Once

Just watched the film. 10/10. Had it all; cried, laughed, thought about it. This film really says a lot about how creative people feel.
 
The last shot!!!! I will never forget the sudden excitement that came straight from my gut and coursed through my body as I watched the camera shake. A masterpiece of a film, I think.
 
 
 

QUARTET RECORDS ANNOUNCES

UNCOMMON VALOR-EXPANDED
Music Composed and Conducted by JAMES HORNER

Quartet Records, in collaboration with Paramount Pictures, presents a remastered, slightly expanded reissue of James Horner’s classic war score for UNCOMMON VALOR (1983), directed by Ted Kotcheff and starring Gene Hackman, Robert Stack and young up-and-comers Patrick Swayze and Fred Ward.

The film is a dramatic action picture centered on retired U.S. Marine Colonel Jason Rhodes, who recruits a motley crew of soldiers and leads them on a clandestine operation in Laos. Their mission is the rescue of unacknowledged U.S. prisoners of war (POWs) left behind after the withdrawal from Vietnam, including Rhodes’ son, officially declared missing in action (MIA). The possible existence of such POWs was a topic of considerable interest during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The messy conclusion of the Vietnam War, coupled with the scandals of the Nixon era, had left many Americans alienated from their government and deeply skeptical of official claims that there was no evidence of living POWs in the former war zone.

James Horner was only 30 years old when he was hired to compose UNCOMMON VALOR, but he was already a seasoned composer with such successful films in his career as STAR TREK II, KRULL, BRAINSTORM and SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, and he was about to enter the A-list of composers in Hollywood with his upcoming hit scores for ALIENS, AN AMERICAN TAIL and COCOON. Horner provides an inventive and effective score, robustly orchestral while endowed with exciting electronic rhythms and Vietnamese textures.

Intrada Records issued the premiere release of UNCOMMON VALOR in 2014 and it quickly sold out. This new, remastered edition adds about 10 minutes of alternate takes. Produced by Dan Goldwasser and mastered by Chris Malone, it features in-depth liner notes by film music writer John Takis.


Tracklist:

1. Vietnamese Solo / Main Title (7:31)
2. Airport (2:21)
3. Tag (2:49)
4. A Lot of us Have Been Killed (1:26)
5. Steal the Sucker (1:44)
6. First trek / Yellow Rain (2:45)
7. Pan Over Hill / Wilkes in Tunnel (7:35)
8. Attack Airbase (3:14)
9. Escape Airbase (3:22)
10. Copters Over Hill (2:51)
11. Final Escape (2:21)
12. End Credits (3:42)
13. Brothers in the Night* (4:48)

Bonus Tracks

14. Main Title (Alternate Mix) (7:15)
15. Main Title Extension (Expanded) (3:08)
16. Parade Ground (3:58)
17. Main Title Extension Vietnamese Overlay (Alternate) (3:15)


Total Disc Time: 64:14

*Performed by Ray Kennedy • Written by Ray Kennedy, Kevin Dukes and David Ritz

https://quartetrecords.com/product/uncommon-valor/
 

The book is about a group of seniors tackling a murder mystery, so perhaps Williams will be intrigued by the idea of writing for seniors - aside from Indy, along with working with a director again whom he has written some great music for.
 
Whatever happens, I think I might read the book. I've read and enjoyed quite a few books when it was possible/expected Williams would provide music for their adaptions: Memors of a Geisha (while I was livig in Kyoto and when Spielberg was thinking of directing), Angela's Ashes, Minority Report, The Book Thief, The BFG, and a couple that never eventuated, Ready Player One and Robopocalypse.Most of the other adaptions, I read after the films: Schindler's List, Jurassic Park. and War of the Worlds.. And I think I read the first few Harry Potter books before there was talk of the movies. Maybe! I think just Jaws and Empire of the Sun are the only adaptions I haven't read. - Presumed Innocent as well. Eigar Sanction too. Not really tempted to read those. 

The Berlin concerts have been my favourites of his concerts that I’ve attended, so I’m DEFINITELY going! My best friend (and fellow Williams-fanatic) turns 30 on the 5th, so it’s really a no-brainer!

From BMI's Instagram account:

Amblin being involved could be good news if they wanted to try and get JW.

I hope he at least considers Williams for the job. His movies are much less interesting without JW, or even Horner.

"According to Spielberg, Williams repeatedly tells him that he’s waiting for his next assignment. “Every time we see each other,” Spielberg says, “Johnny asks, ‘Are you working on our next film?’ Because John has been my primary creative partner across my entire film career. And that’s not gonna end until we do.”"
 
https://variety.com/2024/film/news/john-williams-oscars-star-wars-steven-spielberg-collaborations-1235929403/
 
I think that answers the question.

This are the greatest news. Berlin is one of the absolute finest orchestras in the world. Of course Williams would love to return there.
Personally, I'm over the moon that he's returning and I have all in motion already to be there.

From the print edition of the 2024/2025 Berlin Philharmoniker season book
 

 
Found on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/904229429654872/posts/7527258017351947/
 
I'll add links to the official website here when it gets added there.

https://www.kkl-luzern.ch/en/20-04-2024-19-30-williams-spielberg.html
 
https://www.citylightconcerts.ch/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/CLC_E-Book_A_Tribute_to_Williams_and_Spielberg.pdf
 

 
 
I've heard "Revisiting Normany" performed live, and it's fanTAStic!
 
It's so cool they are doing "Incident At Isla Nublar", "Jewish Town", and the end credits from Last Crusade and Munich too!

It looks like Robert Townson's post about this album isn't here yet:
 
John Williams Reimagined   Sara Andon, flute; Cecilia Tsan, cello; Simone Pedroni, piano   Produced by Robert Townson   So proud to announce this 2-CD set that will be released by Warner Classics on August 23, 2024.   Star Wars. Memoirs of a Geisha. Schindler’s List. Far and Away. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The list goes on and on. Legendary film composer John Williams has for decades reigned as the most celebrated film composer of all time. But John Williams Reimagined is Williams like you’ve never heard him before.   John Williams’ themes and orchestrations have resonated in moviegoers’ minds for generations. Steven Spielberg called him “the greatest of all maestros.” George Lucas once told him, “You brought my stories to life beyond my wildest dreams.” For film score producer par excellence Robert Townson, it was the “extraordinary flute solos John has featured in so many of his film scores” that triggered the idea of “a John Williams album…unlike any other.”   But could the album Townson imagined—scored for chamber trio of flute, cello, and piano—become reality? With a long career of film score productions to his credit, the producer knew that Williams seldom approves new arrangements of music from his iconic scores.   Townson had more than a dream, though. He had a dream ensemble in mind: flutist Sara Andon, cellist Cécilia Tsan, and pianist Simone Pedroni. So, with no guarantee they’d ever see the light of day, he enlisted Pedroni to create three sample transcriptions; record them with the three musicians; and sent them to the composer. Much to their delight, Williams approved Townson’s full track list and sanctioned the trio to exclusively record and perform the full set.   Pedroni, for his part, describes the orchestral color of John Williams’ film scores as “always masterful—which made me think that it is impossible to do better.” Yet as the pianist worked on the transcriptions he realized that “Williams’ compositional genius…pure, deep, and great in itself” was precisely what would enable him to reimagine the selections—some iconic, some relatively obscure—for the chamber trio Townson had in mind.   The result is a revelation.   Familiar themes pepper the track list, intermingling with lesser-known music. “Princess Leia’s Theme” from Star Wars made a lasting impression on Sara Andon when she first heard it as a child. The score for Memoirs of a Geisha features cello solos that Williams wrote for his friend Yo-Yo Ma, and that translate perfectly for Cécilia Tsan, who is a childhood friend of Ma. The trio premiered their John Williams Reimagined concert recital at the Rome Film Music Festival in 2023.   The selections cover more than half a century—from Williams’ Emmy-winning score for the 1970 telefilm Jane Eyre—Townson’s original inspiration for the album—to the main theme of 2022’s The Fabelmans, one of over two dozen collaborations between Williams and Spielberg, which affords the brilliant Pedroni a solo piano spotlight. From the canon of iconic Williams scores over this timespan, the two-CD set includes selections from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, The Witches of Eastwick, Jurassic Park, The Accidental Tourist, Dracula, The Sugarland Express, Jane Eyre, War Horse, Hook, The Patriot, and more, not to mention the Star Wars saga, Schindler’s List, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.   During the recording sessions in Los Angeles, John Williams invited the trio to perform a selection of the new arrangements for him privately in his writing studio at Amblin. This was in 2022, during Williams’ 90th birthday year, and he was being celebrated all over the world. Following the performance of “The Face of Pan” from Hook, the composer was very moved. He warmly remarked, "This is one of my best birthday gifts," and gave each of the musicians a hug. Sara, Cécilia and Simone will remember this moment with immense joy and heartfelt gratitude for the rest of their lives.   Film music producer Robert Townson founded his first record label in 1985 and has produced nearly 1,500 film music recordings over the past four decades. He has worked with a galaxy of eminent composers, from Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein and Alexandre Desplat to Hans Zimmer, Lalo Schifrin, Danny Elfman, and of course John Williams.   Flutist Sara Andon is a versatile international soloist and recording artist equally at home with symphonic and chamber music, opera, ballet, new music, jazz, and Broadway. She has performed with top-tier orchestras and is heard on countless film, TV and video game scores. She has recorded with such composers as Brian Tyler, John Debney, Marco Beltrami, and Jeff Russo and for labels Sony Classical and Varèse Sarabande.   Cellist Cécilia Tsan, winner of the Debussy Prize at the Paris International Competition, performs as a soloist and chamber musician in her home country of France and abroad. She has recorded hundreds of movie soundtracks in Los Angeles by composers such as John Williams, Randy Newman, James Horner, and Alan Silvestri.   Pianist, conductor and arranger Simone Pedroni launched his solo career winning the gold medal at the Van Cliburn Competition in 1993. He has performed in sold-out concerts throughout the world, working with artists such as Yehudi Menuhin, Zubin Mehta, and Leonard Slatkin, and recorded for labels including Sony Classical and Decca Records.   JOHN WILLIAMS REIMAGINED - TRACKLIST   CD 1   1. Star Wars: Princess Leia’s Theme Jane Eyre 2. To Thornfield 3. Reunion Memoirs of A Geisha 4. Sayuri's Theme 5. A Dream Discarded 6. Going to School 7. Images: In Search of Unicorns The River 8. Growing Up 9. The Pony Ride 10. Love Theme 11. Young Friend’s Farewell 12. The Sugarland Express: Theme 13. Elegy for Cello and Piano 14. A.I.: The Reunion 15. The Empire Strikes Back: Han Solo and the Princess 16. Far and Away: County Galway, Joseph and Shannon, Blowing Off Steam, Finale   CD 2   1. The Fabelmans 2. Seven Years in Tibet 3. Jurassic Park: A Tree for My Bed 4. Hook: The Face of Pan 5. The Accidental Tourist 6. Schindler’s List: Theme Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 7. Double Trouble 8. A Window to the Past 9. Hagrid the Professor 10. Chasing Scabbers/Hagrid’s Friendly Bird and The Snowball Fight 11. Dracula: End Credits 12. War Horse: Dartmoor 1912, Bringing Joey Home and Bonding, The Death of Topthorn, Finale and The Homecoming 13. The Patriot 14. Sabrina: How Can I Remember? The Witches of Eastwick 15. The Tennis Game 16. The Seduction of Suki and The Ballroom Sequence 17. Devil’s Dance 18. E.T.: Over the Moon   Recorded and Mixed by Gabe Burch   Mastered by Patricia Sullivan at Bernie Grundman Mastering   https://www.facebook.com/100007586280737/posts/3571911583071683/

You mean images?

what I want is a good recording of the Children's Suite version  with the alternate bombastic ending.

I finally got around to find the time to check my Evening at Pops video archive, and this arrangement opens the show, even though the first half of it is buried under Sleepers' director Barry Levinson introduction that is followed by a short dialogue between him and Williams right at the Sony Scoring Stage talking about his experience with Adolph Deutsch and spoting Billy Wilder at the scoring sessions. Williams does refer to the tune as "By the sea". Then video cuts to the actual performance and the music takes central stage. 
The title that shows up reads: By the Beautiful Sea: A Tribute to Billy Wilder, arr. John Williams.
The arrangement is mostly in the same vein as Hooray for Hollywood, as pointed before, and another tunes to seem to try to creep in (again in Hooray's fashion) including Jaws on the low woodwinds (again as mentioned earlier).
 
It would be wonderful that in a future survey of Williams work with the Pops, they would record the numerous arrangements he wrote during his tenure. A few of them were recorded for the televised Evening at Pops concerts, but not readily available to everyone to enjoy.
 

Joe Kraemer gave his opinion over the John Williams interview on Variety:
 
 
Source

Ah, I stand corrected. 
 
Well I love the bongo heavy $6MDM sound, which reminds me of being very young.  So I think I’ll be on board for this. 

Liner notes writer Jeff Bond had some cool stuff to share about these two new releases, on Facebook:
 
”Okay, this was fun. Several years ago I wrote liner notes for Oliver Nelson’s tremendous score for the oddball missing link movie Skullduggery. This is a real find in great sound from an incredibly underrated and underrepresented composer. Skullduggery sat around for several years until LLL positioned it as the back end of a double album, so now we get another terrific score for a grim little western with Richard Widmark, Death of a Gunfighter. Bonus: Oliver Nelson is best known for working himself to death writing music for The Six Million Dollar Man, and you actually get some Six Million Dollar Man music here as Nelson reused some of his main title music as the opening to one SMDM episode.

I also had the pleasure of talking to Sylvester Levay, one of the major 80s synth score composers and the artist behind the 70s hit “Fly, Robin Fly” about his score for the ridiculous but refreshingly analog action thriller Navy Seals—music that made Jim Abrams laugh so much he hired Levay to score his takeoff of military action films Hot Shots! Thanks to Michael V. Gerhard and Mike Matessino for these wonderful gigs.”
 
 
The Oliver Nelson release is actually HUGE, guys. He's not a minor figure in music; in fact he was very prolific in the world of jazz through the 60s and early 70s until his untimely death at age 42:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Nelson_discography
 
He's only relatively unknown as a film/TV composer because his career was cut very short by his early death, with his highest profile work being the beloved series The Six Million Dollar Man, which a lot of 70s film music fans pine after. He became a favorite of mine as a kid because he wrote my #1 favorite Columbo score, "The Greenhouse Jungle":
 
(I'm far from the only fan of this score; on YouTube I found covers of the theme including one guy in Russia playing it on his Casio!)
 
The only film score of his ever released on album (until tomorrow) was Zigzag, which FSM premiered on CD many years ago, adding the previously-unreleased film recording alongside the unique LP recording. Death of a Gunfighter (I'm a sucker for 60s western scores too) and Skullduggery were his *only* two other scores written for theatrically released feature films! So yeah...despite his discography being mainly non-film music, his film music on album has now just TRIPLED with this amazing premiere twofer. I highly encourage folks to check out the sound samples when released, if you like 70s stuff at all. It's pretty friggin' awesome.
 
This is the release of the YEAR so far, for me.
 
Yavar

I really, really want Catch Me If You Can.

Copyist

No more Newman indeed.
 
 

Sometimes called the Chinese lute, but it isn't really. Like a cross between a guitar and an oversized viola. But it has a more reverberant sound so I can play stuff like the Bach cello suites and some of Williams stuff and it sounds decent (for someone who is just sitting enjoying playing it without an audience). The three piece from Memoirs of a Geisha, which lends itself more to the instrument, but I like playing the Elegy for Cello and am trying to record both parts of the Duo Concertante.
 
 

I think it's very interesting that he has books on Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Brahms (multiple books), two copies of Britten's War Requiem, multiple books about Cole Porter, even Stockhausen, a looming head of Copland, etc.  This really does reflect on his sound world, but I don't see Vaughan Williams.