TownerFan

I was talking about a resemblance, not a direct lift. But probably it's just me, doesn't matter.

It's really one of the best moments in that score, I agree. However, did anyone else notice a similarity between this cue and Williams' "Cinque's Theme" from Amistad? I'm not speaking about the melody or the theme, but imho there's more than a resemblance in terms of atmosphere, orchestration and mood. My bet is they temped the scene with that cue.

I like very much Danny Elfman, James Newton Howard, Howard Shore, Tom Newman and Elliot Goldenthal, but I wouldn't call them "new composers", since they're all on the film music scene at least since 20+ years. They're almost veterans now. Still younger than JW, btw. Michael Giacchino, Alexandre Desplat are my own favourite of the new emerging group. Dario Marianelli hasn't clicked on me so far, but after listening to Atonement I'm changing my mind: it's a brilliant score that shows he's able to write real music. John Powell wrote some very good scores so far and I'm interested in seeing where he will go in the future. He surely has some good chops that elevate him up above most his former MV colleagues. Don Davis also is a very good composer, but he seems to have disappeared completely from the film music scene. Joel McNeely is capable of doing interesting things and surely has some great skills. He would deserve some good project to show even more his talents and especially directors and producers who don't ask him to sound like John Williams.

Nice story. Thanks for sharing it, Hellgi! I can only imagine the scene: Bill Ross' phone rings. BR: What thy bidding, my maestro? JW: There's a great disturbance in the mix of these tracks... BR: How that is possible? JW: Search your feelings, Apprentice Ross... you will know it to be true... BR: They're just engineers... They can do better than this... JW: The Music Force is strong with them. BR: Maybe we can make them remix all the cues. JW: Yes... yes. That would be a great asset. Can it be done? BR: They'll do it as you wish or they'll die, my maestro. Jokes aside, I believe JW is always very adamant about how his scores sound in the final mix.

I definitely agree. One of the thing that pisses me off more than any other is the way much of today's blockbuster scores are overblown and over-written. For example, I really don't get the abundance of the use of choir. It's really overused and in many cases it doesn't add anything to the musical architecture, it just used to make the cue bigger and louder. Very interesting post, Hellgi. Thanks!

Well, that's what I'm expecting. I bet Spielberg, Ford & Lucas wanted to make a light-hearted, funny and escapist movie as The Last Crusade was. Of course I would prefer a Raiders-like film, but I'm quite sure that a movie like Raiders is somewhat a one-time wonder. Personally, I do not have the highest expectations on this film. I just hope it will be fun, full of great action sequences and with a pretty decent script that will sustain the drama on the whole duration. The only thing I'm sure is that John Williams will deliver a dynamite score

I'd really love to hear properly recorded versions of these: . Suite from JFK (Prologue; The Motorcade; Arlington) . Escapades for Alto Sax and Orchestra from Catch Me If You Can (Closing In; Recollections; Joy Ride) . Suite for Narrator and Orchestra from Angela's Ashes . "Sayuri's Theme" from Memoirs of a Geisha (actually there are TWO concert versions, one for cello and orchestra and one for orchestra only, they're quite different). . Theme from The Accidental Tourist Oh, I also would love to have proper recordings of "Esplanade Overture", "Fanfare for a Festive Occasion", "for Seiji!", "Soundings!", the Horn Concerto... and many more...

I'm a huge Giacchino fan since the days of Medal of Honor and I followed his ever-growing path into the film score arena for quite a long time. The thing I admire the most in him is the sheer enthusiasm he put in his work. I love the fact he wants to put his feet in the path of the great traditional Hollywood film scoring and expand further that style. He definitely has some solid compositional chops (he studied at Juilliard, btw) and he seems to explore and refine further his technique as the years go by. I also love the fact that he wants to stay as acoustic and "natural" as possible in his orchestrational choices. As Hellgi pointed out, Giacchino clearly loves the sound of the traditional orchestra and that's a great thing in the contemporary film music landscape. He sticks out imho because his musical choices sound definitely the product of a creative thought as a composer. I find him more engaging and musically stimulating than, say, Joel McNeely or John Debney, who both have simulated a kind of "John Williams sound" (and sometimes they did it quite well, they're fine composers indeed) in many of their scores, because it seems that Giacchino is searching much more for his own personal voice. In my own view, he delivered the most interesting thing in his scoring of the Lost tv show. Here, he's experimenting a lot, especially in the textures, and he's having a lot of fun trying to come up with creative choices. I like the way he transformed the limits of the means (i.e. a small ensemble) into a huge force, giving to the show his own distinct musical personality. In this sense, he reminds me more of Jerry Goldsmith and Bernard Herrmann, who both carved a part of their own musical personalities in television scoring for shows like The Twilight Zone. That show allowed them to produce some amazing scores albeit the limits of the resources. I feel the same can be said for Giacchino's Lost scores. That being said, I don't know if Giacchino is going to be the next John Williams. Personally, I hope he will be always and only Michael Giacchino.

I don't know if this has already been pointed out, but check this: John Williams 20/20 1983 Interview. Cool stuff. Let's hope the guys will upload the rest of the special! I loved the shots of Williams' library, with all his scores resting on the shelves...

What pieces are included in the Suite? Is it just "Theme" and the "Out to Sea/Shark Cage Fugue"? Are there other pieces?

Personally, I'm very much interested in hearing all the STM alternates. It's known that there are at least alternates for "The Dome Opens" (which was used extensively in the SII Donner Cut, if I'm correct) and "Baby's Trip to the Earth". But I'm sure FSM and Matessino discovered some other interesting gems while searching through all the session tapes.

If this will be indeed a Superman boxset as all the clues seem to lead to, my bet on the discs breakdown would be the following: . 3 CDs for Superman The Movie -- complete score remastered from newfound elements on disc 1 and 2, with alternates, outtakes, source cues and various stuff on the third disc. . 1 CD for Superman II -- the complete score would fill easily just one disc. . 1 CD for Superman III -- I believe they will include just the Ken Thorne material and leave out the Moroder songs (expect maybe for the infamous synth version of the March), so this could easily fill just one disc. . 2 CD for Superman IV -- Sandy Courage scored a longer cut of the film, so this would be probably a 2-hrs plus score, including alternates and outtakes. The last disc could be anything. My money is on materail from the old tv series with George Reeves and/or stuff from the various cartoon series composed by Shirley Walker.

Oh, my. Really sad news. I don't know what to say. He was a very good actor (and he also performed in a film scored by JW).

I think the version as found on the Summon the Heroes CD it's also re-orchestrated a little bit. Maybe that's why it was labeled as "First Recording"...

Listening to the webcast streaming right now-- wow! What an amazing concert! The NYPO plays superbly well ("Sound the Bells!" never sounded so bright and glorious). I wish some radio station did the same for the unforgettable Chicago concerts of last November... UPDATE: Gee, the performance of "Hedwig's Theme" really knocked my socks off!! Brilliant! It's even better than the OST recording, imho.

Well, I guess he's still fond of that score, because he performed the main theme as an encore during his concerts in Chicago last November. When I met him after one of the gigs, I thanked him for that and he graciously replied "Oh, did you like it?".

435. The first time he met with a young Steven Spielberg in 1973 he said he looked like Spielberg's "Dutch Uncle".

Merry Christmas to you all, guys. I hope you all can spend the holidays surrounded by your loved ones and share some good feeling all the time. And don't forget to listen to some great music! Hugs to all, Maurizio --

Ordered! Oh, my wallet too is crying out loud...

John Neufeld retired in 2005. His last credited orchestration job for Williams was The Terminal (which was orchestrated mainly by Conrad Pope, btw).

Teaser poster now available at the Official Site! Nice!

Here's hoping for Gustavo.

I'm really looking forward to this score now, since I generally agree very much with Fiery Angel's reviews. Also, I'm expecting quite a good score for I Am Legend. When Howard works on the sci-fi/fantasy genre, he usually delivers really some nice scores.

On the Varèse Aliens - Deluxe Edition CD, there are a couple of bonus tracks ("Bishop Countdown" and "Futile Escape", if I remember well) presented with the percussion-only overdub. Although not written to be listened to that way, it's pretty interesting.

To all Hitchcock/Herrmann fans: take 10 minutes to see this great tribute to Hitchcock and Herrmann that Martin Scorsese shot as a promo for a champagne brand. Lovely!