attention which the marches attracted led many indigenous people to consider the power of nonviolent protest for indigenous rights.^[2]

The Land Dispute[link]

Las Abejas emerged in this setting in response to a dispute over a 120-hectare plot of land in Tz'anhem-Bolom, near the town of Tzajal-ch'en in the municipality of Chenalho, Chiapas. According to researcher Christine Kovic, it is unclear who the original owner of the property was, with some saying that the land was communally-owned and -farmed while others saying it was private property, jointly held by the earlier owner's three children: Catarina, Agustin, and Maria Hernandez Lopez.^[3] Regardless of who the original owner actually was, the governmental Department of Agrarian Reform was not helpful in resolving the dispute, despite requests from both sides of the disagreement, according to Kovic.^[3]

The disagreement arose at least in part because Agustin Hernandez Lopez did not want to share the inherited land with his two sisters.^[4] There was also a political element to the disagreement, as Agustin was affiliated with the PRI (and thus was supported by the PRI-dominated municipal government of Chenalho), while his nephew, Nicolas Gutierrez Hernandez, who led those who did not believe that his uncle had the right to full ownership of the land, was affiliated with the Teacher-Peasant Solidarity Movement (Solidaridad Campesina Magisterial, or SOCAMA), which was affiliated with the national teachers' union and was in frequent conflict with the PRI.^[3]

The community of Tz'anhem-Bolom considered the dispute and ordered that the three siblings share the land equally. Agustin, who did not agree with their decision, instead "kept 60 hectares for himself and gave the 60 remaining hectares to his political supporters in a number of Chenalho hamlets rather than to his sisters."^[5] The situation led many people in the community to rally to one side or the other of the dispute and solve the disagreement through violence, but others insisted upon a nonviolent resolution to the problem. This group of people, representing 22 different communities and committed to dialogue and nonviolence, formed Las Abejas on December 9, 1992, as an independent organization under the auspices of the Society of Coffee Producers of Tzajal-ch'en.^[6]

A view of Acteal, site of the 1997 massacre that killed 45 members of Las Abejas. The prominent chapel was constructed after the massacre; the wooden chapel in which members of Las Abejas were praying when the massacre began is still standing; its roof is partially visible in the picture above and to the right of the new chapel.

The name "Las Abejas" (Spanish for "the bees") was chosen, according to one member of the organization, because "like the bees we want to build our houses together, to collectively work and enjoy the fruit of our work. We want to produce 'honey' but also to share with anyone who needs it... We know that, like the little bees, the work is slow but the result is sure because it is collective."^[7] Another member of the organization notes a political element in the choice of the name: "The bee is a very small insect that is able to move a sleeping cow when it pricks. Our struggle is like a bee that pricks, that is our resistance, but it's non-violent."^[7]

The very next day, on December 10, 1992, the violence escalated. Supporters of Agustin shot at his nephews Nicolas, Vicente, and Lorenzo, ultimately killing Vicente. Some residents of Tzajal-ch'en contacted the (PRI-affiliated) municipal authorities in Chenalho to request an ambulance so as to transport the wounded men to the hospital in San Cristobal de las Casas. When the men trying to help the injured reached the road, they were met not by the ambulance but the police, who arrested five of the men without warrant. The municipal authorities accused the five men of having participated in the attacks and they were brought to the Centro de Readaptacion Social 5 jail in San Cristobal de las Casas.^[6] Those arrested and detained included Felipe Hernandez Perez, Mariano Perez Vasquez, Sebastian Perez Vasquez, and Manuel Perez Gutierrez.^[8] (The fifth detainee, according to a report from the Centro de Investigaciones Economicas y Politicas de Accion Comunitaria, or CIEPAC, was Antonio Perez Gutierrez).^[9]

The members of the newly-formed Las Abejas were very upset by what they considered to be the unjust detention of these individuals. Their complaints to the municipal authorities, however, proved futile; in fact, the State's Attorney General, Rafael Gonzales Lastra, sought to apprehend other members of Las Abejas, ostensibly in relation to the violence done to Vicente, Nicolas, and Lorenzo Gutierrez Hernandez.^[8] Supporters of Agustin Hernandez Lopez also attacked the wives of the three wounded men, raping one of them, but there was no response to the attacks even after the women filed a formal complaint.^[6]

Frustrated by the injustices committed by the municipal authorities, the members of Las Abejas organized a 41-kilometer march to San Cristobal de las Casas on December 21, 1992, where they staged a sit-in in front of San Cristobal's cathedral to protest the violence and the unjust arrests. 200 indigenous Tzotzil people began the march, and by December 24, as many as 5,000 indigenous people joined in a march to the prison where the five men were being held.^[10] After an additional protest event on January 4, 1993 drew 800 indigenous people from Chenalho as well as from seven other municipalities, the state's attorney finally released the five prisoners on January 7 because of "'disappearance of evidence,' meaning that the evidence offered in the case could not be considered legally valid, perhaps because it had been fabricated in the first place."^[11]

Alternate Version of the Origins of Las Abejas[link]

While most scholars, and, based on their research, members of Las Abejas themselves seem to generally agree that the organization was officially founded in December 1992 as the result of the land dispute described above, the organization may have existed in some form a year earlier. In an interview on November 4, 1997, some members of Las Abejas told SIPAZ (the International Service for Peace) that the organization was formed in 1991, when a group of people organized to demand the release of five Catholic catechists from the El Cerezo I prison in San Cristobal de las Casas. According to the SIPAZ interview, the group "made a pilgrimage with music, fireworks, and prayers" and "issued several bulletins and magazines" in Chenalho.^[12] After the release of the five imprisoned catechists, those that had organized around their release adopted the name "Las Abejas." It is not entirely clear whether this is a different version of the story of the release of the five imprisoned men who sought to help those wounded in the land dispute, with some discrepancy on the date of the event, or if this account refers to a separate event that preceded the land dispute.

Religious Commitments[link]

Las Abejas is a Christian organization, with faith central to the organizational identity. One member of Las Abejas explains the origin of their name (Las Abejas, or The Bees) saying that "a bee has a queen... The queen signifies the Kingdom of God... The queen, God, wants neither injustice nor violence nor imprisonment but liberty for all human beings."^[13]

Ecumenicism[link]

While most members of Las Abejas identify themselves as Roman Catholic, and the organization has been strongly influenced by Roman Catholic Bishop of Chiapas Samuel Ruiz, there are members of several different religious traditions included as members of Las Abejas. About five percent of Las Abejas are Presbyterians and about ten percent are costumbristas, individuals baptized as Catholics but who only follow traditional Mayan religious practices.^[14] There are also a small number of Las Abejas who are a part of a Pentecostal church. According to Marco Tavanti, "inclusion of different religious denominations and experiences is one of the specific aspects of Las Abejas religious identity."^[14]

Commitment to Prayer, Fasting, and Scripture[link]

Las Abejas is firmly committed to prayer, and their decisions are generally made after a great deal of prayer and fasting. For example, when Pablo Romo, a Catholic priest working for the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center, visited Las Abejas shortly after the illegal arrests that occurred in 1992, he asked how he could help, expecting that he might use his title and position to help in writing a letter or informing international human rights organizations of the situation. The response from Las Abejas surprised him: "Father," they told him, "We want to pray, and we want you to pray with us."^[15] They proceeded to pray for the entire night, seeking God's direction. For Las Abejas, public prayers, fasting, and processions are "nonviolent means to seek social change."^[16]

Las Abejas also places a strong emphasis on reading and reflecting upon the Bible (the Palabra de Dios, or the Word of God, as they refer to it). Bishop Samuel Ruiz describes Las Abejas as "a movement inspired by the Word of God."^[17] Under Bishop Ruiz's leadership, catechists of the Catholic Church encourage collective reflections on the Scriptures (as opposed to the top-down teaching method that had been used prior to the 1970s) in which communities find biblical motivation to struggle against injustice and repression, in the tradition of Latin American liberation theology.^[18] One of the founders of Las Abejas says that the members of the organization identify strongly with the story of the Israelites being liberated from slavery in the Old Testament, saying that "these stories of liberation and salvation are alive in today's stories of people searching for freedom and justice."^[19] Based on their understanding of Scripture, Las Abejas place a strong emphasis on caring for orphans and providing hospitality to strangers, and their strict pacifism is also founded, at least in part, in their understanding of the Bible.^[20]

Indigenous Theology[link]

The Christianity practiced by most of Las Abejas is strongly influenced by indigenous theology. Following the leading of Bishop Samuel Ruiz, the Catholic Church in Chenalho and elsewhere in Chiapas has sought to inculturate the Roman Catholic faith into the indigenous context. A Tztotzil Catholic priest explains that "indigenous theology always involves a certain degree of syncretism between popular indigenous Mayan religion with Christian rituals and beliefs. The inculturation of the gospel is therefore a dialogue and an encounter between two religions and cultural systems."^[21] Indigenous theology, as practiced among many of Las Abejas, places a strong emphasis on Mayan medicine, dance, music, and dress integrated into the Christian faith.^[22]

While adapting many traditional indigenous customs, Las Abejas have specifically rejected other customs based upon their religious commitments. For example, Las Abejas forbids the consumption of alcohol, even though this is an important element of some Mayan religious ceremonies.

Another area where Las Abejas' religious identity has led them in ways counter to traditional practices has been in empowering women. Women play a very important role in the activities of Las Abejas, as the work of the Coordinating Body of Diocesan Women (CODIMUJ) of the Catholic Church has led many of Las Abejas women "to question many of the 'traditional' practices that excluded them from political participation."^[23]

Forgiveness and Reconciliation[link]

Particularly in light of violent massacre in Acteal in 1997, the spirituality of Las Abejas has directed them toward forgiveness and reconciliation, while not withdrawing their demands for justice. In general, the members of Las Abejas have followed the lead of Bishop Samuel Ruiz, who at the funeral of those killed in the massacre encouraged Las Abejas "that they should not seek vengeance, but that Christianity offers forgiveness as the path of peace."^[24] Antonio Gutierrez, one of the founding members of Las Abejas, has often recounted the Christ-like forgiveness of Alonso Vasquez Gomez, a catechist in the community and one of those killed in the massacre, who, after seeing his wife and child murdered, reportedly asked God's forgiveness of the killers, since they did not know what they were doing.^[25] The commitment to forgiveness and reconciliation is consistent with Las Abejas' commitment to nonviolence.

Political Affiliation[link]

Las Abejas, since its founding, has been focused on denouncing unjust governmental activities and demanding justice and human rights for indigenous people; as such, it is inherently involved in politics.

Ideology[link]

The political ideology of Las Abejas, which is connected to its religious identity, is opposed to neoliberalism, which they believe keeps them economically oppressed, and militarism. The resistance of Las Abejas is characterized by nonviolence, which distinguishes it from other groups, particularly the EZLN, which have used armed revolution as a means to obtain their demands. While sympathetic to the EZLN, Las Abejas has maintained its independence from the EZLN as well as from all political parties and, particularly, from the Mexican government.

Much of the advocacy of Las Abejas has focused on their right to continue their agricultural work, which they feel has been threatened by national policies and by international trade agreements.^[26] Land is central to the identity of the members of Las Abejas. "The land," one member of Las Abejas told researcher Mario Tavanti, "is our life and our freedom."^[27] The land is closely tied, in their minds, to their dignity as indigenous people.

Relationship to the PRI[link]

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) dominated Mexican politics for many decades, including the municipal government of Chenalho. Las Abejas was founded to be an independent voice for dialogue, in response to violence and unfair detentions by the PRI-dominated municipal government and its supporters. As such, there has always been a tension between Las Abejas and the PRI.

Relationship to the EZLN[link]

Las Abejas have sometimes been accused of being a part of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), but they have always maintained their independence, saying that while they agree with much of the ideology of the EZLN (in support of indigenous rights and opposed to neoliberalism and imperialism), they oppose their violent methods. Since they refuse to fully identify with the Zapatistas, however, Las Abejas have sometimes been viewed suspiciously harassed by the EZLN.^[28]

The Acteal Massacre[link]

Leading up to the Acteal Massacre[link]

After the Zapatista Revolution was declared on January 1, 1994, the Mexican military established a strong presence throughout the region "in order to neutralize and, if possible, destroy the EZLN."^[29] Shortly thereafter, counter-insurgency paramilitary groups appeared, particularly in northern Chiapas and in the Highlands of Chiapas, which were usually loyal to the PRI.

Acteal, a town in the municipality of Chenalho that was the site of a massacre of 45 members of Las Abejas in 1997, was particularly affected by the tension between the Zapatistas and the PRI-affiliated paramilitary groups. Acteal is divided into three distinct areas, one dominated by the Zapatistas, one by the PRI, and one by Las Abejas.^[28] The area affiliated with the PRI, whose residents also tend to be affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in this area, is also known as Acteal Alto (Higher Acteal). The area dominated by the Zapatistas, which they consider to be an autonomous community, is known as Acteal Bajo, or Lower Acteal. Members of Las Abejas occupy a third area of Acteal, in between the other two; the organization "has identified this geographic position as a reflection of their mission of intermediation and identity as nonviolent peacemakers."^[28] Although the commitment to pacifism of Las Abejas firmly distinguished them from the Zapatistas, those affiliated with the PRI in Higher Acteal suspected Las Abejas of being allied with the Zapatistas. The EZLN, conversely, suspected that they may be allied with the PRI-istas. As a result, Las Abejas "were pressured and harassed from both Zapatista and Priista sides."^[28]

The tension between the Zapatistas and the PRI-istas in Acteal intensified in 1996, when the Zapatistas took control of a sand mine in Majomut that had previously benefited a PRI-affiliated peasant organization.^[30] As tensions escalated between the two sides—and with Las Abejas in between—there were a series of ambushes and murders. Between September 1996 up until the time of the Acteal Massacre, eighteen people affiliated with the PRI and twenty-four people affiliated with the EZLN were killed in the Chenalho municipality.^[30] As the violence escalated, both the PRI-istas and the Zapatistas began to expel from the territories that they controlled anyone who would not align themselves with their respective causes. Las Abejas were expelled from several communities, including La Esperanza, Tzajalucum, and Queshtic, and many arrived in the area of Acteal dominated by Las Abejas, where the massacre would take place.^[31]

December 22, 1997[link]

Las Abejas drew international attention when, on December 22, 1997, a paramilitary group killed 45 of its members who were praying in a chapel in the community of Acteal.^[32] That morning, as was a common practice, many members of Las Abejas had gone to the small, wooden, dirt-floored chapel at about 6:00 AM to pray, sing, organize, and talk. Several had been participating in a fast to pray for peace, and they had come to break the fast. They prayed until about 10:30 AM, when they heard shots.^[33]

According to witnesses, the shooters were identified as members of a PRI-affiliated paramilitary group known as mascara roja, or Red Mask, and were transported by Public Security Police pickup trucks.^[33] The shooting continued for a full six hours. According to researcher Alejandro Nadal, who was in Chiapas at the time of the massacre,

At 11:30, the camp was surrounded on three sides by approximately 60 gunmen, most carrying AK-47s, their faces partially concealed by bandannas. The attack started from below the lower embankment, with the first shots fired at the makeshift church. In the commotion that followed, men, women, and children tried to escape. Some stumbled down into the ravine through thick foliage. Three men hid in a small crevasse. A large group huddled together against a furrow on one side of the embankment, with nowhere to go. The killers had time to position themselves and fire at will.^[34]

In all, forty-five people were killed: 15 children, 21 women, and 9 men, with an additional 25 injured.^[35] As the massacre was occurring, "public security police officers were present on the road only 200 meters from the scene of the crime; they stayed at the local school all the time the massacre was taking place."^[36] The Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center, based in Chiapas, claims that they received reports of the massacre soon after the shooting began and notified several governmental authorities, but they "did not consider the complaint important."^[36] Workers from the Red Cross arrived on the scene but were not allowed to enter until the authorities had arrived.^[37]

When the governmental authorities finally arrived, more than six hours after the shooting began and five hours after they had been notified, they began, under orders from Governor Julio Cesar Ruiz Ferro, to remove the corpses and transport them to Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas, for autopsies, despite strong objections by Las Abejas, the Catholic Church, and by the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center, who thought that the scene should be preserved for a proper investigation.^[28]

The Funeral[link]

The bodies were returned to Acteal a few days later for a Christmas Day funeral ceremony, presided over by Bishop Samuel Ruiz. Bishop Ruiz, profoundly affected by the massacre, told those at the funeral: "We want to say to you we are keeping you company on this Christmas Day, the saddest Christmas Day of our lives... And we ask our Father Jesus that you remain faithful in your hearts to his word, and that you do not stumble on the stone of temptation of hatred and violence."^[38]

^[39]

Post-Acteal[link]

Seeking Justice[link]

In response to international attention, the government of Mexico ordered an investigation into what had occurred at Acteal.^[40] The report cited what were, at best, egregious errors made by governmental officials at various levels, including Governor of Chiapas Julio Cesar Ruiz Ferro, who "spurned repeated pleas for help with the escalating violence from Indian community leaders in the weeks before the killings, even when they came from members of his own political party."^[41]

The Pillar of Shame, a statue designed by Danish artist Jens Galschiøt, marks the site of the 1997 massacre of 45 members of Las Abejas in Acteal

While committed to forgiveness, reconciliation, and nonviolence, Las Abejas has also been clear in its demands for justice in light of the massacre at Acteal. While many have been arrested in connection with the massacre, there are many others whom members of Las Abejas say were involved in the massacre who have not been brought to justice, including those whom they consider the intellectual masterminds of the massacre.

Even in 2007, at the tenth anniversary of the massacre, members of Las Abejas reported that some of the killers have not been brought to justice. Diego Perez Jimenez, then president of Las Abejas, expressed his frustration with those who claim that justice has already been served, or that some who have been prosecuted ought not to be imprisoned: "They tell so many lies," he says. "These guys in jails were killers, and there are more killers out there. That's the truth," he insists.^[42] Many of those imprisoned, however, insist that they are not guilty, such as Agostin Gomez Perez, who has been imprisoned for more than a decade. "What happened in Acteal is very sad," he says, "But I wasn't involved in it. I didn't kill a soul."^[43] Some human rights groups say that many of the arrested have been innocent scapegoats, and that successive governments have protected the real perpetrators and the masterminds behind the massacre.^[44]

Pillar of Shame[link]

In 1999, a Danish artist named Jens Galschiøt installed a statue known as the Columna de Infamia, or the Pillar of Shame, as a reminder of the massacre of members of Las Abejas that had occurred at Acteal.^[45] Researcher Christine Kovic suggests that the statue, which was not requested by the community and which focuses on the infamy of the massacre, "is not consistent with Las Abejas's public discourse of forgiveness, healing, and hope."^[45]

Maya Vinic Coffee Collaborative[link]

In 1992, Las Abejas began a coffee collaborative known as Maya Vinic, which is Tzotzil for "Mayan Man."^[46] The collaborative consists of about 700 small-scale coffee farmers throughout several municipalities in the Highlands of Chiapas. The collaborative produces certified fair trade and organic coffees for export to the United States and Europe, with the aim of providing coffee producers (many of whom are members of Las Abejas) with a slightly higher wage than the international market might otherwise provide. In the United States, Maya Vinic coffee is commercialized by Higher Grounds Trading Company based in Traverse City, Michigan.

References[link]

Paraguayan guitarist and composer, Agustin Barrios.

Agustín Pío Barrios (also known as Agustín Barrios Mangoré, May 5, 1885 – August 7, 1944), an eminent Paraguayan guitarist and composer, was born in Misiones, Paraguay and died in San Salvador, El Salvador. It has been generally accepted that the guitarist was born in San Juan Bautista in Misiones, however, there is no definitive proof of this as his baptismal document found in the book of registries in the cathedral in San Juan Bautista does not state his precise place of birth. Also, several biographers and authorities present convincing documented evidence that Barrios was born, instead, in the nearby town of Villa Florida, Misiones, situated on the Tebicuary River some 30 km north of San Juan Bautista.

Early life[link]

When he was a child, Barrios began to develop a love for music and literature, two areas that were very important to his family. Barrios would eventually speak two languages (Spanish and Guarani), and read three more (English, French and German).

Barrios began to show an interest in musical instruments, particularly the guitar, before he reached his teens. He went to Asunción in 1901, at the age of fifteen, to attend a university (Universidad Nacional de Asunción) with a scholarship in music, thus becoming one of the youngest university students in Paraguayan history. Apart from his studies in the college's music department, Barrios was also well appreciated by members of the college's mathematics, journalism and literature departments.

After leaving college, Barrios dedicated his life to music and writing poems. He composed more than 300 songs for which he would first write the lyrics and then the guitar accompaniment^{[citation needed]}. Barrios made several friends during his multiple trips across South America. He was known for giving his friends and fans signed copies of his poems. Because of that, there are several different versions of his poetical works which have surfaced across South America, other areas of Latin America and the United States. Many current collectors warn potential buyers to be careful when they come across a poem reportedly autographed by Barrios.

Career[link]

Barrios was famed for his phenomenal performances, both live and on gramophone recordings — although Barrios is usually credited as the first classical guitarist to make recordings in 1909/10, a myth perpetuated by the guitarist John Williams, the first guitarist to record was the Mexican guitarist Octaviano Yanes performing his "Mexican Dance" (Habanera). The record, Victor 05662, is dated August 25, 1908. Another version of this piece exists on Edison Foreign Series cylinder (catalogue number 20204).^[1][2] For some years, it was Barrios's habit to perform in concert in traditional Paraguayan dress (he was partly of Guarani origin), assuming the persona of Nitsuga Mangoré ('Nitsuga' being Agustín spelled backwards, and 'Mangoré' being the name of a cacique of the South American indigenous group Timbú).

His works were largely late-Romantic in character, despite his having lived well into the twentieth century. Many of them are also adaptations of, or are influenced by, South American and Central American folk music. Very many of them are of a virtuosic nature.

The Bach-inspired La Catedral (1921) is often considered to be his most impressive work, even winning the approval of Andrés Segovia, who said "In 1921 in Buenos Aires, I played at the hall La Argentina noted for its good acoustics for guitar, where Barrios had concertized just weeks before me. He was presented to me by his secretary Elbio Trapani. At my invitation Barrios visited me at the hotel and played for me upon my very own guitar several of his compositions among which the one that really impressed me was a magnificent concert piece The Cathedral whose first movement is an andante, like an introduction and prelude, and a second very virtuosic piece which is ideal for the repertory of any concert guitarist. Barrios had promised to send me immediately a copy of the work (I had ten days remaining before continuing my journey) but I never received a copy."^[3]

Death and legacy[link]

Barrios died and was buried in the Cementerio de Los Ilustres in San Salvador, El Salvador on August 7, 1944.

Barrios is still revered in Paraguay, where he is seen as one of the greatest musicians of all time by many. John Williams has said of Barrios: "As a guitarist/composer, Barrios is the best of the lot, regardless of era. His music is better formed, it's more poetic, it's more everything! And it's more of all those things in a timeless way."^[4]

Folk music[link]

The folk music of Paraguay (including the polca paraguaya and vals) provided the young Barrios with his first introduction to music. In 1898, Barrios was formally introduced to the classical guitar repertoire by Gustavo Sosa Escalada. At that time, Barrios had already composed works for the guitar, and also performed pieces written by his former teacher Alias, such as La Chinita and La Perezosa. Under the influence of his new teacher, Barrios went on to perform and study the works of Tárrega, Vinas, Sor and Aguado. Sosa Escalada was so impressed with his new pupil that he convinced Barrios's parents to let him move to Asunción to continue his education. Having already surpassed the technical and performing abilities of most guitarists, Barrios began seriously to compose around 1905.

Among the folkloric influences, Barrios is known to have played such popular paraguayan works as "Campamento Cerro León", "Londón Carapé", "Guyrá campana", "Mamá Cumandá".^[5] As an example, "Guyrá campana" is very interesting, since some of the material can be heard in parts of Barrios' recording of "Caazapá — Aire Popular Paraguayo"... Though "Guyrá campana" is traditional music, many maintain that it is very closely related to guitarist Carlos Talavera 1 (from Caazapá), whom Barrios knew.^[6][7][8][9] There are various versions of "Guyrá campana" (it is also known as "Pájaro campana") e.g. for Paraguayan Harp (Félix Pérez Cardozo^[9]), etc.; and in some versions, the birdsong imitations can be very clearly heard.^[10]

Composer[link]

Barrios's compositions can be divided into three basic categories: folkloric, imitative and religious. Barrios paid tribute to the music and people of his native land by composing pieces modeled after folk songs from South America and Central America. Imitating the compositional style and techniques of the Baroque and Romantic periods was another side to his craftsmanship. "La Catedral" may be viewed as Barrios' tribute to Bach. It is believed that "La Catedral" was inspired by a religious experience for Barrios; therefore, the piece may also be categorized under religion. Religious beliefs and experiences also played an important role in Barrios' compositional process. Una Limosna por el Amor de Dios (Alms for the Love of God) is another example of a religiously-inspired work. For the contemporary student, the interpretation from Peter LaVine can be found at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/peter-lavine-plays-agustin/id526223359 Breaking down the works of Barrios into these three categories helps the guitar enthusiast to understand Barrios's musical intent.

Discography[link]

• Agustin Barrios The Complete Guitar Recordings 1913-1942. This 3 CD set was transferred and digitally remastered from 78rpm gramophone recording from Atlanta, Odeon, Artigas labels and some Barrios' personal home recordings.^[11]
• Augustin Barrios Complete Music for Solo Guitar. This 6-CD-box was released by Brilliant Classics in 2010.
• Le incisioni discografiche di Agustin Barrios

List of works[link]

Agustín Barrios composed more than three hundred pieces in his lifetime. The more outstanding pieces in his repertoire are the following:

• Abrí la Puerta Mi China
• Aconquija (Aire de Quena)
• Aire de Zamba
• Aire Popular Paraguayo
• Aires Andaluces
• Aires Criollos
• Aires Mudéjares (fragment)
• Aire Sureño (fragment)
• Allegro Sinfónico
• Altair
• A Mi Madre-serenata
• Arabescos
• Armonías de América
• Bicho Feo
• Canción de la Hilandera
• Capricho Español
• Choro da Saudade
• Confesión (Confissao de Amor)
• Contemplación
• Córdoba
• Cueca (Danza Chilena)
• Danza en Re Menor
• Danza Guaraní
• Danza Paraguaya no.1
• Danza Paraguaya no.2 'Jha,che valle'
• Danza Paraguaya duet
• Diana Guaraní
• Dinora
• Divagación en Imitación al Violín
• Divagaciones Criollas
• Don Perez Freire
• El Sueño de la Muñequita
• Escala y Preludio
• Estilo Uruguayo
• Estilo
• Estudio de Concierto No.1 in A major
• Estudio de Concierto No.2 in A major
• Estudio del Ligado in A major
• Estudio del Ligado in D minor
• Estudio en Arpegio
• Estudio en Si Menor (solo and duet)
• Estudio en Sol Menor
• Estudio Inconcluso
• Estudio No. 3
• Estudio No. 6
• Estudio Para Ambas Manos
• Estudio Vals
• Fabiniana
• Gavota al Estilo Antiguo
• Habanera
• Humoresque
• Invocación a Mi Madre
• Jha, Che Valle
• Julia Florida(barcarola)
• Junto a tu Corazón
• Jota
• La Bananita (tango)
• La Catedral: Preludio - Andante - Allegro
• La Samaritana
• Las Abejas
• Leyenda de España
• Leyenda Guarani
• London Carapé
• Luz Mala
• Mabelita
• Madrecita
• Madrigal Gavota
• Maxixe
• Mazurka Apasionata
• Medallón Antiguo
• Milonga
• Minuet in A major
• Minuet in A major
• Minuet in B major
• Minuet in C major
• Minuet in C minor
• Minuet in E major
• Oración (Oración de la Tarde)
• Oración por Todos
• Pepita
• Pericón in F
• Pericón in G
• Preludio Op. 5, No. 1
• Preludio in E major
• Preludio in A minor
• Preludio in C major
• Preludio in C minor
• Preludio in D minor
• Preludio in E minor
• Romanza en Imitación al Violoncello (Página d¹ Album, Fuegos Fátuos)
• Sargento Cabral
• Sarita
• Serenata Morisca
• Tango No. 1
• Tango No. 2
• Tarantella (Recuerdos de Nápoles)
• Tua Imagem
• Una Limosna por el Amor de Dios(Also known as "El ultimo trémolo" or "El último canto")
• Un Sueño en la Floresta (Souvenir d¹un Reve)
• Vals de Primavera
• Vals Op. 8, No. 1
• Vals Op. 8, No. 2
• Vals Op. 8, No. 3
• Vals Op. 8, No. 4
• Vals Tropical
• Variaciones sobre un Tema de Tárrega
• Variaciones sobre el Punto Guanacasteco
• Vidalita con variaciones in A minor
• Vidalita in D minor
• Villancico de Navidad
• Zapateado Caribe (trio)

He also wrote a couple poems:

• Mi Guitarra
• El Bohemio

Complete works : Zen On, Editions Castelle

Instruments[link]

While in Paraguay, Barrios had access only to instruments of limited quality. However, soon after his arrival in Buenos Aires in 1910, he was exposed to, and played the finest instruments of his time for the remainder of his career. Normally Barrios traveled with 2 guitars, and had several modified with the addition of a 20th fret. He is documented by photograph to have played the instruments of Spanish makers Jose Ramirez I, Enrique Garcia, Fransisco Simplicio, Enrique Sanfeliu, Domingo Esteso and Ricardo Sanchis Nacher, Brazilian maker DiGiorgio, and in print by Uruguayan maker Rodolfo Camacho.

Bibliography[link]

• El Inalcanzable Agustín Barrios Mangoré (289 pages, 2007) by Carlos Salcedo Centurion. (Centro Cultural de la República, El Cabildo, ref)
• Six Silver Moonbeams: The Life and Times of Agustin Barrios Mangoré, Richard D. Stover (GSP, 210)
• Mangoré: Vida y Obra de Agustín Barrios, Sila Godoy, Luis Szarán, Editorial Don Bosco/ Ñanduti Vive. Asunción, Paraguay.
• Dos almas musicales: Agustín Pío Barrios y José del Rosario Diarte, Nicolás T. Riveros, Asunción, Paraguay

References[link]

External links[link]

• Agustín Pío Barrios. Archivo Paraguayo de la Música Centro Cultural de la República - El Cabildo, Asunción, Paraguay (Spanish)

Biography[link]

• Le incisioni discografiche di Agustin Barrios, di Mario Serio (Italian)
• Barrios Agustín (Mangoré) Diccionario de la Música en el Paraguay, by Luis Szarán (Spanish)
• Pagina Cultural del Paraguay: Breve Recordación a Mangoré. Agustín Pío Barrios (www.musicaparaguaya.org.py) (Spanish)
• Agustín Barrios Mangoré: The Folkloric, Imitative, and the Religious Influence Behind His Compositions, a review essay by Johnna Jeong
• Bacón Duarte Prado; prólogo de Alberto Nogués. Agustín Barrios, un genio insular. Editorial Araverá, Asunción del Paraguay (1985) (Spanish)

Other[link]

• Guitar of Barrios
• Agustin Barrios International Guitar Competition (Nuoro, Italy)
• Free scores by Agustín Barrios in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Free scores by Agustín Barrios at the International Music Score Library Project

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Rafael Baptista Rabello (October 31, 1962 – April 27, 1995), was a virtuoso Brazilian guitarist and composer. During the 1980s and 1990s, he was considered one of the best acoustic guitar players in the world and played with many famous artists, such as Tom Jobim, Ney Matogrosso, Paulo Moura and Paco de Lucia.^[2]

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Raphael Rabello was born in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was the youngest child of his family, which included many musicians. His sister Luciana made a name for herself on the cavaquinho, his other sister, Amélia, became a singer. His first guitar teacher was an older brother, Ruy Fabiano, when Raphael Rabello was seven years old. However, the biggest influence on Rabello starting his musical studies was his grandfather, José de Queiroz Baptista, who was a choro guitar player.^[3]

He studied musical theory with Maria Alice Salles, who also taught his brothers and sisters. In the 1970s, he took guitar lessons with Jaime Florence, the famous Meira, who had also taught Baden Powell in the 1940s. In the same period, he studied harmony with Ian Guest.^[3] Influenced by Dino 7 Cordas, Rabello eventually switched to the Brazilian seven-string guitar and started playing professionally when he was a teenager.^[2][4]

Early musical career[link]

His first recording as a sideman was at age 14 on a recording of choro music by classical guitarist Turibio Santos. In this period, he took lessons from guitarist Dino 7 Cordas (Dino 7 strings), with whom he recorded an LP in 1991.^[1]

In 1976, he founded the group Os Carioquinhas, with his sister Luciana Rabello (cavaquinho), Paulo Alves (mandolin), Téo (acoustic guitar) and Mario Florêncio (tambourine). The band became famous and played with many other choro groups, such as Época de Ouro and Quinteto Villa-Lobos. They also recorded one album in 1977.^[5]

In 1979, Rabello became a member of Camerata Carioca. This was the period in which he met Radamés Gnattali, who became a partner of Rabello.^[6] They recorded one disc together in 1984.^[7] Three years later, Rabello also recorded a tribute album to Gnattali.^[8]

Between 1980 and 1981, Rabello became a studio musician and started recording with many singers and instrumentalists. In this same period, he started his career as an arranger, working for the group Galo Preto.^[5]

Revelation[link]

His most productive years spanned 1982 to 1995. He was considered by many to be one of the finest guitarists of his generation. He played in many different styles, but specialized in choro. His first album was released in 1982 and, influenced by Dino 7 Cordas, Rabello adopted the name 'Raphael 7 Cordas', which was also the name of his first record. However, he did not use this nickname for very long.^[1]

Throughout his career, Rabello recorded 16 albums, some of them with memorable artists, such as Dino 7 Cordas, Elizeth Cardoso and Paulo Moura. He also participated on about 600 albums recording in Brazil and abroad.^[6] He participated in concerts and recordings with a number of well-known Brazilian musicians, such as Tom Jobim, Ney Matogrosso, Jaques Morelenbaum and Paulo Moura, as well as international players, such as Paco de Lucia.^[2]

Rabello also became famous abroad. He performed shows in Italy, Switzerland, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, France, Canada and United States. In 1994, he moved to the USA and met Laurindo de Almeida, who helped to spread his work around the world. There, he also gave guitar lessons in Los Angeles. At the end of the same year, he returned to Brazil to participate in the project "Orgulho do Brasil", which had the goal of recording songs composed by the most notable artists of that country. In this project, he recorded a tribute to Capiba, which was released in 2002.^[5]

Final years[link]

In 1989, Rabello was in a car accident and suffered multiple fractures in his right arm. After a delicate surgery, he recovered and continued to play months later. However, during the surgery, he contracted HIV in a blood transfusion. Hopeless, he became addicted to alcohol and drugs. On April 27, 1995, Rafael Rabello died of cardiac dysrhythmia followed by respiratory arrest.^[9]

Legacy[link]

Rabello has had two full-length CDs released posthumously and a choro school was named after him.

His latest posthumous release is the project he was working on when he died: a tribute to Lourenço da Fonseca Barbosa, known as Capiba (1904–1997). He was one of the arrangers, is credited as producer, played a lot of the guitar and even sang on one of the tracks. The guest-singer list is a veritable "who-is-who" of Brazilian singers: Chico Buarque, Paulinho da Viola, Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethânia, Alceu Valença, João Bosco, and Ney Matogrosso.

Discography[link]

• 1982: Rafael Sete Cordas (Polygram)^[10]
• 1984: Tributo a Garoto (Barclay), with Radamés Gnattali^[7]
• 1987: Interpreta Radamés Gnattali (Visom)^[8]
• 1988: Rafael Rabello (Visom)^[11]
• 1990: A flor da pele (Polygram/Philips), with Ney Matogrosso^[12]
• 1991: Todo sentimento (Columbia), with Elizeth Cardoso^[13]
• 1991: Raphael Rabello & Dino 7 Cordas (Caju Music), with Dino 7 Cordas^[14]
• 1992: Dois irmãos (Caju Music), with Paulo Moura^[15]
• 1992: Todos os tons (RCA)^[16]
• 1992: Shades of Rio (Chesky Records), with Romero Lubambo^[17]
• 1993: Delicatesse (RCA), with Déo Rian^[18]
• 1994: Relendo Dilermando Reis (RGE)^[19]
• 1997: Em concerto (Spotlight Records), with Armandinho^[20]
• 2001: Todas as canções (Acari Records), with Amália Rabello^[21]
• 2002: Mestre Capiba por Raphael Rabello e Convidados (Acari Records)^[22]
• 2005: Cry my guitar (GSP Recordings)^[23]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Raphael Rabello at Allmusic

John Williams
Williams at the Avery Fisher Hall in 2007
Background information
Birth name	John Towner Williams
Born	(1932-02-08) February 8, 1932 (age 80)
Origin	Flushing, Queens, New York, United States of America
Genres	Film score, Contemporary classical music, Jazz
Occupations	Composer, pianist, conductor
Years active	1952–present

John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, War Horse, Home Alone and the first three Harry Potter films. He has had a long association with director Steven Spielberg, composing the music for all but two (Duel and The Color Purple) of Spielberg's major feature films.

Other notable works by Williams include theme music for four Olympic Games, NBC Sunday Night Football, the NBC Nightly News, the rededication of the Statue of Liberty, and the television series Lost in Space. Williams has also composed numerous classical concerti, and he served as the principal conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra from 1980 to 1993; he is now the orchestra's conductor laureate.

Williams has won five Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, seven BAFTA Awards, and 21 Grammy Awards. With 47 Academy Award nominations, Williams is the second most nominated person, after Walt Disney.^[1] John Williams was honored with the prestigious Richard Kirk award at the 1999 BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music.^[2] Williams was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame in 2000, and was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004.

Early life and family[link]

John Williams was born on February 8, 1932 on Long Island, New York, the son of Esther (née Towner) and Johnny Williams.^[3] His father was a jazz percussionist who played with the Raymond Scott Quintet.

In 1948, the Williams family moved to Los Angeles where John attended North Hollywood High School graduating in 1950. He later attended the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and studied privately with the Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.^[4] In 1952, Williams was drafted into the U.S. Air Force, where he conducted and arranged music for the Air Force Band as part of his assignments.

After his Air Force service ended in 1955, Williams moved to New York City and entered the Juilliard School, where he studied piano with Rosina Lhévinne.^[4] During this time, Williams worked as a jazz pianist in New York's many clubs and eventually studios, most notably for composer Henry Mancini. His fellow session musicians included Rolly Bundock on bass, Jack Sperling on drums, and Bob Bain on guitar—the same lineup featured on the Mr. Lucky television series. Williams was known as "Little Johnny Love" Williams during the early 1960s, and he served as music arranger and bandleader for a series of popular music albums with the singer Frankie Laine.

Williams was married to actress Barbara Ruick from 1956 until her death on March 3, 1974. The Williamses had three children: Jennifer (born 1956), Mark (born 1958), and Joseph (born 1960). Williams' younger son (Joseph) is one of the various lead singers the band Toto. John Williams married his second wife, Samantha Winslow, on July 21, 1980.

John Williams is an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi, the national fraternity for college band members.

Film and television scoring[link]

Williams at the Boston Symphony Hall after conducting the Boston Pops, May 2006

While skilled in a variety of 20th century compositional idioms, Williams' most familiar style may be described as a form of neoromanticism,^[5] inspired by the same large-scale orchestral music of the late 19th century—especially the compositions of Richard Wagner and its concept of leitmotif—that inspired his film music predecessors.^[6]

After his studies at Juilliard, Williams returned to Los Angeles, where he began working as an orchestrator at film studios. Among other composers, Williams worked with Franz Waxman, Bernard Herrmann, and Alfred Newman, and also with his fellow orchestrators Conrad Salinger and Bob Franklyn.^[7] Williams was also a studio pianist, performing on film scores by composers such as Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, and Henry Mancini. Williams recorded with Henry Mancini on the film scores of Peter Gunn (1959), Days of Wine and Roses (1962), and Charade (1963). (Williams actually played the well-recognized opening riff to Mancini's Peter Gunn theme.^[8][9]) Williams (often credited as "Johnny Williams") also composed the music for various TV programs in the 1960s: The pilot episode of Gilligan's Island,^[10] Bachelor Father (1959-1960), the Kraft Suspense Theatre, Lost in Space (1965–68), The Time Tunnel (1966–67), and Land of the Giants (the last three created by the prolific TV producer, Irwin Allen).

Working at Universal Studios, Williams shared music credit on a number of films, the most notable being The Creature from the Black Lagoon in 1954. Williams's first major film composition was for the B movie Daddy-O in 1958, and his first screen credit came two years later in Because They're Young. He soon gained notice in Hollywood for his versatility in composing jazz, piano, and symphonic music. Williams received his first nomination for an Academy Award for his film score for Valley of the Dolls (1967), and then was nominated again for his score for Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969). Williams broke through to win his first Academy Award for his adapted score for the film Fiddler on the Roof (1971). In 1972 he composed the score for the Robert Altman psychological thriller Images (recorded in collaboration with noted percussionist Stomu Yamashta) which earned him another nomination in the category 'Best Music, Original Dramatic Score' at the 1973 Academy Awards. During the early 1970s, Williams' prominence grew thanks to his work for now–film producer Irwin Allen's disaster films, composing the scores for The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974). In addition, he scored Universal's Earthquake (1974) for director Mark Robson, completing a "trinity" of scores for the highest grossing "disaster films" of the decade. He also wrote a very memorable score to The Cowboys (1972), a western starring John Wayne and directed by Mark Rydell.

In 1974, Williams was approached by director Steven Spielberg to compose the music for his feature directorial debut, The Sugarland Express. The young director had been impressed with Williams's score for the movie The Reivers (1969), and Spielberg was convinced that Williams could compose the musical sound that he desired for any of his films. They teamed up again a year later for Spielberg's second film, Jaws. Widely considered to be a classic suspense film, its film score's ominous two-note motif has become synonymous with sharks and approaching danger. The score for Jaws earned Williams his second Academy Award, his first one for an original composition.

Shortly thereafter, Williams and Spielberg began a long collaboration for their next feature film together, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (CE3K, 1977). In an unusual step for a Hollywood film, Spielberg and Williams developed their script and musical concepts simultaneously, as in the film these entwine very closely together. During their two-year-long collaboration, they crafted its distinctive five-note figure that functions both in the background music and as the communications signal of the film's extraterrestrials. Williams also used a system of musical hand signals in CE3K that were based on hand signs created by John Curwen and refined by Zoltan Kodaly.

During the same period, Spielberg recommended Williams to his friend and fellow director George Lucas, who needed a composer to score his ambitious space epic, Star Wars (1977). Williams delivered a grand symphonic score in the fashion of Richard Strauss and Golden Age Hollywood composers Max Steiner and Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Its main theme, "Luke's Theme" is among the most widely recognized in motion picture history, and the "Force Theme" and "Princess Leia's Theme" are well-known examples of leitmotif. Both the film and its soundtrack were immensely successful—it remains the highest grossing non-popular music recording of all-time—and Williams won another Academy Award for Best Original Score. In 1980, Williams returned to score The Empire Strikes Back, where he introduced "The Imperial March" as the theme for Darth Vader and the Galactic Empire. The original Star Wars trilogy concluded with the 1983 film Return of the Jedi, for which Williams's score provided most notably the "Emperor's Theme," "Parade of the Ewoks," and "Luke and Leia." Both scores earned Williams Academy Award nominations.

John Williams conducting the music score to Raiders of the Lost Ark in the Avery Fisher Hall.

Williams worked with director Richard Donner to score the 1978 film Superman. The score's heroic and romantic themes, particularly the main march, the Superman fanfare and the love theme, known as "Can You Read My Mind," would appear in the four sequel films. For the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, created and directed by Lucas and Spielberg, Williams wrote a rousing main theme known as "The Raiders March" to accompany the film's hero, Indiana Jones. He also composed separate themes to represent the Ark of the Covenant, the character Marion, and the Nazi villains of the story. Additional themes were featured in his scores to the sequel films Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). Williams composed an emotional and sensitive score to Spielberg's 1982 fantasy film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The music conveys the film's benign, childlike sense of innocence, particularly with a spirited theme for the freedom of flight, and a soft string-based, harp-featured theme for the friendship between characters E.T. and Elliott. The film's final chase and farewell sequence marks a rare instance in film history in which the on-screen action was re-edited to conform to the composer's musical interpretation. Williams was awarded a fourth Academy Award for this score.

The 1985 film The Color Purple is the only theatrical feature directed by Steven Spielberg for which John Williams did not serve as composer. The film's producer, Quincy Jones, wanted to personally arrange and compose the music for the project. Williams also did not score Twilight Zone: The Movie, but Spielberg had directed only one of the four segments in that film; the lead director and producer of the film, John Landis, selected Jerry Goldsmith as composer. The Williams-Spielberg collaboration resumed with the director's 1987 film Empire of the Sun, and has continued to the present, spanning genres from science fiction thrillers (1993's Jurassic Park), to somber tragedies (1993's Schindler's List, 2005's Munich), to Eastern-tinged melodramas (2005's Memoirs of a Geisha, directed by Rob Marshall). Spielberg has said, "I call it an honorable privilege to regard John Williams as a friend."^[11]

In 1999 George Lucas launched the first of a series of prequels to the original Star Wars trilogy. Williams was asked to score all three films, starting with The Phantom Menace. Along with themes from the previous movies, Williams created new themes to be used as leitmotifs in Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005). Most notable of these was "Duel of the Fates," an aggressive choral movement utilizing harsh Sanskrit lyrics that broadened the style of music used in the Star Wars films. Also of note was "Anakin's Theme," which begins as an innocent childlike melody and morphs insidiously into a quote of the sinister "Imperial March" of the prior trilogy. For Episode II, Williams composed "Across the Stars," a love theme for Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker (mirroring the love theme composed for the second film of the previous trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back). The final installment combined many of the themes created for the series' previous movies, including "The Emperor's Theme," "The Imperial March," "Across the Stars," "Duel of the Fates," "The Force Theme," "Rebel Fanfare," "Luke's Theme," and "Princess Leia's Theme," as well as new themes for General Grievous and the film's climax, entitled "Battle of the Heroes." Few composers have scored an entire series of this magnitude: The combined scores of all six Star Wars films add up to more than 14 hours of orchestral music.

In the new millennium, Williams was asked to score the film adaptations of the widely successful book series, Harry Potter. He went on to score the first three installments of the film franchise. As with his Superman theme, the most important theme from Williams's scores for the adaptations of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, dubbed Hedwig's Theme, has been used in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth films (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2), scored by Patrick Doyle, Nicholas Hooper and Alexandre Desplat respectively. Like the main themes from Star Wars, Jaws, Superman, and Indiana Jones, fans have come to identify the Harry Potter films with Williams's original compositions. Williams was asked to return to the film franchise to score the final installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, but director David Yates stated that "their schedules simply did not align" as he would have had to provide Williams with a rough cut of the film sooner than was possible.

In 2006 Superman Returns was completed under the direction of Bryan Singer, best known for directing the first two movies in the X-Men series. Although Singer did not request Williams to compose a score for the intentionally Donner-esque film, he employed the skills of X2 composer John Ottman to incorporate Williams's original Superman theme, as well as those for Lois Lane, Krypton and Smallville. Don Davis performed a similar role for Jurassic Park III, recommended to the producers by Williams himself. (Film scores by Ottman and to a lesser extent Davis are often compared to those of Williams, as both use similar styles of composition.)

In 2008 Williams returned to the Indiana Jones series to score the fourth film—The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He received a Grammy nomination for his work on the film. During 2008, he also composed music for two documentaries, Warner at War,^[12] and A Timeless Call,^[13] the latter of which was directed by Steven Spielberg.

After a three year absence from film scoring, Williams composed the scores for Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn and War Horse in 2011. Both scores received overwhelmingly positive reviews,^{[14][15][16][17][18][19]} with both scores earning Oscar nominations,^[20] and the latter being nominated for a Golden Globe.^[21] The Oscar nominations are Williams' 46th and 47th, making him the most nominated musician in Academy Awards history (having previously been tied with Alfred Newman's 45 nominations), and the second most nominated overall, following Walt Disney. Williams won an Annie Award for his score for The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn in 2012.

Williams is next scheduled to score Spielberg's 2012 film Lincoln.

Conducting and performing[link]

Williams signing an autograph after a concert

From 1980 to 1993, Williams succeeded Arthur Fiedler as Principal Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. Williams never met Fiedler in person but spoke with him by telephone. His arrival as the new leader of the Pops in the spring of 1980 allowed him to devote part of the Pops' first PBS broadcast of the season to presenting his new compositions for The Empire Strikes Back, in addition to conducting many Fiedler audience favorites.

Williams almost ended his tenure with the Pops in 1984.^[22] Considered a customary practice of opinion, some players hissed while sight-reading a new Williams composition in rehearsal; Williams abruptly left the session and turned in his resignation. He initially cited mounting conflicts with his film composing schedule, but later admitted a perceived lack of discipline in and respect from the Pops' ranks, culminating in this latest instance. After entreaties by the management and personal apologies from the musicians, Williams withdrew his resignation and continued as principal conductor for nine more years.^[23] In 1995 he was succeeded by Keith Lockhart, the former associate conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.

Williams is now the Laureate Conductor of the Pops, thus maintaining his affiliation with its parent, the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). Williams leads the Pops on several occasions each year, particularly during their Holiday Pops season and typically for a week of concerts in May. He conducts an annual Film Night at both Boston Symphony Hall and Tanglewood, where he frequently enlists the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, official chorus of the BSO....

Williams has written many concert pieces, including a symphony; a Concerto for Horn written for Dale Clevenger, principal hornist of the Chicago Symphony; a Concerto for Clarinet written for Michele Zukovsky (Principal Clarinetist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic) in 1991;^[24] a sinfonietta for wind ensemble; a cello concerto premiered by Yo-Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood in 1994; concertos for the flute and violin recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra; and a trumpet concerto, which was premiered by the Cleveland Orchestra and their principal trumpet Michael Sachs in September 1996. His bassoon concerto, "The Five Sacred Trees", which was premiered by the New York Philharmonic and principal bassoon player Judith LeClair in 1995, was recorded for Sony Classical by Williams with LeClair and the London Symphony Orchestra. He is also an accomplished pianist, as can be heard in various scores in which he provides solos, as well as a handful of European classical music recordings.

Williams was the subject of an hour-long documentary for the BBC in 1980, and was featured in a story for ABC's newsmagazine 20/20 in 1983.^[25]

Stanley Donen (left) and John Williams at Avery Fisher Hall

In 1985, Williams was commissioned by NBC to compose a television news music package for various network news spots. The package, which Williams named "The Mission", consists of four movements, two of which are still used heavily by NBC today for The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and Meet the Press. Williams also composed the "Liberty Fanfare" for the rededication of the Statue of Liberty, "We're Lookin' Good!" for the Special Olympics in celebration of the 1987 International Summer Games, and themes for the 1984, 1988, 1996, and 2002 Olympic games. His most recent concert work, "Seven for Luck", for soprano and orchestra, is a seven-piece song cycle based on the texts of former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove. "Seven for Luck" was given its world premiere by the Boston Symphony under Williams with soprano Cynthia Haymon.

Williams conducting at Hollywood Bowl.

Williams makes annual appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and took part as conductor and composer in the orchestra's opening gala concerts for the Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2003.

In 2004, Williams both served as the Grand Marshall for the Rose Parade, and directed the Star Spangled Banner at the beginning of the Rose Bowl.

In April 2005, Williams and the Boston Pops performed "The Force Theme" from Star Wars at opening day in Fenway Park as the Boston Red Sox, having won their first World Series championship since 1918, received their championship rings. For Game 1 of the 2007 World Series, Williams conducted a brass-and-drum ensemble through a new dissonant arrangement of the "Star Spangled Banner."^[25]

In April 2004, February 2006, and September 2007, he conducted the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City. The initial program was intended to be a one-time special event, and featured Williams's medley of Oscar-winning film scores first performed at the previous year's Academy Awards.^[26] Its unprecedented popularity led to two concerts in 2006: fundraising gala events featuring personal recollections by film directors Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.^[27] Continuing demand fueled three more concerts in 2007, which all sold out. These featured a tribute to the musicals of film director Stanley Donen, and had the distinction of serving as the opening event of the New York Philharmonic season.^[28] After a four-season absence, Williams conducted the Philharmonic once again in October 2011.^[29]

Awards[link]

John Williams has won five Academy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. He has also been nominated for 22 Golden Globes, winning four, and 59 Grammys, winning 20. With 47 Oscar nominations, Williams currently holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for a living person,^[30][31] and is the second most nominated person in the history of the Academy Awards behind only Walt Disney's 59. Forty-two of Williams' Oscar nominations are for Best Original Score and five are for Best Original Song. He won four Oscars for Best Original Score and one for Best Adapted Score (Fiddler on the Roof).

Williams has received three Emmy Awards and five nominations, seven BAFTAs, twenty Grammy Awards, and has been inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame and the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. In 2004 he received a Kennedy Center Honor. He won a Classical Brit award in 2005 for his soundtrack work of the previous year.

Notably, Williams has won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for his scores for Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, The Empire Strikes Back, E.T. The Extraterrestrial, Angela's Ashes (1999), Munich (2005), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The competition includes not only composers of film scores, but also composers of instrumental music of any genre, including composers of classical fare such as symphonies and chamber music.

In 2003, the International Olympic Committee accorded Mr. Williams its highest individual honor, the Olympic Order.^[32]

In 2009, Williams received the National Medal of Arts in the White House in Washington for his achievements in symphonic music for motion pictures, and "as a pre-eminent composer and conductor [whose] scores have defined and inspired modern movie-going for decades."^[33]

John Williams was made an honorary brother of Kappa Kappa Psi at Boston University in the late 80's. ^[34]

AFI[link]

Williams's richly thematic and highly popular 1977 score to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope was selected in 2005 by the American Film Institute as the greatest American movie score of all time. His scores for Jaws and E.T. also appeared on the list, at No. 6 and No. 14, respectively.^[35] He is the only composer to have three scores on the list. Williams' scores for the following films were nominated for the list:

• A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
• The Cowboys (1972)
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
• Schindler's List (1993)
• Superman (1978)
• The Witches of Eastwick (1987)

List of awards[link]

Discography[link]

Charting hits (U.S., Billboard)[link]

• 1975 - "Theme From Jaws", #32
• 1977 - "Star Wars Theme - Main Title", #10
• 1978 - "Theme From Close Encounters Of The Third Kind", #13
• 1979 - "Theme From Superman", #81

See also[link]

• List of compositions by John Williams
• Star Wars music
• Superman music
• Harry Potter music

References[link]