ragoz350

Back with a new (and highly speculative) score restoration video for The Rise of Skywalker. 'Anthem of Evil' is a bit of a mystery: while one section near the end appears to be 6M12 Six Twelve, a cue for the destruction of Kijimi, it's still completely unknown what the first part is. But here's my take:
 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J6N8q2VvRP57ETvuz9N8hXAlUMtIBgYe/view?usp=sharing
 
We can definitively say the first part of 'Anthem of Evil' is not 8M4 Psalm of the Sith, because there's sheet music for that cue fairly visible in one of the documentaries, and it actually matches music used in the middle of 'Join Me' instead.
 
@Falstaft recently expanded our list of known cues with several more, most or all of which appear to be choral or choral additions to other cues (e.g. 8M4C), and on this list is 8M1 Approaching the Throne #2, a cue which is not used in the final cut of the film. So, my speculation is that perhaps the first part of 'Anthem of Evil' is 8M1, for Rey walking into the Exegol temple and first encountering the Emperor, presumably a version without all the noisy thunder and lightning effects and running slightly longer.

And while we wait for Williams' original liner notes for the album, here's an excerpt from an interview in which the Maestro discusses his work on the score, published on the 1975 book Knowing the Score, by Irwin Bazelon.
(Also available here: https://www.jwfan.com/?p=4583):
 
 

Pete and Dorinda are finally reunited... in spirit. Despite Hap's warning, Pete uses this opportunity to say all the things he wishes he'd said while alive.
 
Dorinda, perhaps aware of his spiritual presence, pauses to reminisce... until Ted interrupts.
Cue Status: OST T14 Seeing Dorinda
 
While sharing a ride, Dorinda and Ted stumble upon a bus driver suffering a heart attack. Ted responds with CPR and saves his life. Although they started on shaky ground, Dorinda begins to feel something for Ted.
Cue Status: Unreleased
 
While enjoying their first dinner together, Ted and Dorinda split a wishbone. Rather than wishes, discussion turns to Pete. But before long, the pair acknowledge their deepening feelings for each other, much to Pete's dismay.
Cue Status: Unreleased
 
Her newfound feelings for Ted progressing too fast, Dorinda ends the night prematurely. With the one year anniversary of Pete's death lingering on her mind, she tries on the dress Pete gifted her one year prior. She dances alone to Smoke Gets In Your Eyes before retiring to bed. Pete resumes his spiritual courtship while Dorinda sleeps, unable to let go. (Note: Williams wrote two equally touching versions of this cue, and combined both versions in OST track 11 Pete And Dorinda).
 
Waking in Heaven, Pete is reunited with Hap. Disappointed by Pete's self-serving use of spiritual energy, Hap offers him another chance to say goodbye to Dorinda. "I sent you back to settle with the one you love. I sent you back to say goodbye. Until you do that, she won't be free... and neither will you." Heartbroken, Pete responds, "I'm not ready to say goodbye."
 
Hap wisely explains, "You still have to learn... to gain your freedom, you have to give it."
Cue Status: This video features the film version of Pete and Dorinda from OST T11 0:00-1:36, followed by T10 Promise to Hap.

The fire operation goes awry. A dangerous dive into the flames results in Pete's left engine catching fire. Fellow pilot Al witnesses the resulting explosion -- Pete's number is up.
 
A heartbroken Dorinda ruminates. (Note: The film version of this cue is unreleased, which features celesta, bells & ethereal synth overlays in addition to the strings-based OST version).

Soon after, Pete finds himself wandering through an ashen forest, uncertain of his situation. Atop an impossibly lush hill in barren surrounds, Pete meets Hap. There, he ponders if he isn't dead, he must be crazy. Hap assures him he isn't crazy.
 
Pete is thus given an opportunity: return to the real world and inspire another, before moving into the afterlife. "They hear you inside their minds, as if it were their own thoughts," Hap explains, before a warning. "Remember, you've had your life... and anything you do for yourself now is a waste of spirit."
Cue Status: Film version of The Explosion is Unreleased. This video features the alternate OST version (T12 The Return, 0:00-1:19) followed by T9 Pete in Heaven.
 
Pete returns to Flat Rock airfield and finds the target of his inspiration, a young pilot named Ted. He also 'reunites' with old friend Al (now the base commander) who also meets Ted for the first time.
Cue Status: Unreleased
 
As Pete embarks on his first 'lesson' with Ted, Dorinda arrives at Flat Rock. Although unaware their paths have intertwined (albeit spiritually), the pair sense an immediate connection. Williams underscores this moment with a melancholic, strained variation on Pete & Dorinda's love theme.
Cue Status: OST T12 The Return (1:17-end)
 
Taking refuge from the storm in an abandoned base, Pete discovers an Old Timer who can seemingly hear what he says. He attempts communicating to Ted via the Old Timer, but choice words are lost in translation and Pete's intent doesn't go to plan. (Note: the film only partially uses the OST version of this cue before trailing off in a more lighthearted, playful direction; the film version is unreleased. Also of note is a substantial section of music on album which has no corresponding footage, indicating this sequence was heavily trimmed down after Williams scored it).
 
Excited by Ted's return to Flat Rock, a young mechanic gussies up in preparation for his arrival. Mechanical trouble and wacky hijinks ensues.
Cue Status: Film version partially uses an unreleased alternate. This video uses the OST version from T17 The Old Timer's Shack, followed by T8 Follow Me.

Several months back I started working on an isolated score presentation for Always, using material contained on the OST. With the announcement of a remastered expansion coming from LLL, it became a 'now or never' moment to finish what I started. I've since gone back and expanded the project to include the film's unreleased music, in the hope these videos whet people's appetite for the upcoming expansion.
 
Despite all the knocks this score has received over the years, when finally watching the film I was surprised to discover a very nuanced work from Williams. While Spielberg's collaborations with Williams through the early 80s would be associated with large-scale, virtuosic orchestral brilliance, the director's shift towards restrained dramas was well underway by the mid-80s. A trilogy-capping Indiana Jones film notwithstanding, Always rounded out the tail end of a boisterous decade of film scoring for Williams. While moments of lush scoring would prove scarce, the score's greatest strength is the impressive restraint of its central love theme, equal parts tender and wistful.
 
Although commonplace in collaborations to follow, the surprisingly late first instance of a score cue (22 minutes into the film) was unusual for its time in a Spielberg feature.
 
We begin with a short, atmospheric cue that underscores a (seemingly prophetic) moment of unease for Dorinda, as she sights the fateful plane of her partner's (Pete) future demise.
Cue Status: OST T15 Intimate Conversations (0:00-0:31)
 
A similar moment of retrospection follows soon after, as Dorinda notices something amiss with the glowing blue halo that engulfs Pete as he opens the fridge door.
 
Interestingly, Spielberg opted to track the immediately preceding cue into this moment. Williams' intended score is therefore both unused and unreleased, but the tracking works effectively.
Cue Status: Tracked from OST T15 Intimate Conversations (0:00-0:31), JW's Intended Version Unreleased & Unused
 
Increasingly worried over Pete's cavalier attitude towards the dangers of his work (flying planes over raging bush fires, dousing them with fire retardant), Dorinda begs Pete to consider a new role in Colorado. This cue is unreleased.
Cue Status: Unreleased
 
Two pilots down with a new burn in the South Rim, and despite being his layoff day, Pete is called for help.
 
With the previous night's discussion weighing on her mind, Dorinda rushes to the airfield before Pete's departure. In one of the score's highlights, Dorinda expresses her love for Pete, insisting he can't leave the ground without knowing.
 
As Dorinda returns to her bike, Pete returns the gesture... but his declaration of love goes unheard, drowned out by the propellers.
Cue Status: OST T10  Saying Goodbye (2:46 onward dialed out in the film, omitting Williams' dramatic conclusion).

I’ve attempted to recreate the edit JW scored of the penultimate sequence of The Force Awakens, 8M72 Finding the Map and 8M73 The Complete Map:
 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FUoI-0d63VheebkFyPefQW9l7-OyS_5a/view?usp=sharing
 
Notes:
 
This initial meeting of Rey and Poe made it into the novelization. Abrams and Johnson may not have agreed on much, but they did both share the vision of an oddly boring, awkward initial meeting for these two. 🤷‍♂️
 
It was also apparently followed by a shot of R2 boarding the Falcon, but I couldn’t find a decent substitute for that. Rey saying goodbye to Finn was much shorter in the cut JW scored, just 19 seconds.
 
There’s additional dialog in the novelization when Rey says goodbye to Leia. There doesn’t seem to be sufficient time for all of it, but I’d bet at least some of it was originally used, so I’ve made a guess at what might have appeared.

it'll never happen in our lifetime

OK here are the spots in The Lost World score where there are re-used passages in place of whatever JW originally intended
 
[5M3/6M1 Part II Horning In] 3-09 Spilling Petrol and Horning In 3:52-4:15 ≈
[8M2 Truck Stop] 3-13 Rescuing Sarah 3:18-3:55 ≈
[10M1 Rialto Ripples] 4-01 Ripples 3:34-4:08
This was clearly written for 8M2 Truck Stop (bars 110-129) and later repurposed into both 5M3/6M1 Part II Horning In and 10M1 Rialto Ripples  In the 5M3/6M1 Part II sheet music, you will see that: page 1 (bars 1-4) is fine page 2 (should be bars 5-8) only has bars 5-7, with the 4th bar slot on the page scribbled out page 3 (should be bars 9-12) has the first bar scribbled out and then you can see the obvious photocopying in from page 28 (bars 110-112) of 8M2, with their bar numbers changed to now be 8-10 (also the percussion part is different and not photocopied) page 4 (should be bars 13-16) is really page 29 (bars 113-116) of 8M2 renumbered to be bars 11-14 - you can even still see 8M2 on the top of the page crossed out page 5 (should be bars 17-20) is really page 30 (bars 117-120 of 8M2 renumbered to be bars 15-18 page 6 (should be bars 21-24) is really the first 2 bars from page 31 (bars 121-122 of 8M2 renumbered to be bars 19-20, followed by 2 scribbled out bars page 7 (should be bars 25-28) is now bars 21-24 (originally page 6), and that's how the rest of the cue goes (each page number increased by 1 from where they were before the change) In the 10M1 sheet music, you will see that: pages 1-26 (bars 1-104) are fine page 27 (should be bars 105-108) only has bars 105-107, with the 4th bar slot on the page scribbled out page 28 (should be bars 109-112) has the first bar scribbled out and then you can see the obvious photocopying in from page 28 (bars 110-112) of 8M2, with their bar numbers changed to now be 108-110 (also the percussion part is different and not photocopied) page 29 (should be bars 113-116) is a photocopy of page 29 (bars 113-116) of 8M2 renumbered to be bars 111-114 page 30 (should be bars 117-120) is a photocopy of page 30 (bars 117-120) of 8M2 renumbered to be bars 115-118 page 31 (should be bars 121-124) is a photocopy of page 31 (bars 121-124) of 8M2 renumbered to be bars 119-122 page 32 (should be bars 125-128) is a photocopy of page 32 (bars 125-128) of 8M2 renumbered to be bars 123-126 page 33 (should be bars 129-132) has a photocopy of bar 129 from 8M2 renumbered to be bar 127, then a single bar from 10M1 (presumably the actual bar 128), then 2 scribbled out bars page 34 (should be bars 133-136) is now bars 129-132 (originally page 33), and that's how the rest of the cue goes (each page number increased by 1 from where they were before the change) [11M2 The Raptors Appear] 4-04 The Raptors Appear 3:26-end ≈
[11M3/12M1 High Bar and Ceiling Tiles] 4-05 High Bar and Ceiling Tiles 2:22-2:32
This was clearly written for 11M2 The Raptors Appear (bars 85-104) and later repurposed into 11M3/12M1 Rialto Ripples In the 11M3/12M1 sheet music, you will see that: pages 1-18 (bars 1-72) are fine page 19 (should be bars 73-76) is slightly altered to allow a 77th bar to fit in after bar 76, so the page now has bars 73-77 page 20 (should be bars 77-80, but now bars 78-81) is actually an amalgam of partially re-written / partially photocopied elements from bars 85-86 and also 97-100 from 11M2 page 21 (should be bars 81-84, but now bars 82-85) is just a photocopy of page 26 (bars 101-104) from 11M2, except for the percussion section which is slightly different, and the bars are renumbered page 22 (should be bars 85-88), but now bars 86-88) only has material on 3 bars with the 4th bar scribbled out, to resume normal bar numbering starting with page 23 [12M5 Monster On The Loose] 4-09 Monster on the Loose 0:50-1:13 ≈
[13M1 A Neighborhood Visitor] 4-10 Visitor in San Diego 2:10-2:42
This one is a little different, because there is no photocopying, and no weird bar/page renumbering. It is therefore possible that Williams always intended to make these 2 passages (bars 15-22 of 12M5 and bars 45-56 of 13M1) similar on purpose It is also possible that this was another hasty change, but they chose to re-write the identical instrument lines instead of photocopying anything  
It's probably worth noting that the original source of these passages (Truck Stop, Raptors Appear, Neighborhood Visitor) were all on the OST album, while the none of the cues that ended up re-using bits (Horning In, Rialto Ripples, High Bar and Ceiling Tiles, Monster on the Loose) were on the OST album (except for the first 95 seconds of Rialto Ripples)

Besides Arlington, I love The Motorcade. Such a great intense development of one simple motive.

Besides Arlington, I love The Motorcade. Such a great intense development of one simple motive.

The merits and flaws of the prequels have been debated endlessly, but if there's one thing they had going for them was opportunities for musical expression.  The Phantom Menace is particularly noteworthy in that sense, with its great variety of locales and set pieces, regardless of how well they actually work dramatically. Those aspects, combined with a plethora of vast establishing shots, dramatic scene transitions and numerous shots of ships taking off and landing, gave John Williams the chance to write what I think is his greatest collection of fanfares in any single score. I would even go as far as to say The Phantom Menace has the greatest collection of fanfares of any score that I know of, period. Listening to a mostly complete assembly of the score, I was awestruck at the sheer quantity of absolutely terrific and unique fanfares JW wrote for it:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This score is an absolute treasure chest

Have a feeling I previously did a score restore for just this cue's ending, but seeing as almost the entire cue was replaced by tracked music from TFA, this gorgeous track seemed a worthy contender for a score restore.
 
Patchy guesswork was required in places, but hopefully this gives some idea of Williams' original intentions for the sequence.
 

Hi all - 

Today we have a page about the process behind this project. We've had people express interest in how it came together, and we wanted to share the background and the research that was involved. 

You may have also noticed that we changed our name today - this is because we've just published our professional website, and would like that to come up in Google results! You can check it out here to see our other projects.
 
We've loved hearing from you, and hope you like the details about how these scores came to be.

Sadly Williams didn't approve the original cover art.
 

Here's my most elaborate restored score video so far.
 
'Destiny of a Jedi' is majorly hacked up in the film vs. what's on the album, with many sections rearranged or dropped.
 
For the curious, here's everything that's different:
 
The rumors have consistently pointed to the Luke/Leia flashback being a late addition to the scene, originally intended to be the very opening of the film, so I was curious what that music may have been intended for, and I believe I've found some dialogue from the Rae Carson novelization that would have fit perfectly. I've also restored what appears to be the intended transition from the previous scene with 7M1 Seven One to the opening of 7M2 Rey Meets Luke.
 
Now, as we've seen from the other sequel trilogy OSTs, there's no guarantee that what's in the album track is even itself in the order it was composed or without microedits, but I believe this is a fairly plausible look at what might have been. I only added the exchange about healing Kylo and replaced the flashback. See what you think!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kxZhkbzwRNRAmktnIKL3Yb1bHkWCMnrH/view?usp=sharing

That would make a really nice side-project. I do know and adore SotE very well, despite -- maybe in part because -- of the density of classical allusions. But it coheres really well as an overall musical story, and holds up very well in view of 25 additional years of star wars music since. Maybe some day...

I know it's not ol' Johnny boy, but I for one would love if you did a deep dive into the SotE score, covering it's themes and references like you did with the Williams scores.
 
(Side Note: I'm putting together a reference sheet of sorts for Gordy Haab's new Star Wars scores for pseudo-academic purposes. I think it would be swell if some of "lesser" composers scores inside of Williams pantheon of music gets catalogued in some similar fashion)

I haven't heard that many Goldsmith scores, but Powell seems to be much more creative than Goldsmith, in my opinion. Powell goes out of his way to create interesting soundscapes, while Goldsmith is usually just standard orchestral stuff and/or loud timpani/percussion hits.

I've always loved this little melody. A surprisingly cute ballet of droid figures and characters in robes on all those stairs and passages
 
 

Impossible it is to pick just one so I'll just randomly venture one of the tons & tons of underappreciated little moments from AOTC in particular: this haunted statement of Shmi's theme in "Zam's Dirty Trick."
 
 

I'd be hard-pressed to call that underrated. Journey Through the Ice (Part 1) from A.I. - now that's underrated!

I do not think one should call a track underrated that was chosen as the title for a Deutsche Grammophone Anne Sophie Mutter CD. 

Actually Spielberg's brief was to have something along the lines of the 1950s sci-fi scores by Paul Sawtell and Bert Shefter.
 
 
As much as the MacGuffin themes of the previous three films nodded to the Golden Age heritage of Steiner/Rozsa/Waxman etc, the Crystal Skull theme refers to a similar film music artifact of the past, namely the sci-fi scores of the 1950s era. There is even a callback to the sound of theremin. I think that musically made a lot of sense.

Thanks so much for listening @Falco!  Those are two specific things that we really love so stay tuned  


For today, we've had people express interest in an OST presentation, and we're so excited to be delivering an OST for Order of the Phoenix! Hope you enjoy this arrangement of the score. 
https://sites.google.com/view/ravendor/extras/5-soundtrack-cd-presentation

Hi all,

Thanks for all of your support! It really means a lot to us.

Here's the complete audio for Order of the Phoenix. As with Goblet of Fire, we posted a movie-length track that can be synced to your copy, as well as FLAC and MP3 folders of individual cues.
https://sites.google.com/view/ravendor/extras/5-complete-score

We hope you enjoy!

MS & BP