Jump to content

THE ADVENTURES OF HAN - 2018 John Williams theme for Solo: A Star Wars Story


Obi

Recommended Posts

9 minutes ago, King Mark said:

Album version : 2 1/2 minutes

Live  Concert Version: 6 minutes

 

 

i'm not sure what it is, but ithere's going something to complain about and leave us bitterly disappointed with what' s on the c.d. There has to be.

 

Album Version: Score by John Powell

Movie Version: Score by John Williams

Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, Falstaft said:

There's some impossibly virtuosic trumpet writing [...] octatonic motif from "The Battle of Crait." 

If it's using this thematic material, I imagine Powell's score should be a real barn-burner!

 

:music::o:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'am hoping that the concert broadcast will be accessible to us via a download on Sunday or thereafter?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

People keep posting this on Facebook saying it's the theme from the film. I need to know if this is legit or not before I start patronizing these people...

 

 

Yes, these are two Han's themes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Manakin Skywalker said:

People keep posting this on Facebook saying it's the theme from the film. I need to know if this is legit or not before I start patronizing these people...

 

 

 

And these very mockups were posted here the day of the score picture leak, but were removed the same day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To my ears they certainly sound like two distinct parts of the same theme, but hearing them in a orchestral setting (where the orchestration of the A and B melodies might by be quite different) may change my mind. They're certainly of a piece.

 

Nevertheless, its a nice tune! It has the potential to be a source of big orchestral swells, which is nice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think they could be identified as two different themes, but with some relations between them. Both are in the same key (Am) but they are different melodies and they even change the tempo and the beat of the melody. 

 

Anyway, I cannot wait to listen to it on full orchestral glory. I'm sure it's going to be great!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All this debate whether or not A and B phrases of a long-winded piece are separate themes or not really boils down to perspective. For me, like I said, they are of a piece. Others' milleage may vary, though.

 

I think what differs this piece (and really, most of Williams longer themes, of which there are many) from, say, Kylo Ren's two themes, is that in that case not only was Williams explicit about it, but the two "phrases" not only appeared in isolation from each other, but also emerged and were developed separately: one emerged at the very beginning of the score, the other - only started to form nearly half-way through the picture, and from that point onward they just occasionally happened to be played one after the other.

 

Not so much with most of Williams longer themes: usually we get a straightforward statement of the entire thing (either in the score or in the album presentation) and than we get individual parts applied to different scenes, usually without much in the way of thematic logic, which is another reason I'm not an advocate of this organisation method: if the individual parts of theme don't mean anything in and of themselves - than how can they be considered leitmotivic in their own right?

 

In a way it actually diminishes what Williams accomplishes with these themes, in terms of the length of the melody...

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

37 minutes ago, Jay said:

Well, we only have 23 hours to go until the album is for sale on New Zealand iTunes.

 

Well somebody here in France is claiming Amazon.fr did bring him today the CD...

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Pellaeon said:

Why don’t they release the album prior to the movie?


Back in the day, most albums came out on Tuesdays, and most films opened on Fridays, so we usually had the OST early.  Sometimes they'd even come out a few weeks before the film.

 

A few years back, new music release day was changed from Tuesday for Friday, so now most movie scores come out on the same day as the film.

 

One notably execption is this upcoming Friday June 15th, when the OST albums for both Incredibles II and Jurassic World are released.  Incredibles II also opens on Friday June 15th, but Jurassic World opens Friday June 22nd.  So we get that one a week early [EDIT: at least in the US; The UK opening is actually June 6th lol]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Additionally, in the case of Star Wars, they used to release the main new theme of the score at least one week prior to the album release, along with a music video (DotF, Across the Stars, BotH). But that was a long time ago...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, crumbs said:

Sounds like JJ's sound mixing team returned to mix Solo and again bury the score into sound effects purgatory.

 

Christ, I hope TLJ's sound mixers return for IX. I couldn't take another Solo/TFA mixing disaster for Williams' final Star Wars score.

While I am worried about Solo in that aspect, I heard TFA's score quite clearly when I saw the movie (though I haven't seen it since it came out).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a fair statement. I guess I'll just have to hear it for myself. Again, its a matter of perspective more than anything else. To each his own (view, that is)

 

As for the similarity to Poe's material, well that was to be expected. Really, Poe recieves the most old-fashioned, swashbuckling identity of anything Williams scored since maybe the early 90s, very much in-line with the character (well, as least as of now).

 

It makes sense that young Han - in a movie that is meant to evoke the retro (and, narrativelly, takes place prior to Williams' original Star Wars), and to which the composition was writen within a couple of years from Poe's material was - would merit a piece in the same style.

 

That aspect, for instance, really doesn't come across in the demo above, so I suppose its really not much to go on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Falstaft said:

It's similar to the "Rebellion is Reborn" in this respect, in which the "Rose" and "Luke in Exile" themes are pretty strongly differentiated.

 

Yeah, but the thematic material in that abides the "rule" that I stated above: i.e. that the two not only appear in the score proper in isolation but also emerge in separate parts of the score, and develop separately. I don't think the two themes (which have little to do with each other, narrativelly) ever cross paths in the story. Here, they're both for Han Solo. Granted, one could argue they evoke different parts of his personality, but still.

 

Besides, here we can't draw from the way the theme is used in the score proper because the individual statements might not represent what Williams would have done, and are therefore not representative of his authorial intent, as it were.

 

Not to namedrop or anything like that, but its what Doug Adams called (in a comparable situation) a "theme and-a-half". ;):P

 

You can take it, you can leave it, but the point I'm making is a valid one, nonetheless.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

37 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

Besides, here we can't draw from the way the theme is used in the score proper because the individual statements might not represent what Williams would have done, and are therefore not representative of his authorial intent, as it were.

 

Not to namedrop or anything like that, but its what Doug Adams called (in a comparable situation) a "theme and-a-half". ;):P

 

 

I feel as though we're going around in circles here. What I'm saying, and what you seem resistant to acknowledging, is that the two melodies that appear in "The Adventures of Han" constitute seperate and well-defined themes in that context. Making any claim about their leitmotivic status, their intratextual signification, or how they adhere to yours or my or Doug Adams's criteria regarding leitmotivic categorization--all this is strictly premature at this point until we hear them in the setting of the actual Solo score. The point you're insisting is valid is not what I'm talking about.

 

Furthermore, I think deferring Williams's intention is essentially besides the point here; the arrangement (as everyone will soon hear) speaks for itself, and authorial intent is about the least reliable way to interpret texts in general, especially when the creator is as inconsistent and selectively forgetful as JW is, regardless of how insightful & articulate he comes off in interviews.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, I see. An issue of terminology, then....

 

I speak of "themes" and "leitmotives" as one and the same. You don't. Alright...

 

I also don't think Williams is necessarily forgetful, but I do think we need to distinguish his more fleeting, cryptic comments to his more explicit, straightforward statements. And we also need to consider the time between his comments and the actual composition process upon which he is commenting at any given time: An interview with him ten years removed from Return of the Jedi will not be as valuable as an interview that took place as he was writing the Solo theme (or themes, whatever), to be sure. All very much the basics of textual analysis. As such, I continue to hold that explicit autorial intent remains the most important tool in analyzing the composer's work, although I agree its often appearant from the music (as well the way in which the album is arranged), as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

Ah, I see. An issue of terminology, then....

 

I speak of "themes" and "leitmotives" as one and the same. You don't. Alright...

 

That seems to be at the core of many arguments you land in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Possibly. Isn't all academia just that?

 

Still, I think the discussion that developed is a valuable one. That's why I "Like" @Falstaft's comments, even if I don't necessarily agree with his thesis on the matter: at least its interesting, and constructive to a meaningful (and potentially mutually insightfull) discussion, which is what an online board is all about.

 

Its certainly much more engaging than me saying something and people just agreeing, or vice versa.

 

And, again, whatever you want to call it: its a very nice tune!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

Possibly. Isn't all academia just that?

 

Still, I think the discussion that developed is a valuable one. That's why I "Like" @Falstaft's comments, even if I don't necessarily agree with them: at least its constructive to a meaningful (and potentially mutually insightfull) discussion, which is what an online board is all about.

 

We'll all hear it soon enough. Let's not get pedantry get in the way of my original goal, which was building hype.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, I'm just as excited as the next guy.

 

I find the idea of Williams continuing to "guide" the Star Wars sound and leitmotivic architecture even for spinoffs (which he is not scoring) very interesting indeed; and I quite like what I've heard of the tune.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

Oh, I'm just as excited as the next guy.

 

I think you are going to love this piece. In my opinion, it's the best standalone music that's come out of Disney-Star Wars, besides Rey's Theme concert arrangement and maybe The March of the Resistance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the phrase "melodic material."  Satisfying and alliterative.

 

Of course it's not encompassing because recurring material isn't necessarily melodic, like if just a specific timbre is used to musically identify a character or idea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

37 minutes ago, Jay said:

I've seen Williams in Boston every May/June for 10+ years running

 

Sooooo jealous.

 

I suppose we can expect the BPO stream by next week then? Just hope nobody coughs during the performances. They should hand out Strepsils at the door.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OST Press Release:

 

Quote

 

Solo: A Star Wars Story Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Available May 25th

 

Han Solo Theme And Original Star Wars Music By John Williams
Score Composed And Adapted By John Powell

 

BURBANK, Calif., May 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Walt Disney Records releases the original motion picture soundtrack for Solo: A Star Wars Story.   The album features score composed and adapted by Academy® and Grammy®-Award nominated composer John Powell and the new Han Solo theme and original Star Wars music by five-time Academy Award-winning composer John Williams.

 

Acclaimed composer John Powell marks his first-ever feature collaboration score with Lucasfilm for "Solo: A Star Wars Story."   Recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, the score features a 125-piece orchestra and choir conducted by Gavin Greenaway.  Powell composed and produced the score including several new themes written by Powell including "Chewie Theme," "Love Theme," "Ensys Nest Theme," "Gang Theme" and "L3 Theme," as well as adapting the new Han Solo theme and some of the original Star Wars music by John Williams.

 

Most recently, Powell scored "Ferdinand," as well as the "How to Train Your Dragon," "Bourne" and "Ice Age" films.

 

"The Adventures of Han" theme was composed and conducted by John Williams.  This new theme for Han Solo was recorded by the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles at the Newman Scoring Stage. Williams has written the complete scores for all eight of the Star Wars saga films, beginning with 1977's Star Wars: A New Hope for which he earned an Academy Award for Best Original Score. Most recently his score for Star Wars: The Last Jedi was nominated for an Oscar®.

 

Describing his approach to the Solo: A Star Wars Story score, Powell says, "There is a language that John Williams uses in the Star Wars films, and I've tried to live up to the quality of what he has done before by keeping form and structure within the score and following the storytelling as honestly and elegantly as possible."

 

He adds, "There is a lot of thematic material from the original movies that I used that are not specific to Han. They're specific to the Millennium Falcon, TIE fighters and the Empire. Those types of things are very useful as they're all part of the language we know. There are lots of other characters and ideas within the film that I wrote tunes and melodies (themes) for, so it's a mixture of new themes by me, a new theme by John Williams, and some of the old material."

 

Solo: A Star Wars Story Original Motion Picture soundtrack will be available wherever music is sold and streamed on May 25.  The digital soundtrack can be streamed HERE and downloaded HERE.  The CD is now available for pre order. 

 

About "Solo: A Star Wars Story"


Board the Millennium Falcon and journey to a galaxy far, far away in "Solo: A Star Wars Story," an all-new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo befriends his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and meets the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian, in a journey that will set the course of one of the Star Wars saga's most unlikely heroes.

 

The film stars Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridgeand Paul Bettany.

 

Ron Howard directs "Solo: A Star Wars Story," and Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur and Simon Emanuel are the producers. Lawrence Kasdan, Jason McGatlin, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller serve as executive producers. Lawrence & Jonathan Kasdan wrote the screenplay. "Solo: A Star Wars Story" opens in U.S. theaters on May 25, 2018.

 

For more information on Solo: A Star Wars Story, please visit http://www.starwars.com/.  For more information on Walt Disney Records' releases, like us on Facebook.com/disneymusic, follow us at Twitter.com/disneymusic and Instagram@disneymusic.   For more information on Disney Music Emporium, please visit, DisneyMusicEmporium.com, become a fan at Facebook.com/disneymusicemporium or follow us at Twitter.com/DisneyMusicEmp. 

 

SOURCE Walt Disney Records

 

 

48 minutes ago, JTWfan77 said:

I suppose we can expect the BPO stream by next week then?

 

The concert will be broadcast Sunday, May 27 on WCRB

http://classicalwcrb.org/post/film-night-boston-pops#stream/0

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.