The Force Awakens 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' SCORE speculation

[Jay 37,287]

There's no commercial release of the sheet music I know of, it was a leak like all the other sheet music leaks. Haven't you ever heard of pianofiles / sheeto?

[Balahkay 627]

I am sure that there is part of Williams thinking he is too old to have to deal with Abrams staggered scoring/recording wishes. However, he has be happy that he will be scoring edited footage that will not (likely) be reedited post scoring. I listened to TPM ost yesterday, which reminded me of how hacked up the music is in the film, and it is the least problematic of the prequels.

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to bow out of the other episodes simply due to the exhausting writing schedule. I've read stuff from this forum (2005 or so) about his exhaustion from The Prisoner of Azkaban's scoring process and the difficulty adapting to new directors being primary factors for him turning down Goblet of Fire.

This is what I'm really worried about especially since the following episodes will have different directors. Although, I'm guessing Williams knew what he was getting into when he first expressed interest in working on TFA with Abrams.

[Romão 2,274]

Many see Gia as the next JW, because he writes in an "old fashioned" symphonic style!

Because it's been on i will give the spotlight to a composer who is around the same age and writes in a positively 'old-fashioned' style and even knows how to orchestrate. It's a given that Zimmer shouldn't/wouldn't/couldn't touch stuff like this but if the hailed 'symphonic' Giacchino finally would even get around such a good and competent themes-and-variations approach and write a tune not in mortal danger of expiring due to galloping shortness of breath after 6 notes, i would be more than willing to sing his praises (that he can do it i know, it's just so infrequent i don't even remember when).

That sounds great, thank you for this

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Many see Gia as the next JW, because he writes in an "old fashioned" symphonic style!

Because it's been on i will give the spotlight to a composer who is around the same age and writes in a positively 'old-fashioned' style and even knows how to orchestrate. It's a given that Zimmer shouldn't/wouldn't/couldn't touch stuff like this but if the hailed 'symphonic' Giacchino finally would even get around such a good and competent themes-and-variations approach and write a tune not in mortal danger of expiring due to galloping shortness of breath after 6 notes, i would be more than willing to sing his praises (that he can do it i know, it's just so infrequent i don't even remember when).

Wow, Christopher Gordon is the next John Williams!

[peter.anschutz 43]

Hey guys, I've been a member here for about a year but I've only posted once before. I've been following this forum a lot lately gobbling up every bit of info relating to Williams' scoring The Force Awakens. I went through this entire 20+ page thread last night (I was bored, okay?) to see what you all were saying about the two trailers. I just wanted to give my take (not that it's worth much ), although I see you all have gotten off topic!

Trailer #1 - This is my favorite of the two trailers overall.

Some people were saying the brass sforzando notes (I'm trying to sound smart here) were reminiscent of the Sail Barge Assault cue in ROTJ. I don't think that's the case at all; there's absolutely nothing in that trailer that serves as a callback to that scene except a desert planet, which we now know isn't Tatooine. If we want to compare the score to something, then I think the fast french horn/strings combination is reminiscent of, but not identical to, the french horn part in The Lost World's "The Hunt" track, 0:10-0:20.

I'm not crazy about the recording of the Main Title used at the end. First of all, the trombones sound rather sub-par in the fanfare. I'm hoping that's simply due to lazy mixing since it's only a trailer cue, rather than being indicative of a larger sound quality issue with the LA orchestra (I'm really disappointed the LSO isn't being used). Second, the beefed up bass synth used for the small snippet of the theme is really unnecessary; it almost drowns out the trumpets in my headphones. Overall though, I really like the score for this trailer.

Trailer #2 - I was admittedly a little disappointed when I saw this trailer for the first time.

In fact, my very first impression of the music was that it wasn't John Williams who did it. I really thought (kind of still do) that it was someone who simply cut and pasted prominent OT cues that fit the nostalgia vibe - which they clearly wanted to invoke - and added a few filler sections to combine them into one cue. To me, that one piano note was the first clue it wasn't Williams. As others have said, it's just not Star Warsy at all. Then, once again, there's that synth brass that doesn't really fit with what it's supposedly supporting. And did I detect synth voices too? Perhaps Williams did write most of the cue, and, as others have suggested, someone else came along and added stuff to it to make it more like conventional epic trailer music; perhaps someone working under the old George Lucas adage: faster and more intense!

But who knows, maybe we're just over-analyzing something that is really insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I guess we're all just thirsty for new Williams material (or at least I am)

[mrbellamy 6,272]

Judging by the sheet music yea - there were a TON of rewrites - almost every cue.

The 'family theme' was completely rewritten at one point and replaced with the one we know now. I'd love to know if any cues featuring the original theme were recorded.

Can the sheet music for the original Family Theme be found anywhere?

Well yea, that's how I saw it

Where?

Mockup if you haven't heard it:

And yeah, Jay, I was surprised by all the alternates when I first saw the sheets. The original melody does kind of feel like a first draft compared to the film version, but it's interesting anyway as an unused Williams theme.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

In fact, my very first impression of the music was that it wasn't John Williams who did it.

And you'd be right.

[Balahkay 627]

Was any of that actually recorded?

In fact, my very first impression of the music was that it wasn't John Williams who did it.

And you'd be right.

Did I miss something? Do we have confirmation Williams didn't do any of it?

[publicist 4,643]

Wow, Christopher Gordon is the next John Williams!

This ship has sailed, unfortunately.

And yeah, Jay, I was surprised by all the alternates when I first saw the sheets. The original melody does kind of feel like a first draft compared to the film version, but it's interesting anyway as an unused Williams theme.

It's really a sketch on a future tune, isn't it? Did Williams record the alternates or only the versions in the movie?

[mrbellamy 6,272]

Well, Conrad Pope has an orchestration credit on the original cue, and the film version is labeled as an alternate so I don't think it was merely a sketch. But I'm not sure that original melody could really be called a "theme" either because I don't know if it's repeated elsewhere and the film's version does appear in some cues, just not as frequently...for example it's not in the original versions of Harry and Lupin in the forest, or Sirius talking to Harry outside the Whomping Willow either. So the "Remembering Mother" cue that I posted could have been just a simple variation on the rhythmic ideas and nothing more.

Possibly Williams decided or was asked to quote precisely what we now know as "Window to the Past" in more places based on its memorability, and so it became a more prominent and recognizable theme for every emotional beat in the film, as opposed to the "noodling" variations that he was doing earlier.

[Jay 37,287]

Was any of that actually recorded?

Did Williams record the alternates or only the versions in the movie?

I dunno gents, which I why I said before your posts

I'd love to know if any cues featuring the original theme were recorded.

I guess we'll never find out unless the sessions finally leak already, or WB lets one of the specialty labels do an expanded release... but even then, Williams could always nix those cues being released (if they were recorded)....

[Quintus 5,399]

yes, I agree

I genuinely disagree. If Hans were to return to his leitmotif style I'd be happy for him or take over before Gia.

[Brónach 1,301]

Are we really stuck with Hans and Gia here?

[Quintus 5,399]

David Arnold would possibly be my second choice.

[SF1_freeze 131]

I thought he couldn't do Goblet of Fire because he was already commited to ROTS, Spielberg's 2 films, and wanted to do Geisha.

That was the "main" factor but the scoring process of POA certainly didn't encourage him to continue (allegedly).

It's crazy that there is almost nothing known about the PoA scoring process considering it got us one of JW post 1993 masterpieces.

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

David Arnold's action music is what some accuse of Williams's modern action music of being. Directionless, hyper-kinetic noodling, Mickey Mousing every beat. Sound and fury signifying nothing. Truck driver and mediant modulations every 8 bars due to a lack of small-scale harmonic interest.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

He was great in the 1990s.

[Faleel 5,340]

Eh, DA has good cues, but the scores of his that I have heard don't do much for me.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

David Arnold's action music is what some accuse of Williams's modern action music of being. Directionless, hyper-kinetic noodling, Mickey Mousing every beat. Sound and fury signifying nothing. Truck driver and mediant modulations every 8 bars due to a lack of small-scale harmonic interest.

Bollocks!

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

Eh, DA has good cues, but the scores of his that I have heard don't do much for me.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Blech

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

He's right ofcourse

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I'm sure Roland Emmerich will knock his music back into shape.

[Quintus 5,399]

Arnold demonstrated with aplomb that he's more than capable of the big orchestral sound when he did ID4. If he could go back to those sensibilities minus the massive dollop of cheese that score had then I'd be happy for him to do a future Star Wars score, not that that's ever likely to happen.

[Brónach 1,301]

Didn't they pick Desplat for Rogue One or am I imagining things?

[Balahkay 627]

Didn't they pick Desplat for Rogue One or am I imagining things?

Yes.

[Jay 37,287]

Yes, Desplat is scoring Rogue One.

The current conversation is concerning other, Future Star Wars films. Disney has one planned per year through 2019 currently.

[Brónach 1,301]

Well, Desplat sounds better to me for these than Gia or Zimmer... but I guess that would depend on how Disney likes what comes out of The Force Awakens and Rogue One...

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Well, Desplat sounds better to me for these than Gia or Zimmer...

THIS!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

They'll probably get Brian Tyler or Henry Jackman to score one.

[Brónach 1,301]

I mean....

And he also can do pretty.

[Jay 37,287]

I am sure the director of each Star Wars movie gets a lot of input into who scores their film.

[Brónach 1,301]

It's looking like that, that's why Desplat ended up there.

So maybe it's up to Rian Johnson and Josh Trank. Odd.

[Jay 37,287]

It's odd to you that a director gets to pick who scores the film they are making?

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

It's odd because it's STAR WARS.

[Brónach 1,301]

Depends on the director. What I find odd are the the directors themselves.

Or that we've only seen half of the movies, which is freaking me out a bit.

[mstrox 6,647]

I would imagine that, at least for the proper "Episodes," they will defer to John Williams as long as he is willing and able regardless of the director.

[Bespin 8,480]

With all the different Star Wars themes that JW already composed, I wonder why nobody has invented an "Automatic Star Wars Music Generator".

Take a little bit of Force's Theme, add a pinch of Luke's Theme and finish with a random fanfare.

[nightscape94 965]

I thought he couldn't do Goblet of Fire because he was already commited to ROTS, Spielberg's 2 films, and wanted to do Geisha.

That was the "main" factor but the scoring process of POA certainly didn't encourage him to continue (allegedly).

It's crazy that there is almost nothing known about the PoA scoring process considering it got us one of JW post 1993 masterpieces.

Williams spoke highly about Cuarón and enjoyed working with him.

[Balahkay 627]

I would imagine that, at least for the proper "Episodes," they will defer to John Williams as long as he is willing and able regardless of the director.

I would think so, too. Williams probably gets first dibs on the episode films. When Abrams was announced as director, many people were sure that Gia would score the film. That obviously didn't happen, but could have if Williams wasn't willing.

[Lewya 360]

Mr. Erskine replied -

"Hey thanks for reaching out. Can't really go into detail I'm afraid but I was lucky enough to be part of the team that helped to create the music that featured in both of the Force Awakens trailers that have appeared. Was an amazing experience and obviously a huge honor and a privilege. And the reaction to the pieces has been mind blowing. All the best, FE"

[Jay 37,287]

Sounds like he probably just did some minor synth stuff then

[Ricard 2,242]

Same copy-pasted response I just received.

Can't really go into detail, probably meaning that he didn't do much.

[Balahkay 627]

Why can't he really go into detail?

[Jay 37,287]

Job security.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

These revelations could break the internet.

[nightscape94 965]

You keep your mouth shut unless The Mouse says so.

[Wojo 2,453]

Should we be scared of his magic paintbrush?

[leeallen01 2,133]

Considering Disney has worked with JNH 4 times, with their most recent film (Maleficent) being the most successful of the 4 and one of JNH's best, they may like him for a future SW film. Also with Lawrence Kasdan having a huge part of the history and future of SW, and considering he has worked with JNH 6 times, and keeps going back to him even after working with Silvestri, Horner and even Williams himself shows their good relationship. All the seeds for a positive and potentially incredible outcome.

[mrbellamy 6,272]

I'd be up for that.