artguy360

I'm listening to the original Star Wars The Throne Room and End Credits and even with the sweeping heights of ESB's pre-credits finale music, I think ANH's is best. To get JW's Pomp and Circumstance is just so much fun!

This re-release prompted me to visit the 2016 set. The action music in TLW is top tier JW action music. Everything on the island and the entire San Diego finale. Just JW during on all cylinders and a great sound mix with plenty of reverb and great clarity. TLW has such a rich and deep sound.

Fun to see this topic bumped! Concerning the end credits to TROS, I think my opinion has hardened over time. Initially I really enjoyed it, but now it all feels a little jumbled and clunky in several places. I'm contrast, my love for the ROTS end credits has only grown. Such a sweeping rendition of Leia's theme with a seamless transition into BOTH and the Throne Room concert version as a surprise gift, all performed by the LSO. SW music lmost doesn't get better than that.

The film is pretty meh. Slower than I expected and quite clunky. The score is great, thematically rich, full of wonderful JW flourishes. The biggest letdown in the score is the action music. There is some fun action comedy music, but there's no kickass, blood pumping JW Indy action music aside from the reused greatest hits from the opening sequence.

The score features several short, repeated rhythmic figures played on strings that remind me of one of the motifs from The Post by JW. There's also this piercing sound repeated early in the score. Curious to see what that scores in the film.

I've been listening to this soundtrack more and it is an interesting experience. The music is not as lyrical as past Ghibli works. The main theme is fairly slow, restrained, and contemplative. The string and chorus work reminds me of John Adams. There are some passages that call to mind Steve Reich as well. This isn't a Ghibli soundtrack I can just put on and listen from start to finish like Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away or others. The music is much simpler, almost stark, and far less humable. I'm eager to see the film and make more sense of this score.

So far the score for How Do You Live? is not as lyrical as his past Studio Ghibli work, and instead is more contemplative and quiet. The lightness of the orchestration reminds me of score for Kikujiro.

Two tracks are on YouTube here:

The article is very short and just seems to end abruptly. Feels like 1/3rd of a decent interview about JW. Thankfully Mike has shared a lot more in other interviews over the years, especially with the fabulous Legacy of John Williams podcast. This interview is like half an appetizer.

This could be good if JW really opened up in his conversations with the author. I have noticed that JW has been a little more expansive in his comments in recent interviews.

We didn't get very far, but if you're curious, it sounded a bit like this:

Last night I dreamed I was JW but retiring as a high school music teacher. My last class was making a recording of the Star Wars main title performed by a high school music class with recorders, kazoos, and other poorly performed instruments. James Mangold stopped by to give me a cassette tape recording of the DoD scoring sessions...

Sharing some post-concert impressions, including responding to your questions: I feel like the program really hit its stride with Call of the Champions (edited my post above). The footage from the Olympics was synced really well to the music. Some great editing by someone. The live choir made quite an impact. There was a children's choir and an adult choir from a local university. The fullness of the choir was especially impressive during Dry Your Tears, Afrika. I thought the choir sounded better during Dry Your Tears, Afrika than during Duel of the Fates where their voices got drowned out a bit by the orchestra. I have really grown to love the former piece since JW re-recorded it for the latest Spielberg collaboration album. Hearing Scene D'amour from Vertigo was an unexpected treat. I love that score and the music played live really captured the cyclical, hypnotic nature of the piece. The Superman March was performed to footage and stills of JW including childhood photos and footage from his recent European concerts. Again, well edited and very fun. Throughout the night the strings were lush and beautiful, the horns had a fullness to them, and the woodwinds shined every opportunity they got. The principal oboe, clarinet, and flute came through with beautiful clarity and tenderness. The trumpets and trombones, unfortunately, sounded distant and thin. During the big moments of the Jurassic Park theme, Raider's March, and Asteroid Field, they lacked the punchiness and strength you'd expect. The Golden Age quality of Helena's theme was wonderful, and the soloist for Schindler's List left me feeling emotional. Despite the brass section lacking in general, Throne Room and Finale was still a ton of fun. I was glad to hear the Force theme tonight. The ending fanfare of ET was probably the best the brass sounded all night. There were a couple obvious flubs. Once the woodwinds entered really harshly during I think the Jurassic Park theme and it was momentarily grating on the ears. The principal horn player flubbed near the start of Princess Leia's theme and I think in the middle of the Raider's March someone knocked something over near a mic. I heard a sharp metallic sound of something hitting the floor. Minor quibbles aside, it was an incredible experience. There were so many moments, like the end of Dry Your Tears, Afrika, the big crescendo in Princess Leia's theme, and others where the sound of the orchestra filled my entire body and gave me chills. At the same time, the solo passages for violin, clarinet, oboe, and flute were achingly beautiful. The guy sitting next to us who sees JW annually at the Hollywood Bowl said he thought this was one of JW's best concerts at the Bowl. After the concert, I asked if he was a member here (because he was a total JE nerd!) but he said he was not on this forum. The most memorable thing JW said was right before the 2nd encore, after he had already returned to the podium, picked up his baton, and the orchestra was about to start, he suddenly remembered to pick up the mic and quickly said, "ET!" to introduce the piece. It made me and many others laugh out loud.

As everyone has already said, the Force theme should have a concert arrangement by now. The closest thing we have is Throne Room and finale from ANH where we get Ben's theme first in a powerful march and then in a very concert-like performance. Those two parts could serve as building blocks of a proper concert arrangement or fan edit.

I was there tonight! Tonight, entirely thanks to my girlfriend, we saw John Williams for the first time live in concert with the LA Philharmonic conducting some of his best music. The experience was incredible and better than I could have dreamed. What a show and what a set! The first half was conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. He conducted: 1. Cowboy's theme by John Williams 2. Salute to Hollywood 3. Love Scene from Vertigo by Bernard Hermann 4. Call of the Champions by John Williams 5. Dry Your Tears, Africa 6. Duel of the Fates 7. Love theme from Superman 8. Superman March Then intermission John Williams conducted the 2nd half. He conducted: 1. Adventures of Mutt 2. Helena's Theme 3. Raider's March 4. Jurassic Park Theme 5. Schindler's List 6. Asteroid Field 7. Leia's Theme 8. Throne Room and Finale Then he played 3 encores: 1. Yoda's Theme 2. ET 3. Imperial March It was incredible! I did not expect 3 encores! I'll post impressions later. One highlight: during the Imperial March, Gustavo Dudamel came back out with a red lightsaber and JW invited him onto the podium. Then JW stepped down, picked up a blue lightsaber and pretended to have a duel with Gustavo! They finished by co-conducting with red and blue lightsabers in hand. It was hilarious. JW had great energy all night.