Emilio Audissino - The Film Music of John Williams: Reviving Hollywoods Classical Style

There are many people who have accompanied me throughout the preparation of the first edition of this book. I seize the occasion of this second edition to reiterate my appreciation to those whose support has proven unabated and to add mentions of those friends and colleagues I have met between the first and this second edition. The majority of the research for the preparation of this book was conducted in the (now defunct) Dipartimento di Storia delle Arti at the University of Pisa, Italy, where I completed my first PhD. Special mentions go to Alessandra Lischi and Cinzia Maria Sicca Bursill-Hall.

Part of this book is based on fieldwork carried out in Boston, Massachusetts. On the one hand, it consisted of my regular presence at all John Williams concerts with the Boston Pops from 2007 to 2013. On the other hand, it consisted of archival research at the Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives and at the WGBH Educational Foundation Media Library and Archives. Many thanks for their advice and assistance go to Bridget P. Carr and Barbara Perkel (BSO Archives) and to Keith Luf, Nancy Dillon, and Leah Weisse (WGBH Archives). My warmest thanks go to my dear friends in Boston and at Bostons Symphony Hall, Doreen M. Reis, Vincenzo Peppino Natale, and Adam Castiglioni, for their constant friendship and support. A special tip of the hat goes to radio legend Ron Della Chiesa, not only for his friendship and in fond memory of our conversations about the history of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops but also for being the host and presenter at the book launch in June 2014 at Bostons Prudential Center. A special acknowledgment also goes to my Bostonian friend Victor Brogna, who lent a very helpful hand both with legal issues and with the proofreading of the first edition.

My friend John Norris deserves my warmest gratitude and a central niche of his own. He is a thorough connoisseur of film music and John Williamssworks and was an invaluable assistant in my archival research in Boston. He was also my eyes and ears at those concerts that I was not able to attend. At the concerts I was able to attend, he and his wife, Christine Dehil, have been my delightful companionsand the photographers of my meetings with the Maestro. More friends have more recently shared with me some Williams experiences, and we regularly entertain exchanges about the latest news from the Williams universe. To them and their partners goes my friendliest ciao: Simone Pedroni and Elisa Petrarulo, and Maurizio Caschetto and Ilaria Ruffoni.

The updates and revisions of the book have matured during my stay at the University of Southampton, UK, where I had the opportunity to present lectures and classes on Williamss music during the years. My sincerest appreciation goes to my mentor Kevin J. Donnelly and to the other colleagues I worked with there: Tim Bergfelder, Beth Carroll, Mike Hammond, Sally Keenan, Lucy Mazdon, Paola Visconti, and Michael Williams.

I would also like to mention Cynthia Wilson and Emile Wennekes (Utrecht University, the Netherlands), who have always shown a true appreciation of my book: we got acquainted as colleagues, to soon become collaborators on many projects and, most importantly, friends. Dank je wel, Cynthia en Emile!

As to the form and appearance of the book, I wish to express my appreciation to the many people who gave their contributions at the various stages of the process, from the first version of the manuscript back in 2013 to the 2021 second edition. First, Im grateful to the University of Wisconsin Press for giving me the opportunity to bring this book to fruition. For the first edition, I reiterate my sincere gratitude to Executive Editor Raphael Kadushin, to his assistant Matthew Cosby, and to all the nice persons I worked with at UW Press: Andrea Christofferson, Sheila Leary, Carla Marolt, Sheila McMahon, Adam Mehring, and Elena Spagnolie. For this new edition, I am grateful to UW Press director Dennis Lloyd for asking me to return to the drawing board to update and expand the book for a new release, to Jacqulyn Gaik-Ing Teoh for her assistance, and to Sheila McMahon for outstanding copyediting work. Acknowledgments for the cover design of this new edition go to Jennifer Conn and the marketing and art-direction staff at UW Press. My thanks also go to the late George Burt, and to Vincent LoBrutto, Jeff Smith, and Larry Timm, who read the manuscript in its first version, and to Kevin Donnelly and Emile Wennekes, who read new parts of this current versionthe Closing Remarks and For their competent legal advice on US copyright law and on the fair use doctrine, my deepest appreciation goes to attorneys-at-law Redenta Enne and Bill Lee. As for the visual part, my appreciation goes to Mrs. Samantha Winslow Williams for generously giving her permission to feature her exquisite John Williams portraits, of which the one that closes the book perfectly captures the Maestro at work and his piano-and-pencil modus operandi.