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Desplat13

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Everything posted by Desplat13

  1. Um, I'm new around here. Who are the 'Big Five"? Colin Thomson
  2. Tonal music (music that sounds 'normal' to us) is written in a certain 'key' that is made of up seven notes, and centers around the first note of those seven. Atonal music (usually sounds 'weird') cares not for the seven notes, using all twelve available, and does not center around any one tone (of course, there is a lot more to each of these discriptions, but this is the basics). What is unusual about this piece is that it centers around one tone (the E note) but uses all the tones available to do so, which is something that is not easily done. Hope this clears things up and is easy enough to understand Colin Thomson
  3. Colin, I honestly was going to say the end of Rach 3rd. Impossible to not get goose bumps listening to those last few mins, especially as a culmination. And the absolute best recording of this 3rd movement is Kissin with Ozawa and the Boston Symphony on RCA. His 1st movement is painfully slow, but nothing tops his 3rd movement. I've only ever heard the Kissin performance on youtube, so I cannot really judge that. But the Arcadi Volodos version is what I have and it is amazing (though Horowitz is, as always, the master of this piece also). Yes Horowitz' rendition was so good that Rachhmaninoff himself preferred it over his own... but then again Rachmaninoff never heard Kissin. I've seen that YouTube video and it just doesn't come close to doing it justice. Go do yourself a favor, go shell out the 15 bucks for the CD, put on a quality set of ear phones, and say hi to God for me when you get to heaven. I have about two thousand classical albums, and I can honestly say this one is in my top 5. Ok, you convinced me. I just bought it. Now, I just have to wait... Colin Thomson
  4. I've played parts of the Rach 2, but have not attempted #3. Props to you for learning such a hard concerto. I have learned Prokofiev 2nd which many people consider harder, but I think Rach 3 is the hardest in the repertoire. Volodos' recording disappointed me a bit. His transcriptions are amazing, but his Rach stuff didn't impress me. I agree on Argerich. Fastest tempo, but it does nothing for me. I have not heard Liev Ove Andnes's recording. What are your thoughts on Kissin's live recording with Ozawa? If can look past his painfully slow 1st movement, it's amazing. He takes all the ridiculous "ossia" passages, including one that is pure insanity (to do it live boggles my mind). And as far as the end of the 3rd movement, I can't think of any rival. Another great one is Horatio Gutierrez. You know, I have heard a lot about how Kissin's performance is too slow on the first movement, but when I listened to it, it really didn't bother me. I thought it was an interesting take on such a commonly played piece. Of course, Argerich is always amazing. Colin Thomson
  5. Yeah, I don't think I would call it exactly atonal. Sounds like it has interesting modulations, and enough passing tones to give each of the twelve tones a sounding. But it sounds tonal in a creative, more distant modulations, way. Of course, I only listened to it once quietly, and it was the first time I had ever heard it, so I could easily be wrong. Colin Thomson
  6. Colin, I honestly was going to say the end of Rach 3rd. Impossible to not get goose bumps listening to those last few mins, especially as a culmination. And the absolute best recording of this 3rd movement is Kissin with Ozawa and the Boston Symphony on RCA. His 1st movement is painfully slow, but nothing tops his 3rd movement. I've only ever heard the Kissin performance on youtube, so I cannot really judge that. But the Arcadi Volodos version is what I have and it is amazing (though Horowitz is, as always, the master of this piece also). And yes, Beowulf. To play that piece is one of my lifelong ambitions. Someday... Colin Thomson
  7. What is your favorite finale/culmination of themes? I mean the big last hurrah of a piece, the finalizing resolution, where the composer uses all the means at his disposal to move you after having prepared you through the rest of work. Film or classical music (or anything else). My favorite: Last three and a half minutes of the third movement of Rachmaninoff's 3rd concerto. In my opinion, probably the best three and a half minutes of music ever written. Colin Thomson
  8. After importing to itunes, I keep all my cds in a large portable cd holder (so larger that it is not really portable) and then shelve the cases, only pulling them out when I want to look at the cover artwork, or anything that might be included in that. But then, I only have 2517 tracks in itunes, which I expect is considerably less than many here. Colin Thomson
  9. Thanks, whoever changed the spelling of 'Ultimate'. That was really starting to annoy me. Colin Thomson
  10. Here is something I wrote a while back, called "Pastorale Prelude". http://www.badongo.com/file/7989258 Colin Thomson
  11. I know it would be the ultimate nightmare for most of you, and I myself am opposed to the idea, but do you think Fox would just close the doors on one of the biggest money making machines they have? This poll is not about whether you want them or not, but whether or not you think they will be made. Colin Thomson
  12. Does Williams decide what goes into his OSTs? If so, where did you learn that? Colin Thomson
  13. Didn't the Harry Potter makers want James Horner originally, but he rejected them? Kind of amazing JW was a second choice... Colin Thomson
  14. Actually, his themes are often quite compositionally complex. Something simple sounding like Across The Stars has, apart from its very tonal and hummable main melody, a very chromatic, yet sweeping, beautifull, tragic melody. Of course, the classic example is The Imperial March, which begins by using the tonic minor arpeggiation for its melody. But then it also moves to a very chromatic section, yet everyone can hum it, so it seems like it must be simple, when really it isn't. This is part John Williams genious: his ability to create complex, semi-atonal sections that do not sound strange and foreign, but relatable, while avoiding the cliched sound that results from overly tonal pieces. John Williams 'overscoring' is because of his background. He comes from the operatic school of scoring (which I sonsider to be the better one) where music is an integral part of the story, just as visuals are. Though you might get a bit of blank screen here and there on different movies, the majority should have something happening visually. The same is true for music, because why should the eye get more attention than the ear? I think that the ear starts developing seven and a half months before the eye. It is just sadly neglected in today's culture. Why should visuals tell the story any more than audio? Next time you think there should be less music, ask yourself if adding blank screen sections would enhance the movie. Probably not for most people, but that is because most people rely so heavly on their eye for any and all information about what is happening. Just some thoughts for ya'll to think about. Colin Thomson
  15. True, maybe I should change that to soundtrack analyst. In that case I would certainly have to include Doug Adams. Colin Thomson
  16. This is the way that they sum it up: "Introduction on what happened The International Music Score Library Project was a repository of more than 15,000 musical scores that are in the public domain here in Canada. I was forced to close the site due to circumstance after receiving lawsuit threats from music publishers that do not want the public domain to exist. The immediate threat was from Universal Edition, a publisher in Austria. Whereas copyright in Canada lasts until 50 years after the author's death, copyright in Austria lasts 20 years longer. Universal Edition threatened to sue me, perhaps in Canada or perhaps in Austria, for violating Austrian law. There is no reason why Austrian law should apply to this site in Canada, but as a student I did not have the resources to resist even an absurd threat from a company with money to pay lawyers to attack music. " It really is a shame. Colin Thomson
  17. Probably this has been discussed, but I did a search and didn't find it. Who do you most enjoy reading when it comes to soundtrack analyst? Probably my two favorites (as of right now) are Christian Clemmenson of Filmtrack.com and Christopher Coleman of Tracksounds.com. Who do you enjoy? Colin Thomson
  18. Yeah, I have been missing that site a lot, too. It was incredibly helpful. Colin Thomson
  19. I'd be thrilled about more JW Star Wars. But then, I would be thrilled about anything JW, so it doesn't really matter to me. Colin Thomson
  20. Indiana Jones is fine, I suppose. But John Williams is simply the best. No debate here. Gotta have the music. Then I'll read reviews and see if watching the movie will add or detract from the score. Colin Thomson
  21. Journey to The Island - Jurassic Park Confrontion With Count Dooku And Finale - Star Wars: The Attack Of The Clones Battle Of Hoth - Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Balin's Tomb - Lord Of the Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (Complete) Your Hands Are Cold - Pride And Prejudice Something like that. Colin Thomson
  22. I am sure this has been discussed, but are they planning more than one Indy film, or is this supposed to be the end the those movies? Colin Thomson
  23. I can understand putting on Zimmer when you don't want to think about the music. I even enjoy a little Trevor Rabin in the right moods (I guess I better hide now). But to say that Zimmer's music stands on its own away from the film better because it requires less of the listener makes no sense to me. I would say John Williams' music stands alone as well as any other film composer. Colin Thomson (who has never watched E.T., but loves the music)
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