GALAXY'S EDGE - New John Williams composition (2018)

[TownerFan 4,983]

On 11/19/2018 at 6:59 PM, Falstaft said:

A few musings:

 

*This isn't as detached from the rest of the Star Wars thematic lexicon as it might first sound. There's a clear allusion to the Rebel Fanfare at 0:48, and some strong echoes of the March of the Resistance at 1:30.

 

*I get a really strong Bruckner-vibe from this, of all people. Not a compositional connection often i spot so directly in Williams. The string octaves in descending perfect  intervals at 1:35 sound straight out of the Te Deum (or pretty much any one of the 9 symphonies). Add to that the massed but very open orchestration, and the phyrgian disposition of the theme (unusual for Star Wars), and the horn writing -- all Bruckner hallmarks. Who knows if this is intentional, or even a matter of influence per se, but hard to unhear if you're an unapologetic Brucknerian like me.

 

*I gotta say, I'm little surprised by the tepid reaction here, of all places. It seems perfectly of a piece with the overall Star Wars sound, no more or less generic than anything else he's written for the series. This is another in a line of wonderful unexpected gifts from our favorite octegenarian maestro, and I feel confident it will grow on everyone, especially once we hear it in its entirety--not this weirdly incomplete, edited version. 

 

Thanks for your insights, Frank. I always enjoy reading your musings, so keep 'em coming

[Balahkay 627]

The more I listen to this, the more I love it.  I'm excited to hear what else he has written for the park.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I haven't listened to it.

 

William Ross I believe also recorded a unique loop for the inside of the carousel building at Disneyland. It featured a really cool rendition of Get to Your Ships from Episode One. Has this ever leaked?

[Datameister 2,037]

Was that loop also recorded by Ross? I know he did the Tokyo Star Tours queue loop with the LSO. Could it be the same loop? I'm embarrassed to say don't know either of them well enough...walking through Launch Bay, I always just kind of assumed the recordings (which are definitely not from the OSTs) were from other commercial albums that I hadn't listened to. But this would make a lot more sense.

 

Regardless, I haven't seen that loop available anywhere.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

It's the holy grail!

[BTR1701 59]

On 11/18/2018 at 11:58 AM, Warrior of Wet Dreams said:

So we get the LSO performing theme park music, but heaven forbid anyone use them for actual Star Wars movies nowadays?

Heck, J. Powell went to London for Solo (not THE London orchestra, but A London orchestra anyhow)!

 

Eh, I'd prefer the Chicago Symphony if they're going to go outside the studio players.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Allow me to be 500th person to say, the London musicians are not inherently better than the LA musicians, nor are they somehow better for Star Wars.  Anyone who says so is just letting nostalgia/sentimentality blind them.

[BTR1701 59]

5 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Allow me to be 500th person to say, the London musicians are not inherently better than the LA musicians, nor are they somehow better for Star Wars.  Anyone who says so is just letting nostalgia/sentimentality blind them.

 

Very true. I prefer the Chicago Symphony because they are legendary for their powerful brass section, and STAR WARS is a brass-heavy genre.

 

Of course, with digital editing these days, it's really all up to the guy in the booth how it comes across on an album recording.

[toothless 963]

 

[Drew 590]

 

[Jay 37,281]

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is opening ahead of schedule on May 31 at Disneyland Resort in Southern California and August 29 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida.

[King Mark 3,624]

I like this piece of music a lot

[Nick Parker 3,040]

4 hours ago, King Mark said:

I like this piece of music a lot

 

What do you like about it? I don't like it very much and want to see it from a different perspective. 

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

I like it because it’s John Williams and because it’s John Williams that means it’s good

[Bayesian 1,359]

6 minutes ago, Kasey Kockroach said:

I like it because it’s John Williams and because it’s John Williams that means it’s good

This guy gets it!

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

It's no Botanicus Theme, that's for sure.

[crumbs 14,300]

It's nice to have that LSO Abbey Road sound back (I wonder who recorded this?) but the theme itself is a bit generic. Understandable though, considering JW probably had nothing to inspire him writing it, except a bunch of concept artwork. 

[Tom 4,633]

13 hours ago, King Mark said:

I like this piece of music a lot

I think the piece is really nice addition to the SW soundscape.  It sounds like an extended take of one of Williams brilliant "planet themes" from the prequels (which, of course, is what its for).  I could do without the opening "welcome to the attraction" strings, but, again, that is what the piece is for. 

[Nick Parker 3,040]

6 hours ago, crumbs said:

It's nice to have that LSO Abbey Road sound back (I wonder who recorded this?) but the theme itself is a bit generic. Understandable though, considering JW probably had nothing to inspire him writing it, except a bunch of concept artwork. 

 

John Williams has delivered hours of powerful music where there was not a lot to go off of, if anything what you say makes it more disappointing! 

 

There's a couple cool moments that I pointed out when this first came to be posted, and I do like the end where it gets more Prequel planet, but man that beginning melody is really limp to me. Don't get me wrong, the 2000's is my favorite period of Williams' career, but sometimes his melodies started to feel like they were just constructed from a scale...you know what I mean? It's hard to explain, but a theme like Raider's March, yeah, of course, it's built from scales, but it doesn't sound like that to me, it goes beyond that and establishes a character.

 

Melodies like this one in Galaxy's Edge just sound like, well, pleasing notes sequenced from a scale.

[King Mark 3,624]

if this was an unreleased Last Jedi cue or we only got a bad cellphone recording with sound effects this piece would have instantly shot up everyone's most wanted list

[Arpy 4,145]

It's a theme for a theme park for fuck's sake, not a concert piece! Disney are lucky that Williams even bothered to write even a note for this and we're luckier because we care about it.

 

 

On 3/13/2019 at 7:00 PM, crumbs said:

It's nice to have that LSO Abbey Road sound back (I wonder who recorded this?) but the theme itself is a bit generic. Understandable though, considering JW probably had nothing to inspire him writing it, except a bunch of concept artwork. 

 

[Balahkay 627]

No new music from what I can tell but a different performance of the existing music starting at :28. 

 

 

[igger6 894]

The brief Coke ad featured a new version of the main theme, and the sizzle reel of new shots from the park seemed, if I heard correctly, to feature a couple of other sections of what was still pretty clearly the original concert suite we heard in November. This seems to corroborate the theory that we still haven’t heard that whole suite as written. This has to be the strangest debut of a concert piece ever...

[King Mark 3,624]

I like this new version

 

where's the Coke Ad?

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

"Star Wars Tries a Coke"

[King Mark 3,624]

that section with the new orchestration is Classic JW and I'd say better than the marches in the sequel trilogy

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Are you planning a trip to Disney Land, KM?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

The crowds will be unbearable!

[King Mark 3,624]

For that park I'd consider it

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

You can record the music from a speaker.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Break intp the control room and steal the source files!

[Henry Sítrónu 494]

9 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Break intp the control room and steal the source files!

... with headphones on, while Dennis Steals The Embryos is playing, of course!

[Falstaft 2,132]

For the curious, transcriptions of four themes from the GE Suite.

 

Also, you can hear some of the new Cantina music here (which I'm not 100% sure is confirmed Williams but is a great imitation of Fingrin Dan's originals)

 

 

 

[Balahkay 627]

Is this the Coke ad?

 

 

[Tom 4,633]

16 minutes ago, Balahkay said:

Is this the Coke ad?

 

 

Sounds like snippets from a sequel to RotJ Williams wrote in 86. 

[King Mark 3,624]

mhh, these little variations makes the theme sound cooler every time .it's very 80's vintage Williams .I'd be very excited if these were snippets from Rise of Skywalker

 

 

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Coca Cola bottles shaped like grenades?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

A crude explosive device. 

[crumbs 14,300]

These are fun! How cool to have new JW Star Wars music filling the gap between TLJ and TROS. No doubt kept the series fresh in his mind during his 2 year writing hiatus between films.

 

I have to admit, I wasn't all that enamored by this theme after the first reveal, but the more we've heard of it (and the more obvious it's become that the initial reveal was a truncated version of JW's suite), the better it's become. As others have said, it sounds like something Williams would've written between the OT and PT, rather than something halfway through the ST.

 

Would be nice to know what the deal is with those cantina pieces. The one in the video above sounds a little too derivative of the original to be a new JW arrangement, but it's definitely got that fun jazzy hook that sounds like Williams.

[King Mark 3,624]

the version in the Coke ad sounds a bit like the Cross of Coronado  theme from Last Crusade

[crumbs 14,300]

18 minutes ago, King Mark said:

the version in the Coke ad sounds a bit like the Cross of Coronado  theme from Last Crusade

 

Love the music for the reveal of the case's contents. It's very Indiana Jones, isn't it?

 

It should be a sub-genre of JW musical moments: thematic statements for the 'reveal' of something hidden. 😍

[Balahkay 627]

Is it known how much music Williams wrote for the theme park?  I thought I read somewhere that he wrote more than what we've heard but I can't find where I read that.  

 

 

[crumbs 14,300]

Well there were early rumours that Williams and Giacchino were "collaborating" on music for the theme park. Then months later Williams was announced as writing the music with no trace of Giacchino.

 

So either that early rumour was just a very good guess and got the Giacchino part wrong, or plans ... changed.

[Bayesian 1,359]

39 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Well there were early rumours that Williams and Giacchino were "collaborating" on music for the theme park. Then months later Williams was announced as writing the music with no trace of Giacchino.

 

So either that early rumour was just a very good guess and got the Giacchino part wrong, or plans ... changed.

How long ago were those rumors? If they preceded Rogue One and those other rumors that JW didn’t care for MG’s scoring treatment for RO were true, it might suggest JW pulled rank and had MG removed from the project. Or, more likely, Disney brass proactively acted to placate JW by giving him solo reins.

 

of course, if those collaboration rumors came after RO, my theory is toast. 

[crumbs 14,300]

From August last year.

 

Quote

 

Rumor: John Williams & Michael Giacchino to score new music and themes for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge!

 

My sources are saying John Williams and Michael Giacchino will be writing and scoring the theme park’s music for rides, attractions, and other types of source music. It sounds like there is some sort of collaborative effort between Williams and Giacchino on the content. I don’t know if Williams is just contributing a theme or a lot more than that. It isn’t exactly clear who is doing what at this point so I do not want to overstate anything other than we are getting new music for Galaxy’s Edge from both Williams and Giacchino who will be bringing the melodic side of the park to life.

 

 

 

[mrbellamy 6,272]

On 4/13/2019 at 10:13 PM, crumbs said:

I have to admit, I wasn't all that enamored by this theme after the first reveal, but the more we've heard of it (and the more obvious it's become that the initial reveal was a truncated version of JW's suite), the better it's become. As others have said, it sounds like something Williams would've written between the OT and PT, rather than something halfway through the ST.

 

Yeah I didn’t really give it much thought in the original video but the Coke ad version is pretty dope. TLC-esque for sure.

[Bayesian 1,359]

Yes, well, that was a nice theory for a few minutes.

[crumbs 14,300]

The Giacchino thing is definitely intriguing though, given the context/rumours swirling around Williams and Rogue One.

 

You really have to wonder what happened behind closed doors...

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Only if you believe @elvisjones's rumours.