John Takis

Nothing egregious caught my eye, although I admittedly haven't parsed it that minutely.

You can take it as "official."

This should be "While you are wandering, if you are wondering..."

Nope. It's the same performances, just edited down.

I suppose I disagree with your premise that it doesn't sound like a cimbalom (or at least a decent approximation of one). It sounds sufficiently "cimbalom-ish" to my ear. The actual instrument has quite a wide range extending into the higher registers.

Bingo.

If you subscribe to Film Score Monthly Online, it's this month's "Score Restore" video! (That's Volume 28, No. 12, December 2023, for future reference.)

Performing the melody? I believe so. There's actually tastefully deployed synth throughout Hook ... for example, I believe it's usually a synth celeste. Glad you enjoyed the essay, @mstrox!

Yes and yes.

Nothing is missing on the new release. The track "Granny Wendy" on the OST is a combination of two different cues, "Forgotten How To Fly" and "Wendy's Entrance." You'll find what you're looking for on CD 1, Track 10!

Yep! The media dubbed it the "Heidi Bowl." It had a big impact on how sporting events are broadcast. Also, it's worth adding to the conversation that while these films certainly were made to be broadcast on American television, Delbert Mann agreed to direct in large part because he would be given the budget and scope to shoot them as big-screen features for theatrical distribution in Europe. They are thus very "cinematic" in execution and Williams scored them accordingly. It's absolutely criminal that they are only available in shoddy, bootleg-quality home media releases. Assuming the negatives still exist, I'd pay very good money for a proper Blu-ray restoration of the whole Mann/Brogger literary classics series from a company like Powerhouse/Indicator!

No. Mr. Rochester signs an excerpt from The Beggar's Opera, a 1728 work by librettist John Gay and composer Johann Christoph Pepusch.

Williams was very actively involved with SOLO. Not only did he provide thematic material, but he spotted the film with Powell and made suggestions. He also heard and approved the final cues. He seems to have such a strong affection for Daisy Ridley and Rey that I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he asks to be involved with this new film, so long as his health and schedule permit. (For that matter, I'd actually like to see Powell get another bite at the Star Wars apple! When I interviewed him for the recent Intrada release, he seemed very taken with the notion of getting to do something with the Force theme, which he loves but had no opportunity to use in the Jedi-free world of SOLO.)

Yes, once you have listened to the songs, the internal logic of certain theme choices during the score really comes into focus. (Debuting the "Believe" melody alongside Peter's first panoramic view of Neverland, for example.)

Yes, the alternate performance of "To Thornfield" (along with the other extra tracks from JANE EYRE) comes from the newly unearthed partial session masters that Mike talked about on FSM. It's a real treat to hear "new" interpretations of these cues from the maestro's own baton! And HEIDI sounds so much better because Mike was able to go back to an earlier-generation source (½″ four-track masters) than was used for previous releases, which also happily had the cues separated in such a way as to enable a chronological presentation. Don't worry, Thor, it plays beautifully this way! Even better than before, when we had to deal with cue combos that had been created not for purely musical considerations but to conform to the Capitol Records album narration. We addressed that to a degree on the old Quartet disc, but our hands were tied in a few places. That wasn't the case this time around! Mike was prepared to consider resequencing things, given that this is not the complete score. But when we lined everything up in film sequence, we felt that the program had a lovely ebb and flow and made for a very enjoyable and balanced listening experience. The Capitol album with narration also sounds better than ever, by the way! Mike gave this program the same meticulous attention as the score-only tracks. If you just skip to the two tracks that were recorded specially for the album, you'll miss some lovely performances by Sir Michael Redgrave and Jennifer Edwards.

There will indeed be a podcast delving into this release. I don't want to spoil the details -- but in my humble opinion, this one is worth the upgrade! Neither score has ever sounded better, and the precious new minutes make the experience all the sweeter. Jim Titus's stunning art is the cherry on top. I can't imagine any fan of these essential scores will be displeased!

Pretty much chronologically: 2-11. Hook Prologue 1:25 3-01. We Don’t Wanna Grow Up * 1:52 2-12. Banning Back Home (Extended Version) 4:24 3-02. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen 1:10 3-03. Childhood * 3:54 3-04. When You’re Alone – Moira’s Lullaby * :46 3-05. The Stories Are True (Alternate) 2:24 3-06. The Arrival Of Tink (Alternate) 3:35 3-07. The Flight To Neverland (Alternate) 2:33 3-08. Low Below – Pirate Sequence * 4:58 3-09. Hook’s Entrance (Alternate) 2:42 2-13. From Mermaids To Lost Boys 4:26 3-10. The Lost Boy Chase (Alternate) 3:34 2-14. The Face Of Pan (Choral Version) 2:43 3-11. The Never Song * 2:04 3-12. The Never-Band 1:20 3-13. The Never-Feast 4:42 3-14. When You’re Alone (Instrumental) 3:19 3-15. Mothers * 2:26 3-16. Stick With Me * 2:00 3-17. Take Me Out To The Ball Game 2:18 3-18. Remembering Childhood 11:06 3-19. Believe * 3:01 2-15. The Ultimate War 7:54 3-20. Farewell Neverland (Short Version / Alternate) 6:54 3-21. Hook Exit Music (Alternate) 1:48

My own personal listening suggestion would be as follows: Read Chapter 1 of the liner notes. Listen to the main Disc 3 album program.† Read Chapter 2 of the liner notes.‡ Listen to the main Score Presentation on Discs 1 & 2. Read Chapter 3 of the liner notes. Listen to the Additional Music on Disc 2 (unless you integrated them per the footnote below) and the Bonus Tracks on Disc 3. † Optional: Resequence the Additional Music from Disc 2 (Tracks 11–15) into the main Disc 3 program for an expanded alternate album experience! ‡ Depending on your preference, you can read Chapter 2 before, during or after listening to the main score program. It will point out salient features that may be of interest as you listen. But it's understandable if you want to go in "cold" for your first listen.

You should (I hope) enjoy reading the liner notes, then!

The artwork, liner notes and/or simple nostalgia are all valid reasons to keep the previous releases. But in terms of musical content, the new LLL set is a total replacement (and then some!) for the 2012 set. As for the 1991 OST, it has no music that is not on the new set, although there are some unique "album edits" in terms of how certain cues are combined.

Good ears, BrotherSound and Brando! Just one of many lovely surprises this set holds, even for the most devoted of HOOK fans...

It sure was!

Here's Quartet's very cool THEATRE OF BLOOD promotional graphic on its own: Also, for anyone in the vicinity of New Orleans on Thursday, October 26, maestro Lewis himself will be appearing at a special screening of the film at Prytania Theatres, featuring a live piano performance and Q&A with the composer. If you're in the area, don't miss it!

My replacement copy includes the blemish and still will not play or rip properly. I will file a new customer service ticket this weekend and see what they say. It's been reported that some copies play OK in certain players even with the blemish. The blemish can also be difficult to identify to the untrained eye, and is difficult to notice under some lighting conditions unless you position the disc at just the right angle. I initially thought my replacement copy was blemish-free until I got it upstairs and checked again. So while I obviously can't rule out the existence of blemish-free copies, it would not surprise me if some of the people who believe that their copy is blemish-free do in fact have the blemish, and simply aren't noticing any playback or ripping issues with their particular device.