SzPeti42

Interesting thread, love the examples!
 
 
General Grievous from RotS is what came to my mind the first time I read the title. I just love the raw power and rhythmic nature of this cue, it's nothing he's ever done for Star Wars before and since.
(Zam would have been my number 2 choice, it's a shame both are heavily edited or differently arranged in the movies themselves)
 

Hello there everyone!
Recently, I’ve been experimenting with mock-ups and I thought this forum/topic would be the most appropriate place to share some of them.
Rey's theme: This is probably the most complex piece I’ve tried to recreate, and probably the one to interest you the most, feel free to ask questions about anything. I’m a bit anxious about sharing as I’m just a socially anxious person in general and although there was a time I used to post here, in the past few years I did a Luke and went away, had to deal with a lot of family issues and such, I’m still not likely to be too active, but this is something I worked on to better myself and if even one other person likes it or gets inspired by it I will be happy, even if it's far from perfect.
 
And let me share 2 smaller, more "quick-fire" mock-ups from the end credits suite of The Force Awakens:
The Rey-Force theme connection:  
Kylo's thematic material (this is probably the least accurate to my overly critical ears):  

WARNING: Essay inbound.
 
It's interesting, the more that I think about it all; I didn't even attend the concerts and yet I have been practically glued to my screen, constantly refreshing this thread to see updates/photos/videos/reviews.
 
These concerts mean a lot more (imo) for the legacy of John Williams (as well as the acceptance of film music) than any other event I can really think of in recent history. The Vienna Philharmonic has a bit of a reputation of being thought of as perhaps the most elitist/snobbiest orchestra (no offense to Austrian forum users!), the pinnacle of "proper" classical music-making—so to see John Williams ascend this seemingly insurmountable feat of getting this orchestra to play two concerts of nothing but his film music, and having the musicians standing there clapping wildly for him with smiles on their faces... It's a pretty breathtaking accomplishment. It feels like the world is different today than it was two days ago.
 
I've always thought that Williams' music deserves to be held in the same high regard as many of the Romantic masters, and as a classical music fan (and musician) I've longed to see some of his film music pieces start to seep into the concert hall and gradually become mainstays of the repertoire. These concerts are a titanic step in the right direction. It feels in a way that with these concerts, Williams has finally conquered the classical world—after all, if your music is "good enough" for the VPO to play it, then who else could possibly ever deem it unworthy?! The critics? Who cares about them.
 
Audiences pay (and pay handsomely) to see Williams' compositions, and orchestras are starting to figure that out with the advent of live-to-picture concerts. These Vienna concerts show that even in the heart of the classical music world—in the "City of Music", with all its historicity and traditions and its famous-composer graves—that John Williams sells. And I'd wager that even if Williams himself wasn't conducting (he won't be around forever), the concerts would have still made a respectable sum and sold well.
 
It is always so ironic to me that the people crying from the rooftops that "Classical music is dying, what ever are we going to do?!" are the same ones who want to incessantly program postmodernist trash as their only idea of "new music"—and yet it's been shown time and time again that film music (at least great film music, like JW's), sells, and is a great way to introduce people to the orchestra and to classical music.
 
There is a clear antidote to the prospect of classical music "dying"—program stuff that people actually want to hear! Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky's ballet works were not always accepted in the concert hall, and yet nowadays you can't go a season without seeing a "Nutcracker" or a "Rite of Spring" or "Firebird Suite". History repeats itself; what we are facing today in regards to film music is little more the same aversion to change, all over again. The irony being that this sort of concert hall gatekeeping is being done nowadays by the very people who like to claim how "new" and inventive their music is, when in reality it's the same tired mix of atonal crowd-killers we've been hearing for decades now.
 
Opera and ballet were once "popular" art forms, and their staples eventually made their way onto the concert hall stage in the form of overtures and suites, respectively. So too will (I hope) film music like JW's. One day I hope it is commonplace to see an orchestra concert that has (for example) the STAR WARS "Main Title" as its "overture", and then a concerto followed by a symphony after intermission. If orchestras truly want to bring people into classical music, then give them a taste of something familiar/popular, and maybe they'll stick around for the classics. Rather than scare them out of the building by intermission, never to come back, because their idea of "classical music" is now either super-light cliche classical, or downright atonality, with no middle ground.
 
Annnyways, these concerts mean a lot to me and I think, hopefully, a lot in regards to the overall acceptance of Williams' music in the hall. Last year's double DG releases (Dudamel's all-JW live concert program with the LA Phil, and then the violin arrangements album with ASM) certainly helped, as well; they are probably the "gold standard" classical music label, so for them to be willing to put out multiple albums of his music in a year is not a bad sign at all. And hopefully 2020 will see a DG release of this Vienna program. 
 
And back on the concert hall front, Stephane Deneve (a good friend of JW's) is the new Music Director of St. Louis, and he just did a regular subscription program which featured "Hedwig's Theme" alongside other classical staples, a program which he is taking to Philly in the coming months if I recall correctly! He's got the right idea; hopefully others will be moved/relieved at the sight of the VPO applauding and respecting Williams, and will start to follow suit in their programming. But things are looking up, and I couldn't be happier. I hope I'm not just going crazy/I hope some others here share my views on this(?).

I went through my archives and I’ve rediscovered 2 pictures from 2010 that might interest the community here on JWFan. It’s from the public practice session in Fort Worth. My aunt is a violinist of the FWSO, she took these pictures from her point of view (I had the pleasure of attending too, basically it was nearly the sole reason I went to the States :D). She was sceptical about him at first, because she had her share of divas over the year, but she was completely overwhelmed by him after the experience, and I mean positively. Hope you enjoy these pictures

When I thought I've seen/heard it all.
 
 

It's been done very well by Fennel-Ka for Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, but I don't believe anyone's ever tried something like it for Harry Potter!
I thought it would be interesting to restore the unused music while also retaining dialogue/FX to give you an idea of how it all could have meshed together sound-wise, as opposed to just having music-only tracks. If people would prefer to have me not bother keeping the dialogue and sound effects in the mix, I'll do that in the future.
Here are a few examples from each of the films; I'll be updating the thread throughout the next few weeks with more.
 
PHILOSOPHER'S STONE
"Logos"
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx_2TC4QmNqkZVk4TWRILTczcms
Williams originally intended for the WB logo to be paired with an alluring celeste rather than a more orchestral arrangement of Hedwig's Theme.
 
"The Beach"
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx_2TC4QmNqkNFdsNlVGUmEteEE
The opening portion of this cue was dialed out, and is introduced only when the Family Theme is played. Given that the mail delivery sequence essentially just repeats Hedwig's Theme over and over again, it was probably decided that another quotation of it would have been fatiguing.
 
"You're A Wizard Harry"
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx_2TC4QmNqkMUZXa0djeWFVYWs
The first 40 seconds or so of this cue are used in the film, before it segues to the (tracked) unused logo music, and then the rest of the scene goes unscored. The cue is dialed back in when Hagrid points his umbrella at Vernon. I have no idea why this decision was made; I think the rest of the music complements the scene very well!
 
"Diagon Alley"
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx_2TC4QmNqkNEhTdlZjMUY1eFU
This is perhaps the most infamous music edit in the film. When brainstorming what to write for this cue, instead of capturing Harry's awe and wonder of the place, Williams imagined what a small wizard's ensemble might sound like if one were performing in Diagon Alley. There are plenty more opportunities in the film to listen to Harry's reactions to the wizarding world, but not as many chances to listen to the world as experienced wizards hear it. Of course, with the decision to track music in from a couple cues in the final cut, that creative choice is essentially reversed.
 
"Hagrid's Flashback"
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx_2TC4QmNqkTUwwLUxLaENHUDg
The opening half of this cue was dialed out. It turns out that the unused portion is longer than the scene itself, so I edited the cue down myself in order to see how it might have been able to fit into this scene.
 
"Entering the Great Hall"
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx_2TC4QmNqkczg3eW05dUZQRjQ
The first dozen or so measures were dialed out, when Malfoy introduces himself. I'm not sure why they considered this unflattering music expendable. Its removal certainly doesn't add any degree of subtlety to Draco's wickedess, considering how hammy the scene is with Malfoy essentially saying, "Join me or I'll hate you".
 
"Flying 1"
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx_2TC4QmNqkRDRXRXhmYjNlODg
I'm really not sure at all why this quotation of the Hogwarts theme was dialed out.
 
"Flying 2"
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx_2TC4QmNqkdmN2NzNMZ2Z0WkU
The film loses yet another statement of the Hogwarts motif when McGonagall seemingly reprimands Harry. However, the lack of music does leave Harry's fate more to chance in the mind of the viewer.
 
"Troll in the Dungeon"
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx_2TC4QmNqkZ0FYdE5pRFk1aEU
Unused in the film. I think it was decided that the confusion and panic would be heightened if Quirrell's message was delivered without accompanying music (because a lack of music is a lack of information).
 
"Christmas"
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx_2TC4QmNqkWnc1WWhXajFnZE0
This one is purely experimental in nature. Williams went to the trouble of writing a Hogwarts Christmas carol from scratch as well as an accompanying tune to be played on a music box synth. Alas, only a seconds of each were used in the final film. Here you can listen to how the whole song could fit into the scene; I tried to line it up to the music box track, but although they both carry the same basic melody the tempos are just too different to be melodiously aligned.
 
"Dumbledore's Caution"
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx_2TC4QmNqkaHJEMk5jYXdvdzA
There's a very passive quotation of Hedwig's Theme edited out of the film that I think was supposed to underscore this deleted scene. I wish the scene had been kept in; it acts as a good contrast to the...
 
"Time Transition"
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx_2TC4QmNqkNFBfMGtJMHBWT3c
Williams originally had an entirely different idea for this scene, which used a feathery arrangement of the Flying Theme (on the celeste, of course!). I much prefer the revised cue; in context, this one seems too whimsical to be taken seriously.
 
"The Dark Forest"
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx_2TC4QmNqkS3NNMy1nT0FHeXc
Dialed out in the film is an airy statement of Voldemort's Theme, which I think was a bit too indicative of the Dark Lord's hand in the matter. Plus, the eeriness is increased tenfold when the scene is not graced with any music; it's as if they're isolated even from the underscore.
 
CHAMBER OF SECRETS
"Introducing Dobby"
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx_2TC4QmNqkVi00bUpaM3pTbHc
This went fully unused in the film and honestly I think it was the right choice. Although it probably would have helped cement Dobby's theme into the film a little better, it just seems to be making light of Dobby's self-harm, thereby making it harder to pity him later in the film.
 
PRISONER OF AZKABAN
"The Dementor Appears"
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx_2TC4QmNqkdGljeU9nSnNhcms
Williams originally wrote this ending to the cue, but in the final cut it was replaced with a sustained note from choir that anticipates the similar sound that underscores later appearances of the Patronus charm.

Speaking as a professional composer with a fairly busy career, I'd like to offer the following words of encouragement:
 
I've taken on projects with little or no funding simply out of sympathy or interest. Even when it has clashed with my main schedule.
 
The truth is, if someone truly feels my music is the ideal voice for a project, and if the project arouses my curiosity and enthusiasm, and the work required seems fun and not too time consuming, well,  it's tempting to say yes. Writing music is a way of life, and not just a way to make a living. Its purpose is to share and be shared. 
 
If you're able to get through to John Williams, I think there's a very real chance he'd actually consider it. 
 
A few ways to make the project more attractive to him might be to make sure 
 
-the musical requirements are kept minimal in terms of durata (max 3 minutes) 
 
-there's  no deadline
 
-it could be scored for small forces (solo or chamber); ideally, try to get a prominent younger Mexican musician (or ensemble) involved
 
-if there's any profit, give it to some kind of charity, preferably musical
 
At this stage in his career, Williams seems to mostly focus on concert pieces, often for friends, and other work based on long-standing loyal relations (Spielberg, Star Wars, Tanglewood, various orchestras). 
 
He has stated numerous times that he writes every day, even when he's "off schedule", and your best bet would be to reach him, and have him think "well, I suppose this could be my challenge for an afternoon or two". 
 
Best of luck! 
 
Marcus

Cool, nice examples, this old movie is something I've only heard about now, I'll definitely check it out for the music if nothing else.
The Indy films in general are loaded with musical comedy, they are really asking for it, this is my personal favourite, this scene was also one of my biggest laughs as a child.
 
 

I completed The Witcher 3. Phew! 
 
An absolute monster of a game and arguably one of the greatest hardcore RPGs ever made. Utterly stunning to look at in the right weather conditions too, it can be breathtaking. 
 
I managed to secure one of the better endings so I'm pretty satisfied with how it finally played out, even if I did entirely stop taking on contracts and side quests after 90 hours or so. The whole thing took me 116 hours, which means that's gonna be it for me and big games for another year or two. 
 
Now I have a massive craving to shoot things in the face violently for a few days. Doom it is! 

Cool, nice examples, this old movie is something I've only heard about now, I'll definitely check it out for the music if nothing else.
The Indy films in general are loaded with musical comedy, they are really asking for it, this is my personal favourite, this scene was also one of my biggest laughs as a child.
 
 

Cool, nice examples, this old movie is something I've only heard about now, I'll definitely check it out for the music if nothing else.
The Indy films in general are loaded with musical comedy, they are really asking for it, this is my personal favourite, this scene was also one of my biggest laughs as a child.
 
 

Cool, nice examples, this old movie is something I've only heard about now, I'll definitely check it out for the music if nothing else.
The Indy films in general are loaded with musical comedy, they are really asking for it, this is my personal favourite, this scene was also one of my biggest laughs as a child.
 
 

This I can get behind!
That’s how I imagine it too, and I think the theme in general can be used as a new Jedi-specific theme, it has that mysterious, larger-than-life quality for me, but my secret wish is that Luke didn’t become an irreversibly bittered old hermit and we’ll hear glimpses of his innocent theme clearly representing him for some nice moments, not just for random nostalgic/hopeful Star Wars-y scenes like in EPVII

Beautiful rendition of John's classic epiphany music there. 

Interesting thread, love the examples!
 
 
General Grievous from RotS is what came to my mind the first time I read the title. I just love the raw power and rhythmic nature of this cue, it's nothing he's ever done for Star Wars before and since.
(Zam would have been my number 2 choice, it's a shame both are heavily edited or differently arranged in the movies themselves)
 

Interesting thread, love the examples!
 
 
General Grievous from RotS is what came to my mind the first time I read the title. I just love the raw power and rhythmic nature of this cue, it's nothing he's ever done for Star Wars before and since.
(Zam would have been my number 2 choice, it's a shame both are heavily edited or differently arranged in the movies themselves)
 

Here it is    

Interesting thread, love the examples!
 
 
General Grievous from RotS is what came to my mind the first time I read the title. I just love the raw power and rhythmic nature of this cue, it's nothing he's ever done for Star Wars before and since.
(Zam would have been my number 2 choice, it's a shame both are heavily edited or differently arranged in the movies themselves)
 

Interesting thread, love the examples!
 
 
General Grievous from RotS is what came to my mind the first time I read the title. I just love the raw power and rhythmic nature of this cue, it's nothing he's ever done for Star Wars before and since.
(Zam would have been my number 2 choice, it's a shame both are heavily edited or differently arranged in the movies themselves)
 

Interesting thread, love the examples!
 
 
General Grievous from RotS is what came to my mind the first time I read the title. I just love the raw power and rhythmic nature of this cue, it's nothing he's ever done for Star Wars before and since.
(Zam would have been my number 2 choice, it's a shame both are heavily edited or differently arranged in the movies themselves)
 

I hope the opening scene is a montage of Rey and Luke building an obstacle course, and Rey attempting to complete it, but gets bored and locks Luke in the freezer.

I personally like Desplat very much, loved his HP scores, for me it managed to capture the spirit of the Harry Potter universe but with his distinctive style and I think this is the way to go with Rogue One. I just hope that the quoted SW themes will not be directly lifted but referenced properly in his own way. Other than that, I’m fine with him, and I’m looking forward to it, the movie sounds like a Star Warsified heist movie rather than a “gritty war movie”, but at this point I don’t think we know the overall mood of the movie just yet, and how the reshoots will change that, and the music. The movie itself is a big question mark, it certainly is a challenge for any composer, but I have faith in him.

A Danny Elfman SW score? Sign me up

Thank you again for all of it!
I like the fact that it has action cues and lesser known pieces, I liked it back in the day, I haven't changed that much since

That reminds me that one of my favorite game soundtracks of the past few years was Jake Kaufman's updates of the classic DuckTales NES soundtrack for the DuckTales Remastered game.
 
So good!
 
Kaufman is actually one of my favorite current videogame composers.  His music for Shantae and the Pirate's Curse was really cool.