Jacck

Anyone else a fan of Danny Elfman's classic MIB scores? I was concerned he wouldn't be back to score the spinoff since it has a new director; I'm glad I was wrong!
 
I got the score early, and so far (like 3 tracks in) I like what I'm hearing! Some nice references to the original scores here and there with a "modern" twist.

According to USA Today, Elgar and Stravinsky appear to be his greatest influences:
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/movieawards/oscars/story/2012-02-17/john-williams-oscars-soundtrack/53160208/1

Don't forget Bela Bartok.....listen to Johnny's "Return of the Jedi" (Approaching the Death Star) and Bartok's "Concerto for orchestra" opening movement.
Then how come you don't know "Row, row, row your boat"? :cool:

Elgar seems to be a big influence to my ears.

I think the most significant ones would be:
Prokofiev
Stravinsky
Alex North
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Alfred Newman
I think it's underestimated how much of an influence Alex North has been on both John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. They are incredibly similar composers who write in leitmotif, and use a mix of jazz, modernistic and neo-romantic styles.
Alex North:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMFlBqZ8vb0

"The Mecha World" always strikes me as extremely Adams-ish.
Man, I really love that score.

Some of my favorites:
Copland--the "Scotch snap" in Americana music and the use of major triads as motifs
Stravinsky--the famous chord/rhythmic device from Rite of Spring

Interesting, they're going period rather than contemporary. Didn't expect that!

Normally, I would share that sentiment. However, this is a unique case.
 
After revisiting the 1961 film a few times, it feels somewhat dated, and some key Puerto Rican characters were not portrayed by, well, Puerto Rican’s. Don’t get me wrong, George Chakiris did a great job as Bernardo, and Natalie Wood was unforgettable as Maria; I would not change that at all. Nothing will ever take away from the 1961 adaptation; it’s a classic.
 
That said, it will be great to see all roles being portrayed by actors that share the same background as the characters being portrayed. In fact, here is a couple of interesting articles which show the effort of accuracy looking to be attested:
 
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/amp/news/steven-spielberg-met-puerto-rican-activists-west-side-story-concerns-1176285
 
https://deadline.com/2019/01/steven-spielberg-west-side-story-cast-ariana-debose-david-alvarez-josh-andres-rivera-rachel-zegler-1202535002/
 
I have confidence in Spielberg and his team. This looks to be a treat. Now that I think about it, I have not seen a really great musical in a long time. The most recent musical I saw was Les Misérable; it was okay, but I had a few issues with it (Russel Crowe autotuned for one thing). The last great musical I saw (not counting Disney animated feature films) was Fiddler On the Roof. I heard La La Land was good, but I have no real interest in seeing it.
 
Anyway, I would not call West Side Story a remake. This is more of an adaptation of the original 1957 Broadway musical, and NOT a remake of the 1961 film.

The score is available on Haab's SoundCloud:
 
 

Soundtrack is on Haab's SoundCloud:
 
 

Mike Matessino updates us on John's social life, also Episode IX:
 
 
Does June seem a little late for John to start writing this score, considering the timelines for the last two sequels, the December release, and the score's likely runtime?
 
Maybe this is his way of reducing the plethora of rewrites TFA undertook, waiting until the film is properly assembled (sans VFX) rather than writing reel by reel.

I didn't know people hated it.  It's great fun, a perfect fit for that film.

Stefan and I are discussing this controversial score off site. I am one of the few who enjoy the score while Stefan is not a fan. I know he and others dislike it very much but I fail to understand why.
 
Perhaps some of you can explain.

What a great piece! For some related reading, here is an interview with Yo-Yo Ma about Williams that posted today: http://projectorandorchestra.com/yo-yo-ma-on-john-williams-classical-side/. The interview was supposed to be part of a larger story about Williams' concert/classical career but the Washington Post pulled it when the author couldn't get an interview with Williams.

THE GHOST PIECE!  Luv u johnny.
 
I absolutely love this little portrait of John hanging out at Tanglewood (also thanks to @Doug Adams for finding that)

One of his best concert works, no doubt.  Utterly excellent.  The music takes the listener on such a varied journey, many surprises.  Great virtuosity writing and dynamic range.
And lovely lyrical writing as well. 
Structure was strong and John used the orchestra to great effect, integrating things better than in many of his other concerti.
Well, hopefully @Bespin has a fuller one.
 
I thought about making a recording, but didn't set things up on time.

I have listened through Chamber of Secrets. 
 
It was a great experience! The sound quality is fantastic. Mike's liner notes talking about the mixture of the familiar with the unfamiliar helped me listen to it with a new perspective. 
 
I love all statements of Dobby's theme, the Chamber theme, and Fawkes. I love the brass and action writing in The Spiders Attack and Dueling the Basilisk. 
 
Hearing 'Harry is a Parselmouth' was so cool to me! As were the alternates! I love the alt ending to Petrified Colin and the Car Drives Off (Alternate)!
 
Oh, and the TV commercial tracks at the end are awesome!
 
 

The only glitch I found on that cue is that there’s no muffled SFX of the cell door blasting off!

Alright. Never ask a music editor this kind of stuff XD @crumbs and @King Mark Ask and ye shall receive
 
EDITED FOR CONCISENESS:
I lined them up basically perfectly and I wasn't getting any phasing.
 
Upon further inspection though. I'd say it's the same recording. However, it is a different mix.
 
The waveform ended up being suspiciously different. As in, the channels on the HP3 "Trailer" track seemed perfectly inverted and the left and right channels were swapped. Once I reversed all that, the waves matched much closer, but there are certain areas where certain instruments are louder. So, I'd wager it's the same recording, but a new mix for the trailer. 
 
In fact, getting them perfectly in sync reveals where the new mix changes were made. Phasing in certain areas and not in others. See audio below
 
Here's a visual representation of the two:

 
As you can see. There are areas (once HP3 Trailer is restored to resemble the correct stereo configuration) where the waveforms are identical. However, there are areas where the mix has clearly changed and then of course at the end the Trailer cue was edited for time.
 
Audibly, you can really hear it. Note how at 0:10 You can hear a sharp cut in the phasing, then we are in the new mix, however around 0:33 it switches back to the original mix.
 

 
And finally, for good measure. Here are the stereo Spectral Frequency Displays for each overlayed on top of each other. I inverted the colors of the HP3 Trailer track and lowered the opacity by 50%. This way, anything that is basically identical will be cancelled out. As we see, most of the track is "cancelled out". The only distinctions are the gong / cymbal overlay near the beginning and the ending that is off due to the edit:

 
SO. In conclusion, HP3's "Trailer" is just a remixed version of "Reunion of Friends" from HP2. It is not a new recording.

I love how throughout The Children’s Suite you can here the instruments (the celeste and bassoon keys) and the musicians breathing. It makes it feel like you’re sat in the middle of the orchestra.

One more thought about Azkaban. I am actually tempted to insert the source music into the main programme. It's such an eclectic score anyway and I feel it really blurs the line between diegetic and non-diegetic. It feels almost like a theatre play score.
 
Karol

I recall being moved to goosebumps when seeing the film at 'a change of season.' The music works perfectly, starts soaring with the Owl and then crescendo as the camera pans up to bright white sky...

I ask for replacement CDs.

Could the frequency cut-off be for a particular reason, such as unwanted noise?