THE BFG OST ALBUM Discussion

[indy4 155]

After a first listen, really enjoyed it.  The main theme is one JW's better ones in recent years.  I think I like it more than any of the new themes in TFA.  "Sophie's Future" is gorgeous.

[Damien F 1,742]

36 minutes ago, indy4 said:

After a first listen, really enjoyed it.  The main theme is one JW's better ones in recent years.  I think I like it more than any of the new themes in TFA.  "Sophie's Future" is gorgeous.

 

Rey's Theme >>>> Sophie's Theme

[DarthDementous 1,059]

I wonder if people are feeling closer to this score on first listen than TFA because it's a more familiar sound? TFA surprised me by taking some different musical directions and I felt a bit alienated the first time I listened to it yet now it's easily one of my favourite scores of all time. With that movie there's not one cue of which isn't memorable.

 

In terms of the BFG I think it's got some beautiful orchestral textures, that violin section in Dream Country made me feel very emotional (I believe it was in one of the previews?) but sadly that was the only moment apart from the glorious rendition of the main theme. I kept sub-consciously connecting a lot of the tracks to Harry Potter to the point it made me want to go listen to those again which offer a lot more distinguished tracks/themes and emotional moments for me. That being said I haven't seen the score in context, and I'm fairly sure all of my favourite scores have to do with a love for the source material so who knows. 

[crumbs 14,304]

I didn't quite understand the criticism either, but it's certainly a specific type of score and if you don't like the whimsy/cartoony stuff from Williams, I can see why you wouldn't like it.

 

That said, after my first listen, I loved it! So many interesting thematic ideas (that admittedly aren't developed in great depth, but are still quite memorable). Also felt like a perfect album selection to me, with a great sprinkling of highlights throughout.

 

Williams seems to be favouring the shorter thematic ideas in this stage of his writing. Sophie's Theme, the Giants Theme, the Queen's Theme (?), Poe's Theme, Finn's Theme, Kylo Ren's Themes, Tintin's Theme.. they're more like extended motifs than long-lined themes. Only Rey's Theme and Snowy's Theme spring to mind with their concert suite presentations elaborating on his ideas for the characters.

 

Maybe Williams just has such a bounty of musical ideas he wants to get off his chest with every film, and this style of writing allows him to express all those ideas (but at the expense of thematic development across the score?)

[Bespin 8,480]

JW himself desribed his score as a "ballet". It's really the impression it gave me after listening to the half of the album (I've stoped it!).

 

It looks like a movie with a collection of little short scenes (and fart scenes)... with more or less connection between them... so not much narrative progression.

 

I have the feeling I will buy this CD because I'm forced to.

 

Please tell me the giant dies at the end...

[publicist 4,643]

Only that the ballet parts are mostly Stravinsky's Firebird:

 

 

[fommes 153]

Is this already available in European (Amazon) stores? UK says 8 July.

[Bespin 8,480]

20 hours ago, Nemesis said:

Yes!!!

 

 

Please tell me what score do you have between Nixon and Sleepers???

[curlytoot 97]

8 hours ago, king mark said:

I think it's the "b" section of the main theme because they flow one into the other sometimes

 

If Williams wrote a real concert version it probably have the 2 themes

 

 

 

Hm. Possibly, but I hear it as a very distinct theme.

[Bespin 8,480]

Is The BFG "Suite" = "Sophie and the BFG"?

[Nemesis 244]

2 hours ago, Bespin said:

 

Please tell me what score do you have between Nixon and Sleepers???

 

The Lost World in the jewel case 

[Will 2,215]

I did see the film yesterday, but unfortunately I had a pretty bad headache afterward (possibly from the 3D) so I had to just rest. This evening I will give the full OST a first listen and then post what things I can remember about the music in the film. 

 

Well, for starters, I noticed during the end credits that there was no credit for orchestration (assuming I didn't miss it). So it seems that Williams did all the orchestrations himself. 

 

 

 

 

[Bespin 8,480]

45 minutes ago, Nemesis said:

 

The Lost World in the jewel case 

 

...at the wrong place!

[mrbellamy 6,272]

I think hearing it with the film improves the score a lot. I was underwhelmed by it as a standalone listen, then went and saw the film where it obviously made more sense, and on another listen I found myself enjoying it more, remembering how he captured the tone, highlighting character moments and visual flourishes. Similar to what happened with TFA, I think my expectations and my familiarity with Williams' musical language kinda screwed me over on this one.

 

Easy illustration, I know what a great musical buildup finishing with a rousing climax from John Williams sounds like:

 

 

And the musical high point of the Dream Country sequence?

 

 

It sort of feels like a fake-out coming from John Williams, essentially asking us to enjoy the buildup for its own sake....the musical equivalent of blueballs. The score has a handful of moments like this, never quite fully blossoming but instead turning its attention to something else at the last second or just deflating.

 

There have always been smaller emotional swells and little incidental melodies in some of Williams' richest scores that I've thought could pretty well serve as climaxes and main themes to another entire score. I guess BFG is what that score sounds like. There's something to what Karol said about this feeling like a B-side. I've felt like JW's gradually been mellowing out a bit, paring things down, minimizing the big set pieces and the like, but it's easiest to make those comparisons here when the similarities to his previous work are so obvious. It was also the biggest initial criticism of TFA, that compared to the other six he seemed to favor more emotional restraint and that the underscore felt like it was more of a slave to the picture than instantly enjoyable on its own. It seemed like most of us didn't start "getting" it until we saw the film then came back for another listen.

 

I guess one could say it's a film thing. Rey's Theme and Sophie's Theme share a similarity in that they don't hit their highest peak until the end credits, which tells me that he still enjoys indulging in an extended thematic statement, if only he felt like the movie called for it. Certainly Spielberg's not as unhinged as he used to be, but I did feel like there were a few opportunities to go bigger or more thematic, or give the music (and by extension the film) a little extra forward momentum or a rhythmic pulse where it wasn't happening. I do miss the set pieces, it's not just an opportunity for cool music but Williams always had a knack for redefining structure with those. The "Snorting and Sniffing" sequence could have used more than the mickey-mousing it received IMO, something to give all that chaos more shape and thrust.

 

At the same time, I liked most of the score's dramatic choices in context. I appreciate this music for its finer qualities and I enjoy Williams in this style of writing more than most, but as a listening experience this is definitely one of Williams' most "incidental" and film-dependent scores for me.

[King Mark 3,626]

31 minutes ago, mrbellamy said:

It sort of feels like a fake-out coming from John Williams, essentially asking us to enjoy the buildup for its own sake....the musical equivalent of blueballs. The score has a handful of moments like this, never quite fully blossoming but instead turning its attention to something else at the last second or just deflating.

 

 

 yes, it build up to what you'd expect to be a big rendition of the main theme but then it just stops

 

There's a similar frustrating moment with the other theme  in The Boys Drawing at 1.30. it's a bit longer moment but...

 

There's nothing in this score like the climax of Plowing from War Horse. I expect at least one such moment in any JW score

[Nemesis 244]

I love the magical theme in "To Giant Country" (0:54), quite potter-ish! 

The end of Overture reminds me of E.T.s Halloween (concert version), Williams at its best!

The Finale is wonderful. It has a very strong "Lincoln feeling" I think. BTW, the Main Theme from the BFG is quite similar to 'With Malice Toward None' from Lincoln imo (the first 5 notes or so), but has a total different feeling. 

BFG has some very nice highlights (Giants Netted, Dream Jars, Building Trust, Sophie's Future, Snoring and Sniffing). I have to say I love it already and I'm sure it will grow on me in the next couple of weeks. 

[Bespin 8,480]

I have difficulties with the cohabitation of the very soft passages and some very heavy ones. A Ballet we said?

 

Tchaikovsky, are you there?

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I'm listening for the first time in history. I just heard The Fury?

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

3 hours ago, king mark said:

 yes, it build up to what you'd expect to be a big rendition of the main theme but then it just stops

 

There's a similar frustrating moment with the other theme  in The Boys Drawing at 1.30. it's a bit longer moment but...

 

There's nothing in this score like the climax of Plowing from War Horse. I expect at least one such moment in any JW score

 

Or maybe John Williams is just trying to do his job, scoring movies as well as possible, not necessarily trying to please KM.

[Will 2,215]

Just finished my first OST listen. I watched the film yesterday so I will offer some thoughts and info on the score. I may reiterate some things Jason LeBlanc has said already. I don't know if anyone cares too much about spoilers with this given that the book with most of the plot has been out since the 80s, but just in case I have put my comments in spoiler tags since I do discuss some plot details including those from the end of the film:

 

Spoiler

First off, it's a great score. At the moment I don't enjoy it as much as TFA, which may actually be my favorite Williams score all time, but this of course is after only one listen (two if you count the film). 

 

Which actually brings me to something else: I was not too impressed with the score after watching the film. The OST was really an enlightenment. I think it's important to watch the film to get the context for the music and really make an emotional connection to the music based on the story in the film, though. 

 

I'm not going to guess about what each theme represents right now. I'm still pretty unsure about some of them (for example, the two themes, or one two-part theme, that are soft and delicate; does one represent the BFG and the other Sophie; or is it one theme that represents their friendship; or is the whole thing one theme for Sophie, etc). 

 

I did not notice any major unreleased cues. I don't think there's too much stuff not on the OST.

 

The queen's palace breakfast scene is mostly scored with classical music, then bagpipe music. When the farting comedic set piece occurs, I think the bagpipes are playing, if there is even any music at all. 

 

:00-:52 of OST "Giants Netted" is for the scene when, if my memory serves me correctly, Sophie and the BFG try to give trogglehumpers (bad dreams) to the bad giants, and they succeed for all but one giant (the Fleshlumpeater, I think). That one giant almost eats the BFG before Sophie saves the day. This happens around the time that the giants are being put in nets.

 

:52-end of the track is for the giants being lifted in their nets and carried away by helicopter to a remote island. I'm not sure if OST "Giants Netted" covers one continuous sequence, or if there is a break between the two scenes I described. :52 does sound kind of like an artificial transition. 

 

The film opens with the logos with each logo's typical music (making for a rather disjointed musical opening; why couldn't they just use Overture?) then no music until "The Witching Hour" begins a minute later or so (and that does lead directly into "To Giant Country," so as of the end of "To Giant Country" in the film all of Williams's score that has been heard is on the OST, it seems). 

 

The bit heard at 2:10 on OST "The Witching Hour" plays when Sophie is standing alone in a dark hallway at the orphanage, staring at a doll house. This may seem like a weird, random thing for me to include but it's a moment I really remember as the introduction of that theme, whatever it represents.

 

I know Jason LeBlanc was unsure of the location of OST "There Was A Boy" relative to the rest of the album tracks. Well, it is heard after "Blowing Dreams" but before "Snorting and Sniffing." "There Was a Boy" plays as the BFG leaves Sophie on the orphanage steps for her safety, then continues as Sophie jumps from the orphanage ledge to force the BFG to catch her, which he does. He takes her back to Giant Country. This all happens after the sequence where the BFG blows dreams into various houses with Sophie accompanying him. 

 

02 The Witching Hour (4:40)
03 To Giant Country (2:33)
05 Sophie's Nightmare (1:57)
07 Fleshlumpeater (1:36)
06 Building Trust (3:25)
08 Dream Jars (3:30)
13 There Was a Boy (3:29)
09 Frolic (1:43)
04 Dream Country (10:10)
10 Blowing Dreams (3:46)
11 Snorting and Sniffing (2:13)
15 The Boy's Drawings (3:05)
14 The Queen's Dream (3:08)
16 Meeting the Queen (3:00)
12 Sophie's Future (2:30)
17 Giants Netted (2:03)
18 Finale (2:13)
19 Sophie and the BFG (8:08)

01 Overture (1:18)

 

Above is Jason LeBlanc's chronological OST list. He definitely has it right "The Witching Hour" to "Sophie's Nightmare." "Fleshlumpeater" to "Dream Jars," I'm not sure. I've already said where "There Was a Boy" should go. The rest of the way (if you add "There Was a Boy" in the right spot) it is definitely correct. This all assumes though that there are not tracks combining cues from different parts of the film. In that case it would become more complicated.

 

I would like to mention the cue "Frolic" because it took me by surprise in its placement in the film. I was expecting (based on the sample, which was only the rollicking section, not the opening) that it would play during some fun scene with Sophie and the BFG. Instead, it plays when the BFG is being bullied by the bad giants -- more specifically when the giants have sent the BFG (and maybe Sophie?) down a hill at high speed on model cars (which actually seem pretty big to Sophie). It's a darkly fun scene because it's fun for the bad guys but not the good. I guess now that I think about it the rollicking part of Williams's cue does have a slight "edge" to it, or am I the only one hearing it, that hints that this is not an entirely fun situation. 

 

Aside from the score, this was kinda a boring film. It was really well done in a lot of ways -- the CGI giants were fabulous, Rylance was great, Spielberg showing his mastery as always with some splendid shots -- but the plot was a little slow. I really loved the book, I guess the plot just doesn't translate as well to the screen.

 

Certainly worth seeing, though, and while the biggest reason is to experience Williams's score in context, even aside from that there are many things to like about the film. Speaking of great camera-work, there is a shot that I love where we are looking at Giant Country through Sophie's dropped glasses that are in the grass. The camera is really low to the ground and the glasses look huge, and the outside world is kind of distorted through the lenses. It's a really short and seemingly insignificant moment to many, I'm sure, but for some reason I remember it.

 

The score was recorded at Sony according to the credits, and as I have said already I did not see a credited orchestrator. 

 

There's nothing quite like it -- a new Williams score, the first few days when it still feels surreal. I still remember the first moment in the theatre, as Sophie walked through the dark, empty orphanage, and Williams's first piano notes rung out through the theatre. What a magical moment -- and, as Cerebral Cortex said so well a week ago, it's so great to have this community to discuss it with. 

 

And last but not least, I have evidence to prove that this score is accessible to non-film music fans: After seeing the film, my sister told me there was a moment in the score she wanted me to find on the album. I searched for a while and eventually she said, "That's the one." It was the waltz in "To Giant Country."

 

[skyy38 21]

On 3/18/2015 at 8:50 AM, someonefun124 said:

I'm not holding my breath. Williams was confirmed for the Bridge of Spies, too.

Last Chance Saloon for both Spielberg AND Williams.
If BFG doesn't fly , like expected, well...........( fill in the blank )
 

[crumbs 14,304]

Williams starts writing Ready Player One in 4 months with no scheduling conflicts.

 

Whether or not he scores both SW VIII and KOEM is another story. It will only happen if he can start VIII fairly early next year, as he'll likely need a 4 month writing/recording block.

[Alex 2,833]

Also depends on Rian Johnson's editing style.

[crumbs 14,304]

Well JJ was cutting right to the end in a pretty unconventional manner. Unfortunately there's the Disney Executives factor here, far more worrisome after the Rogue One episode. Johnson doesn't have the clout of Abrams and if executives want something changed then he'll struggle to fight them.

 

He certainly won't have the creative freedom of Looper or Breaking Bad. Hopefully he'll at least assemble a complete rough cut after production wraps, rather than reel-by-reel like Abrams. My intuition says that Abrams was afforded whatever post-production workflow he asked for, but Disney will likely expect a complete cut from Johnson before the end of '16.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Let's hope! This will mean Williams will write the score in only a month or so, so there will be less rejected music, less tampering with the cues etc etc.

 

The problem with having a long scoring schedule is that it also gives the director a lot of time to mess with things. See TFA, or see the LOTR and Hobbit films!

 

[Romão 2,274]

If Williams starts working on Episode VIII in January, he should be handed a very definitive cut. The movie wraps film on July 22nd

[Will 2,215]

3 hours ago, crumbs said:

Unfortunately there's the Disney Executives factor here, far more worrisome after the Rogue One episode. Johnson doesn't have the clout of Abrams and if executives want something changed then he'll struggle to fight them.

 

I do want to point out that it may well have been Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm people who called for the Rogue One reshoots, not their big bosses at Disney. We don't really know; there are so many conflicting reports. But your point stands: there are probably going to be some executives, whether inside Lucasfilm or even higher up at Disney headquarters, who want certain things done and the director will have to obey. 

[King Mark 3,626]

After 3-4 listen I feel like I've exhausted what BFG has to offer, while I still want to listen to TFA

 

So I guess I'll rank TFA higher

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

This score kind of reminded me of Williams' concert works.

[Nemesis 244]

Whoa, I love the wonderful brass section in "Meeting the Queen" from 1:38 on...

[King Mark 3,626]

yes, full of nice moments l that aren't developed into anything

William's done the meandering twinkly underscore before. Pete in Heaven from Always. Never found it a memorable track

[Nemesis 244]

I love "Pete in Heaven"...

[King Mark 3,626]

I skip it all the time

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Do not compare this autopilot one-and-done score to Always!

[King Mark 3,626]

ok then Beautiful,Isn't It? from Heartbeeps

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Always has to be the most underrated Williams score.

[Nemesis 244]

I'm really very thankful I still can appreciate a new Williams score.

[King Mark 3,626]

yes me too.

 

What's the instruments that play Sophie's theme at the beginning of Sophie's Future

 

Woodwinds but what?

[Thor 7,476]

10 minutes ago, king mark said:

yes, full of nice moments l that aren't developed into anything

William's done the meandering twinkly underscore before. Pete in Heaven from Always. Never found it a memorable track

 

I disliked that cue -- and anything resembling it in the ALWAYS score -- for a great many years. In fact, it was one of the reasons I disliked that score (beyond the excellent and more immediate "Dorinda's Solo Flight" and "Follow Me"). However, the kind of abstract, texture-based writing in that cue has grown on me considerably over the years, as I've veered more and more towards that landscape. And yes -- I hear a similar approach in some BFG cues, like the "Dream Country" one.

[Nemesis 244]

7 minutes ago, king mark said:

yes me too.

 

What's the instruments that play Sophie's theme at the beginning of Sophie's Future

 

Woodwinds but what?

 Could it be Flute and Clarinet?

Maybe Flutes in octaves...

[King Mark 3,626]

it's a nice combination

[Nemesis 244]

I like the classical approach on Frolic! 

What does anybody else think about it?

[publicist 4,643]

It's more of a polka march (skipper for me).

[Nemesis 244]

Reminds me on Can Can...it's fun!

[publicist 4,643]

I find this stuff horribly old-fashioned. Might work for the film scene, though.

[Nemesis 244]

For me it's always a pleasure to hear Williams own voice in these compositions

[Thor 7,476]

Normally, I await in-depth listening untill I have the physical CD, but I haven't even ordered it yet. Instead, I've been listening to it on Spotify 5-6 times, and it's growing on me. The first impression was already better than with TFA, so this bodes well. Whimsical or not, there are some strong thematic cores here; and the 'concert music'-like segments (like the "flute concerto" that is "Dream Jars") is a new direction for Williams. I've rarely heard him do this before.

[TownerFan 4,983]

On 1 luglio 2016 at 8:40 PM, Marcus said:

I am more than impressed. I am deeply grateful.

 

My feeling exactly. Thank you, pal.

[Will 2,215]

21 minutes ago, Thor said:

Normally, I await in-depth listening untill I have the physical CD, but I haven't even ordered it yet. 

 

I too was hoping to have my first complete listen be on the CD, but alas mine apparently will not arrive until Tuesday so I decided not to wait and just go the digital route. 

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

1 hour ago, Will said:

apparently will not arrive until Tuesday

 

Don't tell me. Tuesday?