Sharkissimo

Not even the German chick?

Meh about Arnold, apart from TND, his efforts were fairly forgettable.

Do you ever browse the internet to keep tabs on your fans?
I can barely switch on a computer, let alone Google! [laughs] Many younger composers and students often ask me... No look, I'll drop the act. This antediluvian image I've helped cultivate for myself is something of a lie, I guess [laughs]. The truth is that I have an unhealthy addiction to social media. Around about 7 years ago I registered on a forum dedicated to me - the 'John Williams Fan Network' or 'JWFan' for short. Sounds incredibly egocentric, I know, but I did it only after pressure from my wife. Since then I've become what's known as a 'top poster'; but no-one knows who I really am. Probably for the better!
That'll keep them guessing.
I hope so.

Do you ever browse the internet to keep tabs on your fans?
I can barely switch on a computer, let alone Google! [laughs] Many younger composers and students often ask me... No look, I'll drop the act. This antediluvian image I've helped cultivate for myself is something of a lie, I guess [laughs]. The truth is that I have an unhealthy addiction to social media. Around about 7 years ago I registered on a forum dedicated to me - the 'John Williams Fan Network' or 'JWFan' for short. Sounds incredibly egocentric, I know, but I did it only after pressure from my wife. Since then I've become what's known as a 'top poster'; but no-one knows who I really am. Probably for the better!
That'll keep them guessing.
I hope so.

It is his excessive consumption of mushrooms! They have addled his brain and yellowed his teeth!

Yeah, he's still better off than Alex North, though. Now that premiere must have been memorable for the composer.
Karol

I'm beginning to think we should!
It would make it easier to talk about some things without them being crammed into a thread with four other discussions going on...

Kind of like Rohan theme. Performed on Norwegian fiddle might seem like something special, but a classic it ain't in my book. It does the job, but, for a central thematic idea, a bit too static and, quite frankly, uninteresting.
Gondor, on the other, hand... Now that's a proper full-bodied tune. Better than Fellowship, in fact.
Karol

Compared to other major themes (including new ones) it never develops into anything. No changing harmony, no real b section, no new layers of meaning, same thing every time. Does it even ever change key?
Karol

I'm starting a new mini-series of three blog posts on Morricone's well-known score for Once Upon a Time in the West.
Here's my take on Jill's theme (the main theme):
http://www.filmmusicnotes.com/ennio-morricones-score-for-once-upon-a-time-in-the-west-part-1-of-3-jills-theme-main-theme/
Enjoy!

Gollum in FOTR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NEd3zUzEyU

What a thoroughly fruitless discussion this one is. Easily the most bland and pointless plot contrivance in the entire saga.

Yes I thought along the same lines. The High Fells music also quotes a section from A Coronal of Silver and Cold from RotK at the beginning with the choral build, where in RotK the lyrics were from the Revelation of the Ringwraiths. And soprano part could be linked to the Seduction of the Ring as soloist does almost quote the line in High Fells track.
Again this is just my personal interpretation but the Ringwraith theme seems to speak to the enormous power of Sauron himself and of his most powerful servants, the Nazgûl. This music of course received a new variant in the Power of Mordor theme later on (and was initially considered for the prologue) in RotK when Sauron put forth all his might and empowered his greatest servants, the Nazgûl, even further but in the LotR films the Ringwraiths' theme is reserved exclusively to the Nazgûl outside the prologue appearance. It is never applied e.g. to Gothmog. I have been saying it quite a few times but the use of this theme for the confrontation between Azog and Thorin is far fetched thematically. Oh yes Azog is an orc and a big orc at that but is he one of Sauron's most trusted minions on the level of Ringwraiths. Nope, not by a long shot. Is Sauron somehow channelling his power through Azog? This is of course possible but the audience has to do a lot of interpretation to arrive to that conclusion through the music alone. I think the music is so emblematic of those wraiths (on horseback and on wings) that re-appropriating it for an orc chief leaves me to scratch my head in confusion still.
I also feel that dramatically this insertion of the Ringwraith theme to that particular moment is clumsy and ill-conceived as it shouts "DOOM, THORIN IS GOING TO LOSE!" from the beginning. His charge is doomed to fail. The score transmits this loud and clear, that Azog is going to win no matter what. Shore's initial response to the scene is a dwarven choral chant that is courageous, almost delusionally so, in a way that gives his attack false heroism, which Shore then at the last minute dispels when Thorin falls, the effect much more powerful in my opinion and even psychologically more sound, being almost an expression of Thorin's obsession and grudge bearing mentality, which leads him to his fatal and reckless heroism.
Gondor Reborn, a 4th Age theme, sounds so awkwardly out of place for Thorin's and Bilbo's reconciliation from leitmotific point of view as now a theme devoted not only to Gondor, a realm of Men, and the renewal of the world, is now applied to a relatively insignificant emotional moment in the middle of the Hobbit. This I call stretching the thematic meaning a heck of a lot and can't think of any explanation to it whatsoever that would not ring a bit false and a desperate attempt to explain an obvious "going by the gut" decision in a way that it would make sense in leitmotific way true to this film saga.
Then again these decisions are not always based on 100% strict thematic interpretation and the Hobbit films seem to stretch the initial meanings quite a lot and often going for the purely emotional resonance over leitmotific significance.
P.S. Desolation of Smaug is a great score indeed but needs more processing than one listen I have had time to give it. It is certainly quite different score from An Unexpected Journey in overall feel, being a tad closer to a "normal" big Hollywood blockbuster score but bears still undiminished Howard Shore imprint all over. This is some of Shore's most extrovert work to date and he writes a heck of an action adventure score here. At the same time it has beautiful subtleties and orchestrational details. The NZSO performs wonderfully and even though their sound is audibly different from NPO, they really outdo themselves in interpreting Shore's music. It sounds vibrant and powerful.
The themes from AUJ seem to be mostly left behind except for the central dwarven themes for Erebor, Thorin and of course Smaug's themes that really come to prominence here. E.g. Gandalf's themes are entirely in the sidelines (his motif appears once briefly if I remember correctly) and Bilbo, our main protagonist moves with his themes aside as well to make room for Thorin and his dwarves as we near the Lonely Mountain. This music feels very new and fresh but I wish there had been more connective ideas at the beginning of the album. But on the other hand it is akin to TTT where we hit the ground running (literally) and re-establishing of the world musically was perhaps not needed by the film maker's estimate. I think the film makers waited eagerly to get to this "tabula rasa" territory and it shows in the number of new ideas for Mirkwood, Spiders, Beorn, Lake-Town, Bard, Dwarves and Erebor and most of all the Woodland Realm and its elven inhabitants.
I am sure my initial listen just scratched the surface but on the whole DoS is a masterful score full of spirit, energy and themes. Smaug's material receives stupendously varied and powerful variations and comes to its own after being but a musical hint in AUJ. Perhaps something I was left wanting was more choral music, especially at the latter half of the score where a dwarven chant or two would not have harmed the proceedings (and added some variety to the orchestral sound) but there is no denying that DoS is a fantastic fantasy score. More detailed commentary coming later.
P.P.S. Beyond the Forest rocks! It is like an Elven tone poem on the Woodland Realm themes.

Don't play smartarse. You know what I mean.
Flutes, clarinets and oboes in that order, trading off figures based around fingered tremolos ('shakes') between E and G, followed by a scalic descent of E-D-C#-B. All in different octaves.

Don't play smartarse. You know what I mean.
Flutes, clarinets and oboes in that order, trading off figures based around fingered tremolos ('shakes') between E and G, followed by a scalic descent of E-D-C#-B. All in different octaves.

Another thought that came to me is that the engineer might being using the distant mikes to pick up the string section in that passage. Maybe woodwind or choir mikes, or ambients up in Wellington Town Hall's gallery.
That's how Bernard Herrmann recorded the 8 female singers (4 altos, 4 sopranos) in OBSESSION - placing them in the organ loft of St Giles-without-Cripplegate Church. Their sound that came down from the organ loft was recorded by the string mike, giving a certain eerie, muted quality.

Are we sure it isn't con sord sul pont?
To me it sounds like the strings are being manipulated with a band-pass filter from the console (lo-pass + hi-pass).
Whatever it it is, it's something Doug could really enlighten us on once the NDAs pass.

It's the part where Lisl travels to Shanghai and has an awesome fist fight with an assassin in the midst of ... wait a minute ...

Lol I knew it!
So, still all but unwatchable for me then. Plus I was hoping for time taken off, not added. Like that was ever going to happen. Oh well.
Lee - indifferent to the nearing release of Desolation of Smaug.

From the lowest thread to the highest subforum, I fought him, the Spamrog of Maestroth. Until at last I threw down my enemy and smote his algorithms upon the Main Pageside.

Flood?
I dreamed I saw a great wave of spam climbing over threads and above posts. I stood upon the brink. It was utterly dark in the forum before my feet. A light shown behind me, but I could not turn. I could only stand there… waiting.

Take the city, leave none alive.
What of the moderator?
I will SPAAAAAAAM him.

Bots... Bots in the deep... We cannot get out... We cannot get out... They are posting.

It's the Chekhov avie.