[Nils Jacob Holt Hanssen]

The ongoing zingers coming from his pal and contemporary Andre Previn were something else.

Yes, those “Start writing concert music instead!” comments from Previn are another recurring theme in the book. Someone more easily insulted than Williams would probably have found this very annoying, but he seemed to take it in stride. Although Previn did seem to be less than half joking, I guess it helped that, as you say, it was done in a non-confrontational way. And the fact that they were very close friends must also have made it easier to swallow than if it were some grumpy critic that kept harping on it.

As I touch upon in the review, his concert music can be a little tougher to get into than his film scores, but I still find much of it to be quite rewarding listening. In his concerts for specific instruments, it’s often the solo parts that are most challenging for the ear, while the orchestral accompaniment is usually more consonant and somewhat closer to his film work. Still, not a lot of it sounds like E.T.! If you want to check out some of it, I think something like his trumpet concerto or bassoon concerto (“The Five Sacred Trees”) can be good starting points. Some sharp edges in those too, though!

The way he gets inspired to write something specifically for musicians he admires says a lot about his personality, I think.

For my part, it’s actually the Irwin Allen and other TV stuff from the 60s, which was your Williams “starting point”, that I really haven’t deep-dived into yet. I do have most of what’s been released of it, so that’s something I should explore more thoroughly!