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I believe this deserves its own thread. He is often called a "national treasure", but he has filmed all over the globe, and his own documentaries, along with Monty Python and snooker, are still enjoying enduring popularity around the world: Happy 100th birthday to international treasure Sir David Attenborough. 🥳

MV's entire post is worth preserving here: A telethon is in order. We should trot out balding middle aged men wearing Star Trek T shirts and cargo shorts, asking people to donate to the soundtrack producer cause. Buy something…thats how you support the labels. Its that simple If there is nothing you want, put your money aside for a later date. We have no control over shipping prices We have no control over approvals We have no control over the Vinyl worship The folks at the studios licensing these titles (those that still license out older titles) are doing God’s work. They are understaffed, underpaid and overworked. Its a miracle these titles even come out. I can’t speak for other labels but we have a strong slate of titles for the rest of 2026 and 2027, which happens to be our 25th anniversary. After that…who knows? Its May, and we have released 6 cds and 1 lp. Quality over quantity. One Bond or Zimmer or Williams outsell most other titles 8 to 1. Right now we even have a 20% off sale going to help those dealing with all the economic madness that is happening. Its not much but its something. Take advantage of the sale…support the label. MV

Not sure we can meaningfully compare two battles separated by around 2230 years...

Williams did visit us and wrote a piece based on his impressions.

Here's for everyone who wants to read it for free, without creating accounts or suffering through insufferable paywalls: http://archive.today/aVDvX

https://www.instagram.com/p/DX7KLzFFM_t/ Anybody planning on attending? https://www.laphil.com/events/performances/4032/2026-06-04/gustavo-dudamel-celebrating-the-musicians-of-the-la-phil

I know I sound like a broken vinyl but looking back over the past thirty or so years (taking the launch of the FSM label as a rough starting point) I'm amazed by all the stuff we've gotten. If at some point in the near future things dry up, it will be a terrible shame (especially for the labels that have done incredible work over the years with ostensibly very little reward, other than the satisfaction of having contributed significantly to the preservation and presentation of this art form to our little clique) but if and when that day comes, I'll continue to be extremely grateful to these labels that have made it possible for me to own a wonderful collection of film music to enjoy and treasure for the rest of my life.

I love both scores, but Crystal Skull takes it for me. Irina’s Theme, the Adventures of Mutt, the motifs for the Russians, the Crystal Spell, A Whirl Through Acadme, Ants, the Jungle Chase, and a lot of the Nevada score not on the OST. Actually, a lot of the great little actions cues like “the waterfall” and “stepping stones” got left off the OST. overall, the score actually benefits from the bizzare fusion of 40s adventure serial and 50s sci-fi genres. You get some class action music, Korngoldian swashbuckling, humorous music, but also some excellent eerie atonal an dissonant material, plus great cultural music for South America and the Russians. I could also praise Dial of Destiny like this, but Crystal Skull is the underrated gem to me.

LLL got an NYT article! Need to make an account to read it though. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/arts/music/lala-land-records-movie-soundtracks.html

New release: https://quartetrecords.com/product/the-ipcress-file/ Quartet Records presents its fifth newly recorded release of a classic film score, and its third devoted to the music of John Barry, following Séance on a Wet Afternoon and the three television films starring Katharine Hepburn. The unforgettable music of this five-time Oscar-winning composer continues to be celebrated around the world, and the impact of his innovative scores for dozens of films from the 1960s through the ’90s still reverberates today. THE IPCRESS FILE, directed by Sidney J. Furie in 1965, is an iconic film in British cinema. The first in the series centered on spy Harry Palmer (the anti-Bond), it marked Michael Caine’s first leading role, immediately catapulting him to stardom. The story is set entirely in London, where a small group of mundane civil servants quietly tracks an even smaller band of traitors. During one of the most prolific and successful periods of his career, when he was producing one masterpiece after another, John Barry composed a memorable score for THE IPCRESS FILE. He sought a unique sound specific to the story and characters, one that would distinguish the humdrum world of real-life British spies from the larger-than-life fantasy of James Bond. The score features an equally iconic main theme, jazz-flavored and highlighted by a cimbalom soloist. For Barry, the Cold War backdrop of the movie provided an ideal showcase for this instrument. Around the time of the film’s premiere, Barry assembled a lavish album for Decca, though it consisted mainly of wonderful variations, arrangements and jazz improvisations on the main theme. Barry wrote nearly 50 minutes of original music for IPCRESS, of which only 17 minutes were included on the album—edited, rearranged and presented alongside jazz variations for an optimal listening experience. This left around 35 minutes of previously unreleased material—more than enough to justify this new recording. We haven’t attempted to recreate the various jazz variations because no professional jazz musician would replicate another performer’s improvisations—nor should they. Transcribing them onto paper is ultimately a futile exercise that could never truly capture the spirit of the original performances. Even so, we have always viewed this album as a complement to, not a substitute for, the irreplaceable original release. Each represents a different yet equally fascinating world. In the bonus section, we have reconstructed—using our own recordings—the versions of the original score presented by Barry on the Decca album, including the edits and alterations he made. We have also included an alternate version of the main theme, featuring a slower tempo that gives our trumpeter, Miroslav Hloucal, the freedom to improvise; a version of “A Man Alone” based on the arrangement Barry created for a 45 rpm single at the time; and the themes from the television series Vendetta and The Persuaders!, both featuring the cimbalom, which conclude the program. Leigh Phillips has painstakingly reconstructed and orchestrated the score and produced the recording. Performed by the prestigious City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Adam Klemens and recorded at Smecky Studios by Vítek Král, the album has been meticulously mixed and mastered by Chris Malone in the spirit of Barry’s original recording, delivering an authentic “Barry sound” reminiscent of his years at CTS. Elegant design by Nacho B. Govantes, with cover art by Jim Titus, graces a 20-page booklet featuring an in-depth essay by film music journalist, writer and renowned Barry connoisseur Jon Burlingame.

If only there was a whole book you could read...

This is a fantastic release, I've been listening to it non-stop for over a week since it arrived. The sound is excellent. Interesting choice for Malone to alter the main program mix and place the trumpets in the right channel (along with a few other adjustments). And cool that he left those instruments in their original stereo placement for the OST reconstruction. Diamonds is such a colourful and vibrant score, sleek and mysterious yet punchy and hard-hitting, dramatic and fun at the same time - everything one would want in a Bond score. This and Thunderball are tied as my favourites in the LLL expanded Bond catalogue. I feel like Barry nailed the atmosphere with these two scores. I can't get enough of "Gun Barrel and Manhunt". To me, it's the most "hell yeah, James Bond is back!" opening he wrote. It goes through so many moods in three minutes: - A killer opening gun barrel (the last Barry score to use electric guitar for the theme). - Faux-peaceful Japanese "YOLT" textures, suddenly interrupted by awesome brass stabs and tension. - Smooth, sensual strings transitioning to a no-nonsense reprise of the Bond theme on guitar. - Mysterious, evocative, "swimming" textures from 1:30 (my favourite section). It's amazing how Barry is able to create these moods with such simple instrumentation and so few/repeated notes. I love the subtle hint of danger when the horns enter at 2:03.

“His music is all melody-driven” is such a pretentious take. As if being melodic were a flaw, or as if music automatically becomes deeper the more atonal or inaccessible it is. It is the usual elitist reflex: dismiss what moves people, then pretend the dismissal itself is sophistication.

Some photos from the LA Times article covering the event: Even the class photo reflects his brilliance from day one.

Good to know ! lol But I can only confirm how frustrating this is. There's a wonderful Hans title we thought we could have released by now but approvals will most likely take as long as the Bad Boys ones so we'll probably be lucky if that happens before the end of 2026......

I dont know if this has ever been posted before, but I found this video of Stéphane Denève and the New World Symphony performing the suite from "The Book Thief". I dont think I had heard this full concert version before. A really wonderful suite that lines up wonderfully beside pieces like the "BFG Suite" or the "War Horse Suite".

It's a decent article, nothing earth-shattering for us normies, but hopefully it'll create more exposure to the general public and spark more interest and sales!

I wish I was mature enough that my first thought about this wasn't 'Hey, don't fart-shame Obi-Wan ... he's not so young any more!' But I'm not, and it was.

Pfft, if we obsessively nit-picked over every little thing in SW this thread would be over 140 pages long! Oh.

This was my first thought as well!! Couldn’t @Maestro let him know that his fans desperately need a new album with recent pieces and fanfares - conducted or overseen by him? It’s rare for him to do such an album unless there’s a specific musician attached, though. Either way - and I say this every time - I just can’t believe we’re still living at a moment in history where new John Williams compositions are being performed/released! It’s unbelievable and I don’t take it for granted!

We do now with Gil Mellé’s Frankenstein the True Story coming May 26

For the record, I regularly watch 'animated kiddie films', as JS put it, using the ancient tongue. Some of them (FANTASIA; SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES; PINNOCHINO; SLEEPING BEAUTY; BEAUTY AND THE BEAST; YELLOW SUBMARINE; ALLEGRO NON TROPPO; FANTASTIC PLANET; POCAHONTAS; THE LORD OF THE RINGS) are, visually, among the best and most beautiful films that I have ever seen.

You're the one who brought it up. You can't "anyway" your way out of it.

He was recruited to help out with the re-shoots going on for Episode X.

I've always interpreted it as "Everything is proceeding as I have Four seen", meaning "I have seen Episode Four, so I know how this will go down", also subtly reminding the audience that this is a remake of A New Hope.

Somehow I read that in Palpatine's "Not from a Jedi" voice. Yavar

Rebellions are built on... Oh, wait THAT one they released!

Yes! And another reason to finally record all his recent fanfares and stuff like Grit and Glory. Like an "American Journey Vol. 2" or something.

JW: “In the year of the Lord 2026, there shall be rumors of re‑releases going astray, erm, and there shall be a great confusion as to where the original discs really are, and nobody will truly know where lieth the earlier edition - the one with the sort of raffia-work base that hath the attachment. At this time, a collector shall lose his friend’s signed booklet, and the young shall not know where lieth the things possessed by their fathers, which their fathers put there only just the night before, about eight o’clock, after the concert. Yea, it is written in the Liner‑Notes of Naxos …”

I had no familiarity with King Solomon's Mines before listening to this release. I remembered that the movie existed, but never have seen. The score is a lot of fun, I'm very glad I bought it. I can't afford buying as many scores as I'd like to buy, but every time one comes out that I HAVE to have (a Williams or a Bond or a Star Trek, etc.), I always buy one or two from composers I generally love but am not quite obsessed with. A Goldsmith or Barry or Broughton or Silvestri or something like that. I don't believe I've ever once regretted it, and I certainly didn't regret this one.

One of the 5 Greek films ever nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar* (if you like Greek tragedy, it's worth a watch), one John Williams scored film (I liked this better than the original film), and one 4k animation film (wow, I overpaid this, and I used a shipping forward company too, which will increase the total sum!) The films couldn't be more different. I like that I have diverse style, and not stuck to one or two types of films, like many! *I have seen 4 of them, but not Dogtooth, since I'm not a fan of weird cinema.

"Oh, I'm afraid the deflector shield will be quite operational when your friends arrive."

Yes how embarrassing of me to word it that way. I’ll be sure to nuke that post along with all the rest when I take a ten year hiatus from JWFan.

Yes this exactly. They could completely stop (hopefully after the Bonds are all finished ) and I’d be satisfied with what I’ve got. I have plenty of music to last the rest of my life and there would be plenty of older releases to collect. I hope they keep going, if only to keep discussion and interest going. The next big thing is what brings excitement here and at FSM. Without new releases to fuel anticipation and conversation, this place could grow tumbleweeds.

I wish La-La Land had an option to continue to add to your order during the sale duration rather than start new separate orders. There are boutique home video labels that allow you to do that, and then your order ships when the sale ends. It benefits the customer because you can have it all ship together (often for a flat rate), and it benefits the retailer label because people will buy some and then a few days later add more if they have FOMO when titles get low in stock like this.

Terrible article. When Vader uses the Force, there’s a rumble.

I took a listen in Maurice Jarre´s Ressurrection at Spotify. Really beautiful stuff.

It usually is.

Slightly odd comparison. Wouldn't it be more apt to compare the complete Jungle Chase with the complete Tuk Tuk chase, and the Syracuse climax with Spalko's Gift? Personally I love that all 5 films have unique musical climaxes anyway. Miracle of the Ark sounds nothing like Broken Bridge sounds nothing like Right Choice/Wrong Choice sounds nothing like Spalko's Gift sounds nothing like Centuries Join Hands.

The Themes of Maul: Shadow Lord Here's a breakdown of all the themes used in the first season of Maul: Shadow Lord. First of all, let’s talk about the legacy themes referenced. The most obvious ones are Duel of the Fates, the Imperial March and the Force Theme by John Williams. Duel of the Fates is heard over Maul’s first appearance in the first episode, and also appears in a similar arrangement in the final episode before the title card. The Imperial March plays at the end of episode 4 as an Imperial Cruise arrives at Janix, and then this theme returns in epic variations as Vader makes his entrance and ruthlessly fights against Maul, Devon and Daki. I love how raw and brutal this theme is presented here. The Force Theme is only heard once on the show during A Noble End, heard moments before Daki is killed by Vader. There was also a subtle quote of the Emperor’s Theme, similar to the one heard in season 2 of The Bad Batch, heard in episode 6 as Maul remembers a painful moment from his past but that track is unreleased. Then we also hear another Williams theme, his original Imperial Theme from A New Hope, heard only once on album. Aside from that, we get a brief quote of John Powell’s Crimson Dawn Theme from Solo, closing episode 8, but sadly is not on album. It’s very subtle but it’s here as Dryden Vos is mentioned and I guess it will be more prominent in season 2 as the story seems like it will focus on Maul and Dryden’s partnership. That’s all the themes from other composers that are referenced. Now let’s talk about Kiner themes that return in the show, or rather, the theme, as the only theme that returns in this season is Maul’s Theme. Early in The Clone Wars he was represented by whispered vocals, and in Rebels he finally earned a new theme of his own, a lamenting cello line that was also used during the final arc of season 7 of The Clone Wars. That theme is expanded in this show, most notably over the title cards of the first and final episodes and the end credits, plus in a few other places as well. They also expand the sound of this theme with some low percussion and ominous drones as heard in the end credits track and in a few other tracks like in Maul Steals Cargo. The theme comes full circle in the final scene where it’s heard in the cello variation we heard it the first time all the way back in the season 2 finale of Rebels. The most important new theme is for Devon and Daki. It’s a bright and hopeful melody used mostly for her but also a couple of times for her master, like in Daki Saves the Bridge. It’s first heard as we see them for the first time in episode 1, and has some really nice variations through the season, ranging from soft and emotional to bold and epic action arrangements. I’m really looking forward to hear how they will transform this theme in season 2 with Devon’s revenge arc. The other big new theme is for Lawson, mostly used for him but also for his relationship with his son Riley. It’s also introduced at the same as the character in an unreleased variation, and it’s heard in both intimate variations and triumphant action fanfares. The theme concludes its journey with a dramatic transformation in the final episode as Lawson sacrifices himself to save Riley and the others. I don’t think he’s really dead, so I think the theme will reappear when he does, and I also hope that the theme is used for his son as well in the seasons going forward because it's really underused. There’s not a lot of new themes aside from these two. The Inquisitors are represented by a loud, dissonant sound joined by a rhythmic metallic motif that appears most of the times they’re on screen but I wouldn’t exactly call this a properly developed theme. There’s a theme for the Pyke Syndicate that’s used in the two episodes they appear in, but it’s quite short lived, and I wonder if they intend to use this theme in future seasons or perhaps in a future show focusing on the Crime Syndicates, since it’s the first time we hear this theme if I’m not mistaken, and it would be a shame to have it appear so little. There also seems to be a brief, sinister motif for Lieutenant Blake as pointed out by this channel, but it’s barely noticeable and absent from the album, as is the Pyke Syndicate theme, which makes them a bit more difficult to pick them out. I don’t think I missed anything too important, but feel free to add or correct anything I might’ve missed!

I rolled my eyes at "Party in the Moonlight". Why would I want that? I sat down one evening by myself in a recliner with it playing on speakers (not headphones) and a glass of wine and something to study... So lovely. So relaxing. Wonderful.

enregistrement de la marche du couronnement du roi Charles III https://www.facebook.com/reel/1524861479159655 source Facebook Patrick Doyle

I FINALLY finished the book and I wanted to deeply congratulate @Maestro . Bravo for this enormous achievement. The writing just flows and the book is so easy to read, informative, and I was impressed how you walked a fine line between all the components or potential traps (a subject matter not as controversial as some others, the sheer amount of works to navigate through,etc.). I liked all the attention to detail, the variety of the sources and quotes up to the score markings (played "Reflectively" etc. ). I love many phrasings like "the feelings evoked in is popular music grew organically in the garden of his own heart" I started the book from "The beginning of a friendship" to the end because it covered the JW I knew best and love, then read the first part of the book, prequel style. So it ended with "In search of Unicorns" and the death of Barbara - which I read listening to "Cinderella Liberty" (Mutter arrangement) and those few pages were devastating. I admit it is a weird way to read the book, ending on such a low note, but a very moving one . I did re-read the Epilogue though - great final pages btw: Beauty and truth!! I learned a lot having a peak at his childhood and formative years - and how this genius came to be ("I am not an exceptional person, but I am a grower" ) and how he wrote the "soundtrack of humanity". The book certainly made me want to listen to every score and concert pieces all over again! For the tidbits/possible corrections I noted : - p 134 : Spielberg writing Ace Ali and Rodger of the Skies while listening the The Reivers, and saying "The script never got made" : May be add in notes that the movie did eventually get made in 1973, directed by John Erman, scored by Jerry Goldsmith and Spielberg co-credited as a screenwriter. - p 151: "[The Poseidon adventure] was the highest grossing film of 1972, outdoing even the Godfather". It was not, it is definitely the other way around (at least in the US, see boxofficemojo or Wikipedia). "The Godfather" was even, unadjusted for inflation, the highest grossing movie of all time when it came out (yes, those were the times...) - p 328: Platoon came out in 1986 not 84 - p 468: "were as awesome as the binary suns of 1997" perhaps you meant 1977? (unless referring to the special editions ) - A question: p96: The list movies Williams made as a studio pianist: The Bouzereau doc mentioned prominently Williams playing on Elmer Bernstein's masterpiece "To Kill a Mockingbird", not referenced here unless I missed it somewhere else? (I only have the print version) Voilà, just minor tidbits for your updated edition - sorry if this has been reported before and congratulations again! Thank you so much!

I'm approaching this with fairly low expectations. It's a feature length episode (or handful of episodes) of The Mandalorian with a big budget and shown on the big screen. Sort of the ST: Generations of the Star Wars franchise. I'm still looking forward to it but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Disney: