Musica42

Cripes...what to pick... Well my favorites are: Breakheart Pass: Main Theme China Town: Love Theme Suite from Mulan Carol Anne's Theme: Poltergeist Main Titles: Rudy Katya's Theme: The Russia House Flying Dreams Theme: Secret of N.I.M.H. Main Title Theme: Star Trek: First Contact Main Title: Wind and the Lion Soarin' To pick just one though? Breakheart Pass is my favorite up tempo theme. It's a shame so few people have this album. For a slower theme I'd have to go with either Rudy or First Contact. Both make me blubber like an idiot every time I hear them.

Williams arranged the Tango (Por Una Cabeza) from Scent of a Woman for violin and orchestra.

Sorry others on here aren't being particularly helpful to you. My suggestion would be to try the forums at Northernsounds.com first. Many composers of various backgrounds and abilities frequent there and you're sure to get someone interested. If not, PM me and I can get you connected with the head of the composition department at my old college who can offer your project to the composition students there.

I was up front in the 3rd row and just to the left side of him. Bright red shirt with glasses. Here's a baker's dozen of photos I took. Regarding the recording of Harry's Wondrous World I eluded to earlier, it's pretty bad quality but I'm going to make an mp3 out of it anyway. The video part is just a shot of my knee the entire time except for a very brief moment at the end where I capture Williams reacting to the audience's applause. I was very concerned about losing my camera privileges so I aimed to be as inconspicuous as possible. EDIT: I've uploaded the rehearsal run-through audio of Harry's Wondrous World. Please PM if you're interested in a link.

No photos were *technically* allowed... But between pieces I managed to snap a few. My camera isn't the best in low light but a couple of them came out decently from where I sat in the 3rd row. Anyway to add my recollections to what everyone else has said: This was a completely exhilarating experience for me and a day I'll remember forever. Maestro Williams' arrival was greeted with a roar of applause and after acknowledging the sizable audience that had gathered for this event he stood on the podium and mentioned to the orchestra that many of the pieces were likely very familiar to them already so he'd like to simply run through most of the program. Thus he launched into The Cowboy Overture and it was gloriously performed. I cannot heap enough praise on the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. They performed the vast majority of the music exceptionally and Williams' gift for orchestration was really highlighted by them and the warm sounding hall. That horn trill at the end of Cowboys was electric! Even better than the one on the ...By Request CD. Next up was Close Encounters. Most of this piece was played phenomenally as well although I noticed the trombones folded pretty badly at their tutti section near the beginning (the rapid part where they go down to their extreme blatty low register). Following this performance Williams said he was extremely impressed with the caliber of playing in the orchestra and quipped it sounded like they'd all grown up playing the music. This was of course greeted with another round of applause much to Williams' amusement. Third up was a trio of Harry Potter pieces (Hedwig's Theme, Nimbus 2000, and Harry's Wondrous World). The string runs at the beginning of that piece...holy crap. Clean as a whistle from where I sat. Again FWSO blew me away with how well they performed. The celeste player was a tad uneven on the second solo with all the runs and likewise the strings followed suit a bit on the dirty side as well. Fortunately Williams' addressed this issue and we all got to hear that passage a second time much improved. Very very cool to watch. The Nimbus 2000 was the all woodwind arrangement that appears in the Signature Score edition which was VERY exciting for me because as many times as I'd looked at it, I've never heard a recording of that particular version. I kicking myself for not realizing what this piece was before it started and letting my camera record the audio. Oh well. The woodwinds knocked it out of the park (and if anyone has a decent recording of this movement could you PLEASE PM me). Lastly came Harry's Wondrous World which for me is one of the greatest things Williams has ever done. This piece suffered a bit here and there (I think the orchestra was beginning to get a little fatigued) and Williams took the time to address a few issues mostly related to the second section (starting around 2 minutes on the recording from the OST). To convey that he wanted the background material in the winds to be lighter he said to play it like little kids riding around on brooms, which was of course fitting. The ending also got another run through to fix some tempo issues. I should also mention that I may or may not have let my camera record the audio on this last piece. Rounding out the first half of the rehearsal Williams finished with Adventures on Earth. At this point he began saying the players needed to save something for the evening concert so he only rehearsed parts of this piece. We did get the ending though and it made for an exhilarating end to the first half. Williams' vanished backstage at this point while I gushed with my friends who'd come along about how amazing this all was. While Williams was away a techie was setting up a monitor for him on his podium and when he returned he began a piece titled "Monsters, Damsels and Heroes" ... or something to that effect. I'm amused that none of us seem to be able to remember what the hell this piece was called. The music was good enough but I detested the visuals that went with it. It looked like a Powerpoint presentation of still images that were synced to the music. My only recollection of this piece beyond that was I hated the way the tom-tom drum sounded during the Jaws segment (me being a percussionist I notice stupid things like this) and was happy to hear The Adventures of Robin Hood. Williams made a comment about bowing like a singer would sing the piece during one of the slower tunes and also corrected the rhythmic accuracy in the Robin Hood segment (happily resulting in another partial play through of this portion of the piece). Being a little "meh" toward this last piece I was brought back to rapt attention with Williams conducting live to picture the "Indy's First Adventure" cue from Last Crusade, a whirlwind orchestral tour de force if there ever was one. After the run through Williams had the picture turned off and reran the cue piece by piece. This was one of the highlights of the entire rehearsal simply from a technical standpoint. I would suspect that what I saw was very similar to how Williams would rehearse for film score recording. After this piece the concertmaster raised his stand and I knew we where in for some Schindler's List. Next to the Cowboy Overture this was the other completely transcendent moment of the rehearsal. The violinist started out decently enough (although through the entire first statement of the theme I kept thinking Itzhak Perlman did a better job with it). Then he got to the second half and his playing completely transformed for whatever reason. By the end of the piece I was stunned with how beautifully unique his performance was. A simply masterful job and one Williams' clearly appreciated greatly as well. Next up were a few snippets from Star Wars. He started by playing the Imperial March and cut off after 2 measures. The sound of the audience behind me deflating at this was hysterical (although I'll admit it was tragic that we didn't get to hear even ONE run through of the Imperial March theme). Next he moved onto Leia's Theme, again he only played a small section but we were at the very least blessed by the beautiful horn solo (which was PERFECTLY played). I assume the Main Title is on the program but he didn't address it at the rehearsal. I did catch him saying to the orchestra that he wasn't going to begin conducting until measure 4 and I *think* this was in reference to the Main Title. Ah well, who wants to hear Williams conduct his signature piece live anyway? (me, that's who. Boo.) Next up was the Signature Score edition of Sayuri's Theme from Memoirs of a Geisha. It got one quick restart after Williams suggested the flutist take a bit more time with the opening solo and otherwise was a gorgeous run through. Second to last was a piece I rarely hear these days: The Olympic Spirit synced to a video of Olympic clips. This was very very rousing and, although I didn't feel most of the hits landed where they should, a few certainly did and it was great fun nonetheless. Williams made a point of mentioning at least twice that the piece was very difficult to conduct/perform properly because of all the hits and from what I saw I believe him. Lastly we got a few bits of Indiana Jones and then the rehearsal was over. Williams received a standing ovation then I made my way to the front of the stage as quickly as I could to see if I could get a signature. I was among the first to make it and was very happy to see him have a chair brought over and pen handed to him. I saw someone have their Star Wars double LP signed and I think I saw a Towering Inferno LP in there too. Williams was exceptionally gracious to allow for this time and when I went up to him I simply said he was the inspiration for my doing music and I handed him my copy of my favorite score of his (A.I.). He signed the inside booklet with his pen and I handed him a silver paint pen and he was nice enough to sign the disc itself as well. Then my wife shouted for a picture and we both turned and in a couple of tries got one of the greatest photos of my life. In all the experience was precisely what I had always dreamed it would be. Williams was beyond humble and ... what else can I say. It was a very good day.

While my respect for Powell has grown leaps and bounds over the past couple of years he had yet to give me a score I couldn't put down. Then HTTYD completely broadsided me. I cannot stop listening to this thing, especially "This is Berk", "See You Tomorrow" and "Test Drive". It's some of the most fun music I've heard in film in quite a while. I can't wait to see this movie and hear it in context.

Woah, check out the all-in-one bass/cello/viola/violin.

This may just be me arguing for arguments sake, but I think it's incorrect to say Williams' score to A.I. was influenced by minimalism. Instead I think it's more accurate to say he incorporated some textures/sounds of prominent minimalist composers (and very cleverly I might add). The whole concept of minimalism is composing with a reduction of material, using drones, small cells of notes and/or patterns that get repeated, etc. To me a score that was "influenced by minimalism" would at least partially adopt some of these ideas. A.I. on the other hand is a very complex score and it doesn't adhere to a minimalist aesthetic at all save for in the most superficial of ways. A modern score that one could really make a case for saying was influenced by minimalism is The Dark Knight. The Joker's theme is basically a single pitch. One of the other prominent themes is only two notes (the root followed by the third of a minor chord). And in general much of the material is harmonically stagnant.

I've been fortunate enough to See Randy Newman and John Corigliano with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (on separate concerts of course), but I've never been fortunate enough to see Williams live. Took me about .5 seconds to decide this was worth the five hour drive from San Antonio.

Just got my own tickets. Third row!

If you can't mock percussionists, then who can you mock.

A few additional comments: First I would advise against writing any important melodic material bowed. More than likely it won't come off as you intend. Just realize you're dealing with an effect that has essentially no attack and will die away pretty quickly. That combined with having to carefully move and place the bow for each note which becomes much more difficult if your moving back and forth from natural keys to the sharp/flat keys will create significant gaps between sounds and make it exceptionally difficult and in some instances impossible to make a smooth melodic line. Here's a great piece to give you an idea of the speed with which you can move around with two bows, Mourning Dove Sonnet by Christopher Deane: Granted it's being played on a vibraphone where the sound sustains for much much longer but the concept is basically the same. I've found that marimbas speak a little slower than vibes but not significantly so. The real difference is with the resonance which can die all but immediately in the middle range on up.

Yah I'll admit to buying everything of his I can and scrounging around for gamerips of his really old stuff and other such rarities. Film music has become such a paint by numbers art form for so many that somebody like Giacchino who uses a unique palette of orchestral colors and harmonies for most of his projects really sets him above the rest in my book. I suppose in that sense I like him more for what he represents than what he actually writes, but that statement shortchanges scores like The Incredibles, Ratatouille, UP, and Star Trek, which frankly I find to be some of the finest work done by anyone in film this side of 2000. He may have a ways to go before he becomes a true "pillar of awesome" such as Williams or Goldsmith, but for someone who's career is just starting he's certainly made his mark and is easily the best of the new crop of composers to hit Hollywood. The main counterexample I can think of is Ratatouille's main theme "Le Festin." That tune went on and on (in a good way) before looping back around on itself.

From the composer's website: http://web.mac.com/lydmusic/Site/Listen_Krump.html Hope that's what you're looking for.

Alamo: Price of Freedom, Merrill Jenson Cliffhanger, Trevor Jones Drag Me To Hell, Christopher Young Last of the Dogmen, David Arnold

The last track is a short orchestral rendition of the Neverending Story song from the first film. Other than that there's a fleeting reference here or there, but it's basically all new material. And there's really no point in arguing with someone that thinks ID4 is a sucky score. It'd be like arguing with someone that's convinced 2 + 2 = 7.

Coincidentally it was the thought of owning Desplat's score to New Moon (a movie I have an unending amount of near-sociopathic hatred toward) that made me start this thread.

And a few others... Back to School, Big Top Peewee, and Hot to Trot were all terrible films of Elfman's early career. Super Mario Bros and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot are a couple more from Silvestri's closet. Wild Wild West and The Black Cauldron by Elmer Bernstein.

Here's a few more terrible movies with A-list composers (can't really comment on the quality of all their scores): Catwoman, Klaus Badelt The Postman, James Newton Howard (and John Sebastian) Gigli, John Powell I Know Who Killed Me, Joel McNeely Leonard Part 6, Elmer Bernstein Striptease, Howard Shore Mac and Me, Alan Silvestri Son of the Mask, Randy Edelman Waterworld, James Newton Howard

I've never seen it or heard the score, but the number 1 worst reviewed movie on Rottentomatoes is Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever with a score by Don Davis. Everything I've heard of Davis' has been top notch so I'm going to assume this is a good candidate too.

My ire toward Alien3 stems from the concept more than the execution.

Speaking of Demolition Man... It reminds me of another one: Cliffhanger, by Trevor Jones

So far I think the best addition to this topic has been Alien3. That movie stunk on ice but the score is among the coolest "sound mass" works ever done. Actually Goldenthal has done some great things with real dog crap films: Batman & Robin, Batman Forever, and Demolition Man also come to mind. Some would say Final Fantasy: Spirits Within could also be added to this list.

Apologies if this rather banal topic has come up before, but what in your opinion is the worst movie to wind up having a great score? I've got a few candidates: Congo, Jerry Goldsmith Cutthroad Island, John Debney Disney's Dinosaur, James Newton Howard The Neverending Story II, Robert Folk (which would be my actual choice from this list) The Omen III, Jerry Goldsmith

Call it a sign of the time but if a composer can actually write, even if it isn't the most inspired at all times, he's got my respect. Of all the embarrasing things in my iTunes library the majority are from John Debney. I don't mean that as an insult, rather he is one of only a few artists I've decided to go 'completist' with and this results in things like Hannah Montana: The Movie and Barnyard being in my collection. Not all of his scores are great but he's on more than one occasion batted it out of the park. Cutthroat Island, LAIR, and Hocus Pocus are some of my favorite scores by anyone. And his score to ELF is one of my favorite seasonal scores. And more for the novelty than anything I enjoy his efforts on such movies as Inspector Gadget and The Jetsons.