mahler3

You are correct in your statements pertaining to the Trumpet section as i had always noticed this Mattmane.
I do think they improve during the latter part of the album though, particularly during the far superior (IMO) version of the End Titles with the Timpani balance taking more of an active role (especially during the closing fanfare don't you think?)
Recording wise, it was one of the few albums that wasn't mixed by the RCA team (excluding George Korngold of course), so out of Gerhardt's recordings this was always the one that lost orchestral performance clarity. Too much treble primarily.

I think Murder on the Orient Express is top 3 Doyle, and it was my favourite score of 2017.
 
The Armstrong theme is just achingly sad. And once it is introduced, it's almost omnipresent. When a character is trying to hide who they are, the theme is buried in orchestration; when a character's link to the family is exposed, the theme is played more overtly.
 
 
Doyle, like with Death on the Nile, is telling the story how it is, not how it's initially presented to be. I shrugged it off the first time I saw the movie and heard the score, but the more I came back to it, the more I realised what Doyle was doing. The best version of Murder on the Orient Express isn't by Lumet, Branagh or whoever directed the Suchet version, it's by Doyle.
 
The Armstrong theme is always playing with or against the mystery theme and the (sadly ditched for Death on the Nile) Poirot theme. Ultimately, the solo piano that's come to represent the tragedy behind this case comes to play that theme, showing that he is deeply impacted by what has happened.
 
 
And it's been said many times before, but the scoring of the big reveal is just perfect. The juxtaposition of that desperately sad music with the chaotic, oddly disturbing murder is so, so effective.
 
 
I do enjoy Nile, too, but the narrative here is just airtight. The journey from glorious decadence to opaque mystery to tragedy is brilliantly realised.
 
That little run by Branagh and Doyle - Cinderella -> Murder on the Orient Express -> All is True - was Doyle at his storytelling best.

Hello ! Lucasfilm cut some questions I’m afraid, but I can summarise a couple of anecdotes:
 
There won’t be a physical media release due to the costs involved in licensing the clips and the music cues. As you’ll hear during the interview there were 1 or 2 pieces which Laurent really wanted to license for the documentary, but his lawyers couldn’t get approval. Likewise, the many hours of footage and interviews filmed would need music and film clips, so even if these were released digitally Laurent wouldn’t want them used unless they had the audio and visual coupling inserted to add the context.
 
Regarding the question about working with JW and talking about retrospective scores, off camera Laurent would often be politely requested to not talk about his older scores because JW doesn’t like looking backwards. That would be a challenge for LB’s line of work, but that’s his skill at being able to make JW feel comfortable and relaxed enough to look back when the camera is turned on.

Some of you might be interested to see this video introduction from last year. The new audio interview is published in the latest FSMO.
 
 
 

When I saw all the extras that were included (deleted scenes, outtakes, etc.), I just had to own it, and would figure out later how the heck to watch it. lol
 
The planets had aligned for me, because I would start university that year, and—behold—it was equipped with laserdisc players!
 
True story. 

Hello ! Lucasfilm cut some questions I’m afraid, but I can summarise a couple of anecdotes:
 
There won’t be a physical media release due to the costs involved in licensing the clips and the music cues. As you’ll hear during the interview there were 1 or 2 pieces which Laurent really wanted to license for the documentary, but his lawyers couldn’t get approval. Likewise, the many hours of footage and interviews filmed would need music and film clips, so even if these were released digitally Laurent wouldn’t want them used unless they had the audio and visual coupling inserted to add the context.
 
Regarding the question about working with JW and talking about retrospective scores, off camera Laurent would often be politely requested to not talk about his older scores because JW doesn’t like looking backwards. That would be a challenge for LB’s line of work, but that’s his skill at being able to make JW feel comfortable and relaxed enough to look back when the camera is turned on.

Some of you might be interested to see this video introduction from last year. The new audio interview is published in the latest FSMO.
 
 
 

Hello ! Lucasfilm cut some questions I’m afraid, but I can summarise a couple of anecdotes:
 
There won’t be a physical media release due to the costs involved in licensing the clips and the music cues. As you’ll hear during the interview there were 1 or 2 pieces which Laurent really wanted to license for the documentary, but his lawyers couldn’t get approval. Likewise, the many hours of footage and interviews filmed would need music and film clips, so even if these were released digitally Laurent wouldn’t want them used unless they had the audio and visual coupling inserted to add the context.
 
Regarding the question about working with JW and talking about retrospective scores, off camera Laurent would often be politely requested to not talk about his older scores because JW doesn’t like looking backwards. That would be a challenge for LB’s line of work, but that’s his skill at being able to make JW feel comfortable and relaxed enough to look back when the camera is turned on.

Some of you might be interested to see this video introduction from last year. The new audio interview is published in the latest FSMO.
 
 
 

Thank you all for these. 
 
The interview will be published at FSMO next week and I’ll follow up on some of your ?s.
 

Hello ! Lucasfilm cut some questions I’m afraid, but I can summarise a couple of anecdotes:
 
There won’t be a physical media release due to the costs involved in licensing the clips and the music cues. As you’ll hear during the interview there were 1 or 2 pieces which Laurent really wanted to license for the documentary, but his lawyers couldn’t get approval. Likewise, the many hours of footage and interviews filmed would need music and film clips, so even if these were released digitally Laurent wouldn’t want them used unless they had the audio and visual coupling inserted to add the context.
 
Regarding the question about working with JW and talking about retrospective scores, off camera Laurent would often be politely requested to not talk about his older scores because JW doesn’t like looking backwards. That would be a challenge for LB’s line of work, but that’s his skill at being able to make JW feel comfortable and relaxed enough to look back when the camera is turned on.

Some of you might be interested to see this video introduction from last year. The new audio interview is published in the latest FSMO.
 
 
 

Hello ! Lucasfilm cut some questions I’m afraid, but I can summarise a couple of anecdotes:
 
There won’t be a physical media release due to the costs involved in licensing the clips and the music cues. As you’ll hear during the interview there were 1 or 2 pieces which Laurent really wanted to license for the documentary, but his lawyers couldn’t get approval. Likewise, the many hours of footage and interviews filmed would need music and film clips, so even if these were released digitally Laurent wouldn’t want them used unless they had the audio and visual coupling inserted to add the context.
 
Regarding the question about working with JW and talking about retrospective scores, off camera Laurent would often be politely requested to not talk about his older scores because JW doesn’t like looking backwards. That would be a challenge for LB’s line of work, but that’s his skill at being able to make JW feel comfortable and relaxed enough to look back when the camera is turned on.

Some of you might be interested to see this video introduction from last year. The new audio interview is published in the latest FSMO.
 
 
 

Hello ! Lucasfilm cut some questions I’m afraid, but I can summarise a couple of anecdotes:
 
There won’t be a physical media release due to the costs involved in licensing the clips and the music cues. As you’ll hear during the interview there were 1 or 2 pieces which Laurent really wanted to license for the documentary, but his lawyers couldn’t get approval. Likewise, the many hours of footage and interviews filmed would need music and film clips, so even if these were released digitally Laurent wouldn’t want them used unless they had the audio and visual coupling inserted to add the context.
 
Regarding the question about working with JW and talking about retrospective scores, off camera Laurent would often be politely requested to not talk about his older scores because JW doesn’t like looking backwards. That would be a challenge for LB’s line of work, but that’s his skill at being able to make JW feel comfortable and relaxed enough to look back when the camera is turned on.

Some of you might be interested to see this video introduction from last year. The new audio interview is published in the latest FSMO.
 
 
 

Sushi's Theme

Hello ! Lucasfilm cut some questions I’m afraid, but I can summarise a couple of anecdotes:
 
There won’t be a physical media release due to the costs involved in licensing the clips and the music cues. As you’ll hear during the interview there were 1 or 2 pieces which Laurent really wanted to license for the documentary, but his lawyers couldn’t get approval. Likewise, the many hours of footage and interviews filmed would need music and film clips, so even if these were released digitally Laurent wouldn’t want them used unless they had the audio and visual coupling inserted to add the context.
 
Regarding the question about working with JW and talking about retrospective scores, off camera Laurent would often be politely requested to not talk about his older scores because JW doesn’t like looking backwards. That would be a challenge for LB’s line of work, but that’s his skill at being able to make JW feel comfortable and relaxed enough to look back when the camera is turned on.

Some of you might be interested to see this video introduction from last year. The new audio interview is published in the latest FSMO.
 
 
 

Hello ! Lucasfilm cut some questions I’m afraid, but I can summarise a couple of anecdotes:
 
There won’t be a physical media release due to the costs involved in licensing the clips and the music cues. As you’ll hear during the interview there were 1 or 2 pieces which Laurent really wanted to license for the documentary, but his lawyers couldn’t get approval. Likewise, the many hours of footage and interviews filmed would need music and film clips, so even if these were released digitally Laurent wouldn’t want them used unless they had the audio and visual coupling inserted to add the context.
 
Regarding the question about working with JW and talking about retrospective scores, off camera Laurent would often be politely requested to not talk about his older scores because JW doesn’t like looking backwards. That would be a challenge for LB’s line of work, but that’s his skill at being able to make JW feel comfortable and relaxed enough to look back when the camera is turned on.

Some of you might be interested to see this video introduction from last year. The new audio interview is published in the latest FSMO.
 
 
 

Hello ! Lucasfilm cut some questions I’m afraid, but I can summarise a couple of anecdotes:
 
There won’t be a physical media release due to the costs involved in licensing the clips and the music cues. As you’ll hear during the interview there were 1 or 2 pieces which Laurent really wanted to license for the documentary, but his lawyers couldn’t get approval. Likewise, the many hours of footage and interviews filmed would need music and film clips, so even if these were released digitally Laurent wouldn’t want them used unless they had the audio and visual coupling inserted to add the context.
 
Regarding the question about working with JW and talking about retrospective scores, off camera Laurent would often be politely requested to not talk about his older scores because JW doesn’t like looking backwards. That would be a challenge for LB’s line of work, but that’s his skill at being able to make JW feel comfortable and relaxed enough to look back when the camera is turned on.

Some of you might be interested to see this video introduction from last year. The new audio interview is published in the latest FSMO.
 
 
 

Thank you all for these. 
 
The interview will be published at FSMO next week and I’ll follow up on some of your ?s.
 

Thank you all for these. 
 
The interview will be published at FSMO next week and I’ll follow up on some of your ?s.
 

Thank you all for these. 
 
The interview will be published at FSMO next week and I’ll follow up on some of your ?s.
 

Thank you all for these. 
 
The interview will be published at FSMO next week and I’ll follow up on some of your ?s.
 

Thank you all for these. 
 
The interview will be published at FSMO next week and I’ll follow up on some of your ?s.
 

Thank you all for these. 
 
The interview will be published at FSMO next week and I’ll follow up on some of your ?s.
 

Thank you all for these. 
 
The interview will be published at FSMO next week and I’ll follow up on some of your ?s.
 

Read my new interview Onthescore.com with documentarian LAURENT BOUZEREAU (Faye, Becoming Hitchcock), who talks about going from redefining video extras with a laserdisc Jaws to making the ultimate feature tribute to Bruce's maestro with Disney Plus' Grammy nominated MUSIC BY JOHN WILLIAMS! 
 
 
https://onthescore.com/laurent-bouzereau-documents-music-by-john-williams/

I would love to know what William's workflow is when writing a sequel score. Especially with something like SW, when getting to movie #9, and he returns to a theme from an earlier movie, does he know all the themes he wrote for all the other movies by heart? Does he dig out the sheet music to refamiliarize himself with what he did before?

In some cases we know he dug up the score, but usually not when he's reprising a theme but an entire chunk of music: he did it for The Rise of Skywalker when Luke lifts the X-Wing from the water and they reprise the same music as Yoda doing the same in The Empire Strikes Back. That entailed digging up the score. I imagine similar exercises in Revenge of the Sith and elsewhere required the same.
 
For just reprising themes I think it's more intuitive than that. It's not a litany of short motives like Wagner in the 1870s harkening back the falling tritone figure that Wellgunde used to lead Alberich on in Rhinegold, composed 1853.