John Williams - Theme from The Magnificent Seven (Bernstein)

[MrLukeviolin]

and it was ELMER Bernstein , not Leonard Bernstein

[HolyMotherofGrid]

This always reminds me of a song called "John Chisolm"..." Chisolm, John Chisolm......" Maybe from a TV show?? Anybody ever heard this, and is there a relationship between the two?

[greenroadster]

@HolyMotherofGrid ... It was a film starring John Wayne called "Chisum" 1970. The theme song was sung by Merle Haggard, music by Dominic Frontiere.

[Tinsby]

Interesting listening to the timing differences when John Williams plays this great theme compared to the late Erich Kunzel. John seems to add some breaks that I am not used to hearing in the score. That doesn't make it bad, just a bit different. I guess when you are John Williams you can pretty much do as you please :) Thanks for the post I love Williams and Bernstein and Kunzel. Sad there is only one of them left for us to enjoy.

[avatarnarutochuck]

@Tinsby Actually this is how The Magnificent Seven theme should be played; Kunzel just arranged this theme in his own way. If you're skeptical then check out "The Magnificent Seven - Elmer Bernstein" where ELMER BERNSTEIN himself conducts his own magnificent theme.

[Tinsby]

@avatarnarutochuck Thanks for pointing me to that link, I don't know how I missed it. I totally agree that if ANYONE could dictate how this theme should be interpreted it is the composer himself. It's wonderful to see him at work in such a crowded venue, wherever it was. If only the audio was of better quality.... but no matter we get to see the master at work. Years ago, I had a chance to buy an album called "Bernstein conducts Bernstein" unfortunately I didn't get it. Wish I had!

[avatarnarutochuck]

@Tinsby You're welcome. I'm a big fan of Elmer Bernstein, as well as John Williams and also Jerry Goldsmith. A shame none of the modern composers carry the torch by these great masters.

[Tinsby]

@avatarnarutochuck We share a common interest in composers.I have found themes from Thomas Newman, William Ross, the late Basil Poledouris to be very enjoyable as well. Of course there are other movie scores that merit attention, but many of them are a once and done proposition, and the composer hasn't been able to reproduce a one time success. Cheers and happy listening!

[avatarnarutochuck]

@Tinsby Great choices there, Thomas Newman is a great composer; he could create music with such intimacy and sensitivity as Elmer Bernstein. I think very few composers are capable of making music like that now, save perhaps Alexandre Desplat. Really, all the Newman composers are great, even David Newman; a shame Hollywood doesn't utilize him more.

[minacciosa]

@Tinsby When making comparisons one must take into account the different versions of the theme. There is a simple Main Title theme, and a "suite" that incorporates a little more (but not much) music from the score. It increases the length noticeable.

[Cathulhu]

z kapitanem tym plyne juz nie pierwszy raz / znamy sie od wielu dlugich lat / jeslis dobrym zeglazem rade sobie dasz / jesli nie, tos cholernie wpadl :D Farewell Liverpool w wersji gwiezdnej :D

[KamenRyderBlackRX]

Who wrote this theme?

[avatarnarutochuck]

@KamenRyderBlackRX The late great Elmer Bernstein wrote this theme.

[sfan1]

According to IMDB, John Williams played piano on the scoring sessions for "The Magnificent Seven." I think it's interesting that he come full circle.

[THEGABALESeduardo]

my favorite conductor john wlliams!

[Athena28]

Tremendous theme.

[Jaszczur123]

"The Magnificent seven' being conducted by 'The Magnificent John Williams

Salut!

[Reavener]

A master covers a master.

[SaddleUp1961]

The Magnificant Seven...what a majestic classic. It even lends itself to comedy. "The Three Amigos" was such a good spoof.

[avatarnarutochuck]

By the way, this is not the whole theme, John Williams omitted some parts of the Main Suite: the piano solo and The Calvera theme which was situated after 2:14 of this video and before the main theme is being played again.

[CC41DZ]

Great Theme Song. Composed by Elmer Bernstein. Fits the movie and the performances perfectly. I don't know if it won an Oscar in 1960 for musical score. Maybe someone knows the answer.

[dafmurray]

Sadly Bernstein didn't win for 'The Magnificent Seven' and what was worse was that he wasn't even nominated in 1964 for 'The Great Escape'. Bernstein's only Oscar was for Best Adapted Score for 'Thoroughly Modern Millie'. Either the majority of music scores were a lot better at that time or the Oscar went to the wrong composer yet again.

[CC41DZ]

Thanks for the answer. I read in Bernstein's biography that he was partly blacklisted in the fifties because of that McCarthy situation. Possibly this had something to do with him not being nomintated or winning his share of Oscars.

[ThePiano1991]

It was a shame he didn't get more Oscars!  Scores back then were greater altogether than nowadays, great scores like this don't win but now any old composer can win. John Williams is the last master, he really is!

[shenloken2]

Ladies and Gentlemen - 'The Magnificent seven' being conducted by 'The Magnificent John Williams.'

[Arun1080]

It's gonna be a sad day the day John Williams takes his last breath.

[greenTleaf]

ahhhh, don't even want to think about that!

[CanadiAnnie]

@greenTleaf Me neither. He's simply the best.

[shenloken2]

What a terrible thought; yet an inevitable consequence. ;_;

When that happens I would like to be there to pay my last respects; along with others who owe John a great deal. (Like George Lucas, Steven Speilberg, Oliver Stone and so forth.)

[ThePiano1991]

Oh please don't... I agree... Don't even want to think of that!! :(

[JubalCalif]

One of the greatest movie themes of all time....perfect for such a classic Western story (which was based on a 50's Kurosawa Japanese sumauri film!). Many thanks for posting it for us to enjoy!

[rham04]

without a doubt my favorite western

[avatarnarutochuck]

love it... most exciting score I've ever heard...

[ejcrowley]

As much as I love this piece, I have to say most exciting has to go to Superman.

[xixzor2]

Freedom, majesty, power, grace. Perhaps the most evocative orchestral arrangement of the twentieth century?

[gambit335]

oh my god thats outstanding

[idahovandal]

Thankfully a young generation growing up without ciggy commercials won't associate this beautiful music with smokes, like us 40+ year olds.

[ProfessorPiano]

Hehehehe too late matey *cough cough*. Naw I'm only kidding with you. :)

[rhctam]

One of the best movies of our time. missed most of those stars in this picture even the bad buys.

[TheNilvarg]

John Williams is one of the greatest humans alive.

[natesquared]

we did this for marching band last year, it was fun

[angeldelafe]

thank very much

[alabam5]

Henrik - the true magnificnt '7'!

[chaseflover]

We played this in band in 8th grade.. And I played the Bass clarinet.. And I had a big solo toward the middle

[TheManWithNoName3]

Hey i'm uploading the "Return of The Seven" the whole movie.check my channel!!!!

[Mauigirl52]

Is everyone too young to remember that this was the same theme used for the Marlboro cigarette TV commercials? I can't hear the first stanza without thinking of the Marlboro Man!

[nickmitsialis]

I hadn't seen this movie for YEARS; Recently I bought the DVD & first time I saw it, I practically went 'Holy S**t, it's the Marlboro Commercial!'

[tarantellaonline]

I read somewhere that Elmer Bernstein missed out the copyright/royalty of this work and been ripped off for years by Malboro.

[rogiet3]

Greetings from all the gunslingers in Wales

[WRESTLINGDAVE12]

cool your from wales my girl friend is from wales!

[garyowen4ever]

let's saddle up and ride to WALL STREET AND HANG THE BANKSTERS !

[GAMOM2]

lol. I'm with you boss.

[garyowen4ever]

that makes "3"

[mstytz]

now 4

[p0t4t0ch1p5]

hey, it's Colonel Sanders LOL.. aww I'm sooo gonna watch Magnificent Seven now.. awesome music!

[schmidtl61]

lauraoh94 you are very very young! THIS MOVIE AND MUSIC TODAY HISTORI! GREETINGS FROM HUNGARY IN EUROPA!

[koalie120]

we're doing this for a walk and we're also doing The Entertainer.

[lauraoh94]

the conductor looks like the KFC guy. haha so adorable :]

[avatarnarutochuck]

the conductor is none other than John Williams, the guy who wrote the f'king music of STAR WARS, SUPERMAN, INDIANA JONES, JURASSIC PARK, HARRY POTTER and loads of others.

[1wickedfan]

Good Grief. We play this in our pep band too. I'm second trumpet!

[fuzzy188]

we are doing this song for our halftime show for the football game!!! cool i knoe.... i am playing the saxophone

[xxFall2TheDarknessxx]

:D lol, we're doing this at our halfime show too!! and silverado i think...

either they're popular songs, or we all go to the same school :)

[plane15man]

oh really? i'm second sousaphone, i wanted our director to do home on the range but he said no for some reason...

[plane15man]

our marching band is doing this song, how the west was won, and silverado for the halftime show.

[thathockeydude37]

yeah same here. 1st trombone. we are doing a western theme. We are doing this along with a song called shenadoa and a reall jazzy versioun of Home on the range

[TimGBone]

Hey I'm playing this too and I'm 1st trombone too! :)

[gtaig08]

sounds like the VB theme

[carlosrvs77]

Come to where the flavor is...

[bexonsax]

lol we are doing this for marching band! this, Apache, Silverado (main theme), and How The West Was Won!

[chsdrumcorps]

haha same here.

[bexonsax]

CHSDRUMCORPS ARE U A ROUGH RIDER...i mean catty roughie?

[chsdrumcorps]

what's that? if u mean school mascot, i'm a centurion.

[bexonsax]

oh yeah a centurion isnt that like a spartin? kinda... well what school is that.

[katelynbeth]

what a tribute to the king of kings henrik larrson,c'mon the hoops,3 IN A ROW.

[Beagle3561]

Williams Tribute to Jerome Moross

[siggreta]

This and the wild bunch are the best two cowboy movies ever!

[mkxylplk]

Oh yes, I agree, but don't forget A Fistfull of Dollars and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly w/ Clint Eastwood. Great western movies during that period (60s)

[choosethisday]

dude! i fliped out when i first saw this on tv a while ago! lol. i'm a big fan of the movie, so i was so exicted. he aso did the great escape theme too, i think.

[xixzor2]

Hollywood is the edge of Marlboro Country. lol

[misspaddylee]

The Magnificent Seven, The Big Country, How the West Was Won, Red River - great music by great composers. Westerns are inspiring.

[richintalent]

I get choked up and chills every time I hear this- why i don't know

[choosethisday]

your not alown! the same thing hapends to me. i love this song. i wish i could get it for my computer's i tunes

[keywest56]

Thank you. I enjoyed this very much. Brings back a lot of memories.

[chrispah52]

this song is cool, our orchestra is doing this song for our spring concert

[no1bigz]

wonderful, the best

[fairies47]

I'm really fond of western's soundtracks... And I think this one is one of the best, with "How the West was won" and "Alamo"...

[awesomekid77]

Great Film! + Great American Film Score Composer! Elmer Bernstein and John Williams are the best film score composer of all time.

[6345789oldies]

Question:

Was it Bernstein or Williams that did the musical score.

Thanks anyone

[sfan1]

Elmer Bernstein was the one that composed the score for The Magnificent Seven, however, according to IMDB John Williams was a memeber of the orchestra when they recorded the score. He was playing piano.

[avatarnarutochuck]

That was Henry Mancini's Peter Gunn theme. John Williams played the piano in that one. And I can't hear the piano anywhere in this score.

[greenTleaf]

williams was just doing a tribute to bernstein

[vladiinsky]

@6345789oldies bernstein, but not leonard.

[ewkerr]

great tune!!! If you want to see something with this tune thats really funny search "VB ad" and click the top one.

its an ad for a shit aussie beer playing this tune using beer bottles, its great!

[m00sey2]

Thanks for the menory, greentleaf

[Divine25Sun]

I never tire of hearing this truly magnificent score. The racy and thrilling strains lift up my spirits.

I would classify the theme as "Classical Western" which includes great Western themes like "Shane", "How the West was Won", "High Noon", "McKenna's Gold" and so on.

I'm 52 but I never grew up. The 1950s/60s still pulsate vigorously through my bloodstream.

Greetings and good wishes to all "my kind of Westerns" listeners.

[Divinorumx10]

To the front, salute!

;) those who know, know.

[bill85704]

Good is good. Age really doesn't matter.

[emilyelizabethem]

i love this. all the kids my age would think i was a freak if they knew i liked classical music, but some songs - like this - are really good.

[samash7]

It's wonderful that you like this music, but I'm not sure if this can be classified as classcial per se. Although I'm not quite sure what classification it comes under. The genre of the Western Movie Theme is rather unique. Anyway, I hope you enjoy all other western themes too, and western movies. CHEERS!

[Libertarian1776]

The official title is "the Grand Canyon Suite."

It was written by Ferde Grofe on or around 1930

[rockinraffi]

Along with the score for The Patriot, (which John Williams also wrote), this has to be one of the most American pieces of music I have ever had the pleasure to listen to...

[saj1702]

john williams didnt write this...

[rockinraffi]

I know. That is really not what I meant. I was thinking of Williams as an arranger and performer more than anything else. Although it is a pretty common misconception, that I think stems from the fact that William's arrangement is better than the original...

[8015695]

I think this was Mr Bernstein's work...

[feartrich]

lol where was this taped?

[greenTleaf]

hollywood bowl

[peppersax]

Elmer Bernstein wrote probably the definitive theme song for a western. But to keep it real, one must pay homage to the man who created the 'western sound'.......Aaron Copland.

[rockclimber21]

agreed, Copland is excellent!

[MurpheusElPadre]

I could not agree more.

[rogerrodd]

Such a pity that a fantastic piece of musical and film artistry became forever embedded in my head as the theme for "The Marlboro Man" in cigarette commercials.

[thebioniclemaster31]

i love this song john williams does a great job writing music

[AusQuitzau]

John Williams didn't write it, it was composed by Elmer Bernstein in 1960 - he died in '04 and that's why Williams is doing a tribute to him

[thebioniclemaster31]

ohhh alright i still think john williams does a great job writing music =P

[stormyschnee1991]

sweet music

[Vinya]

This is probably also one of the most fun songs to play in band...at least for clarinet :D

[NDSoxfan]

Great movie, maybe the greatest theme song ever

[rockclimber21]

idk, pirates of the caribbean has an amazing soundtrack, even though it is overplayed (I've played it for band 4 times so far). XD

magnificent 7 has a fantastic theme too, though

[HarryPotterOwns]

I played this in 6th grade O_o

trumpet =P

[cubsfan1591]

cool, my band is playing this band for the halftime show, music that represent america this son and how the west was won(western), sing sing sing(jazz) and carry on warward son(rock) because we are going to china next summer!

[Vinya]

thats neat. We played this in high school too for our pops concert, but never for marching. The University of Illinois marching band plays Carry on My Wayward Son at games...it might be the same arrangement :D

[cubsfan1591]

it's not the same arrangement, my band instructor makes a different arrangent from the same songs, and I used to go to Illini games all the time until I moved to N.H.

[arizonaranger]

"WE DEAL IN LEAD.FRIEND" !

[preciousmemories1]

music went good with the film.

[riverflowsolingen]

MAGNIFICENT JOHN WILLIAMS!!!!

[sirscholes]

great theme...

[hiprocka]

charge

[akawhippy]

this sounds more like the national geographic song.

[avatarnarutochuck]

probably because it was written by the same person, Elmer Bernstein...

[galeno1999]

john williams is a magnificent director

[paratrooper629]

Come up to where the flavor is..... come up to Marlboro country!

[wanker64]

worth hearing again and again

[coolrunning101]

Bernstein would be honored!!!

[OxnerdKi]

is it just me or does john williams look somewhat like the KFC colonel

[Theoriginalskater]

HE does. lol

[mongoos150]

Amazing.