That_Bloke

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/06/john-williams-music-movies-legacy The article says the success of JW's use of orchestra in Star Wars helped pave the way for other composers to use orchestras, and it specifically mentions Jerry Goldsmith as one of those composers. I first thought maybe that's wrong. But on reflection I considered that JG was bowing to the trends at the time and using smaller ensembles. The success of using an orchestra in SW meant he could return to larger ensembles. Love the pic they dug up of JW circa 1965.

Williams's quip about the musicians: "you can discover they are actually people". I wonder if that was a sly barb against the current (over)reliance on synthetics to score films.

Perhaps space was made available on the cover to allow for the placing of peel-away promotional stickers?

Wouldn't D6/9 also be D13, or D13(no 7), or G9/D?

This is great for anyone who doesn't have any SW piano music. But everything in this collection was released in separate folios according to each episode, with the same arrangements. There are cues missing in this compilation that were included in the separate folio releases (e.g. Ep IV Ben's Death and TIE Fighter Attack; Ep VI The Ewok Battle and In the Court of Jabba the Hutt; Ep VIII Canto Bight). So if you have all the individual folios then this book may not be for you. Here's hoping there'll be a release of a piano transcription of the complete scores one day (including releases of the full scores)...

This new Piano Anthology would be great for someone who doesn't have any SW piano music. But the contents is a collection of what was released in individual folio when each film came - something which already have. And not everything that was previously released is in this collection. Now if there was to be a release of piano transcriptions of the complete scores...

Well, only the first four notes of Make Me Rainbows and the chords underneath them. After that the songs diverge, do they not?

Glad I'm not the only one. Broken? It's disappeared. It's like the Amistad CD doesnt exist. Same thing happened to Spider-Man set but at least that's back now showing Temporarily Out Of Stock. But Amistad continues (as at time of posting this) to not exist. Major grrrrr-factor feelings from me.

Hi All, Piano reductions finally released. From the blurb: "Piano Solo Piano/Keyboard Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Composed by John Williams. Piano Solo Songbook. Movies. Softcover. Published by Hal Leonard (HL.1161032). Item Number: HL.1161032 ISBN 9781705187586. 9.0x12.0 inches. This folio features six pieces from John Williams' Oscar-nominated score for Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans arranged for piano solo. It also includes three classical piano pieces that are featured in the film. Titles include: • Adagio (Concerto in D Minor, BWV 974: II - Bach) • Allegro Burlesco (Sonatina in A Minor, Op. 88, No. 3 - Kuhlau) • The Fabelmans • The Letter • Mitzi's Dance • Mother and Son • Reflections • Reverie • Spiritoso (Sonatina in C Major, Op. 36, No. 1 - Clementi)." Thanks https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/the-fabelmans-sheet-music/22442868 https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/se/ID_No/1231597/Product.aspx

Hi Everyone. The film was recently released on Blu Ray. According to the specs... "Special Features and Technical Specs: 1080p presentation of the film on Blu-ray NEW audio commentary by film historian Stephen Prince (2020) NEW “FOURTH DOWN: COMPOSING BLACK SUNDAY” – An all-new interview with film music historian Daniel Schweiger about the John Williams score. (2020) DTS HD 5.1 surround LPCM 2.0 Stereo Optional English subtitles Theatrical Trailer Limited Edition slipcase on the first 1500 copies" Not an interview with the maestro, but I'm glad the label thought the score was important enough to warrant adding a talk about it as an extra. Maybe the label thought it could sell some units to us fan-tragics if it threw in a morsel of JW appreciation? Cheers https://viavision.com.au/shop/black-sunday-1977/

I'll have a go, without knowing if you're talking about orchestration, tonality, melodic style etc. This sounds like a Tierce de Picardie with Coda. A TdP is a specific type of cadence (i.e. movement between two consecutive chords), where changes modality (not key). The music is in a minor key, but when it gets the end, instead of sounding the "home" chord (or tonic chord) in what is meant to be minor, it changes the home chord to a major chord. E.G. Let's say a piece of music is in the key of D minor. When you get to the end of the piece you're expecting to hear a D minor chord - and also because technically that's what's meant to happen. But the piece plays a D Major chord instead. It's common in Medieval and Renaissance music. That's what this piece sounds like to me. Except once Williams hits the TdP instead of ending it there he keeps it going with a "Coda" of extra music based on that chord and, as @Archive Collection correctly stated, uses the lydian mode through the coda, and as @Jurassic Shark said, a decrescendo. (for ease of explaining I left out talk of relative majors and mid-piece modulations). Hope this helps

My opinion is that the melodies and their respective accompaniments have a classic-style sound to them. It sounds like something Schubert, Brahms, or Mendelssohn could have written, or in that style.

https://www.classicfm.com/composers/williams/john-schindlers-list-voted-no-1-movie-music-hall-fame-2020/

I love your analysis and the conclusions you make. The only thing I would question is the key: to me it looks and sounds like it's in C minor, not Eb major. Using teh G major chord at the end of the theme very much sounds like it finishes on the dominant of the key (a classic imperfect cadence), not the mediant. Thanks again.

Thanks everyone for the fast answers, both straight and humorous.

Just went to La La Land's site and Far and Away no longer appears there. Anyone know what this may mean please? Even the titles that are "Sold Out" still appear. F & A doesn't turn up at all.

It's not a proper release of BotFJ unless it has Tom Cruise reciting his penis monologue.

Kylo and Rey form the new order of the Summer Knights. And apparently there's a track called "Prologue" I now also have visions of the film opening with the voice of the late Alec Guiness saying "Previously, on Star Wars..." as we spend a hour recapping the earlier movies, and THEN we get the title and crawl. Or Ian McDairmid announces, "Star Wars was filmed before a live studio audience..."

Avoiding cue titles for sake of spoilers but then glimpse "We Go Together"... ... cannot get the song from Grease out of my head. Wonders if final scene in SW9 will be cast singalong and big production number in theme park as Kylo and Rey (now dressed as Olivia Newton John) soar above the gang in their space ship and go off into the clouds

I still use it a lot, but only to buy books and CDs. Never had a problem, but that doesn't mean to say there aren't problems. Maybe it could depend on from where the stock comes or the type of item being bought

There's also Fishpond.com.au over here - the local competitor to Amazon

Ah... thanks very much for that. I've never seen a variation on the official artwork other than the covers on the LP and the FSM cover. This is good to know (and Steve McQueen still looks like his mum mated with that tall alien from Close Encounters)

Some members here commenting on the price of this set. I'm happy it's as cheap as it is. I expect that with more than the usual number of copyright owners that there'd be more than the usual set of licensing fees. And it seems they couldn't get the original artwork for TI and had to pay extra for cover artwork to be created. And then there's the issue of getting permission to use the actors' likenesses on the cover (although Steve McQueen looks like his mum mated with that tall alien from Close Encounters). And then there's MM's work in improving the audio, which sounds like he did way more than the usual excellent effort. I would not be surprised if LLL's profit margin on this box set is small. I'm grateful to all involved for bringing this out and I'm looking forward to adding this set to the earlier releases I already own

Agree, but maybe.. 1. this is a dummy cover used only for promo purposes, 2. the blue didn't work with the original black cover per Eps 7 and 8, and Disney wanted to stick with the blue 3. it reflects some massive shift that happens in the movie 4. Disney is just messing with us

JW: "I actually had MM do proper treatments for Sugarland Express, Storia Una Donna, and everything else before Jaws, but I'm keeping them unreleased just for the giggles." ASM: "Yass Queen! That's so on fleek!"