SF1_freeze

Self contained films in a 8 movie franchise with ongoing story and characters -- except the first one thats not the case here Not many people would be even interested in these films without the franchise and the books, as a reader you mainly just want to know how it ends and therefore you read through even mediocre books In reply to Hlao-roo: Your scenario is so far fetched it's hard to discuss it... <_< They would only get Williams after Hooper if the first two scores were so horrible that they would want John Williams to save what's left from these movies. He wouldn't have a choice other than recreate the horrible Hooper fallout then. In another universe if Hooper in the first film had delivered a widely accepted, excellent main theme i shure as hell would expect Williams to use it.

I don't think you quite understood me. I like the "new style of composition" very much, it's just that, without any more elaborate identity of the score, it leaves a very bitter aftertaste. And would people please stop justifying the complete upside-down turning of the music by Hooper and Desplat by comparing it to Prisoner Of Azkaban? Such a comparison is monstrously invalid, since PoA not only sounded like a Harry Potter score (which all that followed did not), it also filled the thematic void with a bagful of themes that are at least as vibrant as any that Williams wrote for Philosopher's Stone and Chamber Of Secrets. So unless the six additional score tracks on the DH Special Edition reveal another Window To The Past or Double Trouble, stop the nonsense! I agree 100 percent (i also like Desplat's technical effort and full orchestra treatment but they aren't worth much with scrapping continuity and themes). These lame comparisons do nothing but weaken all Desplat lovers original arguments further. John Williams did not, in any way change the continuity with Prisoner of Azkaban. He kept the thematic structur with the same "franchise main theme" spread throughout the whole(!) score and two excellent new center point themes for the movie! And they felt Harry Potter, they sounded like Harry Potter... Where is this happening in Hoopers scores or Desplat's effort. They both more or less don't care about this huge franchise with its clearly established musical voice and approach and that is so lame and dissapointing. You cannot take this job and do completely your own stuff, that's not the way franchises work. If you arent narrow minded you can do 90% own stuff and 10% of established "other peoples music" material and you will satisfy almost everyone. Obviously even 90 percent new stuff is not enough for these guys, they want 98 percent own stuff and because the studio requires Hedwig's theme they use it in 2% of the score. (The percentage numbers are just my guess) Why deliver some treats to the fans by rearranging some old themes if you can just scrap all, do as if the former films dont exist and just write new music? These composers or directors seem to be pure egoists!!! You need the recognizability of established themes (and John Williams first three scores define this franchise). Franchises are always compared between themselves and Harry Potter is in that way in terms of music far below Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, even Superman. If Desplat, Hooper or Doyle only want to do their own stuff they should have stayed away from film franchises. Because there this approach won't work or let's better say it works somehow (for all Hooper and Desplat lovers but the simple Potter fan hasn't heard Desplat's name before and probably wonders where all the themes are) but always with a huge dissapointing aftertaste in the mouth if you see all the possibilities a continuous thematic identity would have provided. Only Doyle in that way kept the thematic approach but he completely changed the musical style and lacked magic and medieval flare.

The score sounds ok, even nice at times but nothing more than mediocre. That means completely apart from continuity this Potter score is a mediocre effort and on its own pretty dissapointing even compared to for example Hoppers Order of the Phoenix score. No sweeping and memorable themes and no real recognizable structure. It seems it's just a mish mash of small underdeveloped motives. Then there is the (usual) huge dissapointment in continuity. I'm not talking just about Williams themes. Why not use Doyle's Harry in Winter or even Hoopers "Flight of the Order of the Phoenix". As a composer you can't just completely ignore all the themes of a SIX movie franchise ( 50sec of the main theme is close to nothing). For me that's an arrogant and creatively extremely poor decision, whichevers fault it was. Is it just me or dont you think that the motif (it is no theme) this score is built around is really underwhelming. I like some of the more Williams influenced tracks like Polyjuice Potion or Sky Battle. Also the Lovegood track is lovely and Snape to Malfoy's Manor has a nice dark power. To be honest, i didnt know Alexandre Desplat before this score. So i can't compare his previous efforts but considered the chance this Potter movie provided for him, it is extremely dissapointing that he didnt deliver something more worthy in the end. This is lightyears behind all Williams scores and on par with Hoopers Order of the Phoenix. As Potter music it is in front of Doyle's GoF but as music without connection to the film it even ends below GoF. Alexandre Desplat definetly isnt the hope for near future score masterpieces. Maybe he will be 20 years from now but this Potter proves the opposite for the near future.

Yeah, yeah the fate hangs in balance quite often on this board. You should have gotten used to it by now

There is no argument in the world who can convince me that ignoring a largely successful, extremely good and widely established (even requested by the studio) Main Theme of a Franchise with 8 MOVIES is not selfish, arrogant and destroying the complete continuity. I really hope that won't happen...

Let's hope Desplat didnt do that and that Williams material is in the movie but just not released on the OST. As is said i reserve final judgement until i watched the movie so you can render anything you call offensive non existant if Williams material exists besides the OST release in the movie! By the way, you really call me an idiot Henry? If that's the case i expect an apology. This board is not a dictatorship, as far as i am aware i can voice my opinion without getting insulted. Such behaviour really makes me angry. You don't have to share my opinion, thats's alright but better argument on a grown up level and stop insulting. That is probably the worst experience i had on this board since i registered, to be called an idiot just because i voice my opinion....

Yeah on the soundtrack, but in the movie it plays more often. I would be perfectly happy if Desplat used it that much and spread out so well. I hope thats the case. If not shame on him

I hope you are joking Blumenkohl

It doesnt f***ing matter how good the score is, if Desplat made the SAME MISTAKE LIKE DOYLE AND HOOPER AGAIN BY LARGELY IGNORING THE FRANCHISE MAIN THEMES i completely support Clemmensen in his following statement: "I just wish that these sequel composers wouldn't act like dogs pissing on a fire hydrant." I fear that Desplat could be a completely arrogant lier. He said in the interview that he wants to use Hedwig's theme more, that he loves it and will take every opportunity to use it. Of course i reserve final judgement until i see the whole movie with all the unreleased music. Maybe the Williams material is there and he only wanted to showcase his material on the OST album. But after this review i dont have much hope. If even a so called Williams lover completely shits on all the established thematic material of SIX MOVIES i will not even call him a worthy composer anymore, that would be the peak of dumbness, arrogance and egoistic behaviour.

Wow, what a ripoff. I just saw what's included on the bonus disc in the deathly hallows deluxe box. Lame six new tracks are included and for that they charge 70 dollars!!! http://www.wbshop.com/Harry-Potter-and-the-Deathly-Hallows-Part-1-Limited-Edition-Collectors-Set/1000182984,default,pd.html?cgid=music

How is it overused in the post-Williams films? If anything, they didn't use it enough in different arrangements (OOTP was the only film where it's overused IMO) or most criminally, never used the other motifs outside of HBP. I think how the theme is used just depends on the composer. If Desplat scored DH: Part One well without relying a lot on Williams' theme, I'll be very pleased. Heck, I think he could do a great Potter score without Williams' theme. Again how are 5 minutes of Hedwig's theme in a 2 hour+ OOTP score overused? I cant follow you, how can that be overused for a franchise title theme. Are you even serious when posting such things or don't you think about it and just write? I don't get it at all, sry :/

I'm sorry to say that but gkgyver your comment proves you know nothing about the last three Potter movies. It's just plainly not right what you are saying. For the record: In Goblet of Fire Hedwig's theme appears for about 3 minutes in a 2 hour score In Order of the Phoenix you have it appearing in about the same capacity - again 3 minutes In Half Blood Pince Hedwig's theme only appears three times (first time only the opening bars of the theme, then the short version on the OST and a longer version in Hogwarts's express...THATS IT) All in all little over 1 minute in a 2 hour plus score!!! If you count the appearances in POA they are better spread throughout the whole score and probably you got 5-6 minutes or so of the theme/ first bars So how in the world is Hedwig's theme overused if it appears even less than in PoA were it is very lightly used by John Williams?

As this board is currently still in Potter mood this article documenting the Potter recording sessions may be of interest Williams casts spell for `Potter' score E-mail this story Printer-friendly format Search archives By Richard Dyer The Boston Globe Published November 15, 2001 LONDON -- Air Lyndhurst may be a recording studio, but from the outside, this converted church in Hampstead could be taken for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, especially when its stone turrets, stained-glass windows, and high Gothic arches are lit up at night. Inside is a state-of-the-art facility. For a week and a half in September, the studio sounded just like Hogwarts because John Williams was in residence, recording the score he composed for the film of the first of J.K. Rowling's books about Harry Potter, the child wizard who must master his craft in order to fulfill his destiny. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" is a modest volume of just over 200 pages. The movie is a big movie, and Williams has written music for all but about 10 minutes of it -- 142 minutes of music in all, more than 4,000 bars. This is longer than many operas -- only about half of it made it onto the "first edition" soundtrack album that has now arrived in stores. Some of Williams' melodies are already familiar from their use in the trailers; before long, every child and most adults in the Western world will know them, and hearing them will summon up visual memories. And if the film is as successful as many expect it to be, the music will enter the permanent soundtrack playing in our heads. Music tells the story The process of scoring the film began back in the United States, when Williams and director Chris Columbus "spotted" the film. That is, they watched the first cut together, and decided what parts needed music. Then Williams went to work in his office/studio in Los Angeles, and over the course of four months composed all the dozens of cues he and Columbus had settled on -- from "The Arrival of Baby Harry" all the way up to the end, "The Face of Voldemort" and "Leaving Hogwarts." Williams composes with videos of the film at his side, and also with the movie as it is set down in two large volumes bound in black leather, like a book in the Hogwarts library, "From Egg to Inferno: A Dragon-Keeper's Guide." These are the music breakdown books, kept in the care of Ken Wannberg, Williams' music editor for 40 years. The books divide the film into every reel and shot, with exact timing. A bit of one page, describing the sequence where Harry finally sees the sorcerer's stone, looks like this: 4:56:06 The stone as the camera moves in 4:58:40 Harry looking down at the stone 5:02:64 Camera holds on stone; we see a fire flickering out of it 5:04:14 Harry's hand comes in to pick up stone. It is Williams' job not just to mirror these movements and images in music, but to give them a precise emotional coloration. The music tells the story of the film, using its own language, adding its own meanings and implications, sounding its own resonances. Eight themes The basis of Williams' work, his raw material, is a series of principal themes -- eight in this film. There is a longing theme for the idea of family. A lopsided-grin waltz theme, sprinkled with the magic dust of celesta and fluttering strings, heralds the appearance of Hedwig the Great White Owl and the transition between our world, the magicless world of the Muggles, and the world of enchanters and enchantment. There's a theme for Harry, of course, and a theme for his nemesis, the evil Voldemort, music that turns and twists in on itself. These melodies are individually memorable and susceptible to a variety of orchestral colorations and formal developments; they can combine and contrast with each other, even morph into each other in a vast storytelling Wagnerian tapestry, although the glistening sound world is closer to that of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker." Williams said he didn't start out with a table of themes. Often he works against expectation, avoiding cliche. During a scene of celebration where another composer might bring on the trumpets and drums, for example, Williams unfurls Harry's theme in a noble Elgarian setting that suggests the cost of victory and the depth of the emotional issues involved. The composer has been quick to seize on the potential of this material for furthering the cause of musical education. During the days before the recording sessions, he organized themes from the score into an eight-movement suite that shows off the various instruments and sections of the orchestra; connected with a narration, it will serve the same purpose as Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra." Williams deliberately "hoarded" time at the end of each session to record this suite based on the "Harry Potter" themes. He knows this music will have an afterlife and take on its own identity independent of the film. During months of work, the score moved from Williams' imagination onto the page. About 30 people have been involved in the process -- computer experts, music editors, copyists, proofreaders, librarians. After all of this, recording the score took only nine days. Fourteen boxes of music -- 415 pounds of it -- were shipped to London, where a group of the city's best freelance musicians gathered every day in Air Lyndhurst, the studio built by Beatles producer George Martin. Director Columbus was around most of the time, eager to hear what Williams had come up with. In the studio Williams worked on a music stand that has been padded to make it noiseless. The score is not recorded in sequence, and the short film cues aren't easy to follow if you don't already know the story -- they're out of order, there is no dialogue, and many of the 500 or so special effects are not yet in place. Far from it. You can see how some things were actually filmed -- harnesses aid flying and stairs move on casters the public will never see. In its way, this feels no less magical than the final result. Williams is totally professional and focused. He creates a pleasant working atmosphere but does not let anything get past him; he may address people as "angel" or "baby" or even "angel baby," but they jump when he asks for something. In this business, time is money, big money. Like every musician, Williams concerns himself with countless details of intonation, phrasing, dynamics, articulation, rhythm and balance. The dark side Sometimes he turns to metaphor. During some slithering, chromatic Voldemort music he says, "Nasty, isn't it? Spidery. It should feel as if a spider is crawling all over you, and you can't get him off you." ("I love it when John crosses over to the Dark Side," exclaims Wannberg.) The recording studio phase of the work is not a place for improvisation. But Williams delights in spontaneous impulse. This time he's concerned about a brief scene in which three ghosts sing a Christmas carol. This has been set up to "Deck the Halls," but Williams is not happy with this choice, even though it is a secular carol chosen to avoid giving offense to any religious group. "Why should there be anything from the Muggles world at Hogwarts?" he asked. So at night, he wrote a little tune for a new carol, and then he amused himself by producing the lyrics too. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, ring the Hogwart bell, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, cast a Christmas spell . . . Find a broomstick in your stocking, see the magic on display. Join the owls' joyous flocking on this merry Christmas day. Later he was delighted to learn that his lines would need to be translated into six languages. At one point Williams looks around and tries to put things into perspective by making a joke. "All this work -- and it's only a movie." Of all people, he knows better. Copyright © 2001, Chicago Tribune

TOD is the best Indiana Jones movie and for me it's the best pure adventure movie ever. It moves on lightspeed form start to finish without being able to catch a breath ( and i know that some of you won't agree) Concerning great Sequels --> TESB, TOD, PoA, Revenge of the Sith, Terminator 2, Last Crusade, Return of the King, The Two Towers, Die Hard 4, Aliens, The Dark Knight, ...

Well, why even converting to wav. You can also edit the FLAC'S directly in a program like Sound Forge and then use winlame to convert it to a 320kbps mp3 file.

Same here. I'm beginning to wonder if SAE may be waiting for the corrected pressing? Austria seems to be at the bottom of the shipping pile still waiting too...

Still waiting for the shippment notice. Ok i ordered when there were just 300 available, so that's probably the bottom of the shipping pile

I listened to the stream and i have to say the concert was amazing! Very very well played by the Pops. The only pity was that there was only Raiders as Encore. I didn't know that suite of Lawrence of Arabia and the way it was played blew me completely away, so epic!!!

JW on autopilot is ahead of almost everything Desplat ever composed, even his daily output that lands in the wastepaper basket still outshines Desplat so i really can't take your comment seriously... By the way in my opinion Cuaron was the best that could happen to JW at that stage of his life. We got the best score since The Phantom Menace and his probably most varied score to date considering the different musical genres.

I simply love the main theme. It is worlds better than the new Giacchino crap Main Theme but TMP and Horner's still beat it.

Star Wars started it all, so my vote goes for that one although as a score i like TESB more

Why is it that hard for FSM to get a lenghty interview with John Williams? I think i read sometime ago on this forum that JW was not happy with something FSM wrote back then and that he then refused to give further interviews...is that true? When were the most recent Wiliams interviews done by FSM?

I dont remember any interview where he was asked about the bad reception TPM has faced when it was released. So to defend the movie and his own work it isnt so unrealistic that he reminds th readers/ the interviewer that the sales of his soundtrack were amazing. And by the way JW was right with the fact that nowadays TPM is regarded a lot better than in 1999 and many Star Wars fans put it before AOTC, some even regard it as the best movie of the Prequel trilogy (which in my opinion is ROTS, but well)

The interview seems unconventional but i don't think Lucasfilm would have allowed this interview to be printed in a large French sci fi magazine if it was fabricated in parts. Maybe JW was more open because he wasn't asked standard questions. I can't remember an other interviewer asking him about controversial things in the production process, or for more detail of JW's experience especially on TESB or ROTJ. I think the interviewer just asked the right questions and probably asked further when Williams finished his "standard" answers/stories. So he probably seemed somehow more open because he was asked in more detail. King Mark do you mind posting or sending me your original translation (if you still have it) Is your translation different? I just put the (from french to italian translated) article into google translator as i don't speak italian. That's why there are many mistakes.

I just found (if it isn't fake) the probably most open and interesting of all JW's Starwars interviews. There he was extremely open in answering all sort of questions which is very uncommon for JW and makes me wonder if that's truly him speaking there I found the interview on the Italian JW page http://jwmusic.jw-music.net/jw-interview-starfix99.htm and put it through google translator. Enjoy... Which appeared in the magazine Starfix in November 1999 John Williams has released only a few statements before the U.S. of "Episode I - The Phantom Menace", which were then reported by the international press in the months ahead. We at Starfix we are interested in interviewing the composer out of that kind of limitations. When the album of the soundtrack appeared, we noticed some "discrepancies" between the presentation of music on the disc, and its presence in films, as well as the conflicting views of where we wanted to ask for clarification to the composer. For the first time for Episode I, John Williams reflects freely, with humility and wisdom, on his work and his artistic relationship with George Lucas. Through exhaustive explanations and justifications, he speaks of his music, its choices and its limitations, in a galaxy far, far away music. Q: What was involved in the development of Star Wars? JW: After working it Jaws, Steven Spielberg and I became great friends. At that time I did not know George Lucas and knew nothing at the time of a project called "The Star Wars." But before you start working on CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, Steven was involved in the project at some stage, as a consultant and friend of Lucas. As the scenes were filmed and that the assembly phase and post-production progressed, Steven saw the movie come to light. At a business meeting between George and Steve, at one point George began to talk about what kind of music you would use in the film. He thought to make a collage of excerpts from classical pieces and film music from the Golden Age Hollywood. He cited some names Steven: Holst, Wagner and Prokofiev for the first category, and Korngold for second. As I always told Steven, he replied: "But George, there is a composer can do all this: John Williams." So Steven arranged a meeting between myself, George and Marcia, the former wife of Lucas. For the first time I heard about STAR WARS. George gave me a detailed description of every scene and talked for several hours even the composers I mentioned. Three weeks later, Steven Spielberg invited me into his office and told me that George Lucas had decided to sign them as a composer for the film. Q: So in your opinion, who motivated this decision in Lucas? JW: Steven! (Laughs) Q. How did your first day working for STAR WARS? JW: I met George Lucas yet, and he showed me an almost final version of the film. Many scenes were still incomplete, especially those requiring special effects, but in my mind I could complete pictures. This first installation took about 140 minutes, so it was already very close to the final version. Then it took two days to see and review the film, to soak his magic and essence. Then again reincontrai Lucas. In an afternoon dissected the entire movie, choose where the music would have been necessary, and discussing the style of the subjects and their importance within the film. George kept saying, "I want a musical theme for each element, which is associated with situations or characters to create complete musical setting." E 'in this direction that I composed the score for Star Wars, including the two symphonic suites drawn from it. I had to sit down and begin to compose trying to reinvent and reimagine the musical universe of Prokofiev, Korngold ... but also Stravinsky, Holst, Walton, Wagner, Elgar ... I had to rethink my entire music education culture in terms of "star wars" and that's how I started working on the soundtrack. Q: You mentioned several times the name of Korngold. In this regard, we ask you: is there a real link between the opening theme of Star Wars and the main theme of KINGS ROW written by Korngold? JW: Bond? Mm, rather than to define similarity link. Personally, I feel very connected to the music of Korngold. Musically speaking, however, the term similarity is more appropriate. Not wishing to deny the similarities that exist between all the musical themes of SW and "education" that allowed me to write, but a clarification seems necessary. Without this music education, I could never write Star Wars in the same way that, without Beethoven, Wagner could never be Wagner and without Bach, Mozart or Brahms, no one would ever become a great composer. All this forms a chain in which, sometimes, we can represent a bond. I feel this kinship with Korngold, Hindemith, Elgar prorprio because, over education, they are composers who represent an artistic ideal that is very close to me. When George Lucas asked me to write a theme for Luke that was both heroic and idealistic in its essence, and it was presented in the form of fanfare, the associai in my mind to Korngold's heroism, idealism to Holst and fanfares to Elgar. All this of course implies an inevitable resemblance KINGS ROW and certainly with a lot of other compositions, but from a thematic point of view, harmonic and melodic all the notes are "meal of my bag." Q: What are your best memories of working of all three movies? JW: For the first film, no doubt recording sessions in London. I remember I saw George Lucas gradually losing his composure as he approached the release date of the film. We worked together a lot during post-production and as the weeks went by I saw him lose weight and become more uncertain the fate of the film. When I finished writing the score, the film was almost finished. At that time, reviewing the movie other times, I bought confidence in myself and in my work and beginning to understand what impact we intended to create, I asked the music director George with a large symphony orchestra. He was on the brink of the precipice, and he confessed: "John, we have no more money. All that remains to be invested in special effects." He felt defeated, I think, because he knew that the type of music I wanted to absolutely require very large orchestra. I replied: "My dear friend Andre Previn is the artistic director of the London Symphony Orchestra.'m Sure we groped to give something with him." I called Lionel Newman (then director of the music department at Fox, NDT), Alan Ladd Jr and I talked with Steven Spielberg, of course. Then I called Andre Previn. It was a very long conversation where I explained in detail what was on film. I remember Andre said: "What does all this history of the Force, space battles, Darth Vader? Oh, sure you can come here." Andre organized everything and so I found myself on the podium to conduct the prestigious London Symphony Orchestra! So the best moment was the birth of my music performed by one of the greatest orchestras in the world. George Lucas was still working on special effects for the film, but was in London, in studies of Denham, to attend the sessions. As he listened, he was struck by the power of music and the power exercised in the film. After a grueling first day of practice, I remember that I began to run "The Throne Room. The LSO was superb. It was really a great time and when I turned, I saw George jump up and appaludire alone. She hugged me and I remember I saw a light in her eyes then I never revised. I will never forget that moment. Even today, years later, is a thing that touches me. The Empire Strikes Back was a different experience, as were the means at our disposal. I think the composition of the "Imperial March" was the most intense moment. But it was also the composition of the theme associated with the romance between Han Solo and Princess Leia. In STAR WARS, as regards the music associated with Leia, George wanted something very sweet and romantic, something ... the Chaikovskij. And even if, in a sense, this approach seemed to go a bit against the character of the character, who throughout the film we see resitere combat and torture, George did not want to lose sight of the fact that basically it was a princess like Sleeping Beauty, although in a context of war rather unromantic. So wrote a melody very languid, feminine, almost a 'theme of love ". For the Empire, George asked me the same thing: "Get the theme Leia e. .. Chaikovskij." Not having written a theme for Han Solo, I had to rework the thematic approach I used for Princess Leia and married to the character of the character of Harrison Ford. And since we're talking about romance, I must mention also the theme of Yoda. This issue, compared the evolutionary arc of the themes of love between the first and second film is developed and settled in contrast to the theme for Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Force theme. So you can understand that the best moment of my experience in The Empire was the phase of actual writing, because I had to mix what I did for the first film and all new inspiration Irvin Kershner brought in the new movie . Q: Consider then "The Empire Strikes Back" as the most complex from a musical point of view? JW: The work was more complex than THE RETURN OF THE JEDI THE EMPIRE. Jedi had the disadvantage of being the final chapter of the trilogy and then allowed less freedom "than the Empire. Were already well-written four hours of music and though George had added new elements, the film could never be as innovative as the second episode. Musically speaking, there was a lot of work, both harmonically and from the orchestra, especially in regard to the "Imperial March" and all the work of thematic derivation from the previous films. The theme of the Emperor is an example. George did not think that all the mysticism of the character was translated in the music. So, again, my education "prokofieviana" was important, as that type of male voice choir was practically invented by this Russian composer, especially in his works. George was so delighted with the result that his approach to the final battle scenes of Luke and Vader changed in this direction. The theme of Jabba was built in this way through opposition chromatic orchestration between the tube and the rest of the instruments. I love that mass of flesh! (Laughs). But my favorite theme is the one for Luke and Leia, precisely because I had to differentiate much from the previous themes of love, trying to still maintain the same kind of atmosphere. The recording of this song was the best moment of The Return of the Jedi, just because I had the orchestra together reinterprets the spirit of the love theme of the second film. And this gives the idea of a cycle of three consecutive acts. Q: Were there other inspirations like during the trilogy? JW: Especially for the music for the Jawas in the first film. Do you think George initially fitted the sequences on "Bolero" by Ravel! Ah, the Jawas and their fluorescent eyes ... (Laughs). I imagined something more comical, like the duck march of "Peter and the Wolf" by Prokofiev, for example, or his gear caustic, that from "The Love of Three Oranges." I wrote a melody, but George pushed. Now I give you the scoop! (Laughs) I kept the melody, which became the "March of the Villains" Superman. Lucas was still right, as a kind of music would make the scene all too ridiculous. So I said: "I'll listen to marches composed by Igor Stravinsky as I think it is that the direction in which we go." I remember my words pale but accepted the idea. Indeed, the weight and thickness of many ritual dances written by Stravinsky well counterpoint to the comic situations of Jawas. And so I wrote the piece that you know, "The Little People Work", imitating the orchestration stravinskijana those marches. I am very fond of that song. Q: How was the birth of the "Imperial March"? JW: Much more spontaneous (laughs). The militaristic musical structure is very old. In film music, all the gears like they always had more or less the same trajectory harmonica and what differentiates them from each other is just the melody, which is often based on only a few notes. The "Imperial March" is constructed in two parts, in which the second describes the character of Darth Vader. This was my chance to break that kind of pre-established pattern I mentioned a moment ago, introducing the melody and counterpoint in the woods so the theme executed martial brass. In the song as we know, Imperial March reaches the goal that I set to achieve, for Darth Vader and the myth that he represents. In musical terms, is no more or less "bad" than it has been heard in the musical literature of recent centuries, but George Lucas has managed to transform and condense all the modern mythology to create a character, and finally a whole human being. In the first film did not have to develop so that the thematic material of the Empire, since neither the character nor the Tarkin Vader needed a similar theme. Q: How would you describe his artistic relationship with George Lucas during the first trilogy? JW: There were two main phases. The first was to Star Wars, where our meetings were much less structured, more free. In The Empire and especially in JEDI, became much more distant. We had our meetings, but then I had to be careful not to forget anything that I had said as early as minutes after it was no longer available to talk about music. Nevertheless, the most pleasing was that during those meetings, those phases of work, was present and concentrate 200%. I used to listen to some demos on preparing and discussing his emotional reaction, what he thought. Only in very few cases had to completely rewrite a theme or a melody. One advantage of working with him is that he is a director and then a creative mind. The other advantage is that the producer of his films and therefore knows better than anyone the importance of budgeting, the concept of time, money and trust. We must also say that, as Steven Spielberg, George checks his films from first to last moment. Without calling into question the work done by Irvin Kershner and Richard Marquand who were two brilliant directors, George Lucas' decision "practically everything. No great amount of money and no computer will ever write a fanfare opening. I know how he knows. Thus, if the equation is easy to understand "trust, money, talent, everything will go the right way with George. It always has been. Q: There have been cases where the choices of Lucas took priority over his? JW: Some 99% of the music in the trilogy is the result of "our" choices. We had many more compromises that fixes firing on our initial choices. But I never had to write something that went against my taste I've never had to change radically the themes that I suggested. Like I said before, everything is very professional with George, the errors are virtually prohibited from making a mistake and in fact if there are mistaken for two! (Laughs). The famous scene in the cellar of Mos Eisley, for example, was a choice of George. He shot almost the whole scene without saying anything, although it was obvious that we needed the music "scene". When he showed me I was shocked because I could not foresee a way to settle anything without "ruin" the score I had in mind to write. Initially, George asked me "We need your music in this scene?". Since the sequence were visibly present extraterrestrial musicians, I could not answer anything but yes. Then he looked at me and asked me, 'John, what kind of music do you prefer the classic apart? ". I replied "I like jazz, but this has nothing to do with ...". He interrupted me and said "Now we have one. Back in a week with jazz extraterrestrial. " At first I was taken aback but then taste. I wrote two pieces: the first, "Cantina Band" in a style to Benny Goodman and the second, "Cantina Band # 2", a style of Duke Ellington. I called together the best clarinet, percussion, trumpet Jazz ... and so we recorded the songs. George listened to them and then asked "How did you transcribe the jazz of Duke Ellington in an alien language? We have to store it. " Six years later, when we began to talk about the scenes in Jabba's palace, gave me confidence again when, at one point, he thought only of rock artists could compose something suitable for those scenes. Q: What do you think the score written for the project SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE? JW: Hmm, let's say I wanted the project was implemented differently. I was faced with a product made and finished, and although the compositions are the property of Lucasfilm, as are mine, my music was somehow taken away and placed in the hands of a talented composer (Joel McNeely, ed) with whom I would have liked to have some discussions. Some passages I like, others are not, do not follow well as the "cycle" mentioned in the trilogy. If the music itself is still well written and enjoyable, I can also say that there was a lack of tact by Lucasfilm, which is much less pleasant. However it seems that fans have not appreciated. Q: And that disagreement has been resolved in Episode I? JW: George Lucas has done everything possible because things were going well. We were not working on products. We were back on Star Wars, the real one, I like George as a director and composer. Q: So he was very eager to return to the saga of the Skywalker! JW: Sure, I was excited and impatient. George Lucas was much less talkative on the episode from the first trilogy. We talked several times in some circumstances, but George always remained vague. We made many riunoni and then, in October 1998, when George was ready, the first thing he said was "get me a copy of The Phantom Menace and then talk about it." So I watched the movie and from that moment on, I began to really work on it thoroughly. As you probably know I almost never read the screenplay in question, since it is rarely what then is translated into visual language. Only few times before I wrote the themes to see some images of the film and thus also for Episode I've followed my natural process. Then George and I crossed the stage of decision on writing music, as well as we did 22 years ago. Dissected the film in the same way: "At this point I would like this kind of music, in that moment I wish that other type ..." and so on. Although George never uses precise terms, all such information is extremely valuable and, over time, I learned to decipher them easily. Most of the time, his claims are "Here we must have a very fast music, with lots of brass instruments ... Here, I need a great melody to 'Luke and Leia' ... in that point we would need a choir ... "and so on. But the icing on the cake are scenes of space combat. In these moments, the film runs at the speed of light, the scenes alternate quickly and thus becomes more difficult for him to express his musical ideas. In these cases, George gets up and begins to whisper strange verses as "Zuuuup, vraaaamm, gesturing with his hands. This is amazing how informative and I swear that at the end of our meetings musical style Episode I was perfectly established. We had many meetings like that, then I returned to my office at Amblin, where I saw the film for two consecutive days. In all, I saw The Phantom Menace about 50 times before starting to compose even a single note on the staff. I wrote more than 900 pages in total score. John Neufeld and his team have done their work simultaneously orchestration and transcription of the parties. Q: You recorded the score in February 1999. As the sessions went? JW: Incredibly well. As with Star Wars began to listen to George most of the themes to see his first reaction. They were very positive, and so we began with record opening fanfare. We were again used for the purpose of both agree. I could not imagine starting a new trilogy with a different theme! Q: We want to tell some story about these recording sessions? JW: There are always some surprises or events that we can not predict. Since George was discovering the score at that time, his reactions were very instinctive. When I made "The Arrival at Tatooine," "The Flag Parade" or "Qui-Gon's Noble End", I could see his emotion, there studying with us. From my desk I saw him make the sign of thumbs up. In total, we had only two or three problems on the composition itself, particularly the scenes of the character of Queen Amidala, which put much more emphasis on music of George does not want much. "She is young, sad and romantic ... very Chaikovskij "I said initially. But George still had his ideas about. Let me explain the difference and I understood much better what it meant to him and Amidala, while his aspirations for the character in Episode 2. Even the song "He Is The Chosen One" was changed, because George wanted more emphasis on the Force. So I rewrote the song and everyone was satisfied. And then there was "Duel of the Fates," the song with the great chorus. The scenes of the Emperor had such an impact on JEDI to the point that adding a chorus during the duel between Darth Maul and Qui-Gon seemed indispensable. I wrote a first ground, about ten notes and then began to develop five different variations, of which I kept three. In this case, one can speak of similarity with some compositions by Benjamin Britten and Igor Stravinsky, because my part was certainly intended. I discovered an ancient Celtic poem while reading the writings of Robert Graves. There were two ways that particularly struck me: "Under the root of the tongue, that's the most horrible fighting, while another fury, is hidden in the head ..." and then "behind the mind, the will is hidden behind the will, the strength or the misery of existence "(* The original is" under the tongue-root, to fight Most dread, while Another Rages, behind in the head ... "and" Behind the Mind, the Will is hiding, behind the will, the force or the misery of an Existence "). Indirectly, these words I found the spirit of Star Wars, no doubt because the fighting both physical and moral characters of George Lucas' face resemble a form of ritual. Faeces translate the poem in different languages: Latin, greek, Russian, Slavic ... but still did not work, as certain sounds seemed too familiar. At that point, I thought hesitant to invent a language alien, as we did in "Jedi." But I could not stop thinking that this mythology had to be somehow connected with our human culture, although very old. So we tried to translate the text in Sanskrit and the mixture of sounds Western / orchestral one hand, and Eastern Europe / choral part, has created the life force of a song like "Duel of the Fates." The orchestral part has its function and importance, but the choral part that brings with it all spirituality and mysticism that surrounds the characters of George. George Lucas when he saw the choir in the recording studio, he definitely thought something like Latin or English. When I told him we were recording the song in Sanskrit, he winced and said: "In Sanskrit? But John, is an incomprehensible language, people will be confused and disoriented. " Everyone then took his place in the orchestra and chorus. I wanted to record a test track, I turned and said to George: "Listen to a kind of ancient Mass where two men clash in battle, where good and evil will fight to the death to forge a destiny." The song was recorded and George was amazed. I went into the control room and said "John is magnificent. Will keep it as it is for the credits. We recorded several versions of the song, some songs for the final fight, others long for the credits and for the album. Q: Some of our readers have commented on being disappointed by the lack of ambition orchestral "Duel of the Fates." JW: The orchestral part is secondary, I admit. If I had taken any decisions, I only recorded part choir, no orchestra. But for the film, and in terms of film music, it was impossible to do such a thing as the "sound" too particular have attracted the attention of the viewer. You see, it's like a break in form, but we always remained the spiritual universe of Star Wars. And your readers should be less impatient. "Duel of the Fates" is a theme that returns in the future. The restriction of the orchestral part for the benefit of the choir, in this film, asservirà function very differently in the next two episodes. Although not yet know precisely the ideas of George for the next movie, I can assure you that it will. Here, the problem is that the old trilogy is very well stored and above is stored as a single entity. Redo what has already been done in the past is impossible, but please make an effort trying to look ahead in the long term. Remember that "The Phantom Menace" is only the first part of new adventures, with advantages and disadvantages of thematic restrictions that entails. In other words, you still have six years to "understand" good music of the new trilogy. Q: The last minutes of "The Throne Room" and credits is absent from 'The Phantom Menace. An episode that ends without fanfare is almost like an orphan! JW: His reaction is that of a purist in film music. George Lucas had other needs in this case and, given the sequence order of the credits, a fanfare to follow Anakin's theme was far too mechanical and forced from the first trilogy. In "The Empire Strikes Back" was I to decide in this case does not. Instead, "Augie's Great Municipal Band," as the celebration of the Ewok, was thought so by George Lucas. I have not had to do was write his directions in music. You can not have regrets, because the signs of music were very precise and George Lucas came directly from him. I know that many would still prefer a fanfare. Q: The song is inspired by case "Powaqqatsi" by Philip Glass? JW: Yes, this was essentially the "thinking" by George Lucas. This became the skeleton of the last minutes of the movie and I had to adapt to it. Maybe things will be different for Episode II, or maybe not. Q: Some sequences of "The Phantom Menace", especially the final battle, do not follow exactly the writing and its partition. JW: There were circumstances that I could not control. I composed the score on the first cut of the film. Then George Lucas showed the film to some people, including Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg ... and so a second version was installed. I made the necessary changes to adapt score, though this meant removing steps and complete entire lines. My consistency was somewhat affected even during the recording sessions in February, we made sure that everything ran as straight as possible. At that moment, I had no problem with George's Music also because to me, it was now impossible to rewrite and impact of new music. So ricalibrai and riadattai my score on the new assembly. After the recording session, George again showed the film to his friends who suggested other changes, and obviously, this ruin my second "coherence." George chose to take some steps that I wrote for certain sequences and mix them elsewhere, rather than asking me to write the music, which now I could not do anymore. Here we risk falling into fatalism sharper, although as a musician I wanted that things had been different. George Lucas knows this very well, because my first reaction, as an artist was to convey a sense of disapproval, I think he understood. He made a choice that was probably necessary but that bothers me artistically, even if only briefly. I'm not a controversial person because I can not deny that this experience has been extraordinary. Nevertheless, it is a pity that those decisions were taken between February, March and April of 1999 and not six months earlier. Now that "The Phantom Menace" was released in the U.S., I can afford to give this little reticence. Q: What were your reactions to negative reviews the film received on its release? JW: You see, the appreciation of critical interest me much less than the public. "The Phantom Menace" has grossed $ 450 million so far in the U.S.. This certainly means something. Rather it is for George Lucas to give the necessary explanations, if ever there is to it! For me, I say that the disc of the soundtrack has sold over 2 million copies around the world and I think even reach 3 million. These figures are higher than both "The Empire" that "Jedi", but less than "Star Wars." I do not want to pull any conclusions, since these figures are still incredible. I hope that our debate has dispelled the doubts of those who was disappointed from the album. The popularity should not exclude criticism. I think I did the best I have been granted to "The Phantom Menace." Now it is for readers to understand and watch the movie from the perspective of George Lucas, over the years may be different from theirs. But I hope that their skepticism may fade over time. Q: What about Episode II? JW: I'm waiting for the green light from George.