What Is The Last Score You Listened To? (older scores)

[Naïve Old Fart 9,493]

A lot of people would say that Leia in that bikini, is anything, but boring 

 

The "failure" of ROTJ is due to quite a few factors: an inexperienced director, who didn't have the confidence to go toe-to-toe with Lucas; Lucas not leaving Marquand alone; a rather dull script; lack of conviction, on the part of the three leads.

Despite this, it is still a very watchable film.

[Marian Schedenig 8,172]

13 hours ago, Incanus said:

A lovely album indeed. I wish they did a follow-up title with more of the rarer, not so often performed JW concert suites.

 

I'd buy that.

[publicist 4,643]

[SteveMc 2,674]

A pretty good score.  Interesting, if perhaps a little unadventurous.  But, it fits the film rather well.

[publicist 4,643]

I still have to finish that!

[Incanus 5,713]

4 hours long isn't it?

[Marian Schedenig 8,172]

It has a pretty specific, somewhat unique mood. I don't put it on too often because of its essentially bleak basic tone, but when I do and once I get in the right mood, it usually sticks in my playlist for a while. And "What players are they" is a typically sunny Doyle nugget.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

3 hours ago, Richard said:

A lot of people would say that Leia in that bikini, is anything, but boring 

Not me. Rey's way hotter, she doesn't even need a bikini!

[SteveMc 2,674]

7 minutes ago, Incanus said:

4 hours long isn't it?

Yep.  Follows the play word for word, I believe.

[publicist 4,643]

7 minutes ago, Incanus said:

4 hours long isn't it?

 

Feels like 8.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,493]

6 hours ago, kaseykockroach said:

Not me. Rey's way hotter, she doesn't even need a bikini!

What is she going to wear then? Her birthday suit?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Its a dumbass comment of Ridley's small breasts.

[Incanus 5,713]

Treesong by John Williams: A beautiful album showcasing Williams' pure concert hall music and his adaptation of his film scores into concert setting, namely Schindler's list. Treesong is a luminous and sweet wonderfully orchestrated piece of contrasting movements that was again inspired by a tree and the natural world seems to spark something quite magical the Maestro every time. The Violin concerto anguished and full of lyrical fire and the Three Pieces from Schindler's List is perfect concert suite of the central heart tugging and gorgeous melodies from the film. All the above mentioned feature Gil Shaham whose playing with the Boston Symphony orchestra is impeccable. Highly recommended.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I played this the other week. Excellent album.

[publicist 4,643]

 

I'm not sure about the movie, but Nyman flows over here, emotionally speaking, and it's a beaut. 'The Snowy Death' belongs in any Horner playlist.

[Incanus 5,713]

10 hours ago, publicist said:

 

Feels like 8.

Heh I remember sitting through it years ago and it did seem to go on forever. Pat Doyle's score is so-so. Some great dramatic moments but oftentimes a wee bit too polite to make any statement of its own. I wonder how much music did he compose for this mammoth in the end.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,493]

3 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Its a dumbass comment of Ridley's small breasts.

Hadn't noticed. Miss Ridley does absolutely nowt, for me.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Nowt?

[Incanus 5,713]

44 minutes ago, Cherry Pie That'll Kill Ya said:

Nowt?

Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Zip. Nil. Nought.

 

Russia House by Jerry Goldsmith

[Bespin 8,475]

Bon matin du Maroc! xoxo

 

John Williams - Raiders of the lost ark (OST)

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

15 hours ago, Richard said:

What is she going to wear then? Her birthday suit?

Nonsense! She can borrow mine.

[Incanus 5,713]

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull by John Williams: I still think to this day this is great stuff but I guess the odd combination of Williams' stylistic homages swashbucklers, film noir and 1950-60's sci-fi scoring just hits my soft spot for the film music styles of the yesteryear.

[Romão 2,274]

I still think the album is too long and badly sequenced, but there's some great stuff in there. I love A Whirl Through the Academy

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

It's the best score in the series.

[Incanus 5,713]

3 hours ago, Romão said:

I still think the album is too long and badly sequenced, but there's some great stuff in there. I love A Whirl Through the Academy

The selection from the score could have used some improvement. There is some great action material left off the album, including more than half of the Jungle Chase.

 

21 minutes ago, Cherry Pie That'll Kill Ya said:

It's the best score in the series.

I am glad you think so.

 

The Witches of Eastwick by John Williams: I just love the light bubbly but slightly sinister atmosphere of this score plus the main theme is devilishly catchy. The orchestrations are just phenomenal and full of great little touches. The different set pieces allowed Williams to write variety of almost self-contained musical miniatures like The Tennis Game and the gorgeous Seduction of Sukie and the Ballroom Scene ("Interesting word - 'ballroom.") and the sinisterly croaking Have Another Cherry but of course knowing the Maestro everything is more or less anchored to the main themes and motifs of the score.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

39 minutes ago, Incanus said:

but of course knowing the Maestro everything is more or less anchored to the main themes and motifs of the score.

 

He gets accolades for use of motif, but what I love about Williams is how often he _doesn't_ use the themes he writes. Oftentimes I think recurring melodic material can be the lazy way of establishing a narrative arc or sense of internal continuity, but seldom does Williams hang all of his hats on this to build a cohesive and satisfying musical story that builds and expands upon itself (the way he structures the intensity of his action setpieces throughout a film, for example, is pure masterwork).

 

For small films, though, especially of that era, he broke this rule and used a single or small band of motivic idea in many permutations as the major focal point. Can you think of a reason why he might have used that approach then?

[Incanus 5,713]

1 hour ago, Nick Parker said:

 

He gets accolades for use of motif, but what I love about Williams is how often he _doesn't_ use the themes he writes. Oftentimes I think recurring melodic material can be the lazy way of establishing a narrative arc or sense of internal continuity, but seldom does Williams hang all of his hats on this to build a cohesive and satisfying musical story that builds and expands upon itself (the way he structures the intensity of his action setpieces throughout a film, for example, is pure masterwork).

 

For small films, though, especially of that era, he broke this rule and used a single or small band of motivic idea in many permutations as the major focal point. Can you think of a reason why he might have used that approach then?

Agreed. Even with Williams his approach varies from film to film on how he uses his main thematic material. In some cases he will use the main theme(s) rather extensively with varied orchestrations but repeating them often enough (a good example is e.g. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) and working them in regular interplay in Wagnerian tradition. Perhaps it is a conditioning thing, where e.g. Hedwig's theme triggers the notion of something magical is about to happen and works as shorthand for the whole abstract notion of magic. I don't think it laziness per say to hang your narrative arc on leitmotifs but it is an age old thing and can become a tad too obvious or forceful where audience tires of it easily if it is constant. I think that most interesting cases can actually be those where a composer deviates from the expected thematic use to illustrate something internal, unseen or abstract in the narrative through his music or indeed forgo the obvious approach entirely. 

 

But I think there are a number of factors why Williams would opt to use a single theme to embody an entire narrative in theme-and-variations style construction. E.g in Presumed Innocent the music enhances the narrative undercurrent of obsession which the repetition underlines and colours throughout. In The Accidental Tourist the wistful melancholic main theme seems to encapsulate the whole story of Macon and his equally wifstful existence before Muriel finally snaps him out of it. I guess that in many of these cases the thematic complexity might have been too much for such small intimate films, which didn't necessarily need a wide array of different competing musical signals when a single idea sets and maintains the desired tone. Same goes for something like Stanley & Iris.This doesn't of course preclude variety from any such score as Williams rarely if ever single-mindedly sticks to pure thematic repetition in his scores. Both the films' dynamics and Williams own idea of holding the aural interest most often demand variety whether in musical dynamics or in musical content.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

Holy cow, a discussion on John Williams that's actually interesting to read! And I thought this place was dead!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

You can all be my ears...

[Naïve Old Fart 9,493]

  an hour of DOCTOR WHO music, on Classic FM.

Grainer; Derbyshire; Simpson; Ayres; Clarke; Howell; Bourgon; Gold.

Television music just doesn't get any better than this.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Listening to Conan the Barbarian for the first time.

 

Wow. What a jugular piece. (Also now know where Goldsmith got Total Recall from)

[publicist 4,643]

 

For this mixture of bawdy and elegiac, John Barry wrote a western romp that reflects more the time it was made (1970) than the real epoch. Mama Cass belts out another one of Barry's surefire tunes, this time with a slight folk music tinge popular in the Dylan/Baez era, often coupled with a jaunty honkytonk hook emphasizing the simple, carefree cowboy life of Lee Marvin and Jack Palance that is about to end soon. It's a nice, endearing movie, incidentally directed by William Fraker, whose claim to fame was his work behind the camera (literally). Sadly only available on a hard-to-find FSM release, the score is best served by a good 20 to 30 minute selection though Barry recorded tons of alternates - worth tracking down for Barry nuts.

[SteveMc 2,674]

Rudy by Jerry Goldsmith.  Pleasant score, refreshing listen.  Nice emotional contours and lyricism.  Nicely structured, too Well integrated electronics that contribute to the orchestral fabric. Sure, a bit sappy in an early 90s way in places, but I kinda dig that sort of thing.  

 

A Beautiful Mind by James Horner.  Strong score.  Really touching in spots.  Horner is quite mature here, even if, at its heart, the score offers little in the way of breaking new ground for him.  But this effort is nicely refined and textured.  Gotta love Charlotte Church's voice, which Horner uses to great effect.    

A Kaleidoscope Of Mathematics keeps playing in my head, but that might be 'cause I listened to it 4 times straight.  Immense cue.  

[Incanus 5,713]

Drag Me to Hell by Christopher Young

 

The Fury by John Williams

 

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow by Oscar Araujo

 

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies by Howard Shore

 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Quite potent and dark stuff, Inky.

[Nick1Ø66 4,687]

Dr. Zhivago (1965)...Maurice Jarre

Dr. Zhivago (2002)...Ludovico Einaudi

Dr. Zhivago (2006)...Eduard Artemyev

 

Always interesting to hear different composers take on the same thematic material.   Jarre's score of course is well known. Einaudi's is dark, broody and at times heartbreaking. Fans of Max Richter, Ólafur Arnalds, and Jóhann Jóhannsson will appreciate this. Artemyev takes a more traditional approach, but well suited to the more authentic Russian production (though the score itself doesn't sound "Russian").

 

Jarre's score is a classic, no doubt, but I find Einaudi's the most listenable of the three.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

My favorite Christopher Young album!

41 minutes ago, Incanus said:

Drag Me to Hell by Christopher Young

 

 

 

 

[Bespin 8,475]

Waiting in Casablanca for our flight to return back to Montreal. Vacations Already finished!

 

Listening to the best final « LP » sides ever!

 

E.T. (La-la Land LP, side D)

Jaws (OsT, Side B)

Star Wars (OST, Side D)

Raiders of the lost ark (concord LP last side)

 

ehhh.... what else?

[KK 3,307]

The Red Violin by John Corigliano

Revolution by John Corigliano

Punch-Drunk Love by Jon Brion

The Ghost Writer by Alexandre Desplat

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

2 hours ago, Bespin said:

Waiting in Casablanca for our flight to return back to Montreal. Vacations Already finished!

 

Listening to the best final « LP » sides ever!

 

E.T. (La-la Land LP, side D)

Jaws (OsT, Side B)

Star Wars (OST, Side D)

Raiders of the lost ark (concord LP last side)

 

ehhh.... what else?

 

You are listening to LP's in an airport? 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,493]

Vinyl is the new MP3.

[publicist 4,643]

[Dixon Hill 4,232]

4 hours ago, KK said:

The Red Violin by John Corigliano

Revolution by John Corigliano

 

Don't see the latter mentioned very often.  Splendid music for a dreadful film.  What a sordid affair.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Just now, TGP said:

 

Don't see the latter mentioned very often.  Splendid music for a dreadful film.  What a sordid affair.

 

Is that the Al Pacino movie? I remember liking the fox hunt music a lot. Films are good for breaking Corigliano out of his shell.

[Dixon Hill 4,232]

Yeah.  But one rejected score/poorly received film too many will turn anyone off.

[Faleel 5,331]

Julius Caesar - Miklos Rozsa.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

On 9/10/2018 at 4:28 AM, Nick1066 said:

Dr. Zhivago (1965)...Maurice Jarre

Dr. Zhivago (2002)...Ludovico Einaudi

Dr. Zhivago (2006)...Eduard Artemyev

 

Always interesting to hear different composers take on the same thematic material.   Jarre's score of course is well known. Einaudi's is dark, broody and at times heartbreaking. Fans of Max Richter, Ólafur Arnalds, and Jóhann Jóhannsson will appreciate this. Artemyev takes a more traditional approach, but well suited to the more authentic Russian production (though the score itself doesn't sound "Russian").

 

Jarre's score is a classic, no doubt, but I find Einaudi's the most listenable of the three.

 

You'd be all Zhivago'd out!

[publicist 4,643]

[Incanus 5,713]

Always by John Williams The Rescue Operation, Among the Clouds and Dorinda Solo Flight are the highlights of this one. James Thatcher's horn solos are quite heavenly, pun intended.

[Jurassic Shark 12,024]

I think they're devilishly good.