My hometown is Springfield, Ohio. One of the best things about living here is the Summer Arts Festival. This is six weeks of free stage performances in the park.
Last Sunday was the summer performance of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. This was a performance of John Williams music. I attended the first attempt to do this concert five years ago. Due to threatening weather, five years ago was, as the conductor put it, the Readers Digest version of the concert. This week was the unabridged version.
One piece performed this week was Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Seeing and hearing it performed live is to truly appreciate the genius of Williams. The first few minutes of the piece is a series of quiet atonal sounds with unique instrumentation which slowly builds and builds. It isn't until halfway through that the more familiar sounds that everyone remembers from the movies.
The sound is unsettling. It captures the unease and confusion of the characters in the movie. It is brilliant. While I enjoyed the whole concert, that piece was what I will treasure for years. Any chance anyone has to see Close Encounters live? Take it.
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