The Force Awakens Gustavo Dudamel conducted the opening and closing credits for The Force Awakens

[Maurizio 6,071]

When John [Williams] called and asked if I would conduct the opening music and closing credits for this historic film, I remember thinking “he’s joking”. John has such a wonderful sense of humor and I somehow thought that there must be a catch. It turns out, there was: I couldn’t tell anyone, and John wasn’t going to tell anyone, either!! We kept it a total surprise, so that when I walked into the studios to lay down the Star Wars tracks in October, it took EVERYONE by surprise: musicians (some of whom were from the LA Phil), the Lucas creatives, the Disney lawyers - you see, John had managed to keep it a complete surprise from everyone except for him and George Lucas! John Williams is the Mozart of our day. I cannot tell you how inspired I felt when I held his score in my hands for the first time, stunned by the beauty of his writing, he's a genius. You know, we play John's music all the time at the LA Philharmonic, he’s like family to us. Even my four-year-old son Martin sat in the sound booth cheering. You cannot imagine - utter joy for his father.

https://www.facebook.com/GDudamel/photos/a.10150274477143605.347258.17116083604/10153715589193605/?type=3&theater

[Director of Poltergeist 8,228]

Another guest conductor. This score is ruined for me.

[King Mark 3,848]

hmm, should we be happy?

[Director of Poltergeist 8,228]

It isn't a true Williams recording.

[Ricard 2,381]

hmm, should we be happy?

No, you should be very upset about it. But I'm happy for Dudamel and totally respect Williams' decision.

[Romão 2,432]

He's a fantastic conductor

[KK 3,310]

Just saw this on Facebook. This is a very kind gesture on Williams' part. And Dudamel is a great conductor!

[Will 2,353]

Wait, does this mean the versions of the main title and end credits heard in the film will be conducted by Dudamel, not Williams? Didn't Abrams mention that Williams himself conducted the end credits?

In any case, this is a very nice gesture from Williams and I don't really mind that Williams himself didn't conduct those pieces; I'm sure Dudamel did a great job.

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I like this news. Dudamel clearly reveres JW. The interview he did with him earlier this year was a real testament to that.

Must have been an enormous honour for him to do this.

[Scarpia 132]

Dudamel resonates very well with the kind of music John Williams writes. His involvment here actually elevates the score in my opinion.

Music is for everyone, to share, to perform and complement with new ideas. Dudamel respects Williams and has done a superb job conducting his music, so I have high hopes for his recording here.

[GRIGA01 32]

I wonder how much of the score he genuinely conducted

[Jay 43,115]

My guess: 60-90%

[GRIGA01 32]

The reason this is irrelevant really is that as shown in the photo at the top of the page, JW is clearly showing Dudamel how he wants the music expressed and he was there as it was being conducted and I'm sure he rehearsed it with the players many times before hand and then Dudamel just came in and conducted the actual recording as more of a JW offering and friend and fan an opportunity and not because JW wasn't well enough or competent enough to do it himself

[ricsim88 326]

I wonder how much of the score he genuinely conducted

To be honnest from the 60 minutes clip he doesn't really conducts a whole lot. The thing is most of the score is probably on click, so the conducting isn't really that important. I'm sure JW gives his instructions before they start recording, then the musicians have the click and play their parts. That's what professionals do.

His writing is way more important than the conducting. Some conductors are more in the way than anything else, and I've seen my share of them.

The fact that Dudamel conducts is awesome. He's a great conductor. I hope he gets credited.

[GRIGA01 32]

Though it is confusing that JJ clearly stated in a video that he witnessed john conduct the end credits music. But like i said before this may just be due to him rehearsing it with the players before Dudamel recorded it

[KK 3,310]

It's probably just the main titles-bit in the end credits. Also, keep in mind these pieces have been played and conducted to death by all these people for years now, including Dudamel himself. I doubt there's going to be much variation or guidance by Williams needed.

[Jay 43,115]

Yes I too think its just the opening part of the end credits, the fast-paced parts, and Williams likely conducted the original portions of the end credits (the parts based on his new themes to this score)

[Code 000. Destruct. 0. 4,261]

Wondered when this news would break. It's such a beautiful gesture. There's no reason why anyone should be bothered by it unless you are a truly selfish and deluded person.

[GRIGA01 32]

Maybe we will get more insight if theres a music featurette (which there better be, and a long one at that lol) on the Blu-Ray release. I was really looking forward to seeing footage of JW conducting the main titles and seeing JJ's reaction in the studio or something like that.

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JJ will see to that (extended music featurette on the Bluray).

[Scarpia 132]

JJ will see to that (extended music featurette on the Bluray).

And a well deserved one. Until now, material on home video releases about the music of Star Wars has been poor, especially considering the length and scope of the scores for each movie.

[Incanus 5,858]

That was a really wonderful gesture from Williams.

And Dudamel is a great conductor so I think the music was in good hands.

I can imagine Johnny hovering behind him and after a take approach quietly and mention in his soft polite voice:

"You know ummm, Gustavo angel, quite good but I think I have some pointers for you...You see the way I usually do it is..."

[King Mark 3,848]

I don't really care, as long as we have an official recording

[Incanus 5,858]

I don't really care, as long as we have an official recording

As long as it sounds good eh?

[King Mark 3,848]

and that the new themes are good. I'm still worried they didn't use any new themes to promote the film ('Rey's theme" is still unconfirmed for me)

[Incanus 5,858]

It is the super tight security and secrecy around this film. It creates more hype than if they blasted the music weeks beforehand.

[King Mark 3,848]

I'm not convinced why secrecy should be confined to the music when they show footage from the film in the trailers

Most people outside of JWfan don't give a shit if they hear new music or not

It comes down to Disney executives preferring to use in house trailer music than the actual score

[crumbs 15,556]

Is it REALLY that odd they've only used existing music in the marketing? Use some common sense. The entire marketing strategy relies on nostalgia. The Force Theme. Main Titles. Imperial March. Iconic music that people have known and heard for decades.

What would using his new music achieve? Nobody knows the new themes so there's no instant brand recognition, in an age where marketers design trailers specifically for an audience with no attention span. It has nothing to do with the new music itself, it's just the reality of modern marketing.

Did you hear Giacchino's Jurassic World theme in the Jurassic World trailers? What about Mutt's Theme in the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull trailers?

[King Mark 3,848]

JW themes should be catchy without a context when they are at their best

The original JP used Williams theme in the commercials and made me want to see the film

[Joni Wiljami 1,237]

I saw this coming. Disney got the rights and Gustavo conducts in their concert house regularly.

"Mickey mousing, we don't do that." - Irvin Kershner

[KK 3,310]

JW themes should be catchy without a context when they are at their best

The original JP used Williams theme in the commercials and made me want to see the film

Except that was a whole new franchise in the making. The following JP films all used the original music.

This is Star Wars. A franchise that has already rooted itself across multiple generations. Disney is going to do whatever is best to help market the film. And using classic old themes we're all familiar with is obviously going to be a lot more effective than using new themes for characters we don't know much about.

[jocores 98]

I saw this coming. Disney got the rights and Gustavo conducts in their concert house regularly.

"Mickey mousing, we don't do that." - Irvin Kershner

But, it's not an easy decision. Dudamel's a Deutche Grammophone artist, so in order to appear his conducting on the album, there should have been an agreement between the labels.

[Quintus 5,784]

This is great, I've seen him conduct Prokofiev during the Proms, and he's a good composer to watch actually.

[WilliamHorne97 16]

This makes me very happy

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Anyone bothered about this (hard to believe but I know you're out there!), watch this and you'll feel much better:

I reckon this is just delightful, a sign of Williams' the human being. Never satisfied with taking all the credit and with his ear for talent, he's more than happy to let someone else enjoy a moment in the spotlight for, possibly, the most high profile cue of the most high profile film in years.

[Bespin Copilot 9,785]

It's not because Dudamel directed two cues on the set, that these are been recorded, first, and that these cues has been choosen for the movie or event the album.

I don't think Dudamel has experience in conducting an orchestra in sync with a movie. Whatever, I guess he only "played" or "rehearsed" with the orchestra for the fun. That's it.

[BloodBoal 7,544]

He just did some air conducting for 5 minutes then left.

[Jilal 628]

He has experience in conducting for film, actually. He's visited Williams before, during the Tintin sessions, conducting a cue back then as well. In fact, he's even written a film score himself, for Libertador, a 2013 film about Simón Bolívar.

Some pictures taken during the Libertador scoring sessions:

[Scarpia 132]

If Williams is not willing or able to conduct in his future scores, I think Dudamel is the best one to go.

[Bespin Copilot 9,785]

Is Dudamel still under contract at DG?

[BloodBoal 7,544]

He has experience in conducting for film, actually. He's visited Williams before, during the Tintin sessions, conducting a cue back then as well. In fact, he's even written a film score himself, for Libertador, a 2013 film about Simón Bolívar.

Some pictures taken during the Libertador scoring sessions:

He was clearly just conducting for fun here too.

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Somewhere, William Ross is curled up in a corner, crying.

[Incanus 5,858]

Somewhere outside the studio, Conrad Pope is curled up on the pavement, crying harder.

[Code 000. Destruct. 0. 4,261]

He has experience in conducting for film, actually. He's visited Williams before, during the Tintin sessions, conducting a cue back then as well. In fact, he's even written a film score himself, for Libertador, a 2013 film about Simón Bolívar.

Some pictures taken during the Libertador scoring sessions:

Hm. No, he's probably still bad at it and they just let him do it to humor him. The recordings were quickly scrapped and redone after he left the Sony lot.

[Muad'Dib 1,954]

Is it known what he conducted on Tintin?

[ymenard 61]

The Libertador is sometimes very JWish, you can see that he was in influence on him. This is an awesome gift of pure unselfishness, they surely have a personal bond that goes beyond the Disney connection. I've seen Gustavo conduct and it was very impressive, let's remember that he embraces modern composers like Johnny and does not brown-nose film music.

[TJH132 49]

There seems to be a genuine mutual respect between Williams and Dudamel.  I don't remember hearing Williams palling around with the orchestra's former conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen.

[Jay 43,115]

So do we think Dudamel conducted all 8 / 9 minutes of the finale track? Or just parts?  He is credited for The March of the Resistance track, which is partially in the end credits, so maybe he did do all of the end credits.

 

I'm guessing he didn't conduct The Jedi Steps, because there's no star next to that part of the track (unlike track 1, which has a star next to Main Title but not the other part).

[Josh500 1,620]

I think Dudamel conducted only the standard Main Title and the End Credits fanfare, the stuff we get in every SW movie and soundtrack. 

 

I think (maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part), all the new music was conducted by Williams himself (with or without the help of WR).

 

 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 11,081]

The CD's credits plainly say you are wrong