Falstaft

Ahh! How could I have left that out! It's the first of his concerti I ever heard! It's now in the poll, at the bottom.

Oh, I wasn't trying to split hairs or anything; I just chose the pieces that Williams himself entitled "Concerto." I do think Treesong could easily qualify as Violin Concerto No. 2 -- I actually prefer it to the Violin Concerto proper, any of the versions. As for the Piano Scherzo, it's a single movement and a bit slight to be counted as a true concerto, no? I'm pleased and not tremendously surprised to see so many fans of the Horn Concerto's "Nocturne". Simply an exquisite piece.

As far as I know, this hasn't been presented as a poll to JWfan yet! Which out of John Williams's 10 concerti is your favorite? I'm only counting pieces explicitly called concerti (apologies to "Treesong," "Heartwood," "Scherzo for Piano and Orchestra," etc). Most of these now have at least one commercially available recording, and even the less recorded ones (Clarinet, Viola) can be heard if you search the right places online... I thought it would be helpful to split the poll into two questions -- favorite overall concerto, and concerto that contains your favorite single movement. So, for example, JW's Horn Concerto doesn't do that much for me overall, but the final "Nocturne" movement is one of the loveliest things he's ever written and probably stands as my favorite individual concerto movement. But in terms of overall appreciation, I'd probably go with the underrated Viola Concerto, with Cello and Bassoon concertos close behind. What do you all think?

The Long Goodbye, conceptually speaking.

A wonderful thing to wake up to! I'd bet money this is a new Williams arrangement. I can't help but feel the new coda sounds out of place, harmonically speaking at least. So much of the effect of the original "Leaving Home" (and The Cowboys-style Coplandia that inspired it) is based on a distinct modality--this austere. unsentimental mixolydian sound, with major IVs and minor v's. To then hear this much more soupy, Romantic Amaj-Amin(add6) plagal cadence at the conclusion, it feels much too "Hollywood" and not enough Kansas... But this is all extremely small potatoes!

Lesse... Beginning with the start of Palpatine's glorious pantriadic chorale: Bm - Dm - Bm - C#M7b9(b5) - F#m - DM(addb6) - Ebm/Bb - Gm/E5 - Em - Fm... The progression you're asking about at 1:30: ...Cm - DbMa7(sus4) - Cm - Fm - Cm/Eb - GM/B - Abm - Em(7)/Abm - EM/G# - Gm Two things leap out after transcribing this. First the vivid similarity with Nixon's Miami Convention Cue (which I analyzed a while back in an article). The resemblance is so striking I suspect it's either temp-track emulation or Williams really wanted to link these two corrupt tyrants musically. Second, can't believe I never noticed this before, but the brief opening progression (Bm-Dm-Bm) is The Emperor's leitmotif. Duh!

I think you're right about this one -- as far as I can tell the chord is C# - D# - G - B. I'm not actually hearing an E natural anywhere, so if it's absent, it's not a half-dim7, technically. Though the chord does serve as a substitute to the syntactically more accustomed ii7b5. A wonderful, surprising sonority that links up nicely with the overall harmonic style of the Mountain Theme, as you note! Here's some more unusual ones to hunt for: ivØ7: Imperial March bviØ7: Chamber of Secrets

Some film composers are actually surprisingly reachable. Williams is not one of them. Heck, I'm writing a book on JW's music right now, and through a very lucky combination of connections and timing, I actually got my hopes up that I'd get a chance to speak with him earlier this year. Then his illness came up a few months ago, and, well... I don't think he's giving interviews with us randos any more.

I'm glad that this chord is getting some love! There dozens and dozens of wonderful and inventive usages of the half-diminished 7th in Williams's music, truly an essential and distinctive aspect of his personal sound. The D#-7(b5) in "Padme's Funeral" is one of my favorites, enhanced by the gorgeous brass writing and the unusual harmonic function (g#m: i7 - bII - vØ7 - i6 - bV/#IV(!) - i) Also a really nice, more traditionally functional one in the middle of "Rey's Theme" if you can spot it!

For the curious...: Pretty perfect example of @Ludwig's "clause" formal archetype, right?

A few musings: *This isn't as detached from the rest of the Star Wars thematic lexicon as it might first sound. There's a clear allusion to the Rebel Fanfare at 0:48, and some strong echoes of the March of the Resistance at 1:30. *I get a really strong Bruckner-vibe from this, of all people. Not a compositional connection often i spot so directly in Williams. The string octaves in descending perfect intervals at 1:35 sound straight out of the Te Deum (or pretty much any one of the 9 symphonies). Add to that the massed but very open orchestration, and the phyrgian disposition of the theme (unusual for Star Wars), and the horn writing -- all Bruckner hallmarks. Who knows if this is intentional, or even a matter of influence per se, but hard to unhear if you're an unapologetic Brucknerian like me. *I gotta say, I'm little surprised by the tepid reaction here, of all places. It seems perfectly of a piece with the overall Star Wars sound, no more or less generic than anything else he's written for the series. This is another in a line of wonderful unexpected gifts from our favorite octegenarian maestro, and I feel confident it will grow on everyone, especially once we hear it in its entirety--not this weirdly incomplete, edited version.

The 2019 season for Tanglewood has just gone up, and there's a lot of Williams on the program, https://www.bso.org/brands/tanglewood/features/2019-tanglewood-season.aspx. Tickets go on sale February 10, 2019. Williams highlights include: July 7: Across the Stars: Music of John Williams David Newman, conductor Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin Across the Stars: Music of John Williams Join the Boston Pops for the first of three programs this summer, celebrating the art of John Williams. Drawing from her recent recording “Across the Stars,” the great violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter performs selections from Mr. Williams’ iconic scores, in brilliant new arrangements created especially for her. The program includes music from Star Wars and Memoirs of a Geisha, as well as the haunting melodies of Schindler’s List. Aug 16: Keith Lockhart conducts Star Wars: A New Hope Join Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops as they present this classic film with live orchestral accompaniment. Set 30 years after Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: A New Hope, the fourth episode of the saga, returns to the desert planet of Tatooine. A young Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) begins to discover his destiny when, searching for a lost droid, he is saved by reclusive Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness). A civil war rages in the galaxy, and Rebel forces struggle against the evil Galactic Empire, Luke and Obi- Wan enlist the aid of hotshot pilot, Han Solo (Harrison Ford). Joined by the quirky droid duo R2-D2 and C-3PO, the unlikely team sets out to rescue Rebel leader Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and make use of the stolen plans to destroy the Empire’s ultimate weapon. In a legendary confrontation, the rogue group mounts an attack against the Death Star for a climactic battle with the evil Sith Lord Darth Vader. Aug 24: John Williams' Film Night John Williams’ Film Night has long been established as one of the Tanglewood calendar’s most anticipated and beloved evenings. Join Mr. Williams as he introduces this year’s celebration of the music of Hollywood and beyond, featuring the Boston Pops and conductor David Newman. Williams is also listed on the Tanglewood on Parade conductor roster for July 23. Interesting that on Film Night JW is listed as a "host" instead of conductor. Guess he really is stepping away from the podium.

Wow, what a gift! I hope you all realize how fortunate we all are to be treated to these stunning, often rather more complex revisitations of old themes. Here's a rough-and-ready transcription of the intro, sans specific string voicings. Very much reminiscent of Anakin's theme in texture and mood, as Horner's Dynamic Range pointed out. I guess this now joins "Luke & Leia" as a concert arrangement whose opening bars manage to suggest not only the theme itself, but shades of other leitmotifs (here Imperial March and, perhaps if JW actually remembers it, Anakin's Theme).

Not 100% sure about this connection. In terms of tone, definitely (tragic, string-dominated elegy), they're kindred cues. But in terms of a substantive motivic connection, the most I can detect is a short intraphrasal 3-2-3-1 melodic motion at 0:50 of "The Immolation Scene," no more and no less. I don't doubt that it's a dramatically fitting similar idea, and worth noting in an analysis, but my gut tells me it's a coincidence, and that the "Lament" only gets those other two airings during ROTS you mention.

My feeling is probably not; sounds to me to be just an oscillating semitone, not enough to it to be even an accidental ref. to the Dies Irae. However, there are some pretty indisputable allusions in the Battle of Endor I (e.g. 7:23, 9:21). I'm of the opinion that drawing motivic linkages between the middle section of Across the Stars and other parts of the score, particularly the Anakin's Descent stuff, is kind of overrated. Expressively, sure, it's dark, brooding, minor music, very much the same musical topic as what's heard during Anakin's confession. And there is an embedded 3-2-3-1 motion in the primary ATS theme (and developed prominently in that turbulent episode) -- that's a little whiff of the Dies Irae to be sure. But as far as the specific cue for the confession (and later Ep 3's lament), that sounds to me much more like a happy accident than a crafty allusion to ATS. I hesitate to call any of these Dies Irae-like moments leitmotivic, seeing as how Williams just seems to be fond of the melodic motion and inserts into lots and lots of his scores (CE3K, Presumed Innocent, Jurassic Park, Nixon, Sleepers, many, many more). That it crops up repeatedly in Star Wars is not dramatically insignificant, but I doubt it's part of some master compositional plan on JW's part. But who knows -- as far as I can tell, no interviewer has ever asked Williams about his fondness for that motif!

Hi all, Just thought to let you know I've made a pretty major update to my leitmotif catalog, with improved formatting, a ton more links, and a whole new section on associative harmonic progressions. Enjoy! Star Wars Leitmotif Catalogue.pdf

It's an amazing stew of influences, for sure, yet 100% vintage Williams throughout. I get hints of Holst's "Venus, Bringer of Peace" from those slow pandiatonic wedges towards the end of the piece.

For those of you who missed it, here it is: https://youtu.be/S2E-PHhxtYg Listen quick, I'll be taking this down in a day or so, unless YouTube beats me to it, as they've done quite quickly in the past for radio broadcasts...

I agree: melodically, it feels more like an outgrowth of "Searching," and in "The Adventures of Han," it initially sounds like a contrasting middle section for that theme (though retrospectively, it's perhaps more of a free episode, as it does not return IIRC). Interestingly, Powell treats it as a thematic continuation (or contrasting B section) of the main "Heroic" leitmotif -- not "Searching"-- on at least one occasion, near the start of "Corellia Chase." Notice how it occupies the same tonality at the start (I/F => V/Bb), and its mere proximity to the "Heroic" leitmotif brings out some of its structural affinities with that theme. I don't know the score well enough yet to say if he highlights its connections with "Searching," but I wouldn't be surprised if that happens too. It's details like this that are making me appreciate Powell's score even more; his manipulations of Williams's material are (with a perhaps a few exceptions) remarkably compelling and compositionally assured.

Hi Demodex, I've updated my own little thematic catalog to include notation and links for the main themes from Solo, as well as Rogue One finally. With the exception of #8, all of these new themes get *real* workouts in terms of development in this film -- more, I'd wager than most of the new stuff in TLJ! Not sure of timings yet, and some of my metrical interpretations may be off, but it's a start... 1. Young Han Solo (Heroic) 2. Young Han Solo (Searching) 3. Secrets/Crimson Dawn (Definitely derived from the "Searching" motif but treated pretty independently in terms of rhythm, orchestration, affect throughout Solo) 4. Han & Q'ira 5. Han & Chewie 6. Beckett's Gang 7 .Enfys Nest 8. L-8/Droid Uprising There's some new incidental motifs in this movie too, plus plenty of references to previously established thematic materials (my favorite is the Imperial Troops reference in "Train Heist", and the obvious one that shows up during the surprise cameo at the end...) *Edited w/ change of name for #3 to reflect what Powell apparently called it. Leitmotif Catalogue -- Frank Lehman, 2018.pdf

I think you are going to love this piece. In my opinion, it's the best standalone music that's come out of Disney-Star Wars, besides Rey's Theme concert arrangement and maybe The March of the Resistance.

We'll all hear it soon enough. Let's not get pedantry get in the way of my original goal, which was building hype.

I feel as though we're going around in circles here. What I'm saying, and what you seem resistant to acknowledging, is that the two melodies that appear in "The Adventures of Han" constitute seperate and well-defined themes in that context. Making any claim about their leitmotivic status, their intratextual signification, or how they adhere to yours or my or Doug Adams's criteria regarding leitmotivic categorization--all this is strictly premature at this point until we hear them in the setting of the actual Solo score. The point you're insisting is valid is not what I'm talking about. Furthermore, I think deferring Williams's intention is essentially besides the point here; the arrangement (as everyone will soon hear) speaks for itself, and authorial intent is about the least reliable way to interpret texts in general, especially when the creator is as inconsistent and selectively forgetful as JW is, regardless of how insightful & articulate he comes off in interviews.

I don't want to get bogged down in the minutiae of thematic analysis here, but it's not actually that much a matter of perspective in this case -- they're seperate themes in this concert arrangement, and just happen to succeed (and later interact and overlap with) one another. Granted, there are cases where motivic (not the same as leitmotivic) autonomy is debatable--Rey's various little subthemes, for example--but, at least as far as the two main melodic constituents are treated in "The Adventures of Han," this is not one of them. It's similar to the "Rebellion is Reborn" in this respect, in which the "Rose" and "Luke in Exile" themes are pretty strongly differentiated -- although I'd wager the overall tone of "Adventures of Han" is more consistent and less jarringly diverse than "RiR." It's a pretty good deal: two themes for the price of one, for a film he's not even really scoring!

I've heard the actual concert arrangement and can state with surety they're different themes and treated as such by Williams. They have strongly contrasting orchestration, keys, and textures, and they're internally structured such that each has a tightly-knit beginning/middle/end melodic organization of their own, the hallmark of Mark Richard's "grammatical theme" archetype. The mock-up version you're referring to does make them sound more closely related, and that may indeed be how Powell treats them. But going from the concert arrangement, it's not ambiguous that they are strongly independent ideas. I think that will be evident soon enough once everyone has a chance to hear it. Oh, one other thing to look forward to. The first, comparatively dashing theme for Han occupies the same musical universe as Poe's leitmotif (down to a virtually identical harmonic progression and melodic contour in its second phrase). That, plus the similarity of the low-string ostinato in this arrangement to that in "I Can Fly Anything," makes it seem as though Dameron is the direct inheritor to Han Solo's musical character.