Falstaft

My first JW album was the Utah Symphony Star Wars Trilogy.  I think I bought it in 1992, along with a compilation of music from the first four ST films.  So, I guess I am 30 years into this as well--that is crazy.  Thank you for triggering my memory.  It was crazy over the next several years realizing that JW composed so much of the music that I had like during my early childhood.  Pre-internet days were different.  
 
I still remember a day from my junior year in high school.  I was in band, and we had finished our spring concert.  So, basically, we screwed around for the last week of the semester.  The band director disliked me (which in retrospect is all on me).  Anyway, I brought that CD to school and the band room had a really nice audio system with a CD player.  I was blasting SW through it.  The band director immediately came out of his office, walked over to the player, and just as I was expected him to turn it off and reprimand me, he adjusted the equalizer to better bring out the bass.  Great memory.   

As has been said already: Thank you for this post!
 
I suddenly realised it has been 30 years for me as well: Around this time of the year, 30 years ago, a soulmate if mine introduced me to the wonderful world of John Williams via his LP collection, and soon after I was exploring on my own. I still maintain this enormous binder full of articles, reviews, and pictures of John Williams as well as our travels to several concerts to this day...

Thanks, @Sandor, for kicking off the thread. And congrats on 30 years! Your collection looks amazing.
 
For sure my family had Fiddler on the Roof - cannot remember if that was ours or my grandparents' - but we had it and I played it. Of course, my awareness of John Williams was zilch as a 4-year old. I definitely saw Poseidon Adventure in the theater at a friend's birthday party when I was 5 (although I probably spent 33% of it in the lobby scared out of my mind). So, Star Wars in 1977 would be where I started collecting John Williams with the 8-Track Cassette version.
 
My first JW LP was Superman, given to us as part of a charity screening for my cousin's school, which was held at Warner Bros. What a glorious Saturday morning that was. It was the first movie I ever saw that started without previews (given it was at the studio theater). 2+ hours later, I believed a man could fly. We then had lunch in Hollywood on the way back from Burbank and ran into my school friend Tony Hooper. He had a Superman pin which he gave to me (and I still have) - he had just seen the movie at a screening as well. (I met his dad, Tobe, too, but I did not know he was a film director let alone would be making Poltergeist in a few years.)
 
Probably I had the LA Phil Star Wars-CE3K recording around then and the Gerhardt suites too.
 
My real active collecting came in 1980. For my Bar Mitzvah, family friends gave me a record/cassette/radio all-in-one unit with speakers. These were promptly wired all the way around my room along the ceiling and the speakers mounted high in my room. Those speakers are still there! Along with the hardware, I was also given a $100 gift certificate to Warehouse Records. The Empire Strikes Back was amongst the albums I got that day. I think I bought Jaws as well. 
 
So, how long have been at this? I guess you can round up to 50 years if you go back to Fiddler, but really I would say 45 years given that I actively lobbied my parents to buy that 8-track of Star Wars. And then to play it endlessly in the car.

Oh wow, that's cool!

My first soundtrack purchase was the 1993 Star Wars box set, which I got in 1994, so I guess my 30th anniversary is two years away!

In a couple of months, I'll be celebrating my '30th anniversary' of being a John Williams fan and collector.
 
Growing up with films like Star Wars, Indiana Jones and E.T., I've been intrigued by Williams' music since childhood, but it was during the Spring of 1993 that I became a true and devoted fan.
 
My life was very different 30 years ago. I was still living with my parents, attended the final year of high school, had hair on my head and I had no idea how my life was going to turn out. 
 
I look back on 30 years filled with significant events, ranging from wonderful to not so great. I became a teacher and headmaster, got married to a beautiful wife, bought a house, lost my stepfather and grandparents, traveled the world, became father to an autistic son and successfully overcame an episode of depression.
 
The music of John Williams has been an integral part of my personal journey and has always had a positive effect on me. 
 
Today I had some photos taken of my entire collection, something I've been wanting to do for years. I hope you will enjoy them and here's to the next 30 years! 
 
 
 
 

Here's an NPR piece on Hook, featuring Leslie Bricusse, Tim Grieving, and Mike Matessino!
 
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/19/1220028578/spielbergs-1991-movie-hook-was-nearly-a-musical-now-its-score-has-been-released

100% this.
 
Not to dismiss the impact of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, or general melodic/harmonic vocabulary on Williams, but there are a half dozen or so pieces closer in sound and chronology to the Han Solo and the Princess that I'd argue are more likely models for the theme -- passages from Rachmaninoff, Gliere, Rózsa, Khachaturian, etc.. Granted, all of whom were influenced in turn by Tchaik! 

There will indeed be a podcast delving into this release. I don't want to spoil the details -- but in my humble opinion, this one is worth the upgrade! Neither score has ever sounded better, and the precious new minutes make the experience all the sweeter. Jim Titus's stunning art is the cherry on top. I can't imagine any fan of these essential scores will be displeased!

Quartet Announces:
 

 

 
ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACKS
 
HEIDI / JANE EYRE (2-CD)
 
Revised, Remastered and Slightly Expanded Scores
Music Composed and Conducted by John Williams
Produced, Restored and Mastered by Mike Matessino
Liner notes by John Takis
Limited edition of 2500 units
 
Release date: 12/12/2023
 
Quartet Records, in collaboration with Capitol Records and Universal Music Entertainment, present a 2-CD set with a revised, remastered, slightly expanded edition of scores for two landmark made-for-television films composed by John Williams (STAR WARS, E.T., JURASSIC PARK, HOOK) between 1968 and 1970.
 
Both of these adaptations of classic stories were presented by Omnibus Productions and directed by Delbert Mann, and both also earned Emmy® Awards for John Williams’ original music. Through these scores, the composer shaped the destinies of two classic literary characters as well as his own.
Every effort was made to locate surviving audio elements for both HEIDI and JANE EYRE. The discovery of the original ½″ four-track masters from HEIDI containing all of the cues selected for the 1968 narrated story album facilitated an attentive new mix of the music and a presentation in narrative order. The narration record was newly transferred by Universal Music Group and is presented after the musical score.
 
For JANE EYRE, a new high-resolution transfer of the 1971 ¼″ stereo album master was provided by Universal Music Group, with audio then fully restored. This is followed by four tracks of additional material, including a short segment of source music that is heard in the film but was not on the album. The other three tracks are alternate performances of three selections recorded for the album, “To Thornfield,” “Restoration” and the “Love Theme.” This material was sourced from two ½″ 3-track tapes that were discovered at Twentieth Century Fox in early 2019. While no additional score cues could be located, the recovery of any new material from this enduring and highly regarded John Williams work is most welcome.
 
The entire collection has been painstakingly remixed, restored, assembled and mastered by Mike Matessino, preserving all the freshness of the original recording. The package includes a 28-page full-color booklet with in-depth liner notes by film music writer John Takis and classy art direction by Jim Titus.
 
Tracklist Disc 1. HEIDI
Original Motion Picture Score
1. Overture (Theme From ‘Heidi’) 2:21
2. Arrival In Dörfli 3:12
3. To The Alm 2:00
4. Goat’s Milk 1:36
5. At The Church :57
6. Meditation Rock 2:20
7. Dinner Table :47
8. Stealing Rolls 1:10
9. The Bedroom 1:55
10. Library Talk 1:24
11. Return To Dörfli 2:56
12. Montage 1:34
13. Waiting With Grandfather 1:35
14. Separation 3:28
15. The Farewell 3:52
16. Klara Walks 3:51
 
Total Score Presentation: 35:27
 
1968 Original Soundtrack With Dialogue and Narration
 
17. Main Title And Overture 2:21 (John Williams and Orchestra)
18. The Old Man And The Child 2:49 (Sir Michael Redgrave, Jennifer Edwards)
19. A Place Of My Own 3:35 (Sir Michael Redgrave, Jennifer Edwards)
20. The Alm 3:39 (Jennifer Edwards)
21. The Sleeping Child 2:22 (Sir Michael Redgrave)
22. Meditation 2:25 (Sir Michael Redgrave, Jennifer Edwards)
23. A Place Of My Own (Heidi’s Theme) 2:41 (Carri Chase, Vocal)
24. Shadows 3:51 (Sir Michael Redgrave)
25. Reflections 4:16 (Jennifer Edwards)
26. A New Dimension 1:56 (Sir Michael Redgrave, Jennifer Edwards)
27. The Nature Of Things 2:25 (Sir Michael Redgrave)
28. Love Theme From ‘Heidi’ 2:54 (John Williams and Orchestra)
29. The Miracle 2:55 (Sir Michael Redgrave)
30. Finale And End Title 1:05 (Sir Michael Redgrave)
 
Total Soundtrack Album: 39:20
 
Disc 2. JANE EYRE
 
Original Soundtrack Album
1. The Love Theme From ‘Jane Eyre’ 3:17
2. Overture (Main Title) 3:57
3. Lowood 2:28
4. To Thornfield 1:53
5. Festivity At Thornfield 2:11
6. Grace Poole And Mason’s Arrival 3:03
7. Meeting 3:09
8. Thwarted Wedding 2:40
9. Across The Moors 2:39
10. Restoration 3:58
11. Reunion (End Title) 4:25
 
Total Soundtrack Album: 34:06
 
Additional Music
 
12. More Festivity :44
13. To Thornfield (Alternate) 1:54
14. Restoration (Alternate) 3:56
15. The Love Theme From ‘Jane Eyre’ (Alternate) 3:19
Total Additional Music: 10:02
https://quartetrecords.com/product/heidi-jane-eyre-2-cd/
 
 

Why the hell wouldn't I? Context and background and information in general is important and interesting!

To be honest, to me it doesn't really matter. It could be an adaptation in some cases, as many of you suggest. Or it could be deliberate attempt from Williams to summarise the franchise in a reminiscence therapy (pun intended) type of a way (along with some other action entries of his career). It might be a bit of a temp track love too. Or all of the above. Either way, Williams has composed "all of it" and signed it off. The film treats the music with quite a lot of respect so perhaps it was consciously designed to be that way from a get go. We've been praising those types of "patchwork" sequels in the past (Die Hard, Batman & Robin, Home Alone) so I can't really see how this is any different. If it means a 90-something can complete gargantuan amount of work in time, then it's fine by me. He's been "looking back" (stylistically) at his career for the past 15 years now (since Crystal Skull) so it's not really shocking. There's more than enough cool new stuff in this anyway.
 
Karol

Maybe not! The CD track is actually edited and is a bit different from what the score dictates. The first bar is completely edited out, and the written score has there a loud trumpet combination that is a red herring, because you look for it and don't find it in the recording. Props to @Falstaft for identifying it despite this.
 
And by the way, what a piece! I hadn't listened to it in a while.
 

Well done! I'm sorry, I wasn't awake to give you a hint! All your guesses beforehand were really good, the similarity between this and Long Grass is quite remarkable. I thought the fact that the first bar is cut out might throw some people off - if I'd shown the opening bars it would be too easy! How'd you figure it out?
 

  
Great guess actually - the writing is really similar there too.

Figured it out! DANG this was hard, well done, @Pat_S
 

Figured it out! DANG this was hard, well done, @Pat_S
 

Still banging my head against the table trying to figure out your piece, @Pat_S.
 
None of the below clips are what you're showing, but this excerpt is bringing to mind a bunch of other great symphonic plummets and pratfalls and collapses in JW's output!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Still banging my head against the table trying to figure out your piece, @Pat_S.
 
None of the below clips are what you're showing, but this excerpt is bringing to mind a bunch of other great symphonic plummets and pratfalls and collapses in JW's output!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Figured it out! DANG this was hard, well done, @Pat_S
 

Still banging my head against the table trying to figure out your piece, @Pat_S.
 
None of the below clips are what you're showing, but this excerpt is bringing to mind a bunch of other great symphonic plummets and pratfalls and collapses in JW's output!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Still banging my head against the table trying to figure out your piece, @Pat_S.
 
None of the below clips are what you're showing, but this excerpt is bringing to mind a bunch of other great symphonic plummets and pratfalls and collapses in JW's output!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I'm hoping this is a tricky one? My notation is a bit messy but I tried my best haha
 
 

I cannot take seriously anyone who unironically uses the word “woke”. Please search for other words to communicate your opinions.

Absolutely, it's a pitch schema he uses and reuses constantly. The fact that after 20 years, Qui Gon and Obi Wan kind of ended up having the same leitmotif is on one level a coincidence--I don't know if JW really though he was giving QGJ a theme even when writing TPM! But on another level it speaks to the extreme continuity in his writing style and melodic imagination.

I really need to update this video one of these days, with recent examples from The Post, TROS, Indy 5, some clear echoes in Nixon and Amistad, and a bunch of Ludlow variants from War Horse and WOTW I somehow missed the first time around.
 
FWIW I don't think any of the music that flagrantly sounds like other JW in Dial (namely the stuff from AOTC, MR, WOTW, and obviously all the other IJ music) is possibly  the result of unconscious stylistic consistency on Williams's part. It's either temp-track emulation or Williams farming it out to Ross ala COS. Makes sizable stretches of the score-as-heard-in-film difficult for me to listen to, to be perfectly honest, the Tuk Tuk Chase in particular.

I'm with Edmilson on this one. Main Title and Escape has always felt like an unfocused and unengaging slog to me. It's easily one of my least favorite Star Wars action pieces.