An old friend

Does this piece of music stir you? Maybe it reminds you of where you were when you first heard it? Or it might bring back an old TV advertisement!

It made a wonderful opening to Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001:a space odyssey

It is only the first few bars of a tone poem by Richard Strauss for an orchestra which included pipe organ, and a large number woodwind, brass and percussion players, as well as a string section with more players than usual.

If you would like to see an enthusiastic student group perform this work, you might enjoy the performance I've embedded below by the Macau Youth Symphony Orchestra.

The young man playing the tympani (the large drums you can see at the back of the orchestra) is really going to town!



If you kept watching and listening, you would have also enjoyed the orchestra's rendition of the theme from John Williams' Star Wars. Kubrick's 2001 film featured music that had been composed prior to his film being made. None of it was written for his iconic film.

But the music in Star Wars, and also about 300 other films, has been specially crafted by John Williams. He has been writing film music for about 50 years now and has made more money from film composing than any other composer. And, if you add up all of the money that all other film composers have made, he has also made more than all of that, too. I hope he knows some worthy charities to support!

If you enjoyed listening to this music, you might find attending concerts by the Macquarie Philharmonia and the Bathurst Chamber Orchestra even more enjoyable. You can't beat live orchestral music!

Please stay tuned for more great music links in 2011: both old friends and new ones.