Bowie

I created my own 'listening experience' playlist, trimming the fat, as follows: 1. Main Title & The Attack on Jakku Village 2. The Scavenger 3. Rey Meets BB-8 4. March of the Resistance 5. Rey's Theme 6. Finn's Confession 7. Han and Leia 8. Kylo Ren Arrives at the Battle 9. The Abduction 10. On the Inside 11. Torn Apart 12. Scherzo for X-Wings 13.The Ways of the Force 14. Farewell & The Trip 15. The Jedi Steps & Finale (Representing the film, it really just misses a sense of the action music accompanying the various Falcon detours that get us to Takodana, but personally I don't think it's strong enough. I'm also annoyed that the flutes fade out at the end of the "Falcon" track.)

At about the 0:47 mark (the flighty B-section melody), in the second phrase (0:53), he 'dots the crotchet' which hints at her lineage...

Anyone else think the March of the Resistance theme is missing an extra statement at the start before it detours away into that rising emphatic phrase? It doesn't stick with you as a theme as a result, I find.

Yeah, funny how listening to the original after this it sounds sooo lethargic (to be expected really) but I think the speed really works better for the style of writing. But of course Williams is a bit beholden to the pacing of the scene.

Once you figure out Rey's Theme properly, the score opens up, I feel. I just noticed a crazy cool merging of the Force theme with her theme in the second half of Ways of the Force... and there's obviously that lovely melange right at the end of the End Credits.

It feels like it's just missing that one strong new setpiece theme, that the previous 5 films all had (Imperial March, Ewoks/Palpatine, Duel of the Fates, Across the Stars, Battle of the Heroes). I also think what may distinguish modern Williams from classic is perhaps a reluctance to borrow wholesale from classical music (Prokofiev, Holst, etc). He is now writing based on a long experienced career, rather than pastiche based on other styles and composers. (Perhaps the film was spotted with existing Star Wars music?) Either way, I think generally speaking the writing is strong, but there is definitely one unifying idea missing here, which is not the end of the world.

Recent footage indicates to me he appears delighted and capable of continuing, and he has said in past interviews he can't imagine ever stopping. I mean, he's still going, relatively healthy at 83. Don't see any particular reason he won't keep going, unless of course there are unforeseen medical difficulties, but again that seems like needless speculation. At this stage I'm pretty sure he fully intends to at least do Ep 8 and will surely want to finish all 9: an epic career achievement, a life's work, a masterpiece.

Yeah I kinda thought that it went without saying he was planning to do all 3? BFG early 2016, Ep 8 very late 2016, and Ready Player One somewhere after that. He can handle it.

I think a slight misstep is that the Resistance march probably works better as a villainous theme. Not sure why it wasn't used for Kylo Ren/First Order sequences tbh.

It's more like E, D#, A, C.

Yes. Think of Ren's theme as these four notes: 1 -> 2 (short step down), 2 -> 3 (large leap down), 3 -> 4 (medium leap up), and compare with the predominantly distinctive four notes of the other theme in question (ignoring the first leap notes): 1 -> 2 (short step up), 2 -> 3 (large leap up), 3 -> 4 (large leap down). The direction is the opposite (how apt), and the intervals of the steps (short/large etc) are more or less the same, although truthfully it's not 1:1, but the overall intended effect I think is quite clear, if maybe not obvious.

You're right. There's a lot going on with the theme, but you do really warm up to it. Especially with the sweeping statements of the main melody. Those sweeping statements remind me of Yoda's Theme (well I guess the second half of it), and as I said earlier, a lot of it sounds like Ren's theme (and maybe some little bits resemble Luke's three-note descending thematic fragment, but less so). I think you could make a convincing case of Rey's lineage from her theme in either of those directions...Meanwhile, "The Abduction" is a fantastic cue, ending with one of Rey's themes. I'm still a little confused over the way she has like four different melodies.

Does anyone else hear fragments of Kylo Ren's theme in the more melodic contours of Rey's Theme?

Kyle Ren's theme (the main four notes) are an inversion (more or less) of a certain other theme (a spoiler)...

I would like to point out that the Prisoner of Azkaban OST, which I think is highly regarded around here, was 21 tracks (just 2 fewer) and had quite a few short ones (more tracks under 2 minutes compared to The Force Awakens). So I think there's precedent for a great listening experience with short tracks that work short. We'll see!

Does that mean they can't have used a stem of a theme Williams possibly gave to the producers for the purpose?

I'm surprised that almost everyone agrees it's not Williams. It sounds like Williams to me. It may be a synthesised mock-up of a relatively detailed sketch? Seems most likely as it's 7 months away. But the core of it definitely sounds like a cunningly derivative yet unique and catchy Williams theme, with subtle trademarks of variation and melodic detours. It sounds confident and complete and yet unfinished... Seems like far too much effort was put in it otherwise, and besides, if it's just trailer house music, if that even is such a thing, whoever wrote this might as well be Williams at this point. They did a very good job and deserve a pay raise.

Good work Johnny T. on your 49th Oscar nomination!

Besides Angela's Ashes, the main theme also reminds me of Irina's Theme, especially the chromatic lines, and the way the melody is echoed quickly by other instruments to provide that sort of "clumsy" displaced disharmony.

WOW. Very lyrical, wondrous. Getting a huge Presumed Innocent vibe from some of this.

I'd say rather than turning all the lights on to deter intruders, Tintin switched most of his lights off to lure Barnaby in...

My name is in my username.

MissPadmé, I think you're somewhat out of line for accusing someone of being arrogant for simply venting his disappointment in a piece of art - professional or not. He had high hopes for something - especially based on the Williams Potter scores and Desplat's own self-hyping - and they were obviously dashed. Who are YOU MissPadmé to even think someone cannot be allowed to be a vocal critic?

Originally, you weren’t slated to score the second part of Hallows. What do you think sold the director David Yates on you wrapping up the saga? My accent? You cannot really hear it when I write music. What can we expect from your score to Harry’s finale? How many of the Hallows themes will crossover to the next film, and which new ones will be introduced? I don’t know yet. I’ve still a long way to go.

Not many weren't, but in both Desplat's and Williams' defenses, most action scenes these days are weak and lazily conceived, even if they appear to be "setpieces".