igger6

This was great! And Whitacre’s Equus was an instant buy for me.

Nothing in that quote specifically indicates that Williams made the arrangements, though, right? But then again, one of the originals was William Ross, so who knows!

Me too! I think the same Sony recording appears on the Greatest Hits 1969-1999 set that first evangelized me as a JWFan.

I don’t know how you do it, @Jay!

I hadn’t heard that before. Do you have a source?

My tinfoil hat is safely in the desk drawer. I just think it’s a cool accidental foreshadowing of where JW’s Star Wars mind was drifting at the time. I’m curious, though, @JohnnyD: does that melody appear elsewhere in the score? Have I misunderstood this whole time what constitutes Ben Solo’s theme? I always though it was just the main Kylo melody with slightly different harmony and a two-note extension. I know! I thought my post would have drawn him out by now.

This is not a drill! Has this been noticed? It's right there at 1:12 of "Advice" on the FYC. Came up this afternoon on my iPod Classic. I wonder what scene this underscores. It's like an accidental nod to initial theories about Rey...

God help me, but I love "Slave Children's Crusade." It's a rare Williams track I encountered out of context, not having seen Temple of Doom for over a decade when I heard it, and thus it became emblematic of everything the series "stood for" without reminding me of any particular moments from the film (in this case, probably a good thing). Even now, having re-watched the film as an adult, this piece conjures up indistinct impressions of dangerous tombs, dark tunnels, and regally mysterious but menacing chambers, ceremonies, landscapes, and cultures. I don't hear it as heroic at all, despite its resemblance to the bridge of the Olympic theme. For me, it's the unwritten score to the Indiana Jones Find Your Fate books that captivated me as a child.

Out of state chaperoning a school trip, so I haven’t heard any of this yet, but man, what a time to be alive! Maybe the Vienna fanfare can be repurposed to score the Williams documentary!

Follow-up to @Thor's question: will we ever hear this piece again? Is some version of this going to be ESPN's theme for the championship every year, or was it truly just a one-off piece for the 2023 montage film? If the former, it's like an Olympic piece; if the latter, it's like the Dukakis fanfare.

That’s a pretty glaring exception, though, as it’s far and away the most successful streaming property of all time. By and large, @leeallen01is right; Netflix and the other services don’t do physical media releases. And while we are certainly living in the golden age of a certain kind of media availability (streaming whenever you want, as long as you’re paying for an active subscription to whatever service currently has the rights to stream that property), that’s cold comfort to, say, Looney Tunes fans, who just lost access to hundreds of shorts previously on HBO Max that never made it to Blu-Ray—access they would retain if they’d paid a one-time fee for a box of discs. Myself, I would prefer a world where all content was always available a la carte, to rent or own (preferably physically, but either way). I think it’s better for quality control and it allows consumers to express their preferences in a more granular way. If I liked, say, the early phases of the MCU, I could choose to pay whatever price Disney sets for permanent offline access to them as long as I have electricity and a functioning media player. Then my ability to watch them is only subject to my whim—not my wifi, the functionality of a particular rightsholder’s website or viewing app, or the corporate chess games that often volley properties from service to service a month at a time. If I’m trying something new, I can pay a smaller price to rent it and then maybe buy it later for more money if I like it enough. What I object to is the framework in which I must be a member in good standing of Ecosystem X in order to ever have access to the majority of new original content. Even if I start a streaming subscription to watch a particular show and cancel when I’m done, I have no fiscal way of showing my love for that show and retaining access to it. I have to keep shoveling a whole streaming service’s worth of money toward its owner. That’s my beef. And the valid fact that there’s tons more content now doesn’t excuse the (in my view) inferior landscape of accessing it. It’s not the labels’ fault; it’s a complex mix of the studios’ profit motive and consumers’ willingness to tolerate what some of us view as an inferior viewing/buying experience. I don’t think there’s an easy villain here, but I lament the situation all the same.

But only the one “Rise of Skywalker” concert piece from the OST, right?

Fantastic news! I've actually been Googling "Spielberg's next project" for a couple of days now trying to theorize. When Williams mentioned "a graphic novel" at the Milan concert, I Googled that, too, but the only thing that came up was Maus (probably because the author's last name resembles Spielberg). That got me thinking, could Spielberg return to animation for a Holocaust story with mice? As it turns out, though, apparently the author of Maus had some beef with the Beard over An American Tail, so maybe that's a pipe dream. And I think JW already spoke his definitive musical piece on that chapter of history. Bring on the Western indeed! Also, I can't wait for his next Star Wars musical rescue mission. My prediction: some auteur hires Hildur Guðnadóttir for a streaming series, and Kathy Kennedy has to make another 3 AM phone call.

Wait, was this the concert with the premiere of the TROS suite?!?! EDIT: false alarm. I remember this concert. Was that other one also in Dublin? Or was it Detroit or something?

With the way he keeps accepting commissions, he's (hopefully) greatly increasing the likelihood that some orchestra and label will see potential in a "Late Concert Works" collection.

And Williams will write a theme for every round! #HeCouldHaveDoneMore

OK, Sony, now we need a "John Williams Athletic Dept." CD featuring all four Olympic pieces (plus the one he's doubtless banking for LA 2028), "Dear Basketball," "Wide Receiver," an expansion of the horse race scherzo from the Reivers suite, a "Fathiers" concert suite, the full "Flag Parade" under Williams' baton, "Arts and Sports," and "The Football Game" from John Goldfarb. Bonus track: "Dramatic Tease"! EDIT: And Quidditch tracks! Lots of Quidditch tracks!

"Wide Receiver" sounds more cohesively ripped off from his Nazi/Trade Federation material and foreshadowing of his Resistance material, but it's also got a multi-line hook, while "Grit and Glory" pinches more tasteful fingerfuls from various celebratory Williams pieces for a more original whole. Not sure where that leaves them in the horse race, though. I need more time.

Zimmer replaces the Superman March in Man of Steel, Williams gets his theme into Justice League and the League of Super Pets trailer. Zimmer does a rock concert tour, Williams plays Vienna, Berlin, and Milan. Zimmer takes soccer, Williams takes FOOTBALL.

This is the most brilliant 4D chess move Johnny has ever made in his silent shadow war on Hans Zimmer.

Great little self-referential piece. it must be so hard to be Williams these days. Every three measures he must be thinking, “Shoot, that’s Galaxy’s Edge! Hard to starboard!” “Frick, that’s The Mission! Veer to port!” Bring it to Chicago, Maestro! UPDATE: “Wait, that’s War Horse! Whoa, boys!” I love this, though. Can’t wait to hear it by itself. Why are JW’s ostinati always so much better than everyone else’s?

Oh, this is a strange and very specific brand of JWFan purgatory!

The ones at the end capture the desperation and envy of us non-Disney-bundlers!

Never mind the bollocks; where’s the audio?

WHAT HAVE WE DONE TO DESERVE THIS????!!!!!! It's the Feast of the Epiphany today in Catholicism, so I guess this year it's gold, frankincense, myrrh, grit, and glory! And on the last day of Christmas, I think it's appropriate to say...