Jediwashington

Good catch. That's a shame then... I didn't know the OST that well going in, so I missed that one. Very strange decision for the album.. Especially when he already made the choice of putting in an overture. The end of the album sort of lacks. Needs that theme in Giants Netted

Agree completely. Her theme is so simple and gentle. It's genius in a "holding back" way. As well, I think he sets us up thinking it will be a dazzling theme at somepoint to match the size of Sophie's hopes, but the film makes a left turn to have a bittersweet end, and Williams shows you that he really wrote a lullaby to comfort Sophie for the rest of her days, not a sweeping motif for her dreams. The treatment of the motif grows as she does as a character. I think it's great of him to hold back and I feel that it is the creative, artistic, and humble approach to this score that makes it great.

Okay, glad we got the slower stuff covered. Wondering about the transition material that ends at the beginning of that clip. It goes on for about 10 seconds prior to that? Didn't see credits.

@TheWhiteRider the beginning of Sophie's Future. It's not bassoon or English horn for sure.

No, I don't think so. Just the baroque "source" music from the brunch with the Queen. I'm almost certain it's his. as for the development, no, there isn't much unreleased (it's actually pretty silent for a good bit of the beginning), but without the overture track, the theme isn't presented immediately, but it does get revealed in full earlier than usual. He also plays against the tolling bells of Big Ben, which aren't in the CD, but are really musical and what he plays off of. More of an editorial omission than unreleased stuff.

Just got back from seeing the film and I've listened 3 times. The orchestrations are so colorful. He packs more colors per bar than most impressionist composers and I'm just amazed. Sophie's theme, In my opinion, is a lullaby, which would follow his typical logic. It is so evident because of its simplicity, repetitive nature and relatively small tessitura. It tries to be pentatonic as most lullaby's, but he gets bored of that harmonically. He also develops it in the film a lot more than the CD if you listen to the order. You don't really get a full theme reveal in major until the end of the first act. This will go down as one of his best orchestrated films yet. The flute writing is incredible (and even better played... Brava!!!) the oboe work is great too. Woodwind writing is just magnificent. I'm so impressed that he was able to get those little unison flute lines to line up for the dreams and move straight on to the next material without dropping the idea. Just wow... Also, they should have kept Big Ben in the CD! As as for source music, I love the choice. Hail Britrania has hints of his melodic/rhythmic style, so it's not out of place. Bagpipes are snoozers. The real question is this: is that baroque/Renaissance music his? I think it is and wish it were on the CD... The film itself just lagged in places. It threw us into the world really quickly, only to take over an hour fascinating us by said world, and then hurrying as quickly as possible to wrap up the story. It is a great story and a great book, but the script and editorial choices weren't distributed correctly to keep interest. within those long scenes, they jump quickly from topic to topic, and transitions from scene to scene are quick, so John really didn't have time to play much, thus the sad reality that we don't get a big theme moment like ET or Harry Potter. It was quite dialogue heavy as well and didn't rely on as much visual story telling that Williams can throw in a motif. Overall, love the music, not a big fan of the film. I think Williams had read the book, loves it, but knew it had a pacing issue and I can hear him struggling to save it, but not having the silence or opportunity to do it. He was boxed in and did what he could and certainly had a fun time with it regardless. A for effort! Hope it's not the last children's score we get... He is too good at this style! Definitely. Clarinets in A I think for a darker sound. It sounds like Alto flute as well, but maybe unison? Definitely more than one flute, but I can't tell if it's just 2 players with one that has a darker breathy sound or it is a different instrument completely. There is also a few articulations that make me think there could be a little glock with rubber mallets or maybe even vibes. Something metallic anyway extremely soft.

Basically any time he uses a third relation... (For the theory nerds out here) But for more specifics, I love any of the transitions for the seasons (the tree moments from fall to winter, winter to spring, etc.) in The Prisoner of Azkaban. They are virtuosic for the solo instruments and just gorgeous. Aunt Marge's Waltz oboe solo is just dripping with sass as well. Matches the scene perfect. The Terminal piano and bass duet at the beginning of Jazz Autographs is just contrapuntal perfection, particularly from a rhythmic standpoint. especially the duple and triple play. E.T. and Close Encounters have far too many moments to even mention. The opening's in particular I think convey such a great amount of fear and uncertainty while exploring so many post-tonal colors. Jurassic Park "Journey to the Island" after the fanfare from 7:30-8:00 and 8:30 to the end is a perfect setting for the entire film. I'm most impressed with Williams when he finds a new color I haven't heard before, a line/countermelody that is genius or a rhythm that incorporates syncopated jazz in a way not normally done in orchestras. Just a list of some more of my favorites from a more technical perspective: The flute/trumpet octave mix and the clarinet/bassoon quartet from Hymn to the Fallen The Bass Clarinet substitute for bass in The Knight Bus The simple rhythmic layering across registers for Buckbeak's Flight (especially when the bass drops out) The horn layering of "Lando's Palace," The Fugue in Jaws The Ives style writing dueling melodies in Jaws The contrasting rhythmic layers he uses for "The Asteroid Field," The slow accellerando he uses for the Battle of Hoth AND the Battle of Endor, The viola ostinatos that tie together the entire Star Wars Prequels (DOTF, and the beginning of RotS etc.), A Dream Discarded (which has as much to do with composition as Yo-yo Ma's impeccable ability to choke the tone of his Cello to tear every bit of your soul to shreds), The descant the violins have in "Flight to Neverland" over the woodwinds around 2:08, Chords for "The Immolation Scene" (They are some of the most devastating written for strings, second only to Barber of course), and probably my favorite is a combination between him and the cellists/alto's in Close Encounters that blend so well at times you can't tell them apart.

I have the Star Wars signature edition, and it is basically the concert suites. I can basically echo the same thought. They are meant for orchestras to perform in concert, not as study scores of the film. I look forward to someone taking on his work and cataloging it in 50 years or so, but until then, it will probably be hard to track down originals of his scores. If you're truly attempting to study the scores as they are in the film, your best bet is JoAnn Kane Music Preparation Services. He has used them for decades regardless of the studio he is working with, but you would have to go there to look at them most likely and probably only get approval for educational reasons, as they are still under stiff copyright.

I've played the signature edition of the Raiders March on oboe, I did the piano/oboe arrangement of the The Days Between (From Stepmom), and a few educational arrangements of some other standard works (Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Imperial March, etc.). By far the best group I played with that did film music in that same style was a suite of themes from "The Sea Hawk" by Korngold. Not Williams, but very similar... Just amazing being with an orchestra that can keep up with with the rep.

Whoa... Horns missed an entrance, pretty messy tempo changes, etc... He must have been pretty angry after that. Overall, I think in this listening environment, he should have opted for a click instead of streamers and pops. While a lot of the LA Phil is used to streamers and pops, it's hard to control if you miss a tempo change like he did in the beginning. You can see how ahead/behind he is. They're smart enough to figure it out, but he mirrors with his left hand a lot, which is hard to read from a player perspective if the group tears apart, which is why it takes 4-8 bars for them to get back together again. I suspect very little rehearsal time and absolutely zero time in that environment for sure. I think the arrangement is actually pretty good, but hard to do live with the sudden tempo changes. Oh well! Still love his composition skill and his stretched beats at the end of phrases in his recordings.

Yeah, I have to say after the Shindler's list story he loves to tell at concerts, I think he probably does have more envy for past composers. But just from the little I've heard, I think he probably regrets quitting on the Harry Potter series. I think he liked working on those because he could have a lot of fun with them.

Williams worked incredibly hard and has made some wonderful music in his life, but now I think he's just having fun doing what he wants just dabbing in score work and enjoying his life. I don't think you can quantify that as better or worse talent wise. He still has all the tools he did before, he just doesn't choose to use them. He's still just as talented. I don't think talent can leave you. That said, I do think there is a progression of his work. Certainly his earlier works are the standard to which all else is held, but his newer works, like Schindler's List and Memoirs of a Geisha are just not even comparable to those. They show a continuation of his music ingenuity but with a more conservative and subdued nature than the operatic scores he's known for do. still fantastic music though.

Yeah, conducting is always done with the right hand. As far as I know, there are no current conductors that conduct with the baton in the left hand. It's just accepted that the right hand is the beat hand, and the left hand is expression. Williams is a right handed man, as has been established. He seems like a perfect candidate for a left handed person though, as a lot of people tend to think left handed people are dominated by the right brain, therefore much more artistic and creative. Though if you research Williams and his work technique, you can reason that he's very logical and methodical in his process of scoring and writing music. Writing several hundred variations of the close encounters theme before choosing the final one? That's more of a logic based approach than a creative one, which is more typical of a right handed person. Kind of a neat simple question...

Timpani are always interesting because they are literally just a huge subwoofer that gets hit with a mallet. It's surprising some headphones can handle the breadth of them. Most definitely my favorite percussion instrument. Very difficult to play too. As for problems with them audio wise, only a few here and there.

I agree with most of what is said here. For what Yo-Yo lacks in technique, which by no means is a small amount, he makes up for it ten times in his emotion of performance. He never fails to leave you breathless at the end of a work simply because he is a phenomenal performer who has the rare gift of transferring emotion into sound. Many musicians can play with great emotion and unless you were watching them, you'd never know. He believes the story of what he is playing is more important than what he is actually playing, which is probably why he gets a lot of flack from young vain musicians who believe technique, tone, rhythm and intonation are the only important aspects to music playing. More than I like Yo-yo Ma for his music, I appreciate his advocacy and modest personality. That combination alone makes him one of the most influential musicians of our day.

What a waste to have that many speakers. There is absolutely no need for that, even if you're an audiophile with some desire to have much more than you need and of questionable quality when it comes to "enriching" the sound artificially. Anyway, still quite a neat theatre. Big price tag though... geeze.

It always saddens me to see the modern day equivalent of opera or ballet music be down trodden into lower class. Only time will allow Williams' music to be heard with unbiased ears. I truly think a lot of the grievances against Williams are only from a twisted jealousy over his ability to support classical composition in a more popular fashion than classical music has ever been able too in recent years. It's neat some of you got to see him! Where did you go to get to him? The whole place seemed to be buttoned up pretty tight to me. ~Drew

What a great concert! I loved that Accidental Tourist love theme, what a nice surprise, and quite a work out for that pianist. She did very nicely. I was in the terrace, anyone happen to see me? I was right above the piano player leaning forward most of the concert. I wasn't expecting to be that close to the stage, I could see his every motion and it was neat being on the orchestra side looking in. Williams really looked quite energetic compared to some other reports we've gotten. It's good to see him up their conducting and relaxed, especially after such a long week of rehearsals and conducting for him. Certainly a nice warm-up for the Indy sessions coming up soon. I missed you folks in the lobby, though I was at the pre-concert lecture. A few neat TV cue's the lecturer brought out. ~Drew

Anyone ever hear of Miguel Rosario?? He is going to be the lecturer. The CSO website does not say whether John Williams will be included or not. hhhmmmmm Perhaps the two folks in between you wouldn't mind shifting over a seat so you and your friend can sit together. Who knows... If you don't ask you don't get That's what I was planning on doing for the seats. I'm sure they won't mind, they're orchestra folks. Just get their early I suppose. I did see Miguel Rosario marked as the lecturer. Doing a bit of research, the only Miguel Rosario I found was a brass player that has taught their Youth Symphony Orchestra, but that's all I can find, even from checking college faculty near Chicago. Too bad Williams isn't participating! ~Drew

The CSO folks said they wouldn't know until he arrived to do rehearsals, which I assuming will be monday/tuesday. I didn't get THAT good. lol. I got A 2 and A 8. They only had singles left. I imagine the view is still great from there though. ~Drew

I'm sorry that I may have caused a little too much excitement. I researched a little and found that the lecture person was To Be Announced. I sent an e-mail to the patron services about it and got this back: So he might, I hope he does. It would be most appropriate for him to speak, since it is his work. For those not familiar with this, the Grainger Ballroom is part of the symphony hall right behind the box seats, and the lecture is open to ticket holders. Your ticket is your admission to the lecture. I apologize if I may have risen the hopes of anyone. I could have swore I saw that McGill and Williams were speaking, but I was mistaken. I'm sure the lecture will be good, whoever it is though. As for myself, I have two tickets in the front row aisle seats of the Right Terrace. It's not acoustically a great place to be, but he's probably not using a screen for this concert, and I'd like to be on top of the orchestra to watch everything. ~Drew

I'm going with my father on the Saturday 24th concert. I'm excited, as it is more of his artistic music, which I'm more interested to hear than the typical film score works. He is doing a talk about "The Five Sacred Trees" with the bassoonist David McGill beforehand...anyone going to this? ~Drew R.

While there are some weak spots to E.T., the end is certainly not one of them. Overall, the score is probably his finest work, and it closes wonderfully. ~Drew

I'm not sure exactly what you're talking about, but you can get an ethereal type sound by playing pp on the piano parts, but turning the gain volume up high enough to be heard amongst everything else. Here are my settings for EWQLSO silver: Steinway B - Pianist Sensitive, volume +7.00 dB, Grand Hall Reverb (size 100, no dampen). This should give you that strange piano sound that you're looking for. Just keep it soft, as even going one level up in the dynamic stair system will distort. ~JW

oh, most likely not. The only way I would do that was if I was working with him or was a friend of his and needed something. I refrain from cellphone communication on an everyday basis with just about everyone I know, and I'm 18. I respect his privacy, and if I came across it randomly, I would probably hold on to it, but never use it. as for his ringtone, it's probably boring. lol. ~JW