Boston Pops

Boston Pops, John Williams Team Up for Olympic Tribute to Coronavirus Workers

"I hope it makes people stand a little straighter, puts a little more spring in their step," conductor Keith Lockhart said of the song

NBC Universal, Inc.

The homebound Boston Pops Orchestra teamed up with legendary composer John Williams to create a musical tribute to the workers on the front lines of the coronavirus fight.

They released a video Tuesday of Williams' iconic score for the 1996 Olympics, "Summon the Heroes," played by 78 musicians each in their own homes, their individual recordings stitched together over a stirring performance.

"I started crying the first time I saw the rough cut," conductor Keith Lockhart told NBC10 Boston.

Lockhart called it "particularly poignant that we're all doing that in our basements or practice rooms. All of us as musicians feel a real need to communicate, we need to play for people."

In the video's introduction, Williams, the composer behind the "Star Wars," "Jurassic Park" and "Harry Potter" themes, discusses how the music was originally written to honor Olympic athletes, but during the coronavirus crisis, we have "a different set of heroes and heroines who sacrifice every day and bring their commitment and dedication to their work."

The video is dedicated to medical workers, police officers, firefighters, grocery store workers and more.

Great music sends a message of hope, common humanity and interconnectedness, Lockhart said.

"I hope it makes people stand a little straighter, puts a little more spring in their step," he said.

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