Madmartigan JC

MV usually works from home so he might have been out for groceries etc. Try calling at a more accessible time.

Refloating this thread to ask if anyone knows wether they're back from the holidays at Lalaland.
Last time I followed @Amer's advice and MV was so kind to take my order personally by phone.

I've mailed them to try to order some more CDs but got no answer this time. Also, the answering machine used to have a message. But I called today and only got a what I believe is a Fax signal (?).
 
Thanks!
 

Yeah, that's why the name stuck with me. They had some trio shows earlier in the year, the performance of the Williams was an encore... I'll look further for that.
Found it:
 
Argerich, Mutter and Maisky... So much talent playing Williams!
 
 

I've been summoned!
 
Exact definitions differ between theorists of course, but there is a pretty stable consensus concerning what's genuinely fugal, what's canonical or imitative, and what's just polyphonically busy. For a fugue, it's all about that incremental feeling. One voice introduces the fugue's main idea ("subject") in full, then another comes in repeating it while the first offers a countermelody ("answer"), and so on. Traditionally, these need to be at quite specific tonal levels -- the second either in ("real") or on ("tonal") the key of the dominant.  And back and forth it goes until all seperate contrapuntal strands are introduced, usually 3-4 voices in total. I'm simplifying a lot, though it's worth pointing out that Williams almost never writes fugues by completely by the "book." The key thing is that feeling of accretion, of rising intricacy, of one melodic subject chasing another, 
 
 
As breathtaking as it is, I'm afraid there's nothing fugal in the Asteroid Field. March of the Resistance's middle section includes definite but quite unconventional fugal exposition that modulates up by fifth three times, from F to D, and doesn't have a consistent countersubject. 
 
A few years ago I gave a talk on all things neo-Baroque in Williams, which included transcribing all of his fugues, fugatos, and canonic passages. It's a marvelous thing to behold. In any case, my vote is for Black Sunday. 
 

A new The Legacy Of John Williams podcast episode is up, featuring @TownerFan, @mahler3, @John Takis, me, and Mike Matessino
 
https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2023/12/27/hook-podcast-special/

It's not "The End of Hook", it's "My Lost Boys" (the first cue in "Farewell Neverland"). The majority of that cue is replaced by "The Face of Pan (Choral Version)" in the film.
 
What happened was, "The Face of Pan" was always intended to have choir, so it was recorded on the day the choir was present. After two complete takes with the choir performing at the end, it was decided to do a pickup take of just the ending part, but without the choir performing. The final performance edit for the film was then made up of parts of both full takes, with the choir-free pickup ending used. This performance edit was re-created for the album as well, and again for The Ultimate Edition's main program.
 
When it was decided to replace part of "My Lost Boys" with "The Face of Pan" in the film, what got tracked in wasn't the performance edit that used multiple takes; it was one of the chosen takes exclusively. So, when constructing the bonus section of The Ultimate Edition, Mike could have easily taken the main program performance edit and just swapped in the choral ending from one of the two takes. But because he wanted to be thorough and include every correct performance heard in the film, he made the entire track be the take that got tracked into the end of the movie. 
 
So that's why it is completely true that every bit of music you hear in the film is on this set: that kind of attention to detail.

I think you misread my post.  I said Murphy saved those mixes onto 1/2" tape in 1991.  I never said he provided any elements used on either expansion.
 
Mike explained everything in the most recent podcast episode.  The 1/2" tapes of everything recorded up to when the OST album was locked were in Sony Music's possession, so that's what Didier used as the primary source of his expansion.  The 1/2" tapes of all the cues recorded in November never made it there, which is why he used the film's music stem for that music.

For the new expansion, Mike had the Sony Pictures guys dig into their archives, and they found the 1/2" tapes for those November recordings, as well as all the tapes that all the pre-Murphy stuff was recorded onto, so Murphy's 1991 mixes saved onto 1/2" tape was the primary source of the new expansion.  And the set of 1/2" tapes that went from Sony Music to Battery mastering in 2011, are now at home with their companions at Sony Pictures

I received my physical copy in the mail yesterday!
 
I almost still can't believe it's real!

So yeah, I waited for the proper month to do these. 2 movies in 2 parts each, one for the 4 Advent Sundays. The teaser also gave a clue: HA2 first, HA second. That's because the first movie's is infinitely more genuine and actually tries with its emotional core (which is what makes it great), and the score can follow suit too, so I think it's more appropriate to have that one closer to Christmas.
 
So, HA2. This was mostly a fun enough job to do. The really interesting part is how fragmented both these scores are, a lot of short cues, either recorded in little pieces or as one longer cue with built-in silences... and how much of that you don't notice at all on the LLLs because they're presented very well! Though here with this one it was sometimes difficult to separate stuff when I had to. Here and there I included bits of dialogue for both movies, where I felt the spotting made space for them and they were somewhat warranted, like ironic crosscutting, or to show exactly why a cue starts like it does. Thank you, @BrotherSound, for the partial cue list, I'm using my fill-in attempt.
 
 
 


1M2 Home Alone fits just fine.
1M5 [My Christmas Tree] - The film plays it slower, might be a different take, switches to the unreleased solos, decided not to restore it.
 
 


1m6 [I'd Like To Apologize] - this is slightly off from being in sync with the movie but I like it more like this.
1M7 Trout Sniffer - fits
1M8 What A Troubled Young Man - Now this is one example where the cue had a built-in silence between the two parts as recorded that got reduced on the release - for the better of course, but it doesn't make this job easier.
1M9 Kevin’s Wish - fits fine.
2M1 [untitled] [We Overslept Again] - Now this is strange, the movie tracks and loops it, possibly even uses the HA1 recordings? As it is on the LLL I feel it has a weird edit where two alternates may be joined but I have no authority to say. It syncs up just fine anyway to the point where the music ends in the movie, even if it's not the same music. Had to fabricate a false clean ending using Making the Plane.
2M2 Holiday Flight - It's so refreshing to have a heavy action cue sync up perfectly to the final cut!
 
 


2M2 Holiday Flight (alternate) - And shocking that the completely different early alternate also fits perfectly!
 
 


2M3 On The Wrong Plane - Wisely moved between 2M5 and 2M6 on the LLL.
2M5 Radar Screen - fits.
2M6 Kevin’s Not Here - seems to fit fine.
3M1 New York City - had to shorten a couple shots around the Ally Sheedy cameo.
3M3 The Arrival - completely unused, probably reedited to the song after the cue was dropped, so I had to work on it a bit to beat it back into shape.
 
 


3M4 The Thieves Return - Strange things going on, there are obvious sync points but in one place a black screen had to be added, in one pace a whole shot removed.
 
 

3M5 The Plaza Hotel fits great in all its Hookian glory.
4M1 To The Registration Desk - fits fine.
4M2 [The Christmas Song (source)]
4M3 [Let It Snow (source)] - decided to restore these too.
4M4 The Hotel Suite - another cue likely recorded in "two pieces"
 
 


4M6 Old Movie #1 [source]- yeah, why not
 
 

4M7 The Concierge - in two pieces again.
4M9 The Concierge Escapes - unused in the movie but fits, the end probably didn't fit well with the needledrop.
5M1 [Distant Goodnights] - fits fine
5M2 [No Tip] - fits fine
5M3 [Checking Records] - fits
 
 


5M5 Ice Skating - Restored how it's in the movie, even if the long camera move being unscored until we see Harry is a bit strange.
5M6 Hatching A Plan
5M7 [unknown title]
6M1 Mr. Duncan’s Store
6M2 [Turtle Doves] all fit, whatever 5m7 is . Decided to include the music box source cues too.
6M3 To The Plaza.....Presto!
6M4 [Race To The Room] fit too. Again refreshing to have big complex action cues fit the final cut. Even if TTPP is in multiple pieces.
 
 

6M5 Into Harry’s Waiting Arms
7M1 Old Friends Meet
7M2 Hot Pursuit all fit fine too.
 

Another Sunday, another part!
 
 


An impressive 21-minute stretch of near-constant music!
7M3 [Haunted Brownstone]
7M4 Appearance of the Pigeon Lady
8M1 [O Come All Ye Faithful]
8M2 [O Little Town Of Betlehem]
8M3 [Silent Night]
8M4 Christmas Star all fit great, for
8M5 Preparing the Trap I had to shorten a shot to bring it back to sync, finally after it bothered me every single time I saw the movie!
Restored 8M6 [Winter Wonderland] too, why not.
9M1 Approaching the Cash Register
9M2 Breaking Duncan’s Window
9M3 The See Saw
9M4 Running Trough Town all fit fine too.
 
For the traps I decided not to edit all the shorter segments closer together by cutting shots, ironically this time not editing the movie to the LLL but the LLL to the movie. I just wanted to really showcase how the spotting worked, what was kept silent and what was scored.
 


9M5 Brick Throwing
9M6 Staple Gun
9M7 [The Basement]
10M1 Slipping + Sliding
10M2 A Brief Recovery
10M3 Head On Fire
10M4 [The Rope]
10M5 Stacking Boxes
10M6 Up The Ladder
10M7 To The Stairs
10M8 [That's 3]
10M9 The Stair Caper
11M1 Kerosene Rope
11M2 Down The Rope
11M3 Into The Park all fit beside a short microedit toward the end of the last one. Some bits are unused. Overall, 21 minutes, 15 cues (as far as we know), 3 LLL tracks... in 35 segments. Whew.
 
 
 


11M4 Duncan’s Store and Mother’s Search - fits
11M5/12M1 Rockefeller Center - had to slow the transition shots down
12M2 Wake Up, It’s Christmas! - fits
12M3 New Finale - fits
Merry Christmas (End Credit Pt. 1)
Somewhere In My Memory (End Credit Pt. 2) both fit fine over the credits.

So, another Sunday and we continue our journey. Moving onto Home Alone! This great score was an absolute joy to restore. Thanks to @BrotherSound again for the LtP cue list leak! My own attempts at filling it in are in brackets.
 
 
 


1M2 Home Alone - funnily enough, I had to intervene here, extend the opening, shorten the ending, to get things back into what seems like a more proper sync.
 
 

1M4 Go Pack Your Suitcase
1M5 Introducing Marley
1M8/2M1 In Good Hands
2M2 Banishes To The Attic
2M3 We Slept In all fit just fine.
2M4 [Hard Count] was replaced with some faint chimes (used maybe as source music) in the movie but fits.
2M5 [Making the Plane] is unused too but still fits.
 
 

3M1 The Basement
3M2 [I Made My Family Disappear] fit fine.
3M3 [Rock And Roll Riff] is edited in the movie, recreated that here.
3M4 Target Practice fits.
3M6 Sledding On The Stairs - I had to split this one just slightly.
3M7 Lights On - had to split into multiple pieces.
4M2 Guess Who's Home
4M1 Paris Arrival
4M4 The Man In The House
4M5 Police Check all fit, just had to split the last one again.
 
 

4M7 The Bookshelf - had to split in two.
5M1 Phone Machine
5M2 The Drugstore Scene
5M3/4 Escape Across The Ice all fit.
5M6 Follow That Kid - had to split in two. Maybe it's actually 5M5 and 5M6.
5M7 [Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree] - sure, why not? Recreated the film edit.
 
 

6M2 [The First Noel] - while we're at it, why not buff it up by including all the carol source music too?
6M3 [Listening to Carson] fits fine.
6M4 [White Christmas] - alright, let's just keep this running.
6M5 [Hark the Herald]
6M6 Cleaning Clothes all fit fine.
7M2 Kitchen Scene - partially dialed out I think but fits.
7M3A [Jingle Bells]
7M3B [Joy To The World] - I was naughty, had to loop this one
7M3C [Deck The Halls]
7M4 Scammed By A Kindergartener - Fits fine but had to split it into 3.
 

Well, we've reached the fourth Sunday and the end of our journey.
 
 


7M7 Walking Home
7M7A O Holy Night
7M7B Star of Bethlehem - used the OST version which is the actual film take
7M7C Carol of The Bells - didn't recreate the exact film transition, instead faded this out in time for 8M6 to enter cleanly, so it can take center place.
8M6 Setting The Trap fits fine.
 
 
 


For this one I followed the same pattern as for HA2 - leave the footage as is, separate all the little cues, space them out. Unfortunately I had to intervene for Paint Cans, had to shorten the footage in one place and lengthen it in others. Overall, 4 LLL tracks in 26 pieces over 13 minutes.
9M1+2 The Attack Begins
9M3 John Wayne Enters The Basement
9M4+5 A Hot Hand
9M6 / 10M1 Sore Head fit fine.
10M2 Paint Cans - some strange edits going on here, tried to keep up.
10M3 Clothesline Trapeze - partially unused but fits. The insert is noticeably edited in in the film audio if you pay attention to it, the quality/mix/stereo field changes.
10M4 Marley To The Rescue fits.
10M5 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - film version, fits.
 
 
 

11M1 The Next Morning
11M2 Mom Returns
11M3 Finale fit great.
11M4 We Wish You A Merry Christmas
11M4A End Credits - had to slow the credits way down to make them fit!
 
 

alternates:
 
Insertless original 10M3 Clothesline Trapeze - fits
Instrumental Walking Home and early church sequence assembly before Star Of Betlehem was made into a carol too - fits
O Holy Night alternate finale - fits.

Little detail I noticed that has not been mentioned here yet: the bottom of the CD spine matches with the Harry Potter collection. I think it's a very nice touch! (But why?)

I'm sorry:
 

Guys. I got home and there's no Hook CD waiting for me. I can't believe it. it's really quite a stressful situation. 
 
Absolutely nothing waiting on the doorstep. 
 
I can't help but notice however that the glass in the front door is broken. Some sort of botched delivery attempt? Also, someone's utterly ruined the wallpaper in the hallway. And up the stairs. And they've pinned a note to a bedroom door with a flippin' knife of all things. This is one desperate postal thief. Very strange methods indeed. 
 
Also I'm not entirely certain where the kids are. 
 
 

Yeah definitely felt like a full circle moment for me to be able to work on an official expansion of the one score I spent the most amount of time talking about in the early days of the internet.

To be clear, the trailer music - like the rest of the score - was recorded onto beautiful analog tape.  Hook was not a digital recording, though the original soundtrack album was a digital master;  any cues being used for the OST album were transferred to digital, and Ken Wannberg's performance edits made for the film were redone digitally by Armin Steiner.  Though in 2 cases, he didn't match the film exactly...

But yes, clearly a 48khz digital file of the performance-edited trailer music was used and incorrectly converted to 44.1khz at the time for the album master.
 
For the Ultimate Edition, the whole score is sourced from that 1991 analog tape, with all performance edits redone from scratch by Mike.

The songs are integral to Hook essence. Spielberg had a strong desire to turn Hook into a musical.
Choosing not to explore them would mean missing out on understanding the core inspiration behind the movie's themes.
Why would you want to miss out on such a delicious experience?

"Yuppie Sounds" 
They should've kept that title!

"Yuppie Sounds" 
They should've kept that title!

The original OST album wasn't a masterpiece of album programming though.  It's a mostly chronological, mostly unedited assembly of cues that happened to have been recorded already when they had to lock a program in order for the album to be in stores the same week as the film, with no concert arrangements or anything specially recorded just for it, and one entire track playing at the wrong speed. 
 
It's very clear to me that if schedules had been different, some of the arrangements we eventually got on the Williams/Spielberg CD probably would have been recorded at the film's scoring sessions, and the OST album would have come out different than it is, certainly including some of the music that hadn't been recorded yet like the climax of the score.
 
The new LLL main program and Disc 3 program are assembled with love and care and are approved by John Williams.

"Yuppie Sounds" 
They should've kept that title!

"Yuppie Sounds" 
They should've kept that title!