MSM 126 Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 This score doesn't seem to be getting a lot of love. More the opposite, or so it seems. I feel like currently moviegoers expect scores to consist of random piano key strikes, pounding electronic percussion, horns playing long sustained notes and repetitive string ostinatos. Lush symphonic scores are dead to the masses.Ironically, this is more and more how Williams tend to write these days. I feel his music becomes more and more generic (track 13 sounds just like Hans Zimmer). I don't blame him though, I blame the directors and the quality of the movies made today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,364 Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 Just got my disc yesterday. Initially I thought , ‘what a lovely score’. Light and brilliant at the first half for the obvious reasons, dark on the second half. I thought the battle music was handled fantastically and there is a bit on track 9 I think where it’s the heaviest I heard Williams write in years.And then track 19 kicked in. And something happened when the piano theme came on.It proceeded to the string part of the same theme, and then it came back in the end of ‘The Homecoming’.At that point my chest cracked open and my heart was ripped out. Bloody hell, what a wonderful, lovely theme!!!It was imbedded in my brain (and still is) for the rest of the day within seconds after hearing it.Absolutely stunning. It just felt like ‘it was meant to be’.This guy just never ceases to amaze me. Well said! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datameister 2,043 Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Indeed! That finale theme initially left me slightly cold in the theater, but I quickly realized how amazing it is. It's been running through my head constantly for the last few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,364 Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 Mine too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,715 Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Mine too!It is a theme that to my ears sounded somewhat un-Williams-like when I first heard the radio show preview but then after a couple of listens it completely clicked with me and after hearing the whole album it has become all the more powerful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,364 Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 It's all about the middle portion of the theme. Very emotional Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,715 Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 I guess despite accusations of being saccharine and manipulative Williams is trying genuienly convey the emotions of the final scenes with this thematic idea, friendship, a bond between friends, homecoming and closure and I think it works very well in the film and moreover is beautiful and emotional music on its own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,504 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I haven't really participated in any of the topics in this sub-forum, but I'll just chime in here with my views on both film and score:I saw the film last week. It has some serious flaws, mostly related to script, but also to casting. The scene with the French girl is disastrous (horribly acted), the main boy looks too teary-eyed and charisma-less and so on.That being said, whenever Spielberg gets to use his genius filmmaking skills (whether scene transitions, framings, lighting w/Kaminski and so on), it's absolutely marvelous! All the war scenes were spectacular.So I'm a BIT divided on the film, but MOSTLY positive.Williams' score -- which I just now received on CD -- is also incredible. Some Ralph Vaughan Williams, some Copland, some nice scherzos for the horse, beauty for the character drama and suspense for the horrors of war as they are mirrored in Joey's face.I've been playing it non-stop recently, and it's really a score that beats TINTIN to a pulp! THIS is the Williams sound I love and that made me such a fan of his in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datameister 2,043 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I've been playing it non-stop recently, and it's really a score that beats TINTIN to a pulp! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brónach 1,302 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 It doesn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,504 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 It doesn't.Yes, it does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brónach 1,302 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Oh! You used an emoticon! I've been defeated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,504 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,715 Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Mr. Big 4,639 Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Tintin gets better with time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488 Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Horse is more soulful and heartfelt, Tintin is more of a bouncy, lighthearted and adventurous affair. They're too different to compare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hlao-roo 389 Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I guess despite accusations of being saccharine and manipulative Williams is trying genuienly convey the emotions of the final scenes with this thematic idea, friendship, a bond between friends, homecoming and closure and I think it works very well in the film and moreover is beautiful and emotional music on its own.It's far too earnest and literal-minded. Ironic detachment and urbane sophistication are what movies need today. Reznor's pioneering work may be sneered at by the self-styled film music cognoscenti at this message board, but his genius will be appreciated in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,504 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Horse is more soulful and heartfelt, Tintin is more of a bouncy, lighthearted and adventurous affair. They're too different to compare.it's not about comparing them, it's about which you connect to the most. For me, that's easily WAR HORSE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indy4 155 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Horse is more soulful and heartfelt, Tintin is more of a bouncy, lighthearted and adventurous affair. They're too different to compare.If they were both similarly successful in achieving their intentions it would be difficult to compare, but for me (while I really like Tintin) War Horse is easily better at moving me than Tintin is at exciting me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivier 5 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I received the CD this week-end and played it yesterday, and loved it.It may have been mentioned already, but I have not read this thread yet: I was happy to hear little bits (tracks 5 and 16) that reminded me of The River, which i love; I haven't heard this from Williams since that score, which i hope will soon get the Deluxe treatment; Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bellosh 3,419 Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 A couple things I noticed2:33-2:36 of "The Auction" is really similar if not the same as the Marshall College intro music in Raiders, Last Crusade and KOTCS.2:44-2:48 of "Bringing Joey Home, and Bonding" is straight up from the Fellowship of the Ring --- "in the dark I hear a call..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faleel 5,349 Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 and part of heading north from the Lost World is similar to Two Towers "look osgilliath burns" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bellosh 3,419 Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 and part of heading north from the Lost World is similar to Two Towers "look osgilliath burns" Well I was just keeping it thread specific, and honestly I don't care if those parts sound familiar. Just making an observation.I don't have the Lost World so I'll have to check out that bit at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilal 569 Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 A couple things I noticed2:33-2:36 of "The Auction" is really similar if not the same as the Marshall College intro music in Raiders, Last Crusade and KOTCS.2:44-2:48 of "Bringing Joey Home, and Bonding" is straight up from the Fellowship of the Ring --- "in the dark I hear a call..."You're right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Brausam 214 Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 ...Really? We're picking out 3-4 second chunks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilal 569 Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 There's one cue title we know of now:7m73 Version 3 Returning to Dartmoor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,795 Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 i suppose 7m71 and 7m72 would be other two versions...because 73 is a high number to be a cue, isnt it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admiral Holdo 16 Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Not always - sometimes cue numbers ascend regardless of reel, so instead of 2m7 and 3m1, you might have 2m14 and 3m15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,795 Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 there should be strict rules for naming cueereels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilal 569 Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Well, first there was:R (number) P (number)R: Reel P: PartExample: R1P2Then came:(number) M (number)First number: reel second number: cueFor example: 5m6Now there is:(number) M (number)The difference in this one is that the cue numbers continue, regardless of the reel numberExample: 5m26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TownerFan 4,983 Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 The difference in this one is that the cue numbers continue, regardless of the reel numberExample: 5m26That's because nowadays films are hardly splitted into 10-12 minutes reels, as it became useless with digital projection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,364 Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 There's one cue title we know of now:7m73 Version 3 Returning to DartmoorHow do we know that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilal 569 Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 There's one cue title we know of now:7m73 Version 3 Returning to DartmoorHow do we know that?That excerpt from the score featurette. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonesy 55 Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 I've found some pics from the recording sessions. Apparently, the first cue is 1m1 Dartmoor. http://4.bp.blogspot...00/IMGP0269.JPGhttp://1.bp.blogspot...00/IMGP0266.JPGhttp://2.bp.blogspot...00/IMGP0273.JPGhttp://2.bp.blogspot...00/IMGP0271.JPGhttp://1.bp.blogspot...00/IMGP0267.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilal 569 Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Source? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonesy 55 Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Source?I can read the letter D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilal 569 Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 No, i mean the source of the pictures.This score doesn't seem to be getting a lot of love. More the opposite, or so it seems. I feel like currently moviegoers expect scores to consist of random piano key strikes, pounding electronic percussion, horns playing long sustained notes and repetitive string ostinatos. Lush symphonic scores are dead to the masses.Ironically, this is more and more how Williams tend to write these days. I feel his music becomes more and more generic (track 13 sounds just like Hans Zimmer). I don't blame him though, I blame the directors and the quality of the movies made today.I disagree, Hans Zimmer's music is MUCH different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Marc 768 Posted May 4, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted May 4, 2017 Remembering Emilie and Finale has become one of my favorite JW cues. That piano solo followed by this delicate horn solo, and those strings ( the cellos especially....goosebumps) And this : Absolute beauty. Taikomochi, Not Mr. Big and Once 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muad'Dib 1,802 Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 A couple of days ago the movie was being played on the TV and I was reminded of how good the actual war stuff is but the farm scenes fall flat on its feet. I kept thinking what drove Spielberg to make this particular in freaking 2011 of all years.... Maybe 15 years ago would have been a better choice, I dunno... Of all the stuff he could make, he chose this?! Maybe if he would have focused on the war more and cut back more on the two farm families the movie would have improved drastically. I get that he was trying to do a sort of Winchester 73 type of thing but still.... What were they thinking? Feels like a Far Away 2.0 and that can't be a good thing -and I adore that stupid movie because of how utterly idiotic it is. Anyways, the score worked fine but it is overscored. I remember thinking the No Man's Land scene was freaking epic on the big screen, but seeing it again I felt kinda... embarassed. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood to watch it, but I thought the following scene with the soldiers on opposite sides halting the battle for a moment to help the horse was still a great scene. I really dig the "irish" theme after all this time, but hearing the end credits I kept thinking how much better the "B" theme is compared to the "A" theme (the one that was promoted so heavily on the trailers and so on). What I mean with this "B" theme is this: It's so perfect, it makes me teary-eyed. Should be the "A" theme in my opinion. Not Mr. Big 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crumbs 14,316 Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 War Horse probably has Williams' most 'hummable' themes in the last few decades, all packed into the one score. As you pointed out, the B theme alone would stand on its own feet as the main theme, but it's only the secondary idea! Yet another one of those themes where it seems so obvious, you wonder how no composer thought of it sooner? A bit like many of Shore's LOTR/Hobbit themes. Not Mr. Big and Once 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Incanus 5,715 Posted November 1, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted November 1, 2017 So are many wonderful themes in this score! Williams was overflowing with ideas and interestingly nearly all of them relate to Joey in some way, whether directly or other characters' relationship with him. He later used a similar approach in Lincoln. I almost wish there were fully fleshed out concert suites for most of the main ideas in the War Horse score. The Friendship/Bonding (A) and Reunion (B) themes are fine but I also confess a special fondness for Dartmoor/Nature theme which opens the score. And to think he also provided another dozen or so themes for Tintin the same year (and it was not quantity over quality in that case either). crumbs, Jay and Once 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crumbs 14,316 Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Might be a result of having a few years between film scores nowadays? While we haven't reached Hook levels of thematic indulgence since the 90s, almost all his modern scores are brimming with musical ideas. He had 3 years off before KOTCS and we got 4 primary new themes (Ivana Spanko, Crystal Skull, Mutt, the Russians), then he had 3 years off before Tintin/War Horse and those films are overflowing with ideas (Haddock, Tintin, Snowy, the Thompsons, Sir Francis, then all the War Horse material). He only wrote 4 scores in the following 5 years and all of them are thematically dense as well. Incanus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstrox 6,651 Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 I don't tend to rewatch movies, but man did the No Man's Land segment hit me when I saw it in theaters (both the initial charge and the truce to free the horse). Still a great centerpiece on-album. One of my all-time favorite Williams scores. WAR HORSE! Not Mr. Big 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightscape94 965 Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 I saw the movie once at an advanced screening (first and only time I got tickets for something like that, neat experience). While I thought the movie was okay (basically Spielberg kicking up the Spielberg factor to 11, but without the charm), the score has remained with me ever since. I adore the music and absolutely cannot wait for an expanded treatment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,364 Posted November 1, 2017 Author Share Posted November 1, 2017 The movie is OK, not very memorable. The score is a masterpiece on album, but yea, the film is overscored. Too much upbeat music too early. The music and tone of the film blend better once Joey leaves the farm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,949 Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 I didnt leave the farm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Like Sisko never left the Saratoga? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Anyone else listening to War Horse in the lead up to the Melbourne Cup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crumbs 14,316 Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 No. Although the score is clearly JW's love-letter to horses. I wonder how often he rides? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incanus 5,715 Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 I think it was once again the natural world that inspired Williams alongside the film. Spielberg mentions in the liner notes how Johnny had a copy of Wordsworth beside his piano when he wrote the score. Undoubtedly the nature poetry and the lovely images of Dartmoor among other things inspired JW. Once 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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