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I came up with a breakdown of Williams' film output into style periods for an academic chapter I wrote on Williams' theme writing a couple of years ago. It was in John Williams: Music for Films, Television, and the Concert Stage. See below. There are several points supporting the divisions between the periods, but my study of his theme writing further bolstered them. Basically, I took one theme from each of his films to be the "main" one (if he composed the theme, of course, so excluding those based on others' pop songs or musicals) and included a primary new theme from any sequels. What I found was that: Whereas in the first period, Williams' main themes tended to state an idea and repeat it (e.g., Daddy-O, The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, and The Poseidon Adventure) Williams' second period showed a marked shift towards themes that stated an idea then varied it (e.g., Superman fanfare, E.T., Imperial March). I think this is something we all kind of know about Williams' style, and it really became apparent in this period. While the first two periods showed an overwhelming preference for long-lined themes based on 8-bar models, his third period regularly included either much shorter themes (like Nixon, Amistad, and Minority Report) or ones that are more amorphous because they're drawn out way beyond a more regular 8-bar model (e.g., the dinosaur theme in Jurassic Park, Duel of the Fates, and Catch Me If You Can). The fourth period shows a return to the long-lined theme as the norm, the sole exception thus far being Tintin's motif from The Adventures of Tintin. I did this work to justify some further conclusions I made about Williams' theme writing and their associations in the film, but it was good to draw some divisions in his output. As others above have stated, you could certainly get more granular with further divisions, but the four I proposed seemed to me pretty convincing distinctions at a very broad level. And it seems many others here agree with 1975, 1993, and 2008 as new beginnings of sorts.

"Earthwake" -- sounds like the perfect name for an environmental issue movement! Time to wake up and save the earth, folks!

For anyone not aware, there was a lot of conjecture surrounding unused TFA music featured in one of the film's making-of documentaries. The music above is an example of such music, which several posters attributed as a possible Jedi Steps alternate. I decided to test how the music would play over that scene and where it might fit. This was the best result I could create but it's pure guesswork, so just use the video as a reference for the music itself. What's interesting for me (and someone with a stronger musical knowledge might be able to confirm my theory) is that the horns playing in counterpoint to the strings from 0:11-0:15 appear to be playing a fragment of the Jedi Steps theme! It actually sounds like a prototype of the theme before Williams refined the idea into the final film version. The use of mysterious strings at 0:03 are also carried across to the final version of the cue here:

Mike Matessino has provided me with a more detailed explanation of this that I can share:

It's funny to talk about the "disaster period". I started mine about 2-3 years ago and I'm still in it!

It is 100% impossible to have a mature discussion about female artists on JWfan.

Turtlenecks Through Time

The scores to these are nuts. I've never before looked forward to listening to the soundtrack to a television show, much less on a weekly episode-to-episode basis. It's crazy how good some of these themes are and how casually Göransson seems to be with dropping them on us. Like, this... ...could have easily been the main theme in a big movie for a pack of rebels or fighting fringe group but it's likely just gonna be a one-off in a 35 minute television episode? That's bonkers. It's nice to have a good television show to look forward to watching every week but to have a good television show and a great score to look forward to every week? Oooh mama...

Maybe the editor is someone here who's purposely trying to screw with us.

Scores recorded outside LA aren't affected by this issue, so even if ROTS were a post-2005 score there would be no issue expanding it. The 3 sequel trilogy scores will incur heavy fees to expand though, as they were all LA recordings.. and when you consider how extensive the ST sessions have been, and the volume of music recorded, the total cost to record these scores would far exceed any of JW's other post-2005 scores (but hopefully waved through as loose change by Disney). The real shame here is the lack of a sliding date, which locks scores to these fees regardless of time passed (so much for thinking +10 or +20 years meant a fee reduction). So these scores are effectively off-limits to small labels forever now.

Do svidaniya Maestro.

cringey boomer humor.

I'm pretty convinced this is the case too. It's so strange to think something as now-iconic as Jedi Steps was a replacement for another cue, though it's not the first time this has happened (e.g. the original Binary Sunset). I also suspect that this unused material was used for inspiration (or temp-tracked) for some of Ahch-To music in The Last Jedi. Lots of similarities there as well. Wonder if some day we'll ever learn the definitive answer to these questions...

It's almost as if movie directing has been a field dominated by men in the past...

Seducing Daisy Ridley and other comical hi-jinx How to Rip-Off Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Still Become a Millionaire

Where's Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare?

The world really needed another movie glorifying crime and humanizing gangsters that's two days long.

When are we going to see Baby Palpatine merchandise? He took Natalie Portman from me, which is a far more unforgivable crime than killing Han.

Except that old raisin apparently lived or wasn't the real raisin in the first place, if we are meant to guess why the raisin is back.

Eh. I've half forgotten that by now.

Going to listen to Jansons' Scheherazade album today in his memory. What a wonderful conductor he was- one of my personal favourites. Rest in peace, Mariss.

Well for starters, only recent theatrical releases make it onto Blu-ray in my country - things like the major franchises, big budget spectacles and box offices hits. Don't expect anything arthouse or older than five years ago, unless it's a huge crowd-pleaser like E.T. - and even that is changing. So anything that does not fall in the categories I've listed has to be imported, meaning it's much more expensive. Our currency has plummeted over the last ten years and the cost of living is increasing by the month. 5, 6 and 8 Euros with postage is very expensive when converted. Add to that the fact that Blu-ray never really took off here, at its height you'd be lucky to find a store or rental place stocking more than 50 to 120 titles max. Most people here are happy to rent the latest release on DVD or wait for it to show on satellite TV, or pirate it. Collectors are very thinly spread. There's hardly any secondary market. First Worlders, you guys are very spoilt, enjoy it and spare a thought for those on the arse-end of the world.

My Struggle! by John Williams

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Home Alone (LLL) Home Alone 2 (LLL) - John Williams A Christmas Carol (Quartet) - Nick Bicât Hark! Ding dong! Christmas time is here! Bring a torch, Jeannette, Isabella! Come all ye faithful! Disco Stu is comin' to town! Sing a song to the glorious season!

I have this as well (I was lucky to get it when it was first released). I did not find the movie all that compelling (other than the climbing footage), but I will watch it again since I just watched the three disaster movies (total coincidence to the scores releasing!). I loved the Trevanian novels (upon which the move is based) when I was in high school. In fact, there is a sequel to this story called the Loo Saction, and I suppose if Eiger had done better, Eastwood would have made Loo Section too. The movie did make back its costs though, so who really knows. I will listen to the Williams score again this morning as I too had forgotten it, and I like the thinking about this as part of wrapping up this period of his scoring career. I might put Missouri Breaks into this period too (despite it overlapping time wise with Jaws). I think Midway & Black Sunday belong in the Jaws-forward period.

Seen eight. But does The Matrix really count since they were blokes back then?

I'm annoyed. Mike didn't tell us to save our pennies in his interview last year. How will we afford this now??

Always loved the horn solo in Duncan's Toy Store, and of course the whole "To the plaza, presto" cue ! So here it is, all transcribed by ear ( as far as I know there isn't a lot of Home Alone 2 sheet music out there ^^ )

https://www.facebook.com/lalalandrecords/posts/10158203165013755

“You maniacs! You blew it up!” - CGI Charlton Heston in Earthwake II: 2 Planets 2 Apes (2030)

I guess there's some hope for shorter scores like Lincoln or The Post, scores theoretically recorded much faster than, say, Tintin (thus lower musician costs). That said, no label is going to sell the 5000 copies of an expanded The Post needed to break even. It's absurd that any expansion results in these exorbitant fees regardless of how much unreleased music is included. So The Post might only have 5 minutes of new music, while The Force Awakens has 100 minutes, but they'll charge the same fee (just on a different scale). I wonder if that's why some studios release 2CD versions at the same time as normal releases, because it's not subject to the fees you'll pay expanding it years later (if it's considered part of the "initial" release)?

There's no question Jaws is a demarcation point, though Star Wars even more so. The films in between feel transitional. I actually hear Jaws and Black Sunday as belonging to the disaster period stylistically. Family Plot looks back to the comedies and ahead to CE3K, etc. Midway is primarily interesting for starting the run of marches. Style periods are very interesting to discuss but the boundaries are fluid, IRS tax returns notwithstanding. And because I didn't chime in about it above, the TI main title belongs on any JW best of playlist. One of the strongest examples of him coming into his own voice to that point. Can anyone recall a 70s era LP rerecord of JW's themes (and perhaps other composers') that included Earthquake and TI? I remember only that it was an American orchestra and the hi-hats were quite prominent compared to the OST. Was a library copy and my memory of playing it is from 1981-82, so not razor sharp.

I don't really think he could be though, he killed Han. The fans will not forgive.

Don't know about colored, but one can read an homoerotic innuendo on the movie: Pacino's and De Niro's character often sleep on the same room, they give each other a warm embrace on the movie's ending and the whole story can be read as a love triangle, with De Niro divided between Pacino and Pesci.

I like him in Rogue One, not so much in Ready Player One

I believe so. Trust in Bulk.

THE EIGER SANCTION is a fine score. It's also an important score, as it closes the first chapter of JW's career. Uncool, bro. We don't criticize JWfaners' choice of buying material...especially when it's JW.

It's a step up from the usual RCP dominated sound we're used to hearing in television lately. I'm watching His Dark Materials and Lorne Balfe's score is so derivative of the RCP mould - it could be Djawadi or Jackman or Zimmer taking his place and you wouldn't hear Balfe's voice in the score. With The Mandolorian I think it's clear right away that this is Goransson's voice coming through. I love the score to this fourth chapter because it moves beyond the synth noodling of the earlier chapters into something a bit more melodic and with a narrative structure that one can follow. I like how he has deconstructed the various segments of main theme and for the village in this episode that fanfare-like section has been toned down to a calming melody. Off the Grid (for the massive statement of the Mando theme) and Mando Says Goodbye are the highlights for me.

As I said, Pacino reminded me of Ciaran Hinds, but yes, Pesci absolutely was Morricone.

It's better than Conductor Emeritus 3D, for sure, but not as good as the surprising fourth part of the saga Conductor Emeritus IV: The Revenge.

It signified stoic manliness in men and irrational hysteria in women.

I don't have hands on the internet.

So essentially Lucasfilm did exactly what WB should have done with David Yates and the Harry Potter franchise. Lucasfilm: "So, Rian, we want you to direct the next Star Wars movie, are you in?" Johnson: "Sure, great! But I would like to use my cousin and composer Nathan Johnson, he is relatively unknown but I think he'll work". Lucasfilm: "No way! John Williams wrote iconic scores for the Star Wars saga, and he'll continue to do so until we say otherwise. We already conviced him to not only score Episodes VIII and IX but also write a few themes for Solo and Galaxy's Edge. So, you either find a way to collaborate with him or you're fired!" Johnson: "Okay..." Meanwhile: WB exec: "So, David, we want you to direct the next Potter movies, are you in?" Yates: "Sure, great! But I would like to use my composer Nicholas Hooper, he is relatively unknown but I think he'll work". WB exec: "Yeah, whatever. He'll charge us less than John Williams anyway, so, more money for us to spend on VFX and the marketing campaign!"

Yeah, right. Because as a film music fan, the first guy you think about when a new Star Wars film is announced, is "Fuck yes, Nathan Johnson!" That interviewer is bs-ing something fierce.

Just saying it's impressive to look at And to think that JW wrote all of these notes one by one, and that later they were all written again by orchestrators/score preparators...seems like such a daunting task ! I remember JoAnn Kane saying they'd copied something like a million notes for a certain JW project

The sheer amount of notes in a score like Home Alone or Home Alone 2 is just exhausting to me (from a composer’s POV). That’s a lot of work. Hours and hours spent with only paper and a pencil. These scores are straight-up ear candy to me but I start to sweat if I think too much about it haha.

Are You Ready for Some Leitmotif?!!! - A John Williams Story

Why has no one suggested this yet: THE ANTEDILUVIAN (from the Brian Williams interview I can't find on Youtube, at least not that section).