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I know you're probably busy listening to other John Williams stuff today , but here's the long-awaited podcast with Mike Matessino about the DISASTER MOVIE SOUNDTRACK COLLECTION: https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2019/12/11/mike-matessino-podcast-disaster-soundtrack-collection/ It's a long and thorough conversation where Mike talked also about his work on Monsignor and Minority Report. Loads of music clips interspersed all throughout. Co-hosting the show with me is again the ever-reliable Tim Burden. Hope you'll all enjoy!

How's this to get us started 01 Prologue (1:45) 0:08 Kylo Ren's Theme 0:43 NEW THEME #1 (the swirly one) 0:48 Kylo Ren's Theme 02 Falcon Flight (2:22) 0:20 The Emperor's Theme 0:31 March of the Resistance 0:48 March of the Resistance 0:57 The Rebel Fanfare 1:30 March of the Resistance 1:53 NEW THEME #2 (the action one) 2:05 The Rebel Fanfare 2:09 The Death Star is about to blow up from ANH moment 03 We Go Together (2:10) 0:30 NEW THEME #3 (the Anakin's Theme-ish one) 1:07 Rey's Theme 1:21 The Force Theme 1:58 NEW THEME #3 04 In the Desert (2:26) 0:24 March of the Resistance 05 A Prisoner (1:23) 06 To Kimiji (1:37) 1:12 Rey's Theme 07 Fleeing from Kimiji (1:53) 0:00 NEW THEME #2 0:23 Kylo Ren's Theme 0:34 Kylo Ren's Theme 08 Hallway Shooting (2:11) 1:22 March of the Resistance 09 Hard to Get Rid Of (2:19) 1:29 The Emperor's Theme 10 Join Me (2:21) 0:58 Rey's Theme (dark and twisted version?) 1:16 Kylo Ren's Theme 1:28 Rey's Theme (dark again) 1:53 Luke's Theme 2:07 Rey's Theme 11 The Old Death Star (2:14) 0:58 The Imperial March 1:46 Poe's Theme 1:57 March of the Resistance 12 Off the Waterfront (1:03) 13 Final Saber Duel (1:38) 0:43 Kylo Ren's Theme 14 Healing Wounds (2:49) 0:40 The Force Theme 1:47 Leia's Theme 15 Advice (1:54) 1:18 sounds kinda like Rey's Theme? 16 Battle of the Resistance (1:54) 0:38 The Force Theme 1:19 The Force Theme 17 Approaching the Throne (4:16) 1:22 Rey's Theme (the dark variant again) 2:07 NEW THEME #1 3:18 NEW THEME #4 (the triumphant one) 3:33 March of the Resistance 18 Parents (1:57) 1:19 Kylo Ren's Theme 1:33 Kylo Ren's Theme 19 Coming Together (1:44) 0:00 The Emperor's Theme 0:11 Kylo Ren's Theme 1:18 The Force Theme 20 Seeing Sights (3:17) 0:24 NEW THEME #3 0:42 Rey's Theme (on piano!) 1:44 Rey's Theme 1:57 Kylo Ren's Theme 2:20 The Emperor's Theme (with bad-ass choir!) 2:49 The Force Theme 21 Rescue (1:10) 0:02 NEW THEME #4 0:39 The Rebel Fanfare 0:47 The Rebel Fanfare 22 Farewell (4:27) 0:13 Kylo Ren's Theme 0:48 sounds like a sad variation of Rey's Theme 1:27 sounds like a defeated version of Kylo Ren's Theme 1:44 Rey's Theme 2:35 sounds like... something? 3:32 NEW THEME #4 23 A New Home (1:42) 0:19 Rey's Theme

Oof, can you imagine the conversation when they get home. "Hey honey, how was work?" "Baby, you should sit down.....I...I lost my job today." "What!? You've been working there for six years, and Bob Iger has sent you personal cards every single Christmas thanking you for all your hard work! Hell, he's invited you to the golf tournaments three years in a row! What could you possibly have done to get yourself fired!?" "I...I..." "Spit it out, you--" "I uploaded the For Your Consideration soundtrack for Star Wars on the official website one week in advance." "............ You son of a bitch, you were messing around with that secretary we met last Christmas party weren't you?! Don't lie to me!"

This jazz big band arrangement of Williams' classic Olympic theme is really fascinating in how it deconstructs and completely re-imagines the piece from the ground up. 1:31 - 1:54 is really cool and interesting in its re-setting of the main fanfare. And by the way, the album this is from is nominated for a Grammy for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Album. Here's a quote from Hazama about it: https://mihohazama.bandcamp.com/album/dancer-in-nowhere

Already I can hear this new score is cast in the same language as the last two Sequel scores. Same harmonic pallette and darkness. These scores have been more edgy, more visceral somehow. I love what I'm hearing. Williams has an inexhaustible supply of invention it seems. Its often the case with Composers whether for film or the concert hall, whereas pop artists have shorter shelf lives because they are restricted by the 3 minute song form. This is excellent music. Each new bar that comes is a new wonder. I'm seeing with my ears right now. When I see the movie itself I'll hear with my eyes. These last three scores have redeemed the patchy quality of the movies. This is exactly the kind of music I was hoping for before Force Awakens was released. A mirroring of the OT scores but shot through some darker prism. He never let's us down. Even at his advanced age he's got a fire of youth in this new writing. BRAVO MAESTRO WILLIAMS!

Just started listening. Only on Track 2 but hot dog is it ever a good one. Fastest paced Emperor's theme ever heard, plus Johnny flexing the Resistance theme in even more new ways. Using the Hyperspace ostinato from ESB. And I guess that frenetic little theme from that TV spot some of us thought was too unique to be library music was legitimate (Falcon Flight 1:53)! Hardly even started listening and I'm in absolute awe. I can't believe we're here. This being my first Williams score to experience with the forum as it comes out, I couldn't be happier. Thank you all for joining me in my excitement!

This extract of score we had ages ago is 1:20+ of "Hallway Shooting" track 8

Okay, here you go!! NEW SCORE AVAILABLE Walt Disney Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (John Williams) [23 cues, 50:44]

One last hurrah eh gents? Glad to be here for it.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - For Your Consideration (FYC) Album 01 Prologue (1:45) 02 Falcon Flight (2:22) 03 We Go Together (2:10) 04 In the Desert (2:26) 05 A Prisoner (1:23) 06 To Kimiji (1:37) 07 Fleeing from Kimiji (1:53) 08 Hallway Shooting (2:11) 09 Hard to Get Rid Of (2:19) 10 Join Me (2:21) 11 The Old Death Star (2:14) 12 Off the Waterfront (1:03) 13 Final Saber Duel (1:38) 14 Healing Wounds (2:49) 15 Advice (1:54) 16 Battle of the Resistance (1:54) 17 Approaching the Throne (4:16) 18 Parents (1:57) 19 Coming Together (1:44) 20 Seeing Sights (3:17) 21 Rescue (1:10) 22 Farewell (4:27) 23 A New Home (1:42) TOTAL TIME - 50:32 F.A.Q.: FYC? What's that stand for? For Your Consideration. Basically, Disney setup a website where eligible voters for the various awards that are given out around the end of the year could learn where they could attend a screening of their films, see which awards the films were pushing for, and listen to selections of the score for Best Score nominations. For the films that had score selections, they are exactly what is heard in the film, and sometimes include music not on the commercial soundtrack albums! So the music here is different than the album? Yes! Some tracks are almost the same, but the structure of the FYC program is fundamentally different; It is a selection of music from the movie exactly as it appears in the final cut of the film, even if the music used in the film was edited from Williams' original intentions. This could mean that a track might contain an Insert Williams later wrote, where the OST presented his original version; or a track might contain less music than its OST counterpart of the scene was re-edited after the recording of the music, or even a track might contain some music artificially looped or stretched if a scene got lengthened after scoring. The FYC always reflects these non-intended conforms to final picture from start to finish. So does the FYC contain the complete score? Certainly not. The FYC is only 50 minutes long. Which tracks contain music that is not on the OST album? We won't know that until the OST album is available to hear. Where can I find this FYC? https://disneystudiosawards.com/star-wars-score.html https://disneystudiosawards.com/star-wars-rise-of-skywalker/score In case Disney later removes this page, it is archived permanently here: https://web.archive.org/web/20191210202934/https://disneystudiosawards.com/star-wars-score.html I don't see a download link there; How do I download the files from Disney's site? In case Disney ever takes the files down, they are archived permanently here: The files on Disney's site have really low bitrate of 192kbps; Is there any chance its available uncompressed somewhere? Disney should be mailing out pressed physical CDs with the FYC program to Academy music department voters sometime soon. Usually not long after that, they begin turning up on ebay, and not long after that, lossless rips appear online. NOTE: It is against the board's rules to ask for a lossless rip in the public forum. Use the PM System or go to other websites for that discussion! Posts asking for illegal downloads will be deleted! Alright, so what's on the FYC album that is not on the OST album? 01 Prologue (1:45) [0:00-0:07] (0:07) = alternate mix of OST 02 Journey to Exegol [0:47-0:50] [0:07-0:26] (0:19) = OST 02 Journey to Exegol [1:02-1:20] [0:26-0:28] (0:02) = OST 02 Journey to Exegol [1:24-1:25] [0:28-0:36] (0:08) = OST 02 Journey to Exegol [1:31-1:40] [0:36-0:56] (0:20) = OST 02 Journey to Exegol [2:13-2:33] [0:56-1:28] (0:32) = NOT ON OST (Tracked music, an alternate for Rey arriving at Exegol late in the film) [1:28-1:37] (0:09) = tracked music from OST 01 Fanfare and Prologue [1:44-1:52] [1:37-end] (0:07) = NOT ON OST (Tracked music from Hard To Get Rid Of 1:58-2:01) 02 Falcon Flight (2:22) [all] = NOT ON OST 03 We Go Together (2:10) [all] = OST 09 We Go Together [0:00-2:33], with minor edits, but a proper clean ending 04 In the Desert (2:26) [all] = NOT ON OST 05 A Prisoner (1:23) [all] = NOT ON OST 06 To Kimiji (1:37) [all] = NOT ON OST 07 Fleeing from Kimiji (1:53) [0:00-1:35] (1:35) = OST 08 Fleeing From Kijimi [0:00-1:33], with minor edits [1:35-end] (0:18) = NOT ON OST (Full clean ending of the cue) 08 Hallway Shooting (2:11) [all] = NOT ON OST 09 Hard to Get Rid Of (2:19) [all] = NOT ON OST 10 Join Me (2:21) [0:00-1:48] (1:48) = OST 10 Join Me [0:00-2:05], shortened in numerous places [1:48-2:03] (0:15) = tracked music from The Battle of the Resistance [2:03-end] (0:18) = OST 10 Join Me [3:17-end] 11 The Old Death Star (2:14) [0:00-1:14] (1:14) = OST 04 The Old Death Star [0:00-1:19], with minor edits [1:14-end] (1:00) = NOT ON OST, either tracked in from something or a replacement insert for what's on the OST from 1:19-2:21 12 Off the Waterfront (1:03) [all] = OST 04 The Old Death Star [2:21-end] 13 Final Saber Duel (1:38) [0:00-1:10] (1:10) = OST 12 The Final Saber Duel [0:00-1:05], with minor edits [1:10-end] (0:27) = NOT ON OST (The proper full ending to the cue) 14 Healing Wounds (2:49) [0:00-0:31] = NOT ON OST, definitely a replacement insert for what's on the OST from 1:05-1:42 [0:31-end] = OST 12 The Final Saber Duel [1:42-end] 15 Advice (1:54) [all] = NOT ON OST 16 Battle of the Resistance (1:54) [0:00-0:02] (0:02) = OST 13 Battle of the Resistance [0:04-0:08], shortened [0:02-end] (1:52) = OST 13 Battle of the Resistance [1:12-end], with minor edits 17 Approaching the Throne (4:16) [all] = OST 14 Approaching The Throne, with minor differences (including a pitch-shifted opening and a different ending [a different choral performance with less orchestra under it]) 18 Parents (1:57) [all] = NOT ON OST 19 Coming Together (1:44) [all] = NOT ON OST 20 Seeing Sights (3:17) [all] = OST 15 The Force Is With You [0:00-3:02], with minor difference (including a clean ending) 21 Rescue (1:10) [0:00-0:15] (0:15) = OST 15 The Force Is With You [3:02-3:16] [0:15-0:30] (0:15) = NOT ON OST (A nice section he chose to microedit out of the OST program) [0:30-end] (0:40) = OST 15 The Force Is With You [3:16-end] 22 Farewell (4:27) [all] = OST 16 Farewell [0:48-end], with minor edits 23 A New Home (1:42) [all] = OST 18 A New Home If I'm adding that up right, that's 21:10 of unreleased music! Great! Now what if I want to combine both albums together into a long expanded album? Here is a quick and dirty playlist to get the most total music possible, without using a WAV editor, just combining tracks from both into a playlist OST 01 Fanfare and Prologue 4:34 OST 02 Journey to Exegol 2:49 FYC 02 Falcon Flight 2:22 OST 09 We Go Together 3:17 OST 05 The Speeder Chase 3:21 FYC 04 In the Desert 2:26 FYC 05 A Prisoner 1:23 FYC 06 To Kimiji 1:37 OST 08 Fleeing from Kijimi 2:51 FYC 08 Hallway Shooting 2:11 FYC 09 Hard to Get Rid Of 2:19 OST 10 Join Me 3:42 OST 04 The Old Death Star 3:16 OST 12 The Final Saber Duel 3:57 FYC 15 Advice 1:54 OST 06 Destiny of a Jedi 5:12 OST 11 They Will Come 2:50 OST 13 Battle of the Resistance 2:51 OST 14 Approaching the Throne 4:16 FYC 18 Parents 1:57 FYC 19 Coming Together 1:44 OST 15 The Force Is with You 3:59 OST 16 Farewell 5:14 OST 17 Reunion 4:04 OST 18 A New Home 1:47 OST 19 Finale 10:51 SCORE TIME - 1:26:44 BONUS TRACKS OST 07 Anthem of Evil 3:23 OST 03 The Rise of Skywalker 4:18 BONUS TRACK TIME - 7:41 GRAND TOTAL TIME - 1:34:25 Here is a more detailed editing guide, which you have to use sound editing software to make. THE FILM SCORE OST 01 Fanfare and Prologue 4:34 OST 02 Journey to Exegol 2:49 FYC 02 Falcon Flight 2:22 OST 09A We Go Together [0:00-2:33], with the clean ending from FYC 03 We Go Together 2:10 OST 09B Arrival at Pasaana [2:33-end] OST 05 The Speeder Chase 3:21 FYC 04 In the Desert 2:26 FYC 05 A Prisoner 1:23 FYC 06 To Kimiji 1:37 OST 08A Fleeing from Kijimi [0:00-1:33], with the clean ending from FYC 07 Fleeing from Kimiji 1:53 FYC 08 Hallway Shooting 2:11 FYC 09 Hard to Get Rid Of 2:19 OST 08B I'm The Spy [1:33-end] 1:19 OST 10 Join Me 3:42 OST 4A The Old Death Star [0:00-1:19], seguing into the revised version of the rest of the cue heard in FYC 11 [1:14-end] FYC 12 Off The Waterfront 1:03 (If you are feeling up to it, you can attempt to segue from the FYC's clean opening into OST 4B [2:21-end] instead) OST 12A The Final Saber Duel [0:00-1:05], with the full complete ending from FYC 13 Final Saber Duel 1:38 FYC 14 Healing Wounds 2:49 [0:00-0:31] seguing into the rest of the cue from OST 12B [1:42-end] FYC 15 Advice 1:54 OST 06 Destiny of a Jedi 5:12 OST 11 They Will Come 2:50 FYC 01 [0:56-1:28] Rey Arrives at Exegol OST 13 Battle of the Resistance 2:51 OST 14 Approaching The Throne 4:16 (FYC 17 features a slightly different choral ending if you prefer that) FYC 18 Parents 1:57 FYC 19 Coming Together 1:44 OST 15A [0:00-3:02] Seeing Sights, with the full clean ending from FYC 20 Seeing Sights 3:17 FYC 21 Rescue 1:10 (If you are feeling up to it, you can attempt to segue from the FYC's clean opening into OST 15B [3:02-end] instead, but you also have to restore the 15 seconds microedited out of the OST version at 3:16) OST 16 Farewell 4:27 OST 17 Reunion 4:04 OST 18 A New Home 1:47 OST 19 Finale 10:51 Alternates: OST 04A [0:00-2:21] The Old Death Star (Alternate) (2:21) OST 12B [1:05-end] Healing Wounds (Alternate) (2:52) Concert Arrangements: OST 07 Anthem of Evil 3:23 OST 03 The Rise of Skywalker 4:18 And finally here is a Google Doc with all this information, if you prefer to look at it that way: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VWApmUMfiSF9gvXb3LW9QloZO-St-ITFMF-qYaNN0fw Additionally, here's a theme list I started before the OST came out, that may be a bit outdated now, but hopefully I can keep it updated at some point. 01 Prologue (1:45) 0:08 Kylo Ren's Theme 0:43 Wayfinder Theme 0:48 Kylo Ren's Theme 0:57 Anthem of Evil 1:17 Rey's Theme 02 Falcon Flight (2:22) 0:20 The Emperor's Theme 0:31 March of the Resistance 0:48 March of the Resistance 0:57 The Rebel Fanfare 1:13 We Go Together 1:30 March of the Resistance 1:47 Hyperspace from TESB moment 1:53 Heroics 2:05 The Rebel Fanfare 2:09 The Death Star is about to blow up from ANH moment 03 We Go Together (2:10) 0:14 We Go Together 1:07 Rey's Theme 1:21 The Force Theme 1:45 We Go Together 04 In the Desert (2:26) 0:24 March of the Resistance 05 A Prisoner (1:23) 1:01 We Go Together 06 To Kimiji (1:37) 0:17 We Go Together 0:31 We Go Together 0:40 The Knights of Ren Theme 1:12 Rey's Theme 07 Fleeing from Kimiji (1:53) 0:00 Heroics 0:23 Kylo Ren's Theme 0:34 Kylo Ren's Theme 1:17 We Go Together 08 Hallway Shooting (2:11) 1:22 March of the Resistance 09 Hard to Get Rid Of (2:19) 1:29 The Emperor's Theme 10 Join Me (2:21) 0:57 Anthem of Evil 1:16 Kylo Ren's Theme 1:28 Rey's Theme (dark again) 1:53 Luke's Theme 2:07 Rey's Theme 11 The Old Death Star (2:14) 0:58 The Imperial March 1:46 Poe's Theme 1:57 March of the Resistance 12 Off the Waterfront (1:03) 13 Final Saber Duel (1:38) 0:43 Kylo Ren's Theme 14 Healing Wounds (2:49) 0:40 The Force Theme 1:47 Leia's Theme 15 Advice (1:54) 1:18 sounds kinda like Rey's Theme? 16 Battle of the Resistance (1:54) 0:09 Luke's Theme 0:38 The Force Theme 1:19 The Force Theme 17 Approaching the Throne (4:16) 1:22 Rey's Theme (the dark variant again) 2:07 Wayfinder Theme 3:18 Victory Theme 3:33 March of the Resistance 18 Parents (1:57) 1:19 Kylo Ren's Theme 1:33 Kylo Ren's Theme 19 Coming Together (1:44) 0:00 The Emperor's Theme 0:11 Kylo Ren's Theme 0:22 Knights of Ren Theme 1:18 The Force Theme 20 Seeing Sights (3:17) 0:24 We Go Together 0:42 Rey's Theme (on piano!) 1:44 Rey's Theme 1:57 Kylo Ren's Theme 2:20 The Emperor's Theme (with bad-ass choir!) 2:49 The Force Theme 21 Rescue (1:10) 0:02 Victory Theme 0:39 The Rebel Fanfare 0:47 The Rebel Fanfare 22 Farewell (4:27) 0:13 Kylo Ren's Theme 0:48 sounds like a sad variation of Rey's Theme 1:27 sounds like a defeated version of Kylo Ren's Theme 1:44 Rey's Theme 2:35 sounds like... something? 3:32 Victory Theme 23 A New Home (1:42) 0:19 Rey's Theme Big thanks to @thx99 for first posting the link here. Head over there and give him a big LIKE, will ya?

Some poor soul at Disney fucked up and sacrificed their job to give us this early Christmas present.

TFA and TLJ took me time to unpack. This is instant, unconditional adoration. It's just gorgeous. I haven't heard anything like this from him in a long time.

No, not surprising that they DIDN'T record the chorus in isolation. Here is why. JW is the undisputed pinnacle of the industry. When you hire him, you are asking for perfection, not efficiency, not economy. This is a connoisseur who is saying I only want Viennese boys choir for that one scene and a director will make that happen. It is true that an LA chorus can simulate the Vienna boys choir, but that is a bit of a hack. When you bring in the top level connoisseur, the precision matters. Conrad Pope mentioned this about JW. In the movie AI, there is a brief moment where Gigolo Joe plays a vintage 1930's era song while seducing someone. JW composed a piece using authentic 1930's instrumentation. The rules of that instrumentation violate modern instrumentation and JW corrected Conrad Pope in his orchestration saying that wasn't authentic and true to the style. The point is that Conrad understood that JW had an encyclopedic knowledge of styles and how to make them authentic that an expert like Pope didn't have. This was a very minor scene and a throw away moment but demonstrated the extent to the stylistic knowledge of random styles JW acquired that applies to ethic music too.

As a listening experience it's an odd one because of all the short tracks and abrupt endings. I obviously can't say anything about it as a musical narrative because there are just too many gaps. Not only do I need to hear more new material but I need more of the old stuff to get a sense of how it all hangs together, and I need to hear some more musically "complete" pieces, particularly the end credits, fuller action tracks, and any concert pieces. That said "Farewell" is pretty mighty stuff. Texturally it is shaping up to be my favorite of the ST. There is this haunted, magical quality running through a lot of it that I love and I hope to hear even more of that. It's the most energetic and, I dunno, fully committed to the big Star Wars sound of the trilogy, but also has big and small moments that took me by surprise and sound pretty damn locked in, emotionally. I'm encouraged by all of it and it's made the wait for next week SO much easier.

In LA (so TROS), vocalists are not musicians but actors with the SAG. They have a whole different (and better) union scale. I think the reason for this is in early hollywood, they had a lot of musicals where the actor would start singing so singing was an acting duty for decades before it was used as score. They are blocked in 3 hour sessions with very expensive overtime and overdub regulations. Meaning it might be cheaper to hire 24 vocalists than 12 vocalists and overdub them. The idea being each singer is performing the work of two singers and is sort of anti-union since you are unemploying a vocalist so must pay for that rather than exploit that. In a triple A budget feature film like Star Wars, the cost per singer might be $175 per singer per hour with a three hour minimum so all vocal music would be recorded at the same time. It's pretty much the same for musicians but the vocalists will have a better maximum cap (like each hour they won't record more than three minutes of recorded singing otherwise additional fees apply), mandatory breaks, etc. Choral music is very slow to record and it is hard to get more than three minutes recorded in an hour. The easiest type of singing is vocalized vowels like ooh's and aahhs. Foreign languages much harder, soloists harder, etc. In london, they might have had a deal to use the London Symphony Chorus as a part of the London Symphony ensemble so 10 seconds in Empire might have been part of the orchestra fee with additional members rather than a multi-hour minimum. Question: what was JW's first use of choir? Was it Empire? If so, he might have realized how good it works for sci-fi/fantasy and opted for more frequent use in subsequent films with Empire being a very small/minor role for them.

There will likely be expanded edits combining this with OST material before some people have even unwrapped their OST

I'm on vacation and i forgot to switch the license for my notation software from my iMac to my macbook so I can't save or export files.... so I had to screenshot this, my piano version of "A New Home". For all who can read and play, have fun! But I see it as a really quick and dirty one, so no harsh critics, please. My approach is usually a compromise between playability and authenticity regarding voicing. Thanks and enjoy!

User Spinmeister at the FSM Custom Cover Art thread posted a really nice custom for this FYC: https://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=132899&forumID=1&archive=0&pageID=15&r=743#bottom

The Farewell theme has such an emotional, poignant but somewhat light finality to it, that I didn't hear in SW before. Battle of the Heroes does have a finality but it's dark and heavy and preoccupied with being an epic battle cue - and RotJ mostly skips it except for maybe the new Victory Celebration which doesn't do it that well, even if I like it more than many here.

I nominate How To Train Your Dragon The Hidden World. I don't think there's one score more deserving and it sure smashes 1917, Endgame and Joker.

Listened again this morning. I find this music so fascinating and rich to listen to! Much of it is athematic underscore, but it sounds *very specifically* in the style of the underscore of the past two films, as in the ST has an underscoring style very distinct from the OT and PT and it's a style I've grown to love listening over the past 4 years. I really can't wait to hear Williams' intended presentation. I do find it interesting just how much shorter this FYC is compared to the previous two. I suppose all might make more sense next weekend after the film and OST are out.

After 87 years Williams finally figured this one out!

So I took 457 hours to read all 6 pages of this thread to warm up to my listening of this FYC and it’s already removed? 😢

Disney: JW Fanners be like: Glad we got in when we did.

FYI: archive.org seems to have saved a copy of the site: https://web.archive.org/web/20191210202934/https://disneystudiosawards.com/star-wars-score.html I haven't checked all the tracks, but it has at least some of them. Edit: Looks like all the tracks are there, and they can be downloaded by adding https://web.archive.org/web/20191210202934/ to the start of the links in the first post, e.g. https://web.archive.org/web/20191210212111/https://disneystudiosawards.s3.amazonaws.com/mp3/star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker/score/2.mp3

Considering this seems like bits of random underscore that probably have nothing to do with the OST I'm pretty impressed

Someone mentioned before that the new theme, sounded like nothing before. Well, I played it on and on in my mind, and i think that its first phrase at least, is a clever mirror rearrangement of Luke's theme. here's what I'm talking about: New TROS theme: a) falling fifth b) rising three notes c) falling minor seventh Luke's theme a) rising fifth b) falling three notes c) rising minor seventh edit: forgot to mention that the 2 appearances in Rescue and Farewell, are in the same tonality too with Luke's theme.

It's been a few pages, so updated theme list 01 Prologue (1:45) 0:08 Kylo Ren's Theme 0:43 NEW THEME #1 (rising and falling motif) 0:48 Kylo Ren's Theme 1:17 Rey's Theme 02 Falcon Flight (2:22) 0:20 The Emperor's Theme 0:31 March of the Resistance 0:48 March of the Resistance 0:57 The Rebel Fanfare 1:13 NEW THEME #2 (new character theme?) 1:30 March of the Resistance 1:53 NEW THEME #3 (Action ostinato we heard in a TV commercial) 2:05 The Rebel Fanfare 2:09 The Death Star is about to blow up from ANH moment 03 We Go Together (2:10) 0:14 NEW THEME #2 (new character theme?) 0:30 NEW THEME #2 (Anakin's Theme-esque B section?) 1:07 Rey's Theme 1:21 The Force Theme 1:58 NEW THEME #2 (Anakin's Theme-esque B section?) 04 In the Desert (2:26) 0:24 March of the Resistance 05 A Prisoner (1:23) 1:01 NEW THEME #2 (new character theme?) 06 To Kimiji (1:37) 0:17 NEW THEME #2 (new character theme?) 0:31 NEW THEME #2 (new character theme?) 1:12 Rey's Theme 07 Fleeing from Kimiji (1:53) 0:00 NEW THEME #3 (Action ostinato we heard in a TV commercial) 0:23 Kylo Ren's Theme 0:34 Kylo Ren's Theme 1:17 NEW THEME #2 (new character theme?) 08 Hallway Shooting (2:11) 1:22 March of the Resistance 09 Hard to Get Rid Of (2:19) 1:29 The Emperor's Theme 10 Join Me (2:21) 0:58 Rey's Theme (dark and twisted version?) 1:16 Kylo Ren's Theme 1:28 Rey's Theme (dark again) 1:53 Luke's Theme 2:07 Rey's Theme 11 The Old Death Star (2:14) 0:58 The Imperial March 1:46 Poe's Theme 1:57 March of the Resistance 12 Off the Waterfront (1:03) 13 Final Saber Duel (1:38) 0:43 Kylo Ren's Theme 14 Healing Wounds (2:49) 0:40 The Force Theme 1:47 Leia's Theme 15 Advice (1:54) 1:18 sounds kinda like Rey's Theme? 16 Battle of the Resistance (1:54) 0:09 Luke's Theme 0:38 The Force Theme 1:19 The Force Theme 17 Approaching the Throne (4:16) 1:22 Rey's Theme (the dark variant again) 2:07 NEW THEME #1 (rising and falling motif) 3:18 NEW THEME #4 (The big new theme) 3:33 March of the Resistance 18 Parents (1:57) 1:19 Kylo Ren's Theme 1:33 Kylo Ren's Theme 19 Coming Together (1:44) 0:00 The Emperor's Theme 0:11 Kylo Ren's Theme 1:18 The Force Theme 20 Seeing Sights (3:17) 0:24 NEW THEME #2 (Anakin's Theme-esque B section?) 0:42 Rey's Theme (on piano!) 1:44 Rey's Theme 1:57 Kylo Ren's Theme 2:20 The Emperor's Theme (with bad-ass choir!) 2:49 The Force Theme 21 Rescue (1:10) 0:02 NEW THEME #4 (The big new theme) 0:39 The Rebel Fanfare 0:47 The Rebel Fanfare 22 Farewell (4:27) 0:13 Kylo Ren's Theme 0:48 sounds like a sad variation of Rey's Theme 1:27 sounds like a defeated version of Kylo Ren's Theme 1:44 Rey's Theme 2:35 sounds like... something? 3:32 NEW THEME #4 (The big new theme) 23 A New Home (1:42) 0:19 Rey's Theme

Am I the only one who can't see "We Go Together" without thinking of the song from Grease?

I could listen to them talk forever. This is the best thread I've seen in quite some time.

Mattris, O' MATTRIS come out of your spot!

Maaan, the last minute of "Farewell" is quite possibly one of my favorite things he's written in recent years, if not ever. It has an all-time-classic type feel to it; I have a feeling that this will be one of those Williams moments that we listen to and talk about for years to come. Can't express how badly I would love a concert suite based on this theme.

The action music, just judging from the FYC, shows Williams has been uppin' his game every score in this trilogy. This is some of the most focused action music he's written in decades... And oh my god, Track 2 1:39-1:46 That breakdown before bouncing back to the Hyperspace strings.

There is some really great stuff here. Those last 50 seconds of Farewell stand out the most for me at this point: wonderful. I do think the entire score has a lot more to it. I expect many cues will be build around existing themes to such an extent, that they were left off the FYC album. This album is meant to present the original content of the score, although it is unavoidable to hear The Imperial March or Rey's Theme here and there. I honestly do think there will be grand versions of Duel Of The Fates, The Emperor's Theme, etc. and I therefore expect the OST to be even more powerful and satisfying than this presentation. And a concert arrangement of the theme that closes Farewell and opens Rescue is a given.

I couldn't figure out how to put this in words before, but I think I can now: I thinks this feels to me more like a second, different sequel score to TFA that ignores TLJ, rather than a 3rd entry in a series following TFA and TLJ. Does that make sense?

Was any of it without the orchestra? If so that can record faster. Think of it this way, in a regular action cue, you might have a 5 minute cue with 30 seconds of choir. The chorus will be there the whole time and make their own mistakes and require alot of fine tuning so very slow process for the vocal moments. If you have a 30 second unaccompanied choral cue, you only focus on that music and can fine tune that without worrying about getting the orchestral performance fine tuned so that can go faster. Also, in a big budget movie, this isn't that expensive. A large 48 piece chorus (on the upper end of a film score) for an entire six hour day is only $50,000. The entire music budget is millions so that is a very small line item to the overall fee but might amount to around 12 minutes of choral music at maximum and even that is hard to imagine in any score. So if you imagine a huge budget action sci-fi score, you might record for 10 days. The chorus at most might be involved for 1 day (max of 6 hours). You would use a relatively small orchestra for 1/3 of the film, a medium orchestra for 1/3, and a large orchestra for 1/3. So roughly 3 days spent with a 60 piece orchestra, 3 days with an 80 piece orchestra, and 3 days with a 100 piece orchestra with one day usually with the 100 piece orchestra plus 48 piece chorus. This would result in around 120 minutes of final score with around 10 minutes or so of chorus. This isn't so much the situation with JJ Abrams Star Wars era since they seem to have infinite budget and infinite recording time where they'll have multiple sessions spread out over months but it will be more like 12 hours in a week then a month break type of thing. They'll end with the same results but would have to double the recorded music due to various edits of the film. So you might be looking at a final budget of 100k for chorus and 500k for orchestra spread out over a few months of sessions. If your movie is two or three hundred million dollars as Star Wars will be, this is still a very, very small line item in the overall budget. I worked with a professional JW level chorus and was surprised how slow it went. It wasn't a reflection of the musicians but rather the infinite possibilities of the voice. Having a solo vocalist was even slower because they were so exposed and this was literally the same singer JW used on Munich. The director who was present wanted to micromanage the vocals and that ended up with three hours spent on a three minute cue that was ultimately rejected. All the musicians thought she was fantastic but the director had a different idea of what he wanted and nothing she could do would fit what he wanted. He was dictating where each vocalized inflection went so you can imagine the infinite possibilities at play with vocalists until we ran through the budget. Sadly, I have her version of the song but no one will ever hear how wonderful it was since it was rejected. This was my singer:

I like how Kylo's theme shifts slightly throughout - going from menacing to melancholic - even slightly optimistic in 'Parents'.

I feel like this actually increased the chances of Duel of the Fates scoring Rey vs Kylo? Because "Final Lightsaber Duel" is so brief and non-actiony, which makes me feel like it's an intro or dramatic interlude or something to actual battle music, and if the duel itself isn't on the FYC it may be a straight reprisal... Also occurred to me that the action music from the desert chase clip isn't on here? Right? It is very odd to think that we now have an hour of Rise of Skywalker music and so much of it probably won't even be on the OST. I kinda like it.

These interviews with Mike are one of the highlights of my year @TownerFan. Thank you so much for the hard work you put into these, not just arranging them with Mike but editing everything together. I know it's a huge amount of work but the effort shines through.

Just a suggestion: put the link to this post on the first post of the thread, so that it'll be easier to access it whenever people are listening to the album. When I was listening to the album for a second time, I had to scroll it through pages and pages of discussion until I found it.

Slimer...we're home.

This time I will buy the FYC, TROs is simply the best out of the st. The best score of this century! It's magical, like the finale of E.T. TROS SCORE = MAGIC

Only in 2010s America could something as innocent and frivolous as Ghostbusters become so heatedly politicised.

I really hope the OST has a concert arrangement of the "Farewell" theme... Absolutely gorgeous.

It's taking all the resistance I can muster, but I will wait for the OST. I don't think this is a proper or fair way to first experience a Star Wars score

Credit also goes to composer Christophe Beck and @dylanskie, without whom we would not have known about the Frozen II score page, which ultimately served as a template!! It takes a village.

The link itself ends with star-wars-score.html .. so naturally, I tried star-wars-movie.html, and was met with this message.. !