BTR1701

Has there ever been a proper recording of that overture?

I read about stuff like this a lot and I just can't imagine how it happens so frequently. Both with sheet music and recordings. How do things like that just get "lost"? Why don't these studios have clear cut archival procedures and employees whose sole job it is to make sure everything's accounted for and stored properly?

What always grates for me on the LAST CRUSADE score is the long sustained high C# (concert B) in the trumpets at 3:59 in 'Belly of the Steel Beast'. They are *very* out of tune with one another on that note. Someone's way flat, and it just kills it for me. It's noticeable enough even for non-musicians that I have no idea why they didn't do another take on the cue. On the other hand, the LSO recordings have their flubs and faults, too. For example, the horns in the cue "Ben's Death / TIE Fighter Attack" on the NEW HOPE recording aren't exactly having their best day with those triplet runs at 3:11.

SW: A NEW HOPE was recorded by the LSO because the film was so far behind schedule that by the time Lucas delivered a locked print to Williams, there wasn't enough time to record it with a U.S. orchestra and meet the release date due to union restrictions. So they packed up and went to London. After that, it became somewhat of a tradition/preference for Williams.

"Once you download it, it’s not like they can take it from you." Tell that to people who have had downloaded e-books deleted off their Kindles by Amazon for various reasons.

It's not just physical space on the disc. If Williams is deciding not to include all the cues and substituting a suite for some of them in his mind, then they're being included at the expense of the complete score.

I wouldn't have a problem with the suites if they were in *addition to* the complete score, not at the expense of it.

It's possible. Never seen it done that way before, though. The first rule of engraving, especially the performers' parts, is to make things as clear and easy to understand as possible, especially for studio gigs like this where performers are expected to sight-read a piece perfectly the first time through. Throwing in confusing clef changes and leaving orphan bars on block rests would just make me as a performer say "Huh?" when I sat down and looked at the part. At a minimum, it would make me raise my hand and ask for clarification, which eats up valuable session time.

Ah, thanks. As someone who's done some professional engraving work for film music, that part raises some questions. When it changes to 6/8, why have one measure of rest and then a 6-bar block rest? Why not just make it a 7-bar block rest? And in measure 22, why is there a clef change to treble indicated when it was already in treble clef the entire time? Very weird.

Where have we seen that sheet music? I'd love to have a look.

Very nice! Thanks so much

I like it better than this, the cover that came with the collection:

Has anyone made a custom cover using this image for the entire Indiana Jones soundtrack series, not just specific to CRYSTAL SKULL? E.g., "Indiana Jones Complete Soundtrack Collection" or something similar? I seem to recall seeing one once but I've perused the entire thread and I can't find it.

Not sure why it's a big deal to be the "first woman (anything)" anymore now that anyone can be a woman just by declaring themselves to be one. "Obi-Wan is a legacy character that John hadn't written a theme for because he died quite early on in A New Hope. It's the only legacy character that he hadn't done." Umm... Chewbacca? R2? C3PO? All legacy characters who don't have themes. I know some people say the little motif below from EMPIRE is supposed to be the Droids' theme, but it was only ever used in EMPIRE and even then only in the first reel during the Hoth scenes, so it can hardly be called a full-fledged theme for the robots.

The score to THE FABERMANS will be out this year as well.

That's the way I've felt about TEMPLE OF DOOM and JAWS 2 for years. Fantastic music. Horrible movies.

You should check out "The Legacy of John Williams" podcast. Mauricio has been interviewing a dozen or so L.A studio musicians who've played on Williams's scores over the last 40 years. Their stories are fascinating, as is the way they offhandedly describe getting one, maybe two, run-throughs of some of the lost difficult music ever written before they hit "record" and have to do it for real. I just finished the Malcolm McNab (principal trumpet) episode. It's stunning to me that he was able to do most of JURASSIC PARK in one take with no real rehearsal. I was also surprised that JW picks who plays in the orchestra. I always just assumed the studio orchestra was staffed by the studio, not the composer. Jim Self (William's principal tubist and the voice of the mothership in CE3K) talked about how Williams cleaned house in the entire brass section around the time FORCE AWAKENS came out. Players who had been with him for decades were out and he seated a whole new crew.

It's as if Elgar himself arranged it.

My secret musical fantasy is for JW to have been given musical authorship over the Marvel Cinematic Universe, composing the scores for all the individual hero films, creating and developing themes to all of the characters-- Cap, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Widow, etc.-- and then weaving them all together in the various Avengers films. It would be monumental task, and likely not something he'd have been interested in committing to at his age even if offered, but it's fun to imagine.

Would have been nice to have heard a little bit of this in the scene where it was appropriate.

He's signed on to score the next Indiana Jones flick, if they ever get it off the ground.

When I saw POTTER live-to-projection with the Chicago Symphony last year, they used an old-school beautiful dark wood--mahogany?-- celesta. Very ornate looking.

I don't think it's disjointed. I think it's uninspired and just a rehash of what's come before. (I love the rest of the score. It's just this one cue that I don't like.) But the live performances, both concerts and live-to-projection, use the real deal.

Several people have said this and I have no idea if that's what happened, but I just can't imagine why Abrams or Disney would care all that much about which themes/music are playing over the end credits when most people, let's face it, are leaving the theater. I just doesn't strike me as something they would be concerned enough with to veto whatever Williams wanted to do and basically order him to recycle a bunch of old material instead.

The ending of 'Finale' is note-for-note the ending to RETURN OF THE JEDI. It's a new recording of it, but it's just a copy/paste of the ROTJ sheet music. I wouldn't say lazy. More like disinterested. Just my impression, anyway.