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Wonderful evening!! Williams remarked that while he doesn’t do “Born on the Fourth of July” often, he wanted to hear the Cleveland Orchestra do it, especially Michael Sachs. He also ended the evening by coming out one more time after the iconic “sleepy hands” to say good night and that if the audience kept being so nice to him, he’d have to live to be 100! Really strong performances. Helena’s Theme is even more beautiful live, and hearing Obi-Wan live again (this time prepared for it and not crying from a surprise appearance like at Celebration earlier this year) was fantastic. Sabrina’s Theme is also always so gorgeous and a strong inclusion. Encores were Yoda’s Theme, Raiders March (not the abbreviated version - Marion’s Theme was intact!), and Imperial March. This was my 23rd time seeing Williams conduct live, and my last one of the year. Until next time, Maestro!

This was my 4th time seeing the Maestro, and my what a show! The Scherzo for X-Wings kicked off a terrific Star Wars suite to end the program. It never occurred to me, but it really was a perfect quasi-overture to SW, and a more exciting and unusual way to introduce Luke’s theme to the program. Haven’t heard Superman performed live in quite some time. That really got the audience going it seemed. Amazing the way Michael Sachs’ solo trumpet could fill the entire hall with such steady purity. Just gorgeous. I’m still pinching myself that I got to hear both Obi-Wan and Helena, the latter of which nicely complimented Sabrina with its romantic Old Hollywood sound. So yeah, my heart found it’s way up to my throat several times, but maybe it was “Yoda’s Little Theme” that really got me in the feels. And yet it’s Sabrina that is now on repeat in my head. An interesting comment preceding E.T. We now know where Johnny stands on Spielberg’s oeuvre. “I think E.T. Is Steven’s Masterpiece. He’s made so many great films like Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan. But those performances by the children are really something special. “ I agree, Maestro. He’s a dreamer like me. I do highly recommend a visit to the Christmas Story House and Museum if you’re a fan of the film. They do a fine job with tours of the house, and let you “interact” with the environment. Keep in mind only about 15% of the film was shot inside the actual house, which was partly used for exteriors and window shots. But still a very fun little stop. This was an absolute Perfect Day.

E.T. Finale: Jurassic Park (excerpt): Yoda's Theme (excerpt):

https://twitter.com/AnthonyDiPiero7/status/1591883601393876992/photo/1 https://twitter.com/JimmyDPhotos/status/1591900097285165056/photo/1 https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck6k4ngPJTV/

Scherzo for X Wings was so fast! I feel like folks usually complain it’s too slow. He played it much faster than the OST recording

Many of you have no doubt enjoyed The Goldsmith Odyssey's recent Soundtrack Spotlight on Hollow Man (2000) with special guests Bruce Botnick and synth programmer Nick Vidar who worked on the score... https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/11577733-odyssey-soundtrack-spotlight-hollow-man-2000 Connected to this, we also reached out to the office of director Paul Verhoeven, but he preferred to have a more general conversation about his collaboration. Here's the wonderful result! https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/11681407-odyssey-interviews-paul-verhoeven Looking forward to hearing what people think! Yavar

One other observation you’ve all probably noticed. When he talks about the character or piece he’s about to conduct. He speaks of these storybook characters or (as in the case of The Duel) comic cartoon situations with such appreciation and real delight. When he discusses Hedwig or Yoda or E.T., it’s with the enthusiasm and jubilation that only one with childlike wonder could possess. Almost like a kid explaining the movie they just enjoyed to their parents. This genius musician who writes serious concert hall concertos could just as easily look down his nose at the subject matter with disdain, but just the opposite. For a man of almost 91, he has an infectious young heart.

I've been listening to this and some portions almost suggest Lincoln of all things to me. Like Mother and Son seems like it could get into a rendition of With malice towards none anytime. I think the obvious point about this score is the very obvious quality. It's modest but clearly written by a master. I'll be honest. Do we perceive a high quality because we know it is Williams? We will never know the answer to that. But to me this represents craftsmanship and a finished sound quality that I expect from him even though this is a really tiny score - in scope and execution. EDIT: Let's put it this way - do you think I am putting it on my list of the 5 best scores of the year? You bet I am.

Hopefully if RTD gets Murry Gold back, he might release the Series 10 soundtrack

Any word on Murray Gold returning? Nothing against the newer guy - I just haven't explored his music nor seen a lot of the episodes he scored, but gosh there's a lot to love in the music Murray wrote. Still waiting for the soundtrack for the last season he scored. We were blessed in terms of releases for the preceeding seasons. and then, Bam! Nothing.

Ron is back! We're continuing with the shorter, darker cues, with some more Ron and Hermione coming into the picture. Today we have Cue No. 24: Ron Destroys the Locket and Cue No. 25: The Trio Reunited!

I think TLJ isn’t just the best sequel score, it’s the best Star Wars score. It’s incredibly well crafted and comparing it to the other sequels demonstrates the benefits of a good director collaboration and/or a director who knows when to say “it’s up to you”. That said, TFA’s album is hard to beat as an album. And TROS none of us have actually had the opportunity to judge as written...

None of the battle music is on the soundtrack.

I think you're hearing distortion in the crappy phone recording audio

Throne Room: Raiders March (excerpt):

He probably rewatched the Patriot and decided the British were the worst people ever.

If that's what it takes to get season 10 then Gold can play Donna's theme on a loop for the whole season and go home for all I care!

I don’t have a full rationalization myself, my semi-hot take comes from the level of detail in TLJ’s score which seems to be at another level from almost any other score.

Both tracks are masterful and greatly evocative of innocence and childhood memories. Somewhere in My Memory is a beautiful, nostalgic Christmas song, full of joyful holiday sentiment. To me it arouses feelings of casting one's mind back to recall a happy and cherished memory. There is a wonderful lightness and sweetness about the song, and a sense of completeness. On the other hand, Christmas Star has more of a melancholic feel, heightening the separation between us and times past; as much as we think about these memories, we can never go back in time and truly relive our best experiences: they are lost to time. It has a ghostly, quasi-distant quality to it. The alternating chords at the beginning suggest the inevitability of time passing (like a ticking clock). Just some of my thoughts! I absolutely love listening to these scores around Christmas-time.

Perhaps posted before, but this close up video of the projection screen at the Bowl is so much nicer to look at.

As someone who listens obsessively to the TLJ score (mainly the film cut), I'd be interested in hearing the case you make for this, perhaps in a separate thread 😁 I've been slowly visualizing a clear way to verbalize my rationale for liking TLJ's score the way I do, but it's slow going. There's the ever-present danger that my ignorance ("Steiner did it first! This is a Korngold rip-off! JW is borrowing from his own earlier work!") will undercut my case immediately.

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is performing Star Wars: A New Hope again under Nicholas Buc's baton on 2023-01-28 (2 performances in 1 day!). They've previously done the original trilogy and The Force Awakens. I'd be keen to see TLJ and TROS in the future, movie quality aside.

My favorite statement of the theme has to be the end of Fast Streets.

The insert when the child tells Indy if he drinks the blood, he won’t wake up from the nightmare is sooooo good.

I think that could be said of his piano writing, especially for certain films: JFK, Lincoln, The Book Thief, Schindler's List, The Post, War Horse (but not ET) - they all have beautiful and sparse harmonies. Just the right amount of notes that enables me to kind of play them if I spend weeks practicing.

I wouldn't want the Jaws theme, either. For... slightly different reasons.

I was able to get a program early! Looks like a really solid and unique setlist. I’m even more excited now! Wonderful program dedicated entirely to the event, too.

Very nice!

Andor 1x04 Aldhani Andor 1x05 The Axe Forgets Andor 1x06 The Eye Wow! Is this show a secret master class in world building and character development? I was so impressed with the way they handled both throughout this stretch of episodes! Stellan Skarsgård as Luthen is so good! I loved the little moment where he's still on his ship and puts his wig on in front of the mirror, and practices his happy / smiley persona before heading into his store - that was sooo good. So many writers would not think to include a scene like this, just jump from him being grumpy with Andor to all smiles in the store. I thought it was really interesting that he isn't directly involved in the main plot of this arc (the money heist) outside of sending Andor to help out, but we still followed him and saw his interaction with Mon Monthma, which was really interesting. Even if you aren't up on Star Wars media, you get right away that she's a rebel once his associate distracts her driver and she heads into the back. And I loved the moment at the end of the arc, where he goes into the backroom again to celebrate by himself. Skarsgård is awesome in this! I also really liked following Mon Mothma home and seeing her interesting homelife. I guess her husband isn't in on the rebellion which must make things so much more difficult. It seems like these scenes could have easily been boring, but I was interested the whole time. Likewise that they stuck with Karn and showed him going home in disgrace, and his really wacky relationship with his mother. You learn so much about why he is the way he is in these scenes, and I'm really curious how he's going to be brought back into the fold now. I suspect it will be through the other new Imperial character, the blonde security division one who wants to get to the bottom of what happened in the first 3 episodes. It seemed like her and her buddy jumped to a bit of a conclusion that there's a bunch of coordinated rebel strikes happening, but I guess we had to get some bad guys to figuring that out somehow. I'm really curious what she's going to do now that a heist has happened, if she'll be allowed to pursue it. Speaking of the heist, I thought all of it was so good! The two episodes of setup on the planet with Andor having various interactions with the squad pulling it off. I thought all their characters were developed really well. I wasn't surprised that Skeen ended up betraying them after it was done, and was actually surprised by the quickness with which Andor murdered him! It was too bad that Nemik guy had to die, but I am curious to see what happens with his manifesto thingy. The heist was just so well done! A really terrific long action sequence. The tension mounting and mounting on the ground as the team was split and each had to do different things, not knowing what exactly was up with the villagers after one guy got mis-translated, the excitement as they got inside and were pulling off the heist... and then following TIE pilots heading to their TIE Fighters as they were finishing up, leading into an in-atmosphere TIE chase! And it was so cool it happened in that cool meteor shower thingy. This show stared out slow as can be but boy, is it hella good now! Wow!

He mentioned he was “just about done” with Indy 5

Yea, it’s TFA for having ‘Rey’s Theme’ and ‘The Jedi Steps’. ‘Adagio’ (‘The Starkiller’) as well, I guess. Home table mentions for ’The Falcon’ and ’Scherzo For X-Wings’). TLJ - nothing there for me really. TROS - ‘We Go Together’ is (in spite of the corny title), one of the best themes JW has written. TFA wins by quantity, not quality (but you gotta love that Rey wink wink).

Yep!

Cave walls.

Nice try Lao Che!

This is great! Fawkes is so criminally under-programmed that any release is a good one. And the tempo change (barely perceptible to me) just brings out other elements of the orchestration I hadn't focused on before. So now I just have to decide whether to buy this single or wait and see on an album (especially with the potential for an album with the new fanfare on it!).

Wow, I respect your opinion but I think this is the first time I've seen the opinion that TLJ is the best SW score. There is a lot to like about it, but I don't think it's anywhere near ANH or ESB or ROTS or TPM.

Exactly! Especially when it's so easy for some to be misunderstood after your own culture has been viewed through a very specific lens for so long. It kind of grinds my gears a bit when people rail against diversity (when it really should be corporate misappropriation they're after), since it seems like they can't fathom the idea that this (from a glance) minor change could add plenty of character by itself if given to the right hands (which admittedly unfortunately doesn't happen too often currently).

I found out that Disney uploaded the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever score on their FYC site, but it seems identical to the score album. https://disneystudiosawards.com/black-panther-wakanda-forever/score/ EDIT: Here are the links and info: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Ludwig Göransson) [26 cues, 01:23:34, mp3 audio tracks]

I'm sure we'll find some obscure unreleased 5 second insert to perpetually annoy us

Verhoeven always is a winner as interview guest (though his animated engagingness has regressed a bit, no wonder, he's incredible 84 years old now) and his Carolco reminiscing makes me a bit sad the outfit hadn't had a few more years in it. 'The Crusades' is the major loss, of course. As for the 'Starship Troopers' offer, the movie opened late 1997, and Goldsmith scored both AFO and The Edge shortly before that (and had 5 big pictures on his schedule of which US Marshals and Deep Rising both opened in early 1998). Plus, he had his RSNO recording gigs also spread during that year, so it isn't like Kraft maliciously concealed the offer, but just reported him fully booked. And to be honest, 'Starship Troopers' is a great movie, but i'm not sure the world needed another 90-minute nonstop actionfest by JG that desperately.

TFA all the way! I hate to be the contrarian here, but it's also probably the most cohesive, developed and concise film in the Sequel Trilogy, and the music was fresh and the return of Williams' to the series since 2005!

At listening to the first piece The Fabelmans I thought, If Williams ever wrote such a simple piece before. And listening again to this theme with its children's song like simplicity and the impressionistic chords it reminds me rather of Hook. And I guess this makes perfect sense, as The Fabelmans is a coming of age story about a boy who is not necessarily aiming to grow up in a traditional way. The grow up type is his father. But the theme appearence in the movie is called Mother and Son. And for the son is becoming a filmmaker probably rather about keeping the child inside you alive with all its fantasy, spirit and imagination. So, the melody is simple, like a melody that you might come up with If you tried to compose your first music piece. But it also has some maturity reflected in the chords, which are not that simple. So this young talented amateur spirit of someone starting to explore an art form like music or filmmaking is perfectly caught in this little piano piece that opens the album. So, Spielberg's young passion for film making and music are well reflected in this piece. Haven't seen the movie yet, but this is how the music makes sense to me in context of the story.

I'll put it this way... If I am ever in the position where I'm swimming for my life to attempt to board a submerging Nazi Submarine, I wouldn't want the Jurassic Park theme to get me there. I love that the theme is played to people on screen literally cheering and punching the air. I don't think all those Arab diggers would get off their butts if Indy rode his horse by them without the theme.

I'd worry more about what happens when the revenue no longer matches the budget. Would Disney just throw the Doctor in the vault and let him rot there, rather than giving the franchise to someone else if they're no longer interested in it themselves? Wouldn't surprise me.

I'll argue against interest and point out that there was no doubt in the Doctor's mind that the first was the first. The alleged clever bit was that the Doctor (and the Master) didn't know either. I would suspect that there are far fewer people who disliked Jo Martin's Doctor (I would bet RDT is a fan) than those who just dislike the newly invented history to go with her.

I look back on the Winter and Spring of 2016 with affection as a very exciting time in my life for several reasons, and one of them is that the entire period was soundtracked by listening to the Force Awakens OST almost daily. And here's a picture I took in June of that year of the Millennium Falcon hologram in the vinyl release, a very silly gimmick

I'm not certain it would be more boring. Brittel could score it with rustling fireplace ashes. Gritty! .