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Digital single tomorrow http://filmmusicreporter.com/2019/05/02/john-williams-star-wars-galaxys-edge-symphonic-suite-to-be-released/

You can really tell that they ponied up for the London Symphony Orchestra for this one. It finally has that "Star Wars" sound, for the first time since Disney and Jar Jar Abrams and Ruin Johnson got their hands on Star Wars.

Mutt died on the way back to his home planet

Now streaming on Spotify, if you stream https://open.spotify.com/track/0ETHUHGV4QrIQ3iGIUQZbd?context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A53V20nN6s91x3ey4grFvwY&si=pVuw_fdsT1GvjsKn_RzpkA

I just finished watching this film for an upcoming episode of my podcast. It is not a great film by any means, but that six minutes of music near the end that everyone has talked about is worth sitting through the movie. I am co-hosting the episode with Townerfan's brother Gianmaria. We are going to have a fun discussion. And thanks Mauricio for the background info on the film!

DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB Stanley Kubrick is one of the biggest directorial names in the industry, and there’s a reason why his work has made his name so famous. Perhaps it is because of the uncharacteristic execution and unexpected stance of many of his films, which can be and have been received a number of different ways. Take 2001: A Space Odyssey for example, one of the only other Kubrick ventures I’ve seen at this point. While it is viewed by many highly esteemed critics and passionate film enthusiasts as a masterpiece, many would beg to differ, most likely because of its unconventionality and acquired strangeness, to some. Dr. Strangelove is certainly a lot easier for the common viewer to appreciate, but it still has some obstacles for the less understanding to hurtle before they can enjoy it. Dr. Strangelove is a perfect balance of political satire, dark humor, and general ridiculousness. With full acknowledgement of the seriousness and fear of the Cold War era, one cannot help but laugh and snicker at this darkly comedic spinoff of the debacles of nuclear warfare. But this presents a problem for some. The nature of one’s reception is dependent on their sense of humor. Case in point, it’s not for everyone. Whereas 2001 was strongest in visuals and futuristic symbolism (it relies on very little dialogue, and the most meaningful and substantial parts of the script belong to the super computer HAL, as it is), Dr. Strangelove soars with its witty and devilishly hilarious script, as well as the preposterousness of the plot. This goes without saying that the performances of Peter Sellers (he plays three very different characters at once) and George C. Scott, mainly, were quite embellished. Nonetheless, these exaggerations work to induce the success of the comedic aspect of the film. At this point, I think it is obvious I found this to be really funny. I’m not sure what this says about me, but I’ve had years of experience in this sector of humor thanks to Gary Larson’s The Far Side comics, which have not escaped some controversy based on their odd and morbid nature themselves. Sellers covers all the bases with his three characters: the anxious and worried President of the United States Merkin Muffley, RAF officer Lionel Mandrake, and the extremely curious title figure Dr. Strangelove, an ex-Nazi bomb expert who cannot help but salute Hitler every time he makes a comment about the extinction of the human race. If that’s any indication, again, this movie will not be for everyone. George C. Scott, who I’ve just seen in Patton, plays General Buck Turgidson, and while Kubrick pushed him beyond his comfort zone, the end result, at least on-screen, is quite fun. Slim Pickens is Major T. King Kong, a hell of a bomber commander that provides no shortage of interesting dialogue. Sterling Hayden is Brigadier Jack D. Ripper (yes, Jack D. Ripper) a paranoid commander. I’d say that my favourite of Sellers’ roles is Mandrake, a clichéd Britt trying to reason with the insanity of Brigadier Ripper. His interpretation of the President is no doubt good, and while I feel that some love should go to Dr. Strangelove, his character is probably the most forced of all. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and it actually serves as a testament to the ideology of the plot. The problem is that Ripper has commanded his entire bomb squadron to commence Plan R, a maneuver that will essentially wipe out every key military target in Russia. Things go awry when Ripper puts his station on lockdown and informs his troops that anyone who approaches is to be killed. When word reaches the President and the cabinet, chaos ensues. All communications seem to have been cut off, and nobody but Ripper knows the code to call off the attack. What’s more is that an assault of this magnitude will trigger a Soviet doomsday machine (to which Turgidson remarks, “Gee, I wish we had one of those…”). There was no shortage of hysterical lines, the most famous of which (“You can’t fight in here- this is the war room!) was not even my favorite. At that point I was already out of breath. The jokes catered directly to my sense of comedy. Laurie Johnson’s main theme, which is the only orchestral music present in the film, is iconic and militaristic without being too serious. It needn’t have been anyways. RATING: ***** out of ***** CONSENSUAL STATEMENT: “I thought that this film was fine, Dimitri…yes…yes. Well I’m glad that you thought this film was fine too, Dimitri…yes. Well then as you put it Dimitri, we both thought this film was fine, yes. Ha-ha. Ha. Ha.” -Jerry

I find it to be a very satisfying hybrid of Williams' 80's and contemporary styles. The A theme is a perfect adventure theme, but he doesn't let it soar quite like he would have in the 80s. But the complexities of the orchestrations and interactions with the B and C theme/motifs give the piece a coherence and excitement on their own.

wow this is just amazing. Definitely one of his best Star Wars pieces ever

If anyone is interested, spoke with David Cripps from the LSO if he recalled playing John William's Symphony. I thought for sure he would say no but he said "Oh yes, remember playing it with Andre Previn. John T. Williams as he was called then, to differentiate from the better known (in those days) guitarist, John Williams, was there. Previn conducted the rehearsal and they had a few words after but Williams left it to Previn." So it seems we have eyewitness memory that the 1972 LSO concert of Williams' Symphony did in fact happen and was memorable enough to remember the rehearsal and subsequent concert at Covenant Garden (I think he said) but sadly, he didn't recall what it sounded like because they were playing new music all the time and JW wasn't famous yet. Previn was actually far more famous as both film composer and conductor so it makes sense that JW would rely on Previn's interpretation and performance. Maybe someone can reach out to the archivist to see if the concert was recorded or if program notes might provide more info. David was a bit surprised there is no score available and no subsequent performance but it seems the 1972 concert performance of Johnny's Symphony did infact happen. I wonder if Gramaphone magazine has a concert review from that time.

I hope the IG-88 story is just about him wordlessly hunting Dash Rendar in a junkyard with a flamethrower

For myself it's a little reactionary. I'll try not to state too much what I've said before: I like the two Disney scores Williams has done, there's some very good music in both. But for whatever reason they sound flat and diluted, the sonic equivalent of Sphagettios sauce. Honestly part of me worried if Williams lost a certain layer of musical depth--such as his unique harmonic palette--that he's established countless times over. But here we have a piece that sounds _alive_. I'm hearing those trademark Star Wars harmonies, that crystal-clear sparkle Williams is known for. And here it sounds like he's gotten into character in a way that he hasn't often with the new movies. This is not the kind of piece you would hear him do many places else.

Everyone (even the Starks) thought that the White Walkers were gone - if indeed they ever existed - until just a few years ago in Westeros time. So the motto "Winter Is Coming" is as meaningful to them as it was at the beginning of the series...

well the full symphonic suite

He's the prime example of how that system could ideally work: he was attached to bigger projects, got practice and I guess some industry bonus points, but didn't let his own unique voice be muffled, it shines through in everything he does.

It's a shame that Joel never truly broke out from his esteemed father's shadow (but who on earth could have!). But he's been such an astonishing composer over the years. I especially like Moon 44 (I do love Arnold but if Emmerich had stuck with Joel, who knows): Yes, the off meter rhythms are very Goldsmith Sr. but there's so much here that one hears in later Joel scores that is idiosyncratically him. But another son to father homage first:

What's so immensly great about the first film, anyway? When you don't hold the first film to a pedestal, the other two don't seem so bad by comparison. I like Pirates 2 and 3 fine. Because they were shot concurrently, they feel of a piece, which I always appreciate in sequels, and the end of 3 feels like a real culmination, and has well-earned poignancy and finality to it.

The supernatural stuff in the first movie was tolerable and it at least was a charming attempt to tie in to the dioramas with skeletons at the start of the ride at Disneyland. The sequels made everything in the universe paranormal similar to The Mummy series of movies, only not done as well. They're just not very engaging and they're way too long, although DMC does have some fun bits like the swordfight. They're loaded with temporary alliances and betrayals, which annoyed me. I just think it's bad writing. That sort of thing was done perfectly in the first movie.

Because its more realistic and relatable?

The always insightful @Falstaft weighs in! Read the entire thread, it's great stuff. I'll definitely be keeping all this in mind when I listen next!

I wish I heard what others are hearing. I keep losing interest halfway through. But I'm going to continue to let it steep over the next few days and see if it grows on me.

What a cue, another fantastic standalone Star Wars composition from John Williams after The Adventures Of Han. And also thanks Disney for releasing it! I hope they will release a full album with all the other park music :)

So now all our jokes about torturing him look like a reaction to Powell praise. You're despicable.

Available at Qobuz @ CD quality if anyone wants this in a lossless format.

Howard Jones is about to release a new album. Always been a big fan, and he's allegedly returning to his synthpop roots for this.

maybe it's the edit I'm hearing that sounds like a slight brass flub god only 2 hours ago I was listening to my bad sounding bits thinking this had no chance in hell of being released and when's the last time we've had a full on bombastic 5 minute Williams fanfare like this?

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Perfection. Karol

SWGESS has similarities to BS, MOTR, and MTP.

Thanks, but oh God, we're not abbreviating track names now are we? Movie titles were bad enough. HHIITWAFW?

I really hope Williams keeps up this momentum and vibe as he works his way through TROS.

I heard Indiana Jones V will take place in an old mill in Virginia.

There were no tracks in Solo about David Duchovny mooning a military guy.

When I want to remember why I like film scores, I just look at a poster I Xeroxed and stapled to my wall: -THE ORCHESTRA IS THE ONLY VALID MEANS OF MUSICAL EXPRESSION, COMPLEXITY, SOPHISTICATION, AND INTELLIGENCE -SYNTHESIZERS DO NOT EXIST (except sometimes to augment aforementioned orchestra) -PERCUSSION IS A SIGN OF WEAKNESS AND LAZINESS (outside of traditional instruments and usage) -MELODIES ARE THE ULTIMATE FORM OF MUSICAL WORTHINESS. WITHOUT THEMES TO ATTACH TO CHARACTERS OR SITUATIONS, THERE IS NO WORTH -HARMONIES AND SONIC TEXTURES THAT ARE TOO "ADVENTUROUS" ARE BAD FOR THE SPIRIT I have other posters with similar wisdom (and some hilarious ones about Hans Zimmer and his ghost army lol), but I put this one across from my bed so that when I feel intimidated by the winds of change and feel pressured to face the possibility of expanding my tastes beyond where they were as a child, I can look at this poster at nighttime, relieve my nervous spirit, and drift off to sleep listening to my C & C Hook playlist (except for that trash Banning Back Home, that is!)

I loved Elfman's version of Silvestri's theme. I understand why Silvestri just stuck with his original, but part of me wishes he'd picked back up the baton where Elfman left it.

I hear in this suite just the kind of music that you’d want to hear in a noisy, immersive setting as I imagine Galaxy’s Edge will be. It’s loud, catchy, but also simple enough that it can cut through the din of the crowd. The complexity of the piece is a definitely a step down from JW’s usual rarefied level (someone earlier talked about how intervallic the melody is, for example, and I agree) — but that’s likely precisely what he was going for. It suits the environment perfectly. It’s music that promises high adventure. It’s a mood-setter rather than a story told in music. And judged on those terms, it’s aces.

The sheet music in the original official video. You can see enough of the cues titled "Galaxy's Edge" and "Galaxy's Edge Alt. Beginning" at 0:29: Even though it's just a low-res glimpse of one of the horn parts, it's enough information to piece together how each cue started.

Nope, still an alternate intro that was edited in. Even that opening swell is part of it - the one heard in the very first video Disney put out sounds similar, but it's the slightly different original version. EDIT: Oh yeah, and...WOO HOO OFFICIAL RELEASE! Even I am surprised it came this early, but delightedly so. It's a beautiful piece. The original edited-down video omitted most of the development of the themes, instead presenting each musical idea only once, which is probably why it did sound a little "random." But hearing each idea developed a bit more really makes the whole thing so much more memorable and interesting - not to mention the fact that the variations themselves are great to listen to.

Not banned. Just side-eyed.

You should tell that to Chris Young, not me! It pretty much is. Everything in that score just falls into place to form a perfect dramatic operatic whole. The Wolfman by the Elfman: I really dig the at times brooding fateful atmosphere and the terse violently churning qualities of this score and come back to it quite often.

Hard Rain by Christopher Young

Anyone else love Dawn of the Dinosaurs? The album’s a bit messy since he had to split cues up to save on choir fees, but it’s divine once you combine cues when needed. But really, Powell doing dinosaur music just inherently appeals to me.

Mayhew's final film as Chewbacca is The Force Awakens. In TLJ, Solo, and TROS Chewie is played Joonas Suotamo.

This was extremely tricky. What I did was to copy/paste into a document my top 5 in all years, then select 25 of them and order them in an order (but after 5-6th place, it doesn't really matter which place they're at, really). It ended up thusly: 1. EX MACHINA 2. LE QUATTRO VOLTE 3. THE REVENANT 4. THE ROAD 5. LUCY 6. INTERSTELLAR 7. SON OF SAUL 8. ELLE 9. THE POST 10. NERUDA 11. INCEPTION 12. THE TREE OF LIFE 13. PROMETHEUS 14. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD 15. GRAVITY 16. AMERICAN HONEY 17. THE NEON DEMON 18. PAIN & GAIN 19. LOST RIVER 20. RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: CODA 21. DES HOMMES ET DES DIEUX 22. LA GRANDE BELLEZZA 23. IT FOLLOWS 24. MUSTANG 25. TOMBOY That means I had to leave out the following of all the top 5s, which was rather painful: THE LOVELY BONES, ROBIN HOOD, HANNA, JANE EYRE, RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, LOOPER, AMOUR, THE HOBBIT, DJANGO UNCHAINED, LA PASSÉ, GODZILLA, YOUR BEAUTY IS WORTH NOTHING, UNDER THE SKIN, STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, THE RED TURTLE, MANDY, SOLO, THE FLORIDA PROJECT, A QUIET PLACE, THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT, THE LOST CITY OF Z, ALIEN: COVENANT, A SEPARATION And so many more if I were to include my 6-10th place in each year -- also brilliant films. I love lists, but I also hate them, in a way.

Detective Pikachu looks frackin' awesome and I'm not even a Pokemon fan!....not anymore, anyway. Those days are over.

The situation reminds me a bit of the Apollo missions and the explanation given as to why we haven't been able to get back the moon since 1972 -- namely, because the expertise was gone. The biggest challenge today in getting back to the moon is apparently in recreating the Saturn V, which was apparently about as hand-built a device as ever a device was built by hand. By that I mean that it isn't that you could follow a recipe to build that rocket, only the people who designed it could build it, and once they left the picture there was no going back. Once we ran out of Saturn Vs -- or more accurately, "ran out" of people who could make Saturn Vs -- there was no going back to the moon whether or not Congress or the public wanted to. We live in an era when all the necessary ingredients are in place to make JW expanded releases as good as they'll likely ever get -- a producer who's best in the business (Matessino) and who has become entrusted to handle the audio legacy of a venerated composer; namely, one who has now turned his eye to administering to his legacy instead of dying and leaving that task to someone else to mess up; a specialty label (LLL) that has taken on the mantle of de facto producer/distributor of that legacy and brings to it all the resources they can muster (not least including amazing art direction and design work); and state-of-the art technology to ensure the technical aspects of this preservation effort are excellently done... Add to that the ongoing development of a film franchise that continues to capture the world's attention, whose composer is now the only pillar present in every chapter since the beginning (a track record that hopefully helps to ensure that the Disney monolith does what it can to give its star composer whatever he wants) and an established film score community that has now been trained to expect and support these new releases. These circumstances will not last forever, and once they change, we may never get close to them again. Every release that's been the product of this confluence is therefore a blessing and I'm just thrilled I'm aware enough of our good fortune to properly appreciate it. May we get out of this era all that we possibly can, while we can.

And another one...

I have to agree, this was an incredible episode. I'd even go as far as this being the best episode of the show yet. Visually this went above and beyond... and I thought the Kaylon 2-parter was VFX-heavy. McNeely's score did give me some Williams vibes here and there, but it still felt fresh... great action music! Oh man, I SO hope this show gets many more seasons.

The generous length was warranted here...😎 If you get more interviewees from that side, i think what would be a very important contribution: either trivia or analytical dissection at which point in the scoring process the inevitable outside interferences start and how that so dramatically changed the landscape. A starting point here would have been to point out to Newman the increasing rejections after Legend, and if JG ever elaborated on those cases (in Newman's case: how stuff like this affects in his own work). I think zooming in on some of these cases (and maybe some lesser known things) like on Alien (or Basic Instinct), where we know a lot of what happened would be great in forming a whole picture beyond all the gushing notes. I was always curious about the many rejections/aborted projects, JG referring to Wolfgang Petersen as 'that nazi kraut' in one of the magazines or the general love-hate-relationships beyond composer/director.