33 replies to this topic

[Josh500]

I am not talking about entire tracks or pieces, but brilliant moments, since there are so many of them in this wonderful score/on this album. Give us the time stamp, and tell us why you like this section so much, why you think it's so freaking brilliant! (Said section should be no longer than 30 seconds, by the way.)

I myself have mentioned these, that I could find now:

In the track "Snowy's Theme," I am absolutely blown away by that short section 1:00-1:10, which has been adapted from the cue "Snowy's Chase": the careful use of the timpani (only 2 hits at the right strategic moments), the masterful interplay between strings and the piano. I must have listened to that alone 10 times already. What that section seems to say is, "Yes, Snowy is cute and slightly clumsy and all that, but when there's real danger, Snowy's more than up to meet the challange!" I just love how JW's music seems to tell entire little stories or anecdotes, even in such brief snippets; he sure does it better than anybody else.

"The Flight to Bagghar" is of my (several) favorite tracks. I know this one I will be listening to over and over again... over the next couple of decades! What I especially like about it: 1. the short bit 1:09-1:12, which I am pretty sure is JW imitating through the orchestra the propellers of the plane stuttering into life (it sounds that way anyway), 2. the rendition of Tintin's theme which follows it (not the most heroic example, but surely the most uplifting), and 3. the frenetic over-the-top strings (2:13-2:19) which is SO reminiscent of ToD somehow and which is then topped a few seconds later by the strings doing: 2:28-2:34. As if JW is saying, "You think that was good? Then listen to this!" I swear to God, when I heard that for the first time, I actually laughed out loud!

But one of my favorite moments has to be the flute solos at the beginning of "Pursuit of the Falcon." At 0:12-0:19 JW masterfully combines light strings with the flute playing rapidly to conjure the image of a bird struggling to gain altitude... you can almost feel the orchstra struggling too! This sends pleasurable chills down my back every time!! This is not just what he did in PoA, you see. This is JW building on that same idea but enhancing it with light strings... All I can say is WOW!!! Well done, Johnny. And the continuation at 0:23-0:29 too, of course.

Other examples by members (that I could find on short notice):

The HP-esque mystery music 2:40-3:00 of Marlinspike Hall

Am I the only one who finds this enchanting and mesmerizing? Is it a particular theme?

It's one of those...I wish he'd developed it further, but alas you only get 20 seconds.

3:08 in The Pursuit of the Falcon


The woods.

Best moment in the score.

The Pursuit of the Falcon theme [4:17 to 4:36] statement is a lot more epic. Love its grand fashion and it'll probably be a lot more satisfying for those looking for great thematic moments from Williams.

That being said, I love the harpsichord statements of the theme in The Adventures of Tintin [0:34 to 0:38].

Well, what other examples are there? Bring them on!

[Alexander]

Track 9 4:03 - 4:30.

[Josh500]

"Escape from Karaboudjan" 0:12-0:32 is so awesome, especially the latter part 0:24-0:32 (what's heard in the trailer). Man that cello line toward the end gives me chills! So MUCH is going in just 30 seconds, it's unbelievable...

Btw, at 0:24 that snarly sound in the background going dum-dum-Dum-dum is trombones, right?

[Alejandro]

I am in love with the first 5 seconds of Pursuit.

[Chaac]

The Adventures of Tintin: 0:00, 0:13, 0:23 (the drop). Puts a smile in my face every time, One of the better openings in a while. It sounds like "hey, come listen to this! I'm a fun score!" Da, daradá, dadá du da...

Red Rackham's Curse and the Treasure: 3:24. And suddenly, what??? It's sounds genuinely puzzling, and dangerous.

[TheUlyssesian]

Love it when in Introducing The Thompsons And Snowy's Chase at 3:02, very suddenly Snowy's Theme occurs in a fashion that is both very grandiose and with a sense of danger. It makes your heartbeat fast.

Also in Pursuit, when from 3:29 - 3:38, the very swift strings interrupt the trumpet fanfare suddenly. Its a very noticeable jump and very impressive.

[Quint]

The dancing strings at 2:00 in The Adventure Continues.

[BloodBoal]

The creaking chair at 0:02 and 0:43 in Introducing The Thompsons.

[Pasi Tiitinen]

This fantastic score is full of details, every day I got new favorite one.

Today's one is in the track 9, the building up just before they start to fence. Those rising trills from accordion are hilarious.

From 2:06.

And also those timpani solos in track 7. 3:54 triplet + bang and 4:2 just bang. Simple but clever.

[DemonStar]

1:50 - 2:07 in Escape From The Karaboudjan, the menacing part with powerful horns and trumpets.

3:34 - 3:39 in Sir Francis And The Unicorn, the rapid orchestral hits in sync with the sword clashes.

Absolutely amazing!

[Alexander]

"Escape from Karaboudjan" 0:12-0:32 is so awesome, especially the latter part 0:24-0:32 (what's heard in the trailer). Man that cello line toward the end gives me chills! So MUCH is going in just 30 seconds, it's unbelievable...

Btw, at 0:24 that snarly sound in the background going dum-dum-Dum-dum is trombones, right?

I think that's a muted trumpet, but i can be wrong. Doesn't sound like a trombone to me.

[Pasi Tiitinen]

I think they are stopped french horns.

[KK.]

1:42 - 2:07 Escape from the Karaboudjan:
Massive music for the approaching ship. Its just so awesome!

1:35 - 1:57 Sir Francis and the Unicorn:
Arguably the best statement of the Unicorn theme in the entire score and one of the scores most epic moments. The glorious timpani pounding in the background with the mighty brass, just so epic! When I first heard this excerpt on Erik's show, I broke down....I then realized this score was going to be awesome.

2:14 onwards Sir Francis and the Unicorn:
When I first this theme in the samples, I was blown away. The pirate music was a big selling point for me (although its a Williams score...thats a big enough selling point anyways). I just love this cue so much for this music! Classic Korngold

5:35 - 5:54 Red Rackham's Curse and the Treasure:
This massive, explosive statement of the Bagghar theme is so powerful. Brings you back to moments in the Last Crusade or Temple of Doom, but for its might alone its one of the best moments in the score.

1:50 - 2:10 The Flight to Bagghar
I just love the ballet like statement of Haddock's theme a lot

0:13 - 0:30 - The Pursuit of the Falcon
I'm clearly not the first person to have mentioned this, but the flute work for the falcon in this cue is astounding. Its at moments like these that you realize why the maestro can't be beat.

4:13 - 4:35 The Pursuit of the Falcon
This is the definitive statement of Tintin's theme. So glorious with the underlying rhythmic brass and the soaring trumpet carrying the melody. A very score-gasmic moment

2:11 - 2:28 and 2:29 - 2:51 The Adventure Continues:
I LOVE the first false ending and adore the second false ending too. They're just so awesome and I've been listening to this cue many times just to listen to those endings. Great stuff!

Yup, there are a lot of "freaking brilliant moments on the Tintin album worth special mentions!"

- KK

[gkgyver]

"The Adventure Continues" 1:50 - 1:54.

The way the main motif caps off that interlude is awesome. It creates one of those special "it's over, wait it's not!" Williams moments.

[Incanus]

Well a lot of outstanding moments have been mentioned here.
The opening of The Secret of the Scrolls with the saxophone and piano. I immediately thought "JW has found another clever combination to illustrate mystery and fascination here." when I first heard it. Such a simple yet effective solution where the piano seems to be already asking a question with its insistent yet subtle rhythm.

I would add the rapidfire brass in Escape from Karaboudjan (0:39-0:42) mimicing in part the machine gun fire of the bad guys as Tintin dodges the bullets.

Another wonderful small gesture are the woodwind and string trills before the Dueling Pirates Theme in the Red Rackham's Curse and the Treasure (2:06-2:20) and the very bustling sounding horns that usher us to the theme itself. Excellent, subtle and classy anticipatory music.
EDIT: Ah I see hornist mentioned this bit as well.

The hilariously jittery and unstable sounding strings in The Flight to Bagghar (2:13-2:20 and 2:27-3:35) conjure up exactly the right mood, part zany and part perilous ride Tintin, Snowy and Haddock are experiencing.

The sharp duel music for Haddock and Sakharine in The Clash of the Cranes (1:52-2:17) where harpsichord gives the Snowy's Theme styled busy strings a suitably dangerous pointy edge.

[lostinspace]

"Escape from Karaboudjan" 0:12-0:32 is so awesome, especially the latter part 0:24-0:32 (what's heard in the trailer). Man that cello line toward the end gives me chills! So MUCH is going in just 30 seconds, it's unbelievable...

Btw, at 0:24 that snarly sound in the background going dum-dum-Dum-dum is trombones, right?

Muted Trumpet + Clarinet + Eb clarinet I think as it can be audibly heard with the trumpets, or it maybe just mixing.

I've got to say, this score has grown on me a lot and I love the action music and jazz influence. Its great listening to music and hearing the motifs thrown around the orchestra with so much energy. I really wonder how long it took JW to write a cue like this?!

Like many others my favourite is Pursuit of Falcon. I know there is nothing JW has not already done before here but the flute solo then onto strings and marimba tremolo stuff is great as are the many tempo changes through out the cue. The score was obviously well thought out motivically/thematically and it shows. I also like the new orchestration doublings used like in Escape from Karaboudjian - there is an accordian, clarinet, saxaphone, muted trumpet.

It's interesting to see how the score mixing has changed over the years. I remember hearing clarinet much more prominent in the mix in Indy 4 and it is the same case here.

[king mark]

I think all the renditions of Tintin's theme are Williams at the top of his game

The one in Flight to Bragghar especially has the classic Williams sound that can;t be replicated

[Josh500]

Muted Trumpet + Clarinet + Eb clarinet I think as it can be audibly heard with the trumpets, or it maybe just mixing.

Oh yeah! Thanks! Man, this moment is so frigging brilliant... I have no words.

I think all the renditions of Tintin's theme are Williams at the top of his game

The entire score is JW at the top of his game... there is not a single boring track on this album, and barely even a boring moment!

[crocodile]

I really like the soft material. The opening of track 3 that Incanus mentioned. It's seems like an extension of Irina's theme from Indy 4 (it's that saxophone!). But the mysterious side of that theme was never really much explored, sadly.

I also like (which I mentioned several times) this bit at 2:35. Reminds me so much of the scene when we see the medallion for the first time in Raiders.



These two for me represent Williams' blockbuster magic at its most quiet.

The grand transition to Bagghar is terrific too. The flute solo in the middle of falcon chase as well.

Karol

[Chaac]

I really like the soft material. The opening of track 3 that Incanus mentioned. It's seems like an extension of Irina's theme from Indy 4 (it's that saxophone!). But the mysterious side of that theme was never really much explored, sadly.

This theme is a mix between the typical Williams's "mysterious McGuffin" idea at the beggining of the melody and a big seafaring theme later in the melody. I think the best part is the later one. Maybe they thought the same.

[Maurizio]

The score is full of amazing moments. I'll quote a few subtle ones worth mentioning imho:

"Introducing the Thompsons and Snowy's Chase" 00:54 - 1:56 -- Wonderful coloristic orchestration (piano, guitar, accordion, clarinet) featuring my favourite quotation of Tintin's secondary motif.

"Capturing Mr Silk" 1:16 - 2:20 -- My favourite rendition of Dupond & Dupont theme. Williams' deft use of a spare, highly eccentric 1930s cabaret miniature orchestra (tuba, piano, accordion, clarinet, trombone and bass) is particularly great. I totally dig the last 15 seconds, where clarinet and bass go into a crazy jazz-like improv roulade. I can almost picture Johnny going wild at the piano while writing it

"The Pursuit of the Falcon" 2:20 - 2:47 -- when the trumpets kick in that exciting fanfare-like heroic figure I always get spine-tingles. Also, another great workout of Tintin's secondary motif. Howevet, this amazing cue has another great moment from 3:08 to 3:54--pure Williams gold, imho.

"The Captain's Counsel" 1:22 - 1:36 -- this is quite subtle, but it's really something that shows Williams' magic. The triangle hits, the harp plays a soft rhythmic figure in triplets and then clarinet and muted trumpet presents Tintin's theme (accompanying a close-up of him with a sly smile), building a wonderful sense of anticipation and excitement. It's in this apparently small details that lies the secret of Williams' amazing talent.

"Return at Marlinspike Hall and Finale" 4.23 - 4:38 -- the horns plays a final resolutory statement of the Unicorn motif (and when you'll see the film you'll know why), giving a sense of fulfillment both to Haddock's character and to the adventure we just saw.

And then, well, for me every single second of "The Adventure Continues" is freakin' brilliant. Period.

[Josh500]

Tonight I am going to go through all of your lists, listening to all the examples... !

One way to appreciate this score even more.

[Pasi Tiitinen]

I think all the renditions of Tintin's theme are Williams at the top of his game

The one in Flight to Bragghar especially has the classic Williams sound that can;t be replicated

One thing I love in Williams is how he build up the mood to these heroic themes(like Fast street of Shanghai, TOD).

For example in Flight to Karaboudjan 00:17 starting to give some hints, kinda previews before the heroic theme will burst out to its full glory.

[Josh500]

Also in Pursuit, when from 3:29 - 3:38, the very swift strings interrupt the trumpet fanfare suddenly. Its a very noticeable jump and very impressive.

Yes, I agree!

But what I love about this section is the flute solo at 3:17, which seems to be "showing" the string section how it's done... because, after the brief brass fanfare, the strings play the exact same thing at 3:30 (anybody noticed that?) --and they pass with flying colors, as it were! Man, Johnny really was having fun here!

[Josh500]

The hilariously jittery and unstable sounding strings in The Flight to Bagghar (2:13-2:20 and 2:27-3:35) conjure up exactly the right mood, part zany and part perilous ride Tintin, Snowy and Haddock are experiencing.

Yeah, agreed! Btw, I mentioned the selfsame section in my original post, too.

[Incanus]

I think all the renditions of Tintin's theme are Williams at the top of his game

The one in Flight to Bragghar especially has the classic Williams sound that can;t be replicated

One thing I love in Williams is how he build up the mood to these heroic themes(like Fast street of Shanghai, TOD).

For example in Flight to Karaboudjan 00:17 starting to give some hints, kinda previews before the heroic theme will burst out to its full glory.

Very true. As Spielberg says Williams is a superb dramatist who knows when the unleash his themes in earnest to gain the maximum effect.

[indy4]

I will add the wonderful rendition of the Unicorn theme that concludes "The Milanese Nightingale." Totally unexpected, every time I listen. It's sudden change in mood pulls you right back into the story after a pleasant departure, it's almost scary.

[Mr Big]

Presenting Bianca Castofire and the Milanese Nightingdale. Easily the best tracks on the album.

[crocodile]

The first one doesn't count!

Karol

[Josh500]

At first I thought of starting a new thread, but we might as well continue this one... What are some your favorite sync points from this movie/score?


Let's start with the first track "The Adventures of Tintin." There are many more than I initially thought or noticed! Some of the more obvious ones as well as the not so obvious ones:

1. Tintin's theme is heard for the first time when the title appears.
2. When "A Steven Spielberg Film" appears (actually drops from above), JW accompanies that with 3 notes on the harpsichord: tata-tam!
3. The "church bells" when Tintin gets hit on the head...
4. When Tintin and Snowy are on top of a fast-moving train, this characteristic motif appears, with the accordion going frantic in the background! I love this part.
5. Immediately following that, JW seems to simulate the turning propellers of several planes with whirling clarinets.
6. The press line of newspapers at the beginning is also appropriately scored with clarinets going daaaaaaa... Simple but quite effective.

And I have an idea there are many more.

____________________

Man, I'd be such a shame if JW decided not to score Tintin 2 for whatever reason...

This has the possibility of becoming a score series that rivals HP in its thematic variety and listenability!

[Josh500]

__________________

While watching the movie yet again, I just realized something regarding "The Pursuit of the Falcon"!

The secondary Snowy's Theme is heard very briefly at the beginning. We see the falcon attacking the model ship, and while it's trying to get a hold of the scroll, there is a brief cut to Snowy running toward it, and that's when we hear it.

Listen very carefully at 0:19-0:22.



That's the same "theme," the strings doing the fast-paced rhythm in the background, we hear at 2:28 onwards, of course!



I am just saying because it's not included here:
http://www.jwfan.com...showtopic=20800

[Jason LeBlanc]

I'm not hearing a connection...

[Josh500]

I'm not hearing a connection...

Seriously?

Granted, it's very brief, maybe 2 or 3 seconds, but watch that scene again, and you'll see/hear it...

In both scenes, we see Snowy from behind, running. And the musical motif is the same, too.

[Alexander]

Here's another musical similarity:

The trumpet at 3:49 here (Haddock jumps):



Is practically the same as the horn here at 4:00 (Sir Francis jumps):