Incanus

Well there is the Evenstar theme which is featured both in TTT and RotK for their relationship. I think Enya was sort of a one scene thing (plus end credits) with no intention of using her theme for the remainder of the trilogy.

Well I found the Blue Max re-recorded by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra to be quite excellent so I have full confidence they will do a fine job with Lionheart if and when they re-record that score.

From the liner notes I got the notion that Townson had this programme planned already when he proposed the project to Williams so I guess they didn't want to change it once they got an OK from the Maestro.

Seconded! I was just thinking how The Blue Fairy theme would have probably been simply gorgeous in this trio form. Just having a first proper listen of the whole CD set and it is quite simply gorgeous and clearly a labour of love for all involved. A few curious arrangement choices aside (combining material for the A.I. piece and the odd opening of the Patriot track) I have no great complaints, only praise. As for the length of the album, I am so very happy we got these 82 and 84 minute discs full of new arrangements!

Great news! Looking forward to this! And as other have said, hope this bodes well for both Atlantis and Treasure Planet expansions.

The opening of The Patriot piece is a curious choice, having a 2-minute opening of the Fort Wilderness/Sins of the Past motif which is entirely divorced from the following standard concert suite rendition of the main themes. Surely there would have been a more fluid way to connect the two. The performance is wonderful but the opening part feels very separate, almost as if included for the sake of completeness. The revised version of Han Solo and the Princess is simply one of the best revisions John Williams has done. While it loses some of its purely romantic edge, the sort of bittersweet quality Williams injects into the arrangement makes it even more beautiful in my opinion. And it works just as well in this trio form as it does with a full orchestra.

There is of course the Williams conducted version of the American Journey that is available on the Call of the Champions album, which I do own, but as far as I know, there isn't any full orchestra version of the certain revised versions of these pieces (e.g. Williams revised the ending of the Civil Rights and the Women's Movement) available on any other recording.

As brass players would say: It's a hoot!. Also contains selections from Williams' An Unfinished Journey, which was the main draw of the album.

If I recall correctly this is the first recording of the Elegy for piano and cello which I believe was the original orchestration for the piece so I would say it is great that it was included (I also personally love the piece so no complaints from me). Also the piece is among Williams' most tuneful concert works (probably in part because of the connection to Seven Years in Tibet). Still waiting for my copy but the samples sound fantastic. Pedroni's previous Themes and Transcriptions for Piano JW album was also terrific and the arrangements were also done very close to the soundtrack tracks. So they were not as extensively rewritten as say Williams' own arrangements for Ann-Sophie Mutter.

I have always thought the temp track for Hook Is Back was from Korngold's The Seahawk. There is a piece toward the end of the score (Escape From the Galley or The Slave Liberate Themselves/Murder) which has a very similar rhythmic figure running through it and while it is not exactly the right mood as it is a bit lighter suspense, it seems to fit the scene pretty well.

Well I haven't played the games either but I did a playlist for Rising Sun back when this set came out and tried to figure out the approximate chronological order of the music based on the names of the tracks compared to the missions and their descriptions in Medal of Honor wiki. Below is my track list with the name of the missions in parentheses. There are many tracks where I wasn't sure which mission they could belong to so this list certainly isn't 100 % accurate C&C presentation. Main Titles Taiko Brigade (The Day of Infamy) We're Hit (The Day of Infamy) Incoming! / Aftermath (The Day of Infamy) Requiem For The California (The Day of Infamy) PT Attack (Pearl Harbor) Passing The Nevada (Pearl Harbor) They're After Us (Pearl Harbor) Counter Attack (Pearl Harbor) Saving Pearl Harbor (Pearl Harbor) Philippines / Zero Attack (Fall of the Philippines) Chase (Fall of the Philippines) Taiko Brigade (Alternate) Tank March (Fall of the Philippines) They Got Donnie (Fall of the Philippines) Deep In Guadalcanal (Midnight Raid on Guadalcanal) Nearing The River (Midnight Raid on Guadalcanal) Stalking The Caves (Midnight Raid on Guadalcanal) Storming The Bunker (Midnight Raid on Guadalcanal) The Riverbed (Pistol Pete Showdown) A Prisoner's Eulogy (Pistol Pete Showdown) The Speech - Get Ready (Pistol Pete Showdown) Ambush (Pistol Pete Showdown) Singapore Docks (Singapore Sling) The Sewers (Singapore Sling) Nazi Disguise / Shima's Speech (Singapore Sling) Hotel Battle (Singapore Sling) March On The Temple (In Search of Yamashita's Gold) Coutryard Strike (In Search of Yamashita's Gold) Take Cover (In Search of Yamashita's Gold) Shell Shock (In Search of Yamashita's Gold) Yamashita's Gold (In Search of Yamashita's Gold) Burma (A Bridge on the River Kwai) Natives Are Restless (A Bridge on the River Kwai) Elephant Battle (A Bridge on the River Kwai) Jungle Swarm (A Bridge on the River Kwai) Taking The Field (A Bridge on the River Kwai) Engine Trouble (Supercarrier Sabotage) Shima Escapes (Supercarrier Sabotage) Tanaka's Death - The Hangar (Supercarrier Sabotage) Carrier Deck (Supercarrier Sabotage) Take Off / Finale (Supercarrier Sabotage) Hymn To Brothers Lost (Supercarrier Sabotage)

Fantastic work @Holko!!!

Always nice to hear that the music from A.I. is performed in the concert hall/stage! With that said I would have preferred the full concert arrangement of the Abandoned in the Woods with the specifically written coda by Williams that was already on the OST album. Would have worked perfectly in the concert. I wonder why didn't David Newman just programme that in? Also I really wish someday Search for the Blue Fairy theme concert arrangement (which is on the OST and on the LLL set) makes a concert hall debut.

Flesh & Blood is among Poledouris' best scores. I love the faux Medieval, swashbuckling swagger of the music.

Ordered from MBR.

Amazing! Can't wait to hear the whole album! Will order as soon as this becomes available to order from the European retailers.

@Richard Penna you could also try Vaughan Williams' Sinfonia Antartica, which is basically a reworking of the ideas from the score into a symphonic piece. As for the mammoth boxed sets, I thought it would be a great chance to explore both Vaughan Williams and Prokofiev more deeply since they are among my favourite composers but my collection of their works is kind of small. With these sets there is a good chance of finding even more awesome works from both composers. With 36 and 30 discs there is a lot to explore. Also both cost under 100 €, which is a steal. Also I have heard almost none of Rózsa's Junglebook which prompted me to get the BBC Philharmonic/Rumon Gamba release. Their film music albums are usually quite excellent.

Williams arranged Irina's theme for solo saxophone and orchestra after the Crystal Skull came out and he played the concert arrangement in several concerts (at least at Tanglewood and Hollywood Bowl if I remember correctly) accompanied by a montage of film clips from the classic film noirs featuring the classic femme fatale characters. Here is a fan recording from Hollywood Bowl 2008 I remember laughing when watching the music documentary on the music of the Crystal Skull and Williams quipping about Irina: She's my kind of babe. And she'll rule the world.

Irina's Theme definitely for me although Helena's Theme isn't far behind. Irina's theme is such a perfect encapsulation of the film noir femme fatale music. I wish Williams would record the concert arrangement with Dan Higgins on the saxophone or arrange it for Ann-Sophie Mutter like he did with Helena's theme.

I really love these interviews! Keep up the awesome work Maurizio!!! Also Phil Ayling interview finally revealed (inadvertently) that the mysterious Wompi in some of JW's cue titles refers to music editor Ken Wannberg as that apparently is Williams' nickname for him.

Sad news. RIP