pixie_twinkle

Marco Polo has long been a favourite of mine based on the recons and audio versions. But there are soooo many other's I'm hoping for too!

Is anyone else following these rumours of more missing episodes being recovered? Some people seem convinced that the real number of 60s episodes recovered is close to 90, meaning that all but a handful of previously missing episodes have been returned to the BBC for eventual release on DVD! Trying not to get my hopes up, but it's hard not to get excited, especially given that these rumours are coming from the same sources that first suggested that Web of Fear and Enemy of the World had been recovered.

The parallel between Bach and Williams is great, but I totally disagree when you write that Bach was not original. Bach surpassed all his rivals. He left a very large number of compositions, which distinguish themselves by the rise of the style, by the originality, and by the surprising wealth of melodies and the effects. But contrary to Williams, Bach was not understood at the end of his life, and looked "old-fashionned" in the eyes of his contemporaries. I don't think this is the case for John Williams Williams is the father of the revival of the film music, of a melodic and harmonious originality which we owe to his technical level and to his extraordinary knowledge of all the musics of the world. Another Bach fan! Believe me, my comment about Bach's orginality was purely based on his stylistic trends. Nothing to do with his melody writing, mastery of form, and general genius. Bach is one of my favourite composers, and I have a frightening amount of his music on CD (about 9 days worth according to my iTunes). Strangely my love of Bach is a fairly recent thing. As a younger man I found his music too academic, too mechanical, too other-worldly. My passion was always for the more obvious Williams influences, like Vaughan Williams, Mahler, Debussy, Stravinsky etc. I liked my melodies big, my orchestration sweeping, and for the music to be big on humanity and personality. It wasn't until I reached my mid thirties that I discovered the spirituality in Bach's "pure" or "absolute" music. My wife went through a terrible time health-wise about 5 years ago, and for two years we had to go through hospital visits, admissions, nail-biting and other unpleasantness. The only music I could listen to during that awful period was Bach. Grander, more romantic, more egotistical (nothing wrong with ego in music by the way) music of my other favourite composers like Vaughan Williams was not speaking to me in the same way as the pure, logical music of Bach. Finally I now understand what Douglas Adams meant when he wrote that Bach's music was actually a transcription of the music of heaven, in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. And that despite the fact that Douglas Adams and I are both atheists! IF there was a heaven, Bach's music would almost certainly be its soundtrack.

Still waiting for mine to arrive...

I don't really see anything positive coming of trying to prove to someone that Williams' music is particularly original. You are only asking for trouble. I have never loved Williams' music for its originality. I love his craft and his ability to write striking and powerful music. I love his incredible grasp of orchestration and colour. I love his melodic writing, and his ability to interweave themes and to develop them throughout a score. There is so much to love about Williams without having to try to prove that he is particularly original. There is very little in Williams musical style that I have not heard in previous composers. Williams is like Bach in that respect. Bach wasn't particularly original or experimental either. Most of the musical styles and forms employed by Bach had been around for decades before Bach used them. Bach just happened to use them more effectively than any composer had previously. If people can't enjoy the music of Williams for what it is (effective, emotive, clever, highly inventive, masterfully orchestrated, powerful and often beautiful music), then they don't get what his music is all about, and there's certainly no point in trying to convince them it's original. Exactly.

Fun, but waaaaaayyyyy too nerdy! Lovely to see Lis in there though.

Ordered. Stems or not, this looks like a fun release.

Haha, I was about to say the same thing. The first four minutes sound remarkably film-scorish, and then we immediately return to the classical era for the rest.

Bloody hell! Amazing! I doubt the official title will better it.

Mine arrived this morning! Woohoo!

Will it be a third pressing? Subtle differences? Those 300 copies hugely rare?

Looks like the blue box second pressing is sold out.

Not sure how I missed this thread back in May. Actually it's probably because I was on a two-week Mediterranean cruise, but never mind . Anyway, the first I knew about this release was when it appeared on the main page on the 5th. It was already sold out at Kritzerland by then but I bagged what must have been one of the last copies at SAE. Can't wait to get this.

Thanks Thor and John. I've enjoyed the Label X CD since I bought it way back when, but the new Quartet release is a significant upgrade. I'm really loving it. Great liner notes too, John. Quartet is rapidly becoming a major player in the collector's soundtrack market.

Thanks for clearing that up.

So the Label X CD is a bootleg??? I bought it in Tower Records in Piccadilly Circus back in the mid 90s so I assumed it was official! (Mind you, I bought the two Tsunami CDs there too and they are generally considered to be of questionable legality these days, aren't they?) So who conductied Heidi? According to the Label X CD Eberhard Soblick conducted the orchestra, but the new Quartet release states "Composed and Conducted by John Williams" on the cover.

Dr. No's album is groovy! Yes, it feels very unfinished and improvised, but as a piece of history and a bit of fun I think it's enjoyable fluff. I wish we had the score cues though. Some really classic pieces. I bet no one here can think of the tarantula scene without hearing Norman's evocative underscore.

Mad scramble then. I definitely want this.

I haven't seen anything about quantities. Is this an unlimited release? It would be nice to buy this at my leisure rather than the usual mad scramble the minute it becomes abailable to ensure getting a copy.

I'm currently watching The Eiger Sanction. I've known the score since the late 80s or early 90s when I bought the CD, but I've never seen the film before. I'm loving it so far. I can't believe how much actual climbing Eastwood is doing in this film.

I refuse to ever let myself get excited about an Emmerich film ever again. I've been disappointed every time.

Brilliant.

That's an insanely good deal, are you kidding? Paid something like 40 US dollars for Planet Earth alone!

I'm as British as they come, Steef. No Viagra needed for my upper lip! I went ahead and ordered the two Attenborough blu rays (Life on Earth and The Trials of Life) and will figure out how to play them later. The price was too good on Amazon UK to pass up (11 pounds each!). It does seem odd they didn't release the middle series of the "Life" trilogy on blu at the same time, The Living Planet. I expect it'll come out soon though, it's as brilliant as the other two.

Probably not before Christmas