Miz

Score better than film...

Quality of film and quality of music don't always match. I for one am a fan of flying chases, by spacecraft or whatever... but which are your favourites? For tightest scoring, in sync with the action, the creative ideas of the film itself, I nominate Spaceship Chase from Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. For inventive scoring I would choose The Kronos Wartet from Star Trek: Into Darkness, for pumping use of choir and rhythm. Honorable nod to the Superstructure Chase from Return of the Jedi, and the use of the Rebel fanfare action music (premiered during a stationary battle in Star Wars) at its most thrilling and propulsive.

They get lots of TV stations on board, though.

Of all the leitmotif pedantry among film score fans, "Han's / Han&Leia's theme" is the most tedious.

Here's hoping for Rebellion Reborn, and a few rarer pieces.

Swooping in with my first contribution...and it's TV... Da Vinci's Demons!

It looks like Johnny is conducting one (or a few) pieces. Has he the stamina for a whole concert? Well, as a Brit living 3-hours train ride from London, having never seen John Williams in the flesh, I will be queueing up on the internet to buy a ticket. Last year at the same time was Giacchino's birthday bash, which was my favourite concert ever until I heard a full Star Wars concert in Birmingham than, musically and performance-wise, superceded it. I ought to see him do his thing before he leaves us!

Actually, on multiple listens, I agree with you. This doesn't 'soar' because it doesn't let rip with the full theme and sub-theme narrative like other arrangements, or with the momentum of the theme as heard in the score. The hesitance and melodic 'juggling' in this arrangement seems characteristic of modern Williams' writing; it's complex, interesting and deliciously orchestrated, but lacks the drive of the theme from, say, Gerdhardt's recording. It almost feels like this is the wrong theme for this arrangement. However, as a musical illiterate, there's probably lots of interesting features of this new arrangement that I'm missing.

What a treat for fans! It seems to lose its simple romantic force when it was couched in the ESB score, gains a melancholy edge (with shades of his 70s scores like Eiger Sanction), dabbles with melodic exploration and soars far beyond its origins. And this is why we love John Williams. When's the first recording happening, hmm?

Agreed, it could have been. Alas, I think his style could have evolved into something even more interesting. In respect I have listened to Arrival again, and out of pragmatism I have deleted tracks that don't grab me, so that I have a playlist that I'm more likely to listen to again, for there is lots of interesting music there.

The New Vision The Hurried Funeral The Franchise Ruptures

As a Brit, I know the location (and have a heuristic about the character) of particular US states because I want to, not because I should. American exceptionalism runs deep!

I don't see how it couldn't be a PR move. Of course it's not solely a PR move (aha!), but it is obviously about marketing the movie, like all of the movie and the talk about its creation is. I'm going out on a limb and wondering whether Han's theme will be based at least partly on The Asteroid Field - a one-off melody that scores Solo's audacity, and can be turned into something with attitude (John Powell has been writing themes 'with attitude' for some time now!). It also has to be a melody with a hook, and Johnny hasn't been writing many of those lately (as engaging as Holdo's Resolve and March of the Resistance are to listen to for me, as a film score fan, hooks they have not).

How can you sell a FYC disc and not get tracked by the publishers or academy? In any case, these extra tracks are nothing too special, and the quality from the download is good enough for me!

Any word on a lossless release of these FYC tracks?

I get the theme in my head then end up humming The Songless Nightingale.

So I'm really enjoying Battlestar Galactica and hearing in context the music I've been enjoying for nearly a year now. Some of the scoring choices are stunning, such as: A Promise To Return - the screen version of this is different to the album version. Does anyone know if it has had a release? Are there any bootlegs of this series' music?

I'm going to ensure I have a high-quality (320?) version, whenever and wherever it comes from, then get baked and listen to it prior to seeing the film. ¬_¬

That makes sense. Not as acrimonious as I might have supposed. I'm glad he went for Valerian, I thought that was a cracking score and I would prefer to hear it (and its style and features) in that film than in Rogue One. Infact I listened to (and cycled to portions of) Valerian for months before watching the film; then watching tight cues in Spaceship Chase was a thrill.

I'd like to hear the Batman theme and Superman theme in the score. Can anyone link to a video or a time-code in this soundtrack video?

I didn't know the proper name for it. The interlude of a quiet Force theme, followed by the 'Tatooine' bridge (that is, the fanfare we hear when the droids' capsule spins toward the planet), and into the finale music, I first heard at the end of the soundtrack for Revenge of the Sith. Has it been a performance piece since before then? Oh yeah, 20th Century Fox fanfare! I forgot, but it was actually a thrilling and sound choice of opening, and (as with all of the concert) so tight.

Well I have to report in that this was a stunning concert, the best I've ever been to. The Birmingham Symphony Hall is the most splendid concert hall I've seen, and the acoustics were flawless. The orchestral power was contained and conveyed brilliantly, and when quiet the sound was rich and warm. I sat top and centre (higher than in the picture), and had a great view - better than my experience in the Royal Albert Hall, whose scale I now believe to be too large. This concert had a minimum of frills - no introductions except for a deep voiceover in the dark between odd tracks, spelling out the chronological story with mixed success (try paraphrasing the plot of the prequels, they sound awful!). The conductor was vibrant and hardworking, really drawing out every performer and getting the most out of the orchestra and the music. Concert-goers will know that a joy of hearing familiar music live is seeing how the orchestra creates our beloved music, but also the changes in sound mix that allow us to experience the music, and its technical excellence, in new ways. Just what you want from this playlist: Main Title/End Credits was the classic opener, played flawlessly at the thrilling tempo demanded by the original, which I know not all concert performances can handle. A bombastic start was duly followed by The Flag Parade, in a concert arrangement I hadn't heard before. Full of boisterous interludes and flighty passages (sounding more scattered than the tonal writing we typically hear in The Phantom Menace, and the film presentation of this piece, and more akin to The Force Awakens action). The brass gave this an attitude and verve I hadn't heard and the quality of the performance excited me for the rest of the concert, as it was not about to let up. Anakin's Theme showcased the rich, coherent sound they could express in slower movements, then the ~80-strong choir stood for Duel of the Fates. A special piece to hear live, this was full of more powerful percussion than usual, but the propulsive force and tempo of the piece was executed brilliantly. Across the Stars started to reveal the talent of the soloists, then the choir returned for Battle of the Heroes. As we know, it strikes a more jagged tone than Duel of the Fates, but they nailed it. Then (and I forget the specific order), onto the familiar classicism of 'Episode IV'; Here They Come dived headlong into action, giving space to all the orchestra and handling deftly the crescendos and drops, and the range of pitch, in this classic piece. Princess Leia's Theme again showed us the control and poise of the soloists, passing the theme around without putting a step wrong. Cantina Band was another treat, played in dim 'bar-like' lighting, featuring a guitar and possibly another odd instrument I couldn't identify. Throne Room/End Titles was performed with as much confidence as you'd now expect from an orchestra knocking out these pieces so skillfully; however it surprisingly segued into the Celebration End Titles from Revenge of the Sith, with the slow Force theme and fabulous 'Tatooine' bridge. A satisfying piece to close the first half. In the second half, around half the members of the orchestra came back in Star Wars costume. From Rey, hooded Jedi and Rebel pilots to Darths Maul and Vader (who joined lit-eyed Jawas on percussion at the back), the unassuming affair raised cheers from the audience. The best was a bulbous Jabba waddling on stage, giving a wave, then going to sit in the wind section to play flute! Asteroid Field was yet another treat to hear in its concert form, the tempo handled excellently, the percussion on point and the brass coming forth in broad strokes. Yoda's Theme was a pleasant interlude, followed by the fantastic Parade of the Ewoks. It was brilliant to see odd percussion being played, and played hard, and the piece took on far much more character live (here in a slightly different concert presentation with a differing intro). Luke and Leia, now my favourite romantic theme of Johnny's, was another testament to the hall's warm sound, this orchestra's coherence, the soloists skill, and really brought forth this layered and melodically-fascinating theme. The Forest Battle set the conductor alight, tested the players' skills, and thrilled us with a pumping and powerful opening leading to the percussive Ewok sections and bombastic finale. Music from The Force Awakens, newly-heard live for most, I suppose, kicked off smartly with March of the Resistance, which drew my eye and ear to the hard-working brass section. Rey's Theme will surely become a classic, and it was nice to see celesta (I think) in the opening and closing. Scherzo for X-Wings was played as hard as you would hope, keeping the original's tempo and expressing well the tension between order and chaos in Williams' modern action writing. Finally, Jedi Steps and Finale captured the initial mystery, and then handled expertly the thematic changes through the credits, to the touching and quiet ending. The celesta closing of the main theme seemed born to cap a thrilling fans' concert like this. Of course, there was one piece missing, and a Palpatine, Vader and stormtroopers came out for the encore, which was a thunderous approach to the Imperial March, as confident, flawless and enriching performance as any throughout the evening.

Well, I've spent the summer listening to Seasons 1-4 of Battlestar Galactica and fallen in love with Bear McCreary's sound! Now I've only just watched the first few episodes and found I enjoyed Richard Gibbs' standalone-style score to this. Did Bear also help with this one? I've also acquired lots of extra albums - The Plan/Razor, Blood and Chrome, and three from Caprica. The first two don't strike me as much as BSG or Caprica do - not quite as coherent or thematic. Caprica has it's own neat tone and I think it actually represents a continuation of the maturing of his sound through the 5-odd years of the BSG soundtrack. What do people think?

Sorry to burst your bubble, kids.

Of a rather zany programme and delivery, the Super 8 montage was touching and my favourite part of the concert.