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John Williams' new HAN SOLO AND THE PRINCESS arrangement (Debuted 2018)


Jay

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It's true that theme doesn't really get inspired variations in TFA and TLJ, especially compared to this now

 

And now we have this in crappy sound quality recorded from a phone, and it's still great. now imagine a studio recording to fully hear that majestic new ending

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33 minutes ago, Tom said:

Probably just a composer's urge, but here is a theory.  The theme was always romantic but with just a hint of bittersweetness to it.  Now that Williams has scored the whole arch of Han and Leia, maybe he thought a new version was in order that still captured the romance but also gave a place to the heartbreak of the relationship.  

 

Spot on. The whole first half has the low strings performing the melody the majority of the time, which is the way the theme has developed in TFA and TLJ. It's almost like he's writing back in time - starting with older Leia and Han estranged and melancholic, travelling through the passionate part of their relationship and then finishing with solo flute (which brings Leia's first appearance to mind).

 

I got chills, that was stunning.

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11 minutes ago, Erik Woods said:

 And he got rid of the Leia's Theme cameo.  Utterly disappointing.

 

-Erik-

Good, None of the other SW Love Theme concert arrangements have theme cameos, so now they all match

And was the old arrangement even confirmed to be by Williams? 

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1 hour ago, Erik Woods said:

An unfocused mess.

 

-Erik-

On first listen I had a bit of trouble getting the flow of it even though I thought it was beautiful, but the more i listen to it the more coherent it becomes. I'm pretty sure it's due to the sound quality (cell phone recording) not showing all the nuances correctly, and that Williams might have conducted it a bit differently

 

It's already great, and I expect a massive boost by a Williams conducted studio recording

 

 

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1 hour ago, Erik Woods said:

An unfocused mess. Why do this when there is a superior concert arrangement out there? And he got rid of the Leia's Theme cameo.  Utterly disappointing.

 

-Erik-

I'm glad there's no Leia's Theme quote. I personally dislike it when JW's concert arrangements of new themes feature quotes of other themes. I especially don't like it when the Force Theme appears in Battle of the Heroes but that's more the result of the concert arrangement being a barely changed version of music from the actual score. The only quote of a previous theme in a concert arrangement of a new theme I like is the use of Hedwig's Theme in Window to the Past from HP3.

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To be fair, BOTH isn't a theme suite, it's a track/setpiece concert arrangement ala Forest Battle, Little People, Last Battle etc.

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4 minutes ago, Fal said:

To be fair, BOTH isn't a theme suite, it's a track/setpiece concert arrangement ala Forest Battle, Little People, Last Battle etc.

I don't understand. I never mentioned any suites. This new concert arrangement of Han and Leia isn't a suite either. I'm talking about concert arrangements of new themes that feature inclusions of old themes. 

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15 minutes ago, Fal said:

To be fair, BOTH isn't a theme suite, it's a track/setpiece concert arrangement ala Forest Battle, Little People, Last Battle etc.

 

Isn׳t the original Han Solo and the Princess the same?

 

As for this new suite, I have to say I like the album version better. As for why Williams made this suite, I would say it’s more closely related to Fisher’s demise. People can call it “Han’s theme” all they want, but musically it’s essentialy a secondary theme for the princess.

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3 hours ago, king mark said:

It's true that theme doesn't really get inspired variations in TFA and TLJ, especially compared to this now

 

And now we have this in crappy sound quality recorded from a phone, and it's still great. now imagine a studio recording to fully hear that majestic new ending

Yeah, it will be nice to hear a better recording, and my hunch is that Williams would conduct it a bit faster than this.  I will say, though, phone recordings of today are lightyears ahead of just a few years ago.  

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1 hour ago, artguy360 said:

I don't understand. I never mentioned any suites. This new concert arrangement of Han and Leia isn't a suite either. I'm talking about concert arrangements of new themes that feature inclusions of old themes. 

Concert Arrangement = Concert Suites

1 hour ago, Chen G. said:

 

Isn׳t the original Han Solo and the Princess the same?

 

As for this new suite, I have to say I like the album version better. As for why Williams made this suite, I would say it’s more closely related to Fisher’s demise. People can call it “Han’s theme” all they want, but musically it’s essentialy a secondary theme for the princess.

Han Solo and the Princess on the OST's is a film cue, Han Solo and the Princess on the Gerhardt is a concert arrangement, so is this new one.

My point is that there are two kinds of suites/concert arrangements:

1: Where you take thematic material from the score, and make a standalone piece using it (Princess Leia's Theme)

2: You take a cue/track etc. and make alterations and additions for concert listening (The Last Battle, The Little People, The Forest Battle)

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I'm used to suite meaning a selection of multiple pieces of music or different melodies played together or back to back. Concert arrangement on the other hand being an arrangement of a single piece of music for concert presentation. Are the two interchangeable? For example there is the Memoirs of a Giesha concert suite which is different than say Rey's Theme as a concert arrangement or the concert arrangement of Jedi Steps.

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It's called Variations on a Theme, boys. He took something he wrote almost many years ago and gave it a new spin. He probably felt he could do better given second chance. A lot of composers in the history of music did the same (Brahms, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev). Of course people can still prefer the original version, but I still find amusing JW takes pleasure and fun in revisiting his older material.

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Oh sure, don't get me wrong, its great to hear him develop new variations on this very old material. I just happen to like the existing variations more.

 

I still can't help but think the incentive for him to do so, with this theme of all of them, has to do with Fisher's passing.

 

2 hours ago, Fal said:

Han Solo and the Princess on the OST's is a film cue, Han Solo and the Princess on the Gerhardt is a concert arrangement, so is this new one.

My point is that there are two kinds of suites/concert arrangements:

1: Where you take thematic material from the score, and make a standalone piece using it (Princess Leia's Theme)

2: You take a cue/track etc. and make alterations and additions for concert listening (The Last Battle, The Little People, The Forest Battle)

 

My thoughts exactly. Although its something of  spectrum: evne the Gerhardt version at least closely resembles the film cue.

 

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6 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

 

Spot on. The whole first half has the low strings performing the melody the majority of the time, which is the way the theme has developed in TFA and TLJ. It's almost like he's writing back in time - starting with older Leia and Han estranged and melancholic, travelling through the passionate part of their relationship and then finishing with solo flute (which brings Leia's first appearance to mind).

 

I had a very similar feeling, you put it to words very well. It's as if this arrangement was made with the awareness of how the story ended, and the big statement of the original version of the theme in the middle (similar to the TESB end credits, although one semitone lower and with several other modifications) sounds like a sort of nostalgic recollection of how the relationship between the two characters used to be. 

 

On a first impact, I have to say that I prefer the old version. Most of times, I tend to prefer pieces that are more elaborate, longer, and display variations, but in this case I think the original theme is crafted better than all the variations presented here, and since I already know it from the past, hearing the variations first "sounds wrong" to me, as if he is delaying to deliver me something that I actually already know. However, I appreciate that he is still working with pleasure on his SW universe of themes (and anyway, the piece is good, it's just that I prefer the other one, if I have to compare them).

 

I am wondering what he could have achieved if he had done a more extensive arrangement including the themes of Han Solo and the Princess, Princess Leia, and some material from the TFA scene where Han meets Kylo Ren. A sort of narration done by employing all the elements that belong to it.

 

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6 hours ago, gkgyver said:

So, let me get this right: John Williams is capable of doing that to his old material in stunning fashion, yet, in TFA and TLJ, we are treated to rerecorded recipes from a 30 year old cookbook?

 

Honestly, listening to this, I feel kind of cheated out of the Star Wars score he clearly COULD have done.

 

Well, he had almost 40 years to think out the new arrangement...

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16 minutes ago, Holko said:

This feels like something Williams could easily quote for Leia's funeral scene in 9 (If she'll have one, but she does need some kind of proper sendoff).

 

Could the arrangement have been JW's original intentions for the end credits? It would be fitting to honor Fisher in such a way with a 6 minute variation on a love theme that's strongly connected to her character.

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Maybe Williams wrote this a while ago and that's why the original version is removed from the catalogues

 

I don't think he could have put this on TLJ OST, because  it sounds a lot more like  on of his concert hall pieces compared to the original

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