STAR WARS : Symphony for a Saga

[rough cut 1,786]

Thanx! "Hoth" makes for a good listen. You've selected some good bits and edited them together nicely.

 

As for "Han Solo & The Princess", it's really nice. Excellent work!

[Todd 30]

Thanks, gentlemen!

[rough cut 1,786]

On 2016-06-30 at 0:34 PM, rough cut said:

A couple of years ago I did a cut-and-paste arrangement of the Han And Leia-theme that turned out quite well - I certainly wouldn't mind to hear your take on that!

 

Haha, aborted single or not, I'd still say I was spot on! This was great! I've listened to your edit of "Han Solo & The Princess (Bonus)" a few times now, but still need time to properly point out the differences from the concert arrangements done by The National Philharmonic and the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. How did you try to make it different compared to those arrangemenets? How much did you end up using from the original score?

 

On a genereal note regarding your work - There are alot of fan made suites floating around the web, but yours are the only ones I've kept in my library. I have especially appreciated the singles for TPM and AOTC where you have created more complete melodic structures compared to what is offered in the official scores. I also think it's nice that you've taken the time to think about such things as titles: Naming the single from AOTC "Anakin & The Senator" - which is a clear reference to the title "Han Solo & The Princess" (as you also state in your liner notes) - is a nice touch that any JW- or SW-fan can appreciate.

 

Keep the good stuff coming!

[Todd 30]

Rough cut, I never got the film music to represent well for Han Solo and the Princess. I could never make it work. I just remastered the Prague performance to death and removed the theme reprise from the ending. Not much work went into that deleted track. I hate to disappoint. 

 

My my goal was always to complete more complete themes, though it was easier with Qui-Gon and Anakin & the Senator. But, I am confident you will be in love with the Return of the Jedi single. ?

 

I will do my best to get the Empire suite out this week around Friday.

[rough cut 1,786]

Jedi single sounds promising! Looking forward to it... but first we'll have the ESB suite to enjoy!

[Todd 30]

Well everyone...here is the first suite I have cut in 8 years or so. You may now listen to the super long, "The Empire Strikes Back Suite." Please and enjoy, and let me know what you think of this!

[rough cut 1,786]

Thank you!

[Pieter Boelen 1,032]

Major congratulations on finishing that!

[Cerebral Cortex 3,365]

Fantastic stuff, Todd! Thanks a lot for making these. This new one is perhaps your best yet.

Been meaning to post here for a while how great I think your Qui-Gon suite is. That's one of my favorite themes in The Phantom Menace, and I appreciate your effort in realizing it as it's own concert piece. Have listened to that quite a lot over the years, alongside the rest of your entries in this project of yours. 

[Todd 30]

Best yet? I certainly appreciate the praise. For a long time I thought the original Star Wars score was the best, but one of the reasons this ended up so long was because of all the fantastic themes and cues. I love this score (and film) the most. 

 

The he original cut of 37+ minutes was such a smooth listening, it was quite difficult to cut it up.

 

thanks for the support, all.

[rough cut 1,786]

There are two moments that stand out in the ESB suite for me: The first is the part you call "Bounty Hunters." I like how you taken Dagobah music and overdubbed it with Boba Fett's theme. Very imaginative!

 

The second is what you call "The Funeral March." That little reoccurring fanfare is a testament to John Williams' ability to write short but memorable melodies that help tie the movie (and score) together. It's very fulfilling to hear them all as one continuous piece.

 

Well done!

[Todd 30]

Thank you, rough cut! I love those sections. The Funeral March is such a great theme. With critical listening, I discovered how Empire was filled with these themes, even beyond Jedi. This is why Empire is so darn long.

But how about some Return of the Jedi? Here is the new single, "The Court of Jabba the Hutt."

 

[Todd 30]

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on the sound quality. This track blends four different sources...and as week now, the mastering work on JEDI is always problematic.

 

thanks!

[rough cut 1,786]

You're speeding up between releases... A good thing! Comments will be coming soon...

 

What are the sources?

[Todd 30]

This single uses the Anthology, Special Edition, Digital Ultimate Edition and a concert version of Jabba's theme..but right now I am not sure if that is Prague or another orchestra. 

[rough cut 1,786]

Concerning "At the court of Jabba the Hutt"... General thoughts on sound quality is that it all blends together nicely!

 

Thematically, it's a fun listen as well. It plays out like an extended, alernate version of Jabba's theme.

[Todd 30]

Thanks for everyone's support over the years, especially you few who have felt like commenting lately. Looks like I missed the boat on all the outstanding praise from a few years ago. So it is with a quiet whisper I conclude STAR WARS: Symphony for a Saga. This has taken quite a few hours over the last year to complete, and life is extremely busy. I hope to work on "The Force Awakens" in the future, but I don't have any plans for even starting it. 

 

Life is a lot different than over a decade ago, and the time I can devote to hobbies like that has changed. Even in the last month, time has become increasingly difficult to come by. I haven't listened to the TFA score nearly enough to begin to tackle an edit of this magnitude. Perhaps I will one day find myself loading WAV files from the OST and FYC onto my editor...and we'll finally get a Kylo Ren concert theme...

 

For now, I am so happy to give everyone a listen to the "Return of the Jedi Suite."

 

[Cerebral Cortex 3,365]

Thank you so, so much for setting out on this ambitious project, completing said project, and then being kind enough to share it all with us. 

 

It's been great fun watching the evolution of this project, and even more fun listening to your outputs. Your work is, beyond exaggeration, simply fantastic, and I have honestly found myself listening to at least one of the components to this "symphony" on a daily basis for the last several months. 

 

So, simply put, thank you. 

[Todd 30]

Thanks, sir. I appreciate it. I am glad this has brought something to you personally. Thanks for connecting with the work!

[Pieter Boelen 1,032]

Major congratulations! I've just returned from vacation and I'm sure that now I'm back, I'll be enjoying this a lot.

 

Still holding out hope for Kylo Ren's Theme though! Maybe one day....

My suggested release date would be to have it done before Episode 8 hits theaters.

[rough cut 1,786]

Thanks once again Todd, for your time and effort.

 

Finally got around to the ROTJ suite and, man, it doesn't disappoint! You've hit it out of the park once again. From how you kick it off with the original "Return Of The Jedi" cue (which I've always found to be one of the most unique cues in the Star Wars scores), to your inclusion of "Alliance Assembly" (a sort of hidden gem really) and finally the conclusion with the rebel fanfare.

 

A great experience from start to finish.  You've really managed to put the spotlight on ROTJ and what a great score it is. So many highlights! It's a presentation that truly makes you appreciate the genius of John Williams.

 

Also - and I've mentioned this before - what a great presentation you've put together presenting the six suites. First and foremost, there must have been so much work distilling each soundtrack to a 30-min suite. You've obviously put a lot of thought in choosing which music to include (for example, only including the Main theme in the "Phantom Menace" Suite, which makes sense if all suites are presented as a whole) and trying to find a balance of which cues best represents the "feel" of the score. In addition to the excellent choice of cues and editing, it's obvious that a lot of time has been spent on creating liner notes where you break down what's been included and why. I for one also appreciate the small things like the way you've namned the singles in such a way so that there's a resemblance to the original cues (how "Anakin And The Senator" resembles "Han Solo And The Princess").

 

All in all, a stellar effort and as a whole a great representation of the Star Wars Saga!

 

Thanks once again!

[Todd 30]

Thank you, Rough Cut! It has been a labor of love, for certain. I always wanted to create a nice PDF booklet for the suites and imagined what official packaging looked like. I love the original SE releases, and felt like that format would be pretty cool for this work. It's great to listen to them together...though I haven't listened to all six in a row just yet. The Classic Trilogy plays quite nicely.

[Unq 0]

This is a nice surprise after checking in on this thread for the first time in a year or so.  Awesome work on the Classic Suites, and thanks for putting all these together!  These suites are permanent parts of my Star Wars playlist.

[Todd 30]

Glad you enjoyed It!