Bayesian

And then, a few weeks later, "Lorne Balfe has taken over scoring duties on Spielberg's upcoming UFO movie after Hans Zimmer got abducted by aliens."

John Williams will be in the city I live in ON MY BIRTHDAY. WHAT COULD I WANT MORE

Immediately blocking the calendar and already permission from Mrs GlastoEls received! 

From the print edition of the 2024/2025 Berlin Philharmoniker season book
 

 
Found on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/904229429654872/posts/7527258017351947/
 
I'll add links to the official website here when it gets added there.

I voted for the violin+piano version dedicated to Gil Shaham (whose score is published in the Signature Edition series). I think the piano part is particularly effective and convincing.
 
I also like the Mutter arrangement: actually, it's probably the only one that I enjoyed, at least among those that were played in Vienna. I generally don't like adding virtuosistic violin playing to a pre-existing piece which didn't require it, just for the sake of doing it, but in this particular piece it totally makes sense (Devil + violin is a long-standing association). The only defect is the long false-ending stuff, which is the one recuring feature of many of JW's concert arrangements that I truly cannot stand (I think it started with The Forest Battle...?). So, this is why it gets from me a lower mark than the piano + violin arrangement.
 
The trio arrangement is beautiful and done with great taste, but I think the solo violin works better than flute + cello for this type of piece. So, if I have to pick one, I prefer the violin + piano version. Nice to hear an alternative chamber version, though.
 
  

Possibly!

“I want to keep learning and discovering and scaring the shit out of myself, and sometimes the shit out of you,” Spielberg added. “I gotta get back to some of those earlier scarier movies, but that’s another story for later on.”

Berlin 2023 Lifetime Achievement Speech
 

Doesn't Star Wars count? There's plenty of aliens in these movies 

The films have a very specific tone; a swirling mix of absurdism, camp and straight. They nail the contrast between characters playing it totally straight while ridiculous antics occur in the background. One of my favourite examples:
 
 
I'm cautiously optimistic based on the casting so far. Anderson is perfect for a Jane-esque love interest, a great foil to Neeson.
 
Curious to see who they cast as the villain. It's hard to top Ricardo Montalbán (he nailed the tone for that first movie) but I hope they continue the trend of casting established dramatic actors. If you believe this article, Mads Mikkelsen was in talks for the role last year.
 
 
Is it beyond the realms of possibility Newborn would come back to score the film? His scores are intrinsically linked to the tone of these films. I'm struggling to think of many composers who could emulate it.

Here’s an article that discusses it in a little detail: https://cointelegraph.com/news/hans-zimmer-writes-tron-theme-song. Apparently, the “song” had been under development since 2022 (although the end result sounds like Zimmer only worked on it since 8:00 this morning.) 
 
Read the article. It quotes Zimmer on how this music represents the potential of Web3.0. The disconnect between what he says this song represents and the actual banality of the music itself is… well, it’s astonishing. 
 
I really believe Zimmer has somehow managed to achieve the impossible — he’s transcended his corporeal form to become a being of pure marketing.

Here’s an article that discusses it in a little detail: https://cointelegraph.com/news/hans-zimmer-writes-tron-theme-song. Apparently, the “song” had been under development since 2022 (although the end result sounds like Zimmer only worked on it since 8:00 this morning.) 
 
Read the article. It quotes Zimmer on how this music represents the potential of Web3.0. The disconnect between what he says this song represents and the actual banality of the music itself is… well, it’s astonishing. 
 
I really believe Zimmer has somehow managed to achieve the impossible — he’s transcended his corporeal form to become a being of pure marketing.

I can't believe I only discovered this thread now. Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin?? Color me curious -- and cautiously optimistic!
 
I have fond memories of the Naked Gun movies. Along with the Hot Shots and Airplane movies, they made up the bulk of an entirely distinct category of comedy whose existence was like an island in the long timeline of Hollywood movies. The main reason the absurdist humor worked, of course, was that Leslie Neilsen played the role completely straight but also tongue in cheek. That's probably damn harder than it looks, and I hope Neeson gives a performance that can compare. He has to play the role like he knows the world he's in is ridiculous and absurd but still takes it dead seriously. 
 
More than that, though, the NG movies worked because everyone played their roles straight. There was no winking at the audience. I hope the script treats the audience like adults and doesn't stoop to Deadpool-style pandering.
 
Also, I hope during the opening credits they do something like put up Leslie Neilsen's name and then awkwardly/frantically try to replace it with Liam Neeson's. That would make me laugh.
 

Here’s an article that discusses it in a little detail: https://cointelegraph.com/news/hans-zimmer-writes-tron-theme-song. Apparently, the “song” had been under development since 2022 (although the end result sounds like Zimmer only worked on it since 8:00 this morning.) 
 
Read the article. It quotes Zimmer on how this music represents the potential of Web3.0. The disconnect between what he says this song represents and the actual banality of the music itself is… well, it’s astonishing. 
 
I really believe Zimmer has somehow managed to achieve the impossible — he’s transcended his corporeal form to become a being of pure marketing.

I can't believe I only discovered this thread now. Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin?? Color me curious -- and cautiously optimistic!
 
I have fond memories of the Naked Gun movies. Along with the Hot Shots and Airplane movies, they made up the bulk of an entirely distinct category of comedy whose existence was like an island in the long timeline of Hollywood movies. The main reason the absurdist humor worked, of course, was that Leslie Neilsen played the role completely straight but also tongue in cheek. That's probably damn harder than it looks, and I hope Neeson gives a performance that can compare. He has to play the role like he knows the world he's in is ridiculous and absurd but still takes it dead seriously. 
 
More than that, though, the NG movies worked because everyone played their roles straight. There was no winking at the audience. I hope the script treats the audience like adults and doesn't stoop to Deadpool-style pandering.
 
Also, I hope during the opening credits they do something like put up Leslie Neilsen's name and then awkwardly/frantically try to replace it with Liam Neeson's. That would make me laugh.
 

Disney now owns:
Star Wars; Indiana Jones; Marvel; Avatar; Half of Titanic; Alien; The Predator; Die Hard; Family Guy; The Simpsons; Futurama; The X-Files; Home Alone; The Beatles; Your soul (coming soon...)

John Ottman to Direct Antonio Vivaldi Biopic

I feel a Jerry Goldsmith score coming on 

Here’s an article that discusses it in a little detail: https://cointelegraph.com/news/hans-zimmer-writes-tron-theme-song. Apparently, the “song” had been under development since 2022 (although the end result sounds like Zimmer only worked on it since 8:00 this morning.) 
 
Read the article. It quotes Zimmer on how this music represents the potential of Web3.0. The disconnect between what he says this song represents and the actual banality of the music itself is… well, it’s astonishing. 
 
I really believe Zimmer has somehow managed to achieve the impossible — he’s transcended his corporeal form to become a being of pure marketing.

Released 4/11/2024:


https://www.thirdeditions.com/first-print/603-l-oeuvre-de-john-williams-le-chef-d-orchestre-des-emotions-first-print-9782377844371.html

Press release pdf (in French):
https://www.thirdeditions.com/index.php?controller=attachment&id_attachment=199
 

The re-uptake of this thread has been a very interesting and thought-provoking read. (I also admire how civil we’ve all been so far in disputing positions!)
 
A few years ago, my take would have been more conservative/conventional, namely that JW is representative of the skill set that a “proper” professional film composer should have and that composers with less formal musical backgrounds are slowly dragging down the quality of film scoring as an art. (Danny Elfman being a very important exception.) But I’ve become more sanguine about the whole thing lately. Not because I’ve begun to enjoy or appreciate the music of the likes of Zimmer or Balfe (I haven’t and never will), but because I realize composers such as them are, if nothing else, good at the very narrow thing they do and that there’s room in the movie business for their specialization. Zimmer’s music for Dune, for example, would be a godawful sonic experience for most people on its own, but as part of the movie, it definitely succeeds at evoking an otherworldly environment. 
 
As for the actual musical talent—piano performance, reading or writing music by hand, improvisation, etc— of the likes of Zimmer & co., it actually shouldn’t matter, in principle, whether a person can do these things if he can give the buyer what he wants. If producers want the Zimmer sound and a composer can give it to them without the benefit of a conservatory education or sight reading skill, well, why not? We shouldn’t want credentials (or the philosophy behind credentialism) to stand in the way of people finding their way to success. That kind of gatekeeping is classist and elitist and I’d love to think society has had its fill of such things finally.

The re-uptake of this thread has been a very interesting and thought-provoking read. (I also admire how civil we’ve all been so far in disputing positions!)
 
A few years ago, my take would have been more conservative/conventional, namely that JW is representative of the skill set that a “proper” professional film composer should have and that composers with less formal musical backgrounds are slowly dragging down the quality of film scoring as an art. (Danny Elfman being a very important exception.) But I’ve become more sanguine about the whole thing lately. Not because I’ve begun to enjoy or appreciate the music of the likes of Zimmer or Balfe (I haven’t and never will), but because I realize composers such as them are, if nothing else, good at the very narrow thing they do and that there’s room in the movie business for their specialization. Zimmer’s music for Dune, for example, would be a godawful sonic experience for most people on its own, but as part of the movie, it definitely succeeds at evoking an otherworldly environment. 
 
As for the actual musical talent—piano performance, reading or writing music by hand, improvisation, etc— of the likes of Zimmer & co., it actually shouldn’t matter, in principle, whether a person can do these things if he can give the buyer what he wants. If producers want the Zimmer sound and a composer can give it to them without the benefit of a conservatory education or sight reading skill, well, why not? We shouldn’t want credentials (or the philosophy behind credentialism) to stand in the way of people finding their way to success. That kind of gatekeeping is classist and elitist and I’d love to think society has had its fill of such things finally.

Right. I mean, I have my musical taste and might not like this or that composers work, especially when it is filmmusic. But basically these musicians do what they do and what they are probably good at and what they like. I don't blame them for that. It is their right as a musician and an artist, and it would be wrong to say, this or that composer pulled down the quality of blockbuster film scores. I might consider his or her work as low quality movie score. But the damage is done by those hiring them to do what they do and not by the composers who do the best they can to fulfill the job under the conditions that are given to them by the producers.

The re-uptake of this thread has been a very interesting and thought-provoking read. (I also admire how civil we’ve all been so far in disputing positions!)
 
A few years ago, my take would have been more conservative/conventional, namely that JW is representative of the skill set that a “proper” professional film composer should have and that composers with less formal musical backgrounds are slowly dragging down the quality of film scoring as an art. (Danny Elfman being a very important exception.) But I’ve become more sanguine about the whole thing lately. Not because I’ve begun to enjoy or appreciate the music of the likes of Zimmer or Balfe (I haven’t and never will), but because I realize composers such as them are, if nothing else, good at the very narrow thing they do and that there’s room in the movie business for their specialization. Zimmer’s music for Dune, for example, would be a godawful sonic experience for most people on its own, but as part of the movie, it definitely succeeds at evoking an otherworldly environment. 
 
As for the actual musical talent—piano performance, reading or writing music by hand, improvisation, etc— of the likes of Zimmer & co., it actually shouldn’t matter, in principle, whether a person can do these things if he can give the buyer what he wants. If producers want the Zimmer sound and a composer can give it to them without the benefit of a conservatory education or sight reading skill, well, why not? We shouldn’t want credentials (or the philosophy behind credentialism) to stand in the way of people finding their way to success. That kind of gatekeeping is classist and elitist and I’d love to think society has had its fill of such things finally.

I think, the point goes rather the other way around. Nobody says, you need to be a great pianist to be a great composer. I rather think, people are trying to understand and searching for explanations why todays orchestral scores are so poor musically.
 
And the idea, that this might have to do with musical education, skills, toolset and/or experience as performer seems not so far fetched to me.
 

Certainly. Many a great composer were lousy pianists: Haydn comes to mind, but also Schubert and Wagner.
 
Okay, "lousy" is not necessarily the right term, but certainly not very great pianists.

As has been described in detail above, most film composers aren't very good at reading music nowadays. They can slowly read through a piece of sheet music (like sounding out words) or loosely follow a score to a performance or a recording session, but many aren't fluent with it, because unless you happen to do a lot of orchestration, it doesn't have to factor much into the average film composer's workflow anymore. And this has definitely had an impact on the general sound and aesthetic of mainstream film music.
 
 
He's right. That video is telling that Djawadi isn't really a good pianist. But then again, most film composers aren't, and that's also okay.
 
 
Yes, film composers are generally more useful in the booth. But the reality is, most film composers are terrified of conducting because many of them aren't very good at it and haven't had many opportunities to get better at it. And again, that's okay. It's always more effective to have someone who knows what they're doing and knows how to best communicate to the musicians on the podium, so they can best translate the composer's needs from the booth.
 
The demanding needs of a contemporary film music recording session now requires multiple people with specialized duties (i.e. conducting, copyists, recording engineers, etc) to get the deed done. Gone are the days of the romanticized renaissance man on the podium (a la Williams, who was also often supported by a robust team).