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I'm only anticipating 1 JW release, just to make it more of a pleasant surprise if we end up with 2.

It's all but announced. It'll be there. And the Swarm.

So far as I can recall, not a single theme has been used in a promo for the sequel trilogy thus far, that didn't also appear in the score proper for the film it was promoting. This promo is as good as confirmation that DOTF returns, IMO.

CONFIRMED! The Williams score has a track with someone whistling!

Personally I thought it was strange he didn't appear in either of the spin-offs (especially Rogue One which was overflowing with OT references), so I believe the idea they were saving him for IX as the last hurrah. If Snoke was that important, I doubt they would have let Rian kill him off. He only ever felt like Emperor-Lite to me. There's also a lot of unresolved plot threads introduced in ROTS about "cheating death." That was JJ's favourite scene in the prequels so it's no surprise he took the concept and ran with it. If the Jedi can live forever by becoming one with the force, why can't the Sith in a corrupted way? If you want to tie the whole saga together, that's the starting point.

There's no excuse for Williams not to knock this out of the park. The movie looks like it has everything he needs to write an incredible score to close off the saga. You can see why he was so excited after seeing the first cut (even without all the effects done).

A part of my brain wishes we got that elusive sequel decades ago purely for a sequel score, but another part of my brain is happy it never happened. The KOTCS debacle probably a factor there.

It's amazing how seamlessly The Imperial March slots into Duel of the Fates here. Just another sign of Williams' genius, that two totally different themes written decades apart can be layered together so effortlessly and sound like they were always intended to co-exist. Kinda makes me wonder how other themes might work in counterpoint with it. If the Imperial March is this seamless, why not the Emperor's or Kylo's Theme? Hell, if this underscores the film's epic fight, I see no reason why Williams can't weave Rey's Theme around it too.

I'm impressed at how well they matched the puppet. It looked CGI in places but was seamless overall. And JW's music always works, no surprises there. Fun ad!

Ahh yes, you're probably right. The two versions are likely just Flying Home and Light in the Snow and Flying Home. The latter probably being an early alternate, and when JW revised the cue he shortened the title as well.

Wow, we're getting so much material now it's hard to keep up. That opening does indeed sound like a gigantic new choral version of Duel of the Fates, but it doesn't really sound like the way Williams would arrange it. The chorus sounds generic/sampled, certainly not singing Sanskrit or anything.

That does help, because this list appears chronological, which answers several questions! Light in the Snow and Flying Home is the alternate early version of this cue (audible at 3:57 above) so the cues labelled Flying Home (and possibly Old Falcon to the Rescue) are the versions heard in the film. Unclear which versions Williams recorded first. 1:15 onwards is the variety of excerpts from The Falcon Still Flies!, including unreleased/alternate sections not heard in the film or album (sigh) 0:57 - 1:10 is Kylo's Rage (a mix of the music when Kylo finds Rey escaped the torture chair, also the music when the FO begin charging the Starkiller weapon at the end of Act 2) Which means 0:11 - 0:30 is the ever-elusive Hand Opening. The first 10 seconds is difficult to hear but sounds similar to Starry Night, except this version gradually builds with very tense, uneasy strings and a punch of brass to close the cue off. I'm now convinced this is what Williams wrote for the alternate opening of Luke's severed hand slowly drifting into frame clutching a lightsaber. It's definitely not for a shot of Lor San Tekka opening his hand, the tone is way too dark.

But how do we know for sure?

I didn't know that! When was that revealed? Ironic, considering the reverse situation happened on TFA.

Thought this was a fun interview which revealed a few interesting nuggets we didn't previously know. I think the Hook signing was already revealed by Rian, but one can infer from Nathan's comments here that he actually lost this gig to Williams. Another interesting layer to that mysterious period between TFA and TLJ where JW's ongoing involvement was unclear. It seems Nathan actually got to attend the recording sessions though, so don't feel too upset for him. A dream come true for any aspiring composer. A nice gesture from Rian who surely arranged that as an apology for not getting the score. https://collider.com/knives-out-composer-interview-nathan-johnson/

At the very start here: Thoughts? This recording doesn't sound like any of the previous scores and I doubt a morning talk show would just use some random concert performance of Main Title, considering Disney are their parent company (and they got the exclusive first clip from the film). It also sounds different to the version of Main Title they were using for interviews on TLJ (which sounded more like the TFA recording to my ears).

Has David Arnold been announced as replacement composer for this film yet?

Yeah, I miss the good old days of, "I hate sand."

Not sure we can read much into that, considering he's talking about TPM anyway.

They troll now!

Episode 29: The Film Music of Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

Technically we did... years ago.

I'm with @Tom on this one. Something feels disingenuous about Trev's comments, especially that part where he mentions JJ retaining his ideas. Seems more like CT justifying his story credit and one-noting himself.

So we now have the answer to two predictions (whether we'll hear a fragment of the score in advance, also whether JW was still recording on the 11th of Nov). These clever people got both answers correct! @A. A. Ron @Alex @ATXHusker @Balahkay @Darth Porkins @Evanus @First TROS March Accolyte @Jay @Joelius Caesar @JTWfan77 @Mattris @Not Mr. Big @Ricard @Score @SilverTrumpet @Smeltington @TheUlyssesian @woj @ymenard