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ChrisAfonso

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Posts posted by ChrisAfonso

  1. I really enjoy this piece every time I listen to it (which is less often than it deserves ;)). I never really "got" the 4th movement, but I greatly appreciate all the others for their individual qualities. Regarding the obvious "Sorcerer's Apprentice" allusion at the end of mvt. 2, IMHO it's most likely not a coincidence, but a conscious homage, as well as very appropriate to the topic of the movement (a tree connected to witchcraft).

  2. “Harry’s a talented composer whose music needed editing and remixing to fit the very contemporary subject and ambitions of my picture,” said Mann. “He was one of four composers who contributed to the score – along with Atticus and Leo Ross, Ryan Amon and Mike Dean. It would have been preferable to me, too, if the delivered music could have been used as it was.”

    Doesn't compute.

    ...Four! Our four chief composers are: Harry Gregson-Williams, Atticus and Leo Ross, and Ryan Amon... and Mike Dean! FIVE! Among our FIVE composers...

  3. I'd think more along the lines of a-capella choir (as large as possible) and organ. Although, more cowbell can never hurt.

    No organ.

    Why not? Iluvatar would have to be differentiated from the Ainur in some way, also this would be difficult to achieve just with voices:

    "Then he raised up both his hands, and in one chord, deeper than the Abyss, higher than the Firmament, piercing as the light of the eye of Iluvatar, the Music ceased."

    If voices were used for this, they'd have to be amplified and put through a pitch-shift/chorus effect or something, to achieve that otherworldly range.

  4. If he doesn't show up again in some form then that's pretty poor writing as he basically exists for the Night's Watch to go beyond the wall. Plot device!

    I disagree - to me that would be totally in keeping with with the "more realistic" premise in the writing. Just as (almost) anyone can die, people can go missing in uncharted areas and never be found. That everyone has to be accounted for at the end is artificial. (Not that I wouldn't love to find out what happend to him

    ;))

    In a way the sequence of events really illustrates the dangers of the lands of always winter: waymar sets out to gather recon in the wild - waymar goes missing - benjen sets out to find him - benjen goes missing - mormont sets out in force to find him - mormont and many rangers are killed.

  5. Great writeup, Publicist! I have very little to add ;)

    Overall it was an awesome concert, I really enjoyed the mostly long suites for each score. The one exception being Corpse Bride - the selection of cues was very sparse, I guess owing to the fact that much of the score is songs, and the "Victor's piano" solo was quite unconvincingly played - it sounded quite forced at times and the tempo was all over the place. The extended solo violin cadenza in Edward Scissorhands, on the other hand (no pun intended), was very engaging - very virtuosic and sparkling with energy while incorporating some free variations on the score's themes, even if the acrobatics of the soloist very a bit much for me sometimes *g*.

    Since we had choir seats, we didn't really see much of the screen, but that was secondary for me, anyway.

    Hilarious moment during the last encore: Mauceri donning a Santa hat and speaking Santa's lines to Elfman in the Oogie Boogie song from Nightmare.

    Did anyone get an opportunity for autographs? I forgot to pack anything to sign before the trip, so I didn't even try to see if Elfman appeared anywhere after the concert... (also we were quite tired after walking through London the whole day)

    Some impressions:

    The Albert Hall was extremely packed:

    P1020636.JPG

    Applause for the solo boy soprano after the Alice in Wonderland encore:

    P1020644.JPG

    Elfman getting on stage for the final encore (Oogie Boogie's song):

    P1020645.JPG

  6. Definitely an interesting teaser, fitting (if not completely memorable) music and great look! Narration felt a little bland, through... slightly concerned about the stormtroopers and TIE fighters, on the one hand it's very cool to see them again, on the other hand I hope there's a good reason for them being in the story that doesn't feel shoehorned in for nostalgia's sake ("Surprise! Some remnant of the Empire has risen... again!").

  7. Rozsa's Ben-Hur suite, in a youth orchestra concert. That was a short while before getting to know the Star Wars music, and I guess the starting point for my interest in film music (although also preceded by taping main/end titles from Disney cartoons from the TV).

  8. Speaking from experience on the violin, I would discourage double stops in melodic lines, it's playable but sounds a lot more strained in the tutti. I've never encountered non-div octaves in legato passages in any orchestral piece I played. If you're going for a slight arpeggiated effect, non-div short chords are fine (although they often get divided in practise anyway if it disturbs intonation).

    I don't know which scores you looked at, but I would guess the melodic lines in octaves are all meant to be played divisi, that way each player can really lay on the expressiveness and the result will be a lot more sweeping :) (playing vibrato on octave double stops is not very easy to get to sound good, moreso if several players trz in unison)

  9. If he doesn't have something essential to do elsewhere later, I could also imagine that they replace her with the Blackfish - the "revenge for own family's murder" motive would work there, too. Or else just keep Beric leading them, if the Brotherhood/Brienne/(Jaime?) interactions are needed - even if that's a bit illogical as, since going rogue, the Brotherhood (as led by Beric) is not fighting for/against a specific house anymore

  10. For those who have the book, what does Davis say about the recurring canon-like textures in the score, and those atonal piano lines. What was the compositional process behind them? Who first came up with the bowed styrofoam cup (it's used in ALIENS)? What synths/samples were used in the prelays (there's a cool flanging synth associated with the Agents)?

    Do I have to wait until December 25th to find out?

    If you're referring to the instroductory text, it's not by Davis (unless he speaks of himself in the third person ;)). The text only describes the way the mentioned motives are constructed, not the process of creating them (sorry to disappoint). The synth sounds are just described in a general way where they appear ("rusty spoke", "deep hit", "brooding pad", "inverted cymbal" etc.).

  11. My copy arrived today, that was fast! And somehow customs didn't want any fee, unlike last time, even though the price of the book was the same and with the increased shipping costs. So all in all I didn't pay more than for Batman, but with a severely reduced shipping time.

    After a first quick browse through the score it looks very polished, looking forward to reading along with the recording :). Nice introduction to the main motives and unusual percussion instruments, too.

    Also, thanks to Tim for the prompt responses to my emailed enquiries! I hope there are more great scores in the pipeline for the future... and hopefully, someday an international run of Edward Scissorhands.

  12. Because (almost) no one knew that Cersei's kids are not Robert's - heck, Ned even died because of this. If it had been public knowledge, he would still live, Stannis would be king, and Cersei would sit in Casterly Rock with her offspring and brood.

    .. or would they? When Ned came into the throne room with Robert's letter, Cersei and Joffrey demonstrated clearly the answer of Varys's riddle to Tyrion: "Power resides where men _believe_ it resides".

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