Jump to content

Search the Community

Showing results for tags 'Steven Spielberg'.

  • Search By Tags

    Type tags separated by commas.
  • Search By Author

Content Type


Forums

  • Discussion
    • JOHN WILLIAMS
    • General Discussion
    • Tolkien Central
    • JWFan Reviews

Find results in...

Find results that contain...


Date Created

  • Start

    End


Last Updated

  • Start

    End


Filter by number of...

Joined

  • Start

    End


Group


Website URL


Title (custom text underneath your username)


Location

Found 22 results

  1. I am creating a second HOOK ULTIMATE EDITION thread, so that people can discuss the music without the conversation being mixed in with shipping updates and general anticipation posts. Here is the original thread where shipping updates, etc should still be shared in Now on to the music! I'm looking forward to hearing more thoughts from you three, as well as anybody else that has received their copy already!
  2. Now here is a long post! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And if there are any correction suggestions fire away, especially on the nuts and bolts of music theory of which I profess very little knowledge. And many thanks to all the people from this messageboard without whose excellent discussion and insights this analysis would not have been possible. You know who you are. UPDATE December 2016: The analysis now includes information and revisions based on the Lala-Land Records The John Williams Jurassic Park Collection which features the complete The Lost World: Jurassic Park score. The Lost World: Jurassic Park John Williams on a symphonic rampage A Complete Score Analysis by Mikko Ojala In 1997 four years after the original box office monster Jurassic Park had stomped onto the big screen and brought the dinosaurs so vividly to life through the magic of special effects wizardry, Steven Spielberg released the much clamored sequel to his hit film. The Lost World: Jurassic Park was loosely based on the novel by Michael Chrichton, whose own initial reluctance for writing a sequel (he had never done so before) was finally assuaged by Spielberg himself, who requested it after the success of the first film. The second Jurassic Park novel was released in 1995 and after the period of adaptation of the book into a script (by David Koepp), the production of the new movie began in 1996. Koepp’s script retains only some major outlines of the novel, mainly the locale of Isla Nublar’s sister island Isla Sorna, forsakes nearly all the characters and uses some broad ideas of the action that took place in the book but replaces the ending with a dinosaur rampage through San Diego. This was actually a suggestion from Spielberg during the late stages of the production and the original ending prepared and storyboarded before the last minute change was much more in line with the novel with an exciting chase involving Velociraptors and Pteranodons. Interestingly some elements of the script migrated right out from the original Jurassic Park novel, in particular the scenes with the small Compsognathi dinosaurs from various points in that story. The only retuning character from the previous film and novel is the nervous and edgy chaos theorist and a mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) with a whole new supporting cast of Malcolm’s love interest paleontologist Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore), Malcolm’s teenage daughter Kelly (Vanessa Lee Chester), a big game hunter Roland Tembo (Pete Postlethwaite), John Hammond’s greedy corporate businessman nephew Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard), a documentarian and environmental activist Nick Van Owen (Vince Vaughn) and Roland’s second-in-command Dieter Stark (Peter Stormare). In addition the film features a cameo apprearance of three main characters from the original film, Richard Attenborough reprising his role as John Hammond the capitalist entrepreneur now turned naturalist and Joseph Mazzello and Ariana Richards as his grandchildren Tim and Lex Murphy. The film takes place several years after the horrifying events of Jurassic Park. Dr. Ian Malcolm, a survivor of the Isla Nublar incident is drawn much against his will back to the world of dinosaurs by John Hammond who invites him to lead a scientific expedition to another island full of dinosaurs. Hammond has kept the knowledge of Isla Nublar’s sister island Isla Sorna secret from the world and reveals that it was originally the site of the creation of the dinosaurs and that they were bred and raised there and then moved to the larger Isla Nublar and the park itself. These beasts are by some miracle still alive and well even though they were supposed to die without human provided nutrients. Malcolm refuses flatly to go but is forced to accept Hammond’s offer as he hears that the millionaire has hired his girl friend paleontologist Sarah Harding to document the dinosaurs in their natural habitat. She jumped at the chance and is already on the island. With no alternative Malcolm wants to mount a rescue operation immeadiately. Thus begins the journey to the island that conincides with the plans of the ruthless head of the InGen Bioengineering Peter Ludlow of salvaging dinosaurs from the island to reap profit from them, the operation going awry, dinosaurs on a rampage, a desperate escape from the island and finally a T-Rex on the loose in the streets of San Diego. The stuff of wildest dinosaur dreams for monster hungry movie crowds. The Lost World proved to be another box office smash even though its world wide gross was considerably less than its predecessor's. It still held the record for the best opening weekend for 4 and half years until another Williams scored film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone (2001) dethroned it and the highest single day box office take for a couple of years until Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace claimed the honor, again scored by Mr. Williams. Despite the huge box office success the film got mixed reviews that commented both positively and negatively on the plot, the characters and the action and the movie garnered a plethora of mainly special effects plaudits, award nominations and wins. It was even nominated for Razzies in three categories but lost in all of them (Williams was nominated for an Academy Award for Amistad that year but lost to James Horner's enormously successful and popular Titanic). Whatever the merits or failings of the film itself, its score stands proudly as one of the most unique, daring and energetic of John Williams’ career. Here in his 14th collaboration with Steven Spielberg the composer has once again renewed himself and indeed created in chameleon style a new voice. The music is as much a departure as it is a return to the sound of Jurassic Park, the composer treading different ground in the sequel that contains only hints of the familiar themes and atmosphere that was so effective and made dinosaurs so magical only four years prior. New sound for the sequel Steven Spielberg’s initial impulse was to create something very different for this film, as he well knew that it would certainly not so much about the wonder of the dinosaurs anymore since the audience knew what to expect and more about darker sense of adventure, and so he asked from Williams a different stylistic approach for the score than for its predecessor. He wanted it to be exotic and tropical, percussive and driving, addressing as much the action as it did the location. Williams when interviewed for the The Lost World :Jurassic Park DVD documentary commented on the starting point for the new score: Steven’s idea was that this was all taking place on an island in some Carribean area and that the music might have, might be driven by some drums if you like. Or some sort of ethnic or jungle kind of texture or flavour that might drive the music and might give it a kind of unique flavour. And so much of what in the action sequences I did, to begin with at least, was driven by this drum thing, which I enjoyed and we had some wonderful percussionists come onto the stage and it contributed in a nice flavour, I think, to the film.[1] Themes for a Lost World With the new locale, characters and situations it seems like Williams started his writing almost from scratch and in this respect the score resembles his gripping and thrilling sequel score for Jaws 2, where he created a whole new extension for the franchise’s world to complement the famous Jaws theme with all new musical motifs and ideas. Similarly in this film the familiar and famous main themes from Jurassic Park return but are complemented by prominent all-new thematic material. Returning Themes The Island Fanfare that previously addressed the heroic and adventurous side of the action in Jurassic Park, most notably underscoring the magnificent helicopter approach to Isla Nublar, is used mostly in subtle references, rising only a few times to heroic proportions in the new score. This theme is also heavily referenced for a sense of nostalgia, the subdued variations giving it an air of worn and by-gone glory and often commenting on the broken dream of the Jurassic Park. The actual hymn-like Theme from Jurassic Park (titled Dinosaurs in the original score) appears only in the last scene of the film to signal a happy ending to Ian Malcolm’s adventure. The haunting and ominous 4-note Carnivore motif, that in the first film heralded the appearance of the most dangerous dinosaurs, T-Rex and the Velociraptors in particular, makes fleeting appearances in the sequel e.g. when the dreaded raptors are mentioned for the first time. The Lost World The new primary musical idea of the Lost World is the theme of the same name. This heroic, energetic and questing melody is usually carried by the horns, trombones and strings, augmented by a varied battery of rolling percussion, creating at once the sense of travel, the exotic jungle location of the story and adventure with a hint of danger to it. It begins with a minor key scale ascension that almost builds up through the scale and gives a feeling of progress and movement towards a goal. Williams further elaborated on this theme in his traditional concert version which he wrote for the end credits (this piece can be heard as the opening of the original soundtrack album). Pounding drums announce the theme, playing a forceful rhythm that carries through the whole piece and becomes a sort of musical motif in itself. The swaying melody, almost a Spanish or South American flavoured waltz or sarabande surges forward with dazzling brass and percussion interjections, woodwind runs and subtle synth accompaniment, becoming more and more agitated, hinting danger and sudden dire turn of events in its bridge melody but finally overcoming the obstacles it returns to the main theme, bursting victoriously to a rapturous and rhythmic finale augmented by the whole percussion section with tambourine adding an almost festive colour to the proceedings. Here Williams has created a perfect theme for a jungle adventure that in its contours captures both the excitement of exploration and awe and the danger of an island full of dinosaurs and contains the right amount of exoticism to illustrate locale of the story. Noteworthy is that despite being the main new theme of the score, this musical idea is used sparingly in the context of the film, where its grander readings are reserved for exploration sequences on Isla Sorna and most adventurous moments early in the movie. The theme actually seems to neatly bookend the whole Isla Sorna experience as it is first heard on the voyage there and then again when the protagonists are leaving the island after their adventure. The Island’s Voice The other central musical theme in the score is subtler but ever pervasive, in essence a replacement for the original 4-note Carnivore motif from the first film. This new rising 4-note motif, which from now on is called The Island’s Voice in this analysis, is at least initially more mysterious and ominous than the cruelly rising and direct Carnivore motif from the previous film yet remains a close cousin to it. Williams uses these ascending 4 notes to maximum effect in his music, injecting the score with this signal throughout the film, often cleverly interpolating it to nearly any situation, a grim reminder of the dangers inherent in the encounters between dinosaurs and men. This music often appears to warn the listener of the carnivorous dinosaurs, Velociraptors and the T-Rexes and to create a sense of foreboding that is so clearly and well captured in these 4 simple ascending notes that seem to be telling us that in Jurassic Park the dinosaurs were dangerous but confined to the park but this time on Isla Sorna they are the ones in complete dominance and roaming free. This material is often woven into the frenetic and percussive action sequences with such skill that it is hard to notice this musical backbone of the entire score from its environment. And as the story progresses so does the insistence and weight of this musical signal, assuming highly dramatic, ponderous and exclamatory form in the final scenes of the Tyrannosaurus loose in San Diego. It could be said that over the course of the film this motif becomes the musical glue that binds much of the score together. The Percussion and Jungle Sounds As mentioned above in Williams’ quote, the percussion plays a large part in the orchestrations of this score and lends a very specific texture and feel to the music. This collection of instruments includes e.g. congas, bongos, "jungle drums", taiko drums, gourds, guiro, log drums and tabla alongside the more traditional orchestral percussion of timpani and bass drum providing a pulse and rhythm that drives the events constantly forward. The brooding, tropical jungle atmosphere is further enhanced by other instruments, such as shakuhachi and "animal sounds" effects played by a synthesizer.[2] Williams has several different percussion instruments or sections playing layered rhythms over and under the orchestral textures and motifs and offering them even some solo moments where the pure percussion rhythm independently churns underneath the action before the next burst of thematic ideas from the orchestra. Aleatoric Procompsognathi and Other Musical Terrors Another common stylistic element in this score is aleatoric writing. To create a sense of chaos and terror, Williams provides a series of pitches to a group of instruments and instructs them to play them quickly ad lib for a given number of measures. Although this technique has been used in many scores by Williams and other composers, The Lost World employs this effect with unusual frequency.[3] In fact this chirping, whirling, wild and agitated aleatoric writing becomes in itself a musical signature for the small carnivorous Compsognathi dinosaurs and is heard whenever they appear. This style of writing is also attached to the most frenzied of the action music and underscores the dinosaur attacks throughout the movie but it is especially noticeable in the Raptor sequence towards the end of the film. This bed of sizzling effects adds another layer of raw terror to the proceedings, lending animalistic furore to the music. *** As a whole the sequel score is much darker than its predecessor as the film does not offer us so much moments of awe and marvel as mounting anticipation of the coming terrifying encounters with the dinosaurs. There is less a sense of mystery than there is of foreboding and Williams’ music enhances this feel considerably from the start. At appropriate moments the music will also sound heroic, positive and luminous often quoting the old themes with almost a sense of nostalgia but as a whole Williams roots the score in darker textures and motifs with lots of low woodwind, string and brass writing, earthy tones, complex rhythms and driving beats. The rhythm seems to define this music so much that many pieces seem to revolve solely around them, forgoing themes for pure percussive effect and each track seems to have a nearly unique percussion rhythm and feel to it, with each instrument echoing the percussion at varying points. Williams offers a small personal analysis on the differences of the two Jurassic Park scores in the DVD interview: I have not made an experiment of comparing the two scores but I think we’d find that Lost World is probably more frightening, maybe more dissonant, maybe a little bit more... with little harder edge to it and maybe scarier than Jurassic Park would be, of necessity because of the different styles and look and texture of each film. [4] The new score is as Williams puts it more aggressive and harsher, the action music more propulsive than thematic or balletic like in many previous Spielberg/Williams collaborations perhaps taking its cue from its predecessor Jurassic Park where Williams already constructed his action set pieces around small musical cells like the aforementioned Carnivore motif and built independent yet stylistically connected action sequences for that film. This new sound fits the movie to perfection complementing and enhancing its atmosphere and world considerably. It could be said that The Lost World is to an extent a watershed between the old Williams sound of the early 90’s and the modern Williams of the 2000’s. It contains elements from both worlds and perhaps is reflection of change in the film making as well, the movies demanding more and more rhythmic propulsion and pulse over operatic and balletic thematic development that the composer is so known for, especially in Spielberg films. And surely Williams as an artist is ever self-improving and these shifts in his style could be seen as development of his compositional voice and thinking throughout this period. The Lost World Pillaged in Post Production It is a well-known fact that film music is nearly always presented in some way edited form in the film as the medium often requires adjustments to the one hundreth of a second, fast changes for new edits of scenes or the whole film, the music facilitating special effects work etc. and The Lost World is no different. Steven Spielberg usually affords Williams’ music with enormous respect and has even in some instances done the opposite of the norm and edited his film to music (the finale of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is the classic example), but in The Lost World music went through a bit more rigorous editing process. It might have been the last minute special effects work as the movie did have longer scenes with CGI dinosaurs and ILM did a lot of late post production work on the material or Spielberg's absence from the recording sessions since he was in the final stages of shooting his next film Amistad but whatever the reason was, the score was tinkered with quite heavily in places in the post production. Tracking, editing and placing music written for a specific scene into a different one, took place most likely because so late in the post production there was no time for Williams to write replacement material nor prepare additional pick-up scoring sessions before the release of the film and his other film commitments that year (Jean-Jacques Annaud's Seven Years in Tibet and Spielberg’s second film Amistad) would not allow it. Most notable case of tracking, made evident by its frequent use, is the inserting of the concert/end credits version of the Lost World theme into many scenes where Williams had either written different music or that were not scored at all. The reason for this is that Steven Spielberg after hearing the main theme fell in love with it and wanted to make wider use of it in the film although the original concept had been that the theme only underscores the arrival and departure from Isla Sorna and the end credits. The comparison of these replacements with the original musical ideas would indicate that Williams’ original vision of the music is a good deal darker than what Spielberg wanted in the end as the most prominent placements of the tracked main theme suggests a need to add positive, heroic or triumphant feel to the sequences and keep the main theme in the music throughout the score, whereas Williams most often uses it sparingly as was the original plan. As there was no time to revise the music after the director's input late in the post production, tracking was the method chosen to accommodate the director's wishes. Editing and tracking of the music in the film itself present a slightly fragmentary picture of the score as a whole, especially when the finished product is compared to the music as it was originally conceived. It is not the worse case of a film score being edited to pieces (like e.g. Horner's Aliens) in the post production but this is the first so prominent a case in a Spielberg/Williams collaboration even though done here with certain amount of respect to his original ideas. *** The score was recorded at Sony Pictures Scoring Stage in Los Angeles in two chunks in the spring of 1997 (March 18-21 and April 18th, 20-22 1997) with Spielberg away finishing the principal photography of his next film Amistad, much as he had been away in Poland filming Schindler's List when Williams was recording the score for Jurassic Park. The music was orchestrated by Williams' frequent collaborators Conrad Pope and John Neufeld and it was performed by the Hollywood studio musicians. The original soundtrack album released at the time the film came out offered 68 minutes of music from the film, presenting many of the major hightlights from the score and Williams as is his habit, edited together and truncated some musical sequences for listening experience purposes. The complete score runs for almost 2 hours, so well over 40 minutes of music have remained unreleased and also in part unused until LaLa-Land Records' The John Williams Jurassic Park Collection which came out on 29th of November 2016 and included the complete score presentations of both Jurassic Park and the Lost World. TRACK-BY-TRACK ANALYSIS All tracks are named by their original Williams given cue titles. This is followed in parentheses by the disc and track number on the John Williams Jurassic Park Collection and the original soundtrack album if the music can be found on it and the time stamps of where in the track the music can be found. After this comes the the orchestrator information for each cue and the length of the sheet music (in bars). 1. The Island’s Voice (1m1) 3:38 (LLL set D 3 Track 2, OST track 2 The Island Prologue, 0:00-3:32) Orchestrator: John Neufeld Length (sheet music): 68 bars Rumbling contra clarinets, tam tams and ominously murmuring low strings open the score as we see a tropical coastline, hear the crashing of the waves and a title card announces the location: Isla Sorna 87 Miles Southwest of Isla Nublar. As the main titles appear Williams introduces the 4-note Island’s Voice motif on eerie synthesizers (the sound named in the written score as Animal Call) which is repeated twice over a bed of low woodwinds and subtle percussion (0:15-0:32). A solitary flute and brass voices slowly rise, supported by growing orchestral swells and percussion, piano adding sudden icy notes to the building atmosphere. With this musical portent the film introduces us to a luxurious yacht anchored off the coast of the island with the ship’s bustling crew and a rich British Bowman family coming into view. The music is eerie, uncomfortable, full of muted colours from brass, sizzling cold synthesizer sounds, yawning strings, cascades from the harp, a complete opposite of what we are seeing, a well-to-do family on a cruise having a picnic on the shore on a sunny day, but Williams’ music is most expressively hinting that something is not right. It is suppertime on the beach and the family’s little girl Cathy (Camilla Belle) goes off to explore the beach with a sandwich in hand. At 2:04 a curious small melodic snippet on clarinet with synthesizer doubling is introduced as the girl arrives at the tropical forest edge and sees a little green lizard in the underbrush. She approaches it and wonders aloud what it is, even feeding some of her sandwich to the more than eager animal. At this point the music becomes increasingly uncomfortable, with all the different orchestral sections (especially the woodwinds and stopped horns) producing nervous and uneasy sounds until at 2:37 a climbing flute figures announce the arrival of a whole pack of these small green creatures from the jungle, the orchestra mimicing their movement and sounds and creating a slightly dangerous but curious feel as the Compsognathi surround the now frightened girl, jumping for the sandwich. Williams presents here furious aleatoric writing for the Compsognathi that chirps and whirls, pace quickening, percussion pounding more and more agitated, sharp brass, rhythmic jabs from strings, shrill woodwind runs all careening into a rage. As the ship’s crew and the parents hear the little girl’s screams and rush to see what is wrong the Island’s Voice motif sounds again in trombones towards the frenzied finale (at 3:09-3:15) buried underneath the chaos, the final percussion supported woodwind howl underscoring the horrified scream of the mother rushing to the scene. The sudden end of the cue leads to the next scene where we see tired Ian Malcolm yawning in a New York subway, the image mirroring the screaming mother right down to the screeching of the stopping subway train. Spielberg quite cleverly allowed Williams to score the action and letting the music tell us what has happened, the raging orchestra perfectly depicting a furious carnage happening off-screen and the sudden building panic at the end of the scene. *** Ian Malcolm, a chaos theorist and a mathematician, one of the survivors of the original Jurassic Park incident, is on his way to meet John Hammond, the owner of the disastrous dinosaur theme park, who has invited him to his palatial residence for some mysterious reason. He is ushered into the house to the refined sound of Ludvig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, op. 13 "Pathetique" (Performed here by Jeno Jando) playing softly in the background and he meets in the hall Hammond’s grand children Lex and Tim with whom he shares a warm moment. But before Malcolm has a chance to see their grandfather he runs into Hammond's nephew and the current CEO of InGen corporation, Peter Ludlow, with whom he obviously is at odds. The two exchange icy insults, Malcolm finding out that Ludlow has wrested the control of InGen from his uncle due to the recent incident with the little girl and that he has plans of his own for it. We cut to Hammond’s bedroom to hear the old venture capitalist tycoon... 2. Revealing the Plans (2m2) 2:18 (LLL set D 3 Track 3, OST track 8 Hammond’s Plan 0:00-2:13) Orchestrator: John Neufeld Length (sheet music): 37 bars With Mozart’s Piano Sonata in A Minor, K.310 playing softly somewhere in the background John Hammond reveals to Malcolm the tale of the second island, Isla Sorna, and proposes that Ian should lead a four member scientific team to document the dinosaurs living there. Malcolm flatly refuses, remembering all too well the incidents on Isla Nublar four years ago and vows that he will stop the rest of the team from going. The cue starts as Hammond reveals that Sarah Harding is on the team, a smoky alto flute solo opening the piece with an air of mystery and apprehension, the melody seeming to subtly suggest perhaps the Island fanfare or the main theme from Jurassic Park in its contours drifting ominously over low strings. Harp ghosted by a subtle but sharp synthesizer effect (marked “zither” in the manuscript), flute and the string section lend a tentative and enigmatic air to Hammond’s revelation that Sarah is already on the island as Malcolm tries to call her. Here Williams adds a hint of additional foreboding to the moment by cleverly reintroducing very subtly at 1:11-1:15 the Carnivore motif from the first film on the high strings almost as a reawakened horror from Malcom's memories. He is now both furious and worried. Music is waiting, almost holding its breath as Hammond tries to convince Malcolm of the safety of the expedition and Sarah’s situation on the island when a small melodic snippet on oboe with harp and horn support finally seems to finish a quick deliberation and as Ian Malcolm announces that he is going and this will be a rescue mission, the score opens into a heroic full orchestra statement of the Island Fanfare, the orchestration here distinctly recalling the cue Jurassic Park Gate from the original film. And just as Malcolm is leaving Hammond smiles satisfied having just gathered up his team. *** Ian meets up with the other members of his team, a video documentarian Nick Van Owen (Vince Vaughn) and a field equipment expert Eddie Carr (Richard Schiff) at Carr’s busy workshop full of all kinds of travel and survival gear the latest technology only can provide. Not only does he meet the technician and the photographer but also his teenage daughter Kelly, who he had invited to meet at the workshop and who he should be looking after since her mother went off to Paris on short notice. Malcolm is trying to send her off to stay with a friend called Karen for the weekend as he is obviously busy but Kelly refuses. They argue (another Spielberg trope, poor parent/child relationships), the father being outmatched by the daughter and as Malcolm turns his attention elsewhere for a moment in preparation of the coming trip, Kelly goes wandering about in the workshop. 3. To the Island (3m1) 3:40 (LLL set D 3 Track 4, OST track 3 Malcolm’s Journey 0:00-3:37) Orchestrator: Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 123 bars The music starts as Kelly walks through the busy workshop and steps into a large trailer van full of blinking lights and high tech equipment. Strings, celeste, harp and woodwinds, most notably airy flutes and a distant call of a solo horn create a curious, luminous and almost spellbinding feel as she explores the vehicle. Expectant build-up begins, bubbling woodwinds, synthesizer and upward stirring strings joining rest of the orchestral forces and a percussive “jungle drum” rhythm in triple meter, a first hint of the Lost World theme, emerges as the camera shows a close-up of the map of the sea and coast of Costa Rica and the islands marked Las Cinco Muertes, The Five Deaths. We cut to a barge at sea, the vessel ploughing through the blue waves, the deck full of vehicles. Lower strings and woodwinds repeat a rhythmic pattern, borrowing the triple meter from the percussion that continue to pound their motif underneath the orchestra, the high strings presenting here for the first time in a nearly formal fashion the Lost World theme, the brass joining them in a robust declaration, harp decorating the upper ranges with dazzling slightly rhythmic glissandos. Music implies the sense of movement and travelling with its constant rhythm, the swaying theme itself here suggesting perhaps a sea voyage, brass intoning the main theme with assured spirit of adventure. This rendition forms a thematic bookend for the whole Isla Sorna adventure which Williams and Spielberg chose only to open and close with the theme (the closing statement following in 12m2 Heading North). When the audience sees a wider shot of the mountainous island that is their destination Williams provides a deeper and a hint more ominous rendition of the Lost World theme and continues to develop the material further, adding new instruments, woodwinds passing phrases of the theme around the orchestra accentuated by synthesizers. Ian Malcolm has been discussing with Eddie Carr, their field equipment expert, but now turns to listen to Nick Van Owen who translates the reluctant barge captain’s horror stories about the islands. The Lost World theme continues underneath the dialogue and finally builds into a triumphant crescendo ushered by timpani and colored by tambourine and cymbal crash when the film cuts to the trailer and two cars bursting into view on their way through the jungles of Isla Sorna. Malcolm follows the coordinates provided by Sarah’s satellite phone and tracks her signal in the jungle. He nears a riverbed and to his horror sees her broken and ripped backpack on the ground. Music changes pace accordingly to underscore this tension, the brass and strings sawing furiously, presenting an urgent variation on the Lost World theme, the ever present percussion propelling the men forward. And then the music suddenly comes to a dead stop as Malcolm searches Sarah’s backpack and discovers that her satellite phone is still inside. The trio shouts Sarah’s name trying to locate her but they soon find something else. 4. The Stegosaurus (3m2) 2:13 (LLL set D 3 Track 5 0:00-2:14, OST track 11 The Stegosaurus 0:00-2:12) Orchestrator: Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 44 bars The men watch in silent awe as gargantuan beasts emerge from the jungle to the rustling of leaves and branches and rumble of the earth under their feet. These creatures are Stegosauri whose massive size and gentle presence and awe they evoke are all reflected in Williams’ luminous score, orchestrationally and stylistically reminiscent of his music for the Brachiosauri and Triceratops in the first film. Slow low string harmonies swell accompanied by bubbling contraclarinets and flutes and a warm horn line, soon joined by the violins and violas and harp, creating an atmosphere of awe and wonder, the melody blooming into a gentle crescendo. Horns present an inquisitive searching melody with the celli and basses plucking a gentle pizzicato underneath to enhance the feel of these gentle giants as more Stegosauri appear from the forest. A clear solo flute and high strings offer a excited and curious melody as Nick Van Owen climbs closer to photograph the animals, the music rising to a sweet string swell as the frame reveals Sarah Harding in the same activity just few feet away. Same awed atmosphere continues as woodwinds, high strings, horns and synthesizers present snatches of the previously heard melodic idea when Sarah notices both Malcolm and Eddie in the background and offers excited report of her findings only to be cut short by Ian holding her torn backpack, the warm music turning slightly ominous as alto flutes and double basses flutter to express Malcolm’s concern. 5. Finding the Baby (3m3) 3:13 (LLL set D 3 Track 5 2:15-end, OST track 11 The Stegosaurus 2:13-end) Orchestrator: John Neufeld Length (sheet music): 91 bars Without a pause Sarah is off to follow the family of Stegosauri, Malcolm and the two other men trailing after her. She continues to explain her findings, Ian protesting and complaining continually. The paleontologist leaves the men behind and creeps closer to get a better shot with her camera, crawling slowly through the underbrush. Tense strings open the piece, sawing away a little urgent motif as Sarah is approaching the Stegosauri, music remaining rhythmic and suspenseful for a brief moment until the dreamy awe-filled musical atmosphere of the previous cue returns when Sarah discovers a baby Stegosaurus behind the bushes. This short opening passage (0:00-0:26) was cut from the film, most likely because it enhanced the tension and suspense of the moment too much and undermined the surprise coming shortly after. The score turns curious and probing as excited Sarah and the animal observe each other with mutual wonder. Same playful and gentle mood that filled My Friend the Brachiosaurus in Jurassic Park is very much apparent here even though this piece is less openly melodic. It is here that Williams presents a subtle and probing atmospheric motivic idea for the Baby Dinosaurs (2:40-4:00) on strings with flute, woodwinds, orchestral chimes and harp all creating a luminous innocent quality around it, the motif repeating in dreamy wandering variations throughout but an unsettling undercurrent takes hold as brass plays threatening bursts underneath and a cold high string line offers gradually growing unease as if to tell us that something is about to happen. And quickly it does. When Sarah starts taking pictures of the baby her camera runs out of film and begins to rewind loudly. The dinosaur baby is alarmed by this new sound and lets out a fearful cry. The orchestra begins an almost march-like repeating rhythmic phrase that is joined by the percussion, the strings, brass and flutes becoming more and more insistent in their reading of the motif as the Stegosauri attack, protecting their baby, tense brass and shrill woodwind runs underscoring the tension and panic as Sarah, who is caught in the middle of the angry lumbering beasts, dives into a hollow log for safety to get away from the deadly spiked tails of the dinosaurs. As one of them rams its tail through the log, nearly impaling her, Williams underscores the impact with a cry from the horn section (at 2:22), low pounding piano notes and percussion (log drums, tablas and timbales) commenting the aftermath, orchestra and percussion slowly winding down as the beasts wander off, strings still playing the rhythmic action motif and fading into silence as the danger recedes into the jungle. 6. Fire at the Camp (4m1) 0:54 (LLL set D 3 Track 6 0:00-0:54) Orchestrator: Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 25 bars The group is returning to the camp and Nick boasts of the footage he caught of the dinosaurs, dreaming of a Pulitzer prize. Sarah and Malcolm on the other hand are heatedly arguing about the dangers of coming to Isla Sorna. Williams provides a bit of travel music with percussion and jaunty lower strings and horns offering somewhat exotic and eerie jungle atmosphere for their discussion. All of a sudden rhythmic celli and deep horns announce that something is wrong as Eddie spots smoke in their camp. Music continues urgent with the orchestra rumbling to signal danger when all rush to the trailer only to see Kelly, Malcolm’s daughter, coming out with a smoking frying pan, the girl proclaiming her innocent intention of making dinner, the high strings releasing the tension and winding to a stunned finish in the low register, underscoring Malcolm’s reaction. What follows is an argument between Ian, Sarah and Kelly but their familial discussion is soon interrupted by the appearance of 7. Corporate Choppers (4m2) 2:24 (LLL set D 3 Track 6, 0:55-end. Unused in the film 0:40-0:58) Orchestrator: Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 76 bars InGen transport choppers rumble into view carrying heavy machinery while log drums, jungle drums, marracas and tremoloing strings and horns announce their arrival. Music is marked primitif in the score, the nervous high strings, alto flutes and low horns and trombones creating an ominous feel amidst the constant jungle percussion pulse. A queasy clarinet solo further enhances the sense of something being wrong and the brass finally building to a statement of the Island’s Voice motif at 1 minute mark, repeating several times as we cut to Peter Ludlow and his associate, big game hunter and leader of the expedition, Roland Tembo in their jeep. Music is here with very little subtlety announcing who the bad guys of this story are, tying the Island’s Voice theme as much to the dinosaur hunters as to the most ferocious of the beasts living on the island. As Roland countermands Ludlow’s ill-advised orders to his crew and gives a severe lecture on who is running the show, percussion continues its beat, woodwinds and brass veering into uncomfortable clusters and nervous rhythmic strings and synthetic voices announcing eerily the Island’s Voice again as the InGen team prepares to start 8. The Round Up (5m1) 3:30 (LLL set D 3 Track 7, OST track 4 The Hunt, unused in the film) Orchestrator: Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 144 bars This is the first actual action set piece of the score. Pounding low piano and percussion, sizzling tambourine notably adding its unique colour into the mix, repeat a rhythm that reveals itself to be the one associated with the Lost World theme, brass galloping to the fore, enhancing momentum and sense of panic and ferocity of the chaotic scene where the dinosaur flee from the pursuing humans. Williams uses variations of the triplet ideas inherent in the Lost World theme to underscore this wild chase, changing the heroic and questing nature of the composition to that of a terror and oppression, the insistent motivic fragments repeating continually in the brass, becoming almost tortured, percussion making heavy bursts, the music building steadily in orchestral power, like some monster rolling forward with unstoppable momentum. Cymbal crashes, flurries of panicked woodwinds, hooting horns, merciless timpani and the ever present snippets of the Lost World theme rhythm propel the cue along and finally to a slowly fading finish on percussion and low piano as the hunters have captured their prey, the music stopping as Dieter’s jeep closes in on the InGen team trying to capture the Parasaurolophus. In the Making Sadly this brilliant aggressive and propulsive music (performance direction to the players marked bestial in the score) was not used in the film due to the fact that the scene was extended and restructured and thus would have created problems in trying to conform the composition to the new picture. Still the original cue captures so vividly the ferocity and sheer terror of the wild chase on-screen that is it hard to believe that it was just discarded. It also cleverly hints that the only monsters in the scene are human, not the dinosaurs, who pursue them relentlessly with high tech equipment and round them up like cattle to be carted away off to an amusement park. Perhaps Spielberg felt that the composition was too powerful for the scene or that it might have dominated it or that it was too difficult to treat properly by editing and decided to use some tracked music in its stead, most notably ending with the heroic Lost World theme, which seems tonally an odd choice for a sequence which is in essence a chase and a panicked stampede. Williams' original idea also strongly emphasizes the brutality of the sequence whereas the tracking would seem to indicate a need for a slightly more adventurous tone. The changes made to the film were in the final stages of the post production and thus denied the composer a chance to re-score the scene properly. Williams was reportedly dismayed to hear that the music was discarded and the pride he took for this particular cue is easy to understand. 9. Big Feet (5m2) 1:40 (LLL set D 3 Track 8; Unused in the film 0:42-1:02) Orchestrator: Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 21 bars This cue begins as Malcolm’s team is surveying the end of the disheartening round-up, powerful timpani roll, rising strings and horns performing a 2 chord motif (performance marked tortured in the score), chimes in particular adding a fateful feel to the scene. We then shift to Roland Tembo and his companion Ajay at the jungle’s edge, bent over a huge T-Rex footprint. The Island’s Voice motif appears first subtly in basses under a sheen of eerie synthesizer effects when Roland’s and Ajay’s faces are reflected from the puddle formed into the gigantic footprint. When the accompanying dinosaur expert Dr. Burke confirms to him that it is indeed a T-Rex print we hear the Island’s Voice repeated with stronger orchestral backing, horn soloing darkly in the background and woodwinds presenting a high register bird-call style answering motif to enhance the forest atmosphere. English horn over low piano rumble and cold queasy strings and subtle comments from marimba are introduced as Tembo readies his gun, Ludlow arriving to congratulate him and then wondering where he is going. As Tembo walks off “to collect his fee” Ludlow follows a few steps behind but lands his foot into the puddle earning a sudden downward surge from the strings as the camera tilts to show the footprint again ending the piece in a low bass drum thump full of meaning. 10. Spilling Petrol (5m3/6m1) 3:45 (LLL set D 3 Track 9) Orchestrator: John Neufeld & Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 85 bars This piece begins a two part musical sequence. The cue title refers to an unused part of this particular scene where Sarah and Nick sneak into the InGen camp to release the dinosaurs from their cages while the “hunters” are occupied by Ludlow’s presentation to the InGen board of directors via satellite uplink. In the original cut there was a short segment where the duo sabotaged the vehicles by emptying the petrol from the gas tanks, hence the cue name. The percussion section first presents a rhythmic base (marked driving jungle groove) for suspense and night time jungle atmosphere while synthetic animal sound adds a primal feel to the proceedings as Ludlow is giving his speech and the two “gatherers” creep around in the camp, sinister synth sounds accompanying them, celli, basses and high strings all maintaining tension. Around 1 minute mark ghostly shakuhachi with synth doubling lets out a haunting sigh, violins and brass following a foreboding melodic line, music building around the percussion section, the synthetic animal sound wailing in the background. The orchestral writing comes suddenly to fore when Sarah and Nick open the heavy bolted doors of the dinosaur cages (2:20->), high end orchestral sounds, harp, strings and synths commenting this turn in the events, the music resembling the textures of the Baby Dinosaurs motif as we see a caged baby Stegosaurus among the captured animals. The drums return to focus again when the camera shows us Ludlow’s tent where he continues his sales pitch to the InGen board of directors, recounting the original Jurassic Park’s folly and the existence of park facilities in San Diego and his plan of recouping the company's losses with the captured dinosaurs transported to the main land. At the mention of the Jurassic Park amphitheater in San Diego the percussion give way to a nostalgic, nearly wistful, ghostly reading of the Island Fanfare which passes through the woodwind and horn sections in remembrance of Hammond's dream. Then the music without warning bursts into a Triceratops... 11. Horning In (5m3/6m1 Part II) 1:26 (LLL set D 3 Track 9 3:46-end) Orchestrator: John Neufeld & Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 45 bars Alarmed ascending hooting horn cries and energetic rhytmically charged strings underscore the Triceratops suddenly crashing into Ludlow’s tent and other dinosaurs escaping from their cages, wreaking bloody havoc around the camp, tearing through the panicking InGen crew and scattering their equipment all around. With merciless percussion and crushing staccato exclamations from the brass section an exploding jeep flies through the air and almost hits Roland and Ajay in their hideout tree where they are stalking the T-Rex, the pair just barely surviving the flaming projectile. Rhythmic strings continue to drive the action from 0:38 onwards backed by sharp snapping percussion beat as Nick finds and rescues the Tyrannosaurus baby (to another briefest hint of the ghostly Baby Dinosaurs music) that is tied to the ground and used as bait by Roland Tembo to capture an adult T-Rex. This is followed by an almost militaristic reading of the previous string idea when Roland returns to the camp, surveying the damage, reprimanding his second-in-command Dieter Stark, deep brass and cold strings underscoring Dieter’s sullen look which promises retribution to whoever did this. The percussion suddenly subsides and the music shifts to an apprehensive orchestral passage as Sarah sees Nick bringing the injured T-Rex baby to their jeep. In the Making The beginning of this cue seems to consist of music re-purposed from a later scene (see cue Truck Stop) with Williams re-orchestrating it for the dinosaur rampage in the InGen camp. This music becomes semi-thematic in the score as roughly the same energetic rhythmically insistent staccato brass and percussion section of the piece is later reprised in another cue (Rialto Ripples) as well. *** In the van Malcolm and Kelly try in vain to contact their ferry when Sarah and Nick burst in with the baby T-Rex, Malcolm horrified and nervous, Sarah going straight for an operating table to find the damage done to the dinosaur by Tembo. Kelly panics and wants to go somewhere safe. Malcolm leads her to Eddie and... 12. Up in a Basket (6m2/7m1 Part I) 3:27 (LLL set D 3 Track 10) Orchestrator: Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 66 bars Deep drums and alla marcia rhythmic horns begin a taut militaristic and almost funereal procession as we see Eddie Carr asking Malcolm what is happening and the mathematician taking Kelly to the high-hide, a metallic cage that can be hoisted up to the trees with a winch to give an observation platform and safe vantage point for the team. There is a sense of anticipation and preparation in the music, Sarah and Nick trying help the T-Rex baby. Ghostly fluttering flutes, apprehensive strings and brass underscore the high-hide reaching above the tree tops, Kelly fretting about the dinosaurs and Malcolm is trying in vain to comfort her. As he says they are now in a completely different situation than when he was in the Jurassic Park a loud roar of a Tyrannosaurus echoes through the jungle. The following passage of music, that should have started around 1 minute mark, was cut from the finished film. Under the T-Rex roar we hear a constant uncomfortable synthesized sizzling sound and the orchestra begins an urgent churning motif full of foreboding, the music raising the tension when Malcolm attempts in vain to call the trailer, trying to reach Sarah and Nick to warn them. Nick is about to answer the ringing phone but the paleontologist calls him for immeadiate assistance, the ensemble repeating the motif ever insistent. Malcolm decides to descend and get to the trailer to warn the two, Kelly begging him not to go, music changing pace to another rhythmic motif with a low piano groove, percussion and strings forming the basis as Malcolm says he is coming back and dropping out of sight down a rope. Interjections to the nervous orchestral rhythm from lowest brass become more noticeable, underscoring Eddie and Kelly witnessing the T-Rex approaching through the jungle, made visible only by the trees swaying back and forth, Williams’ repeated deep brass motif for trombones underpinned by bass drum here suggesting an almost subliminal connection to Jaws, a beast lumbering almost unseen towards our heroes, personified just by the music. These heavy brass blasts drive Ian Malcolm onward through the rainy jungle and just as he reaches the trailer door and bursts inside to warn Sarah and Nick of the coming threat the orchestra reaches an ominous shuddering crescendo. In the Making This cue plays from 0:00-0:59 in the film as composed but the rest is dialed out, letting the sound effects and silence carry the tension of the scene. The music as written would have immediately continued with 13. Up in a Basket II (6m2/7m1 Part II) 2:21 (LLL set D 3 Track 11) Orchestrator: John Neufeld Length (sheet music): 75 bars Nick, Sarah and Malcolm do not have much time to prepare before the sharp snapping percussion reminiscent of the cue Horning In and brass section making constant nervous blasts inform them and the audience that something is coming, namely the parents of the infant T-Rex they have in their care. As the beasts peer through the windows on both sides, composer introduces first the animal howl-like synthesizer voice echoing menacingly which then flows into cold shimmering orchestral and synthetic writing, the percussion sounds slowly giving away to a high register ghostly melody in the strings that resembles the benevolent musical idea Baby dinosaurs originally used for the Stegosaurus baby from the earlier scene as the T-Rexes view their whimpering offspring inside the trailer, the little motif underscoring an eerie moment of parental concern from these gigantic carnivores (0:42-1:51). The initial rhythm creeps slowly back into the music when the trio lifts the baby and carefully presents it to the parents through the trailer door, the percussion groove and subliminal shimmer synthesizer effects coming to an abrupt silence as Eddie Carr informs via the phone from the high hide that the apparent threat is over and the beasts have decided to return to the jungle with their infant. In the Making The whole cue was cut from the film, perhaps thought too energetic, aggressive and prominent for the scene, adding too much tension and drive where the silence and the eerie noises of rain and dinosaurs was all that was needed to convey the menace of these massive beasts. *** But the safety is only momentary as suddenly the dinosaurs are back and the team has only a few seconds to prepare themselves. With determined rage T-Rexes push the trailer off the cliff face, half of it dangling over the edge, our heroes in the falling half holding on for dear life as everything topples down, the van turned into a corridor to death. *** 14. Pain of Glass (7m2/8m1) 4:05 (LLL set D 3 Track 12) Orchestrator: John Neufeld Length (sheet music): 67 bars With a sharp blast from timpani and trombones Sarah falls to the bottom of the trailer’s up-ended section landing on a rear window pane (hence the pun in the cue title). The celli and basses weave an urgent chaotic motif as she is momentarily knocked out but as she comes to the pane begins to crack, small cobweb of fractures spreading under her weight. The music here has a hint of familiarity, the string idea slightly reminiscent of the Dies Irae-like danger motif from Jurassic Park (found in the cues like The Falling Car (OST CD the latter half of Incident on Isla Nublar) and Highwire Stunts) as Malcolm tries to lower himself to rescue her, the music enhancing the urgency and danger of the scene considerably. He reaches for Sarah’s hand, but the satellite phone left hanging from a tablelamp by the fall slides off and topples down, the suspense peaking fast, high strings racing and brass keening in panic, Sarah reaching for Malcolm’s hand with all her desperation. The glass shatters to the sounds of tortured aleatoric brass and furiously sawing string section but the paleontologist makes a grab for life, Ian catching her with the lucky backpack. Here an extended queasy string glissando facilitates a scene transition to Eddie Carr. Outside Eddie Carr arrives to the site of the half destroyed trailer and frantically searches for survivors as tropical storm starts to spew torrents of rain on the island. The trapped trio hollers to him for help, Williams providing suspenseful jungle beat from the percussion and the brass, piano pouding its own jazzy suspense grooves with rhythmically tugging string accompaniment that add their weight to the field equipment expert's toil and determination as he hurries to safe the team, trying to tow the trailer back up with his jeep cable as a steady rhythm from the percussion section and strings continues to underscore his efforts. 15. Truck Stop (8m2) 5:10 (LLL set D 3 Track 13, OST track 7 Rescuing Sarah [0:00-2:12] (2:12) / Unreleased (1:04) / 7 [2:12-end] (1:48) Orchestrator: John Neufeld Length (sheet music): 156 bars Eddie’s actions come in the nick of time for the trailer is starting to slide on the muddy cliff in the pouring rain, pulled towards the cliff edge by the weight of the fallen section. The music bursts to life as Eddie notices how the vehicle is slowly beginning to move towards the edge and he runs to his jeep and tries to use it to pull the van back, percussion of all kinds among them bongos, congas, logs, bass drum and gourd beating wild rhythms (performance marked brutally) to emphasize the tension and fight against time. The timpani and the rest of the orchestra then join in this seemingly chaotic and driving barrage, which propels as much Eddie’s efforts as they comment the team’s dire predicament. Woodwind trills and runs, panicked and tortured brass exclamations hinting at the Island’s Voice motif, sharp and furious string figures and above all the percussion assault the poor protagonists, filling the air with dire expectation, underscoring the efforts of the trio in the van to escape the death trap, holding on to a rope, making desperately their way up and out of the slowly falling car. Williams keys everything into the rhythmic drive in this orchestral tour-de-force of percussive invention, relentless and primal. Eddie’s valiant rescue efforts and momentary success receive near victorious brass fanfares as he fights to keep the trailer on safe ground, his determination seeming to win them the much needed time to escape. But the score announces more trouble for the team with shrill woodwind runs, queasy muted horns and kinetic string writing. Only to make matters worse, calamity piling atop of another, the two T-Rexes like harbingers of doom return, stomping out of the dark rainy jungle, orchestral chimes, fateful exclamations from the whole brass section and swirling pained and panicked string figures underscoring their footfalls at 2:52, ringing a death knell for poor Eddie as the dinosaurs attack his jeep with fury, the percussion instruments beating an ever present barrage under the orchestra. The furious brass piles on top of the strings in staccato jabs accompanied by wild riffs from the drums and sharp cymbal accents as the monsters tear the car to pieces and Eddie in half, the orchestra and percussion reaching violently racuous heights, sounding like the full ensemble is nearly toppling on itself. The trailer finally falls to its destruction but the team makes a miraculous escape, underscored by fateful deep descending chords from the trombones, orchestra winding slowly down with percussion, brass and woodwinds flailing as in the death throes of the vehicle while the Tyrannosauri return to the jungle and the trio hangs on the rope against the cliff face. When the heroes finally climb up, receiving unexpected helping hand from Roland Tembo waiting at the top of the cliff, the percussion quiets down and a horn led strained but heroic fanfare sounds out, nearly quoting the Island Fanfare but taking a different turn, the music blossoming to a tragic and noble melody of operatic proportions joined by the entire orchesta, wearily celebrating their survival but also mourning the loss of Eddie Carr. 16. Reading the Map (8m3) 3:11 (LLL set D 3 Track 14) Orchestrator: John Neufeld Length (sheet music): 90 bars Percussion returns with the rhythmic low strings to signify preparations as the two teams, hunters and gatherers, decide to join forces despite their differences of opinion in order to trek across Isla Sorna. Williams adds another rhythmic element into the mix, a subtle interpolation of a deep bass synthesizer (marked "Fender Bass" in the score) playing its own jazzy figures underneath the basses and celli to beef up the atmosphere. Roland, Ludlow and Malcolm's group inspect a map of the island and discuss their route to the old InGen facilities and communications center where they want to radio for help, mentioning to Malcolm that the buildings are at the center of island, where unfortunately the carnivores and more specifically Velociraptors live. As these cunning and deadly dinosaurs are mentioned Williams reprises the 4-note Carnivore motif on ghostly shakuhachi flute (doubled on synthesizers) much in the same style as he did in the Opening Titles of Jurassic Park, the theme calling out several times over the dominating rhythms of the percussion section. High strings, horn and woodwind colours creep into the texture of the rhythm, adding deep sonorities to the pace of the music and lending it grim determination. In the Making The first 0:00-1:42 were not used in the film and the music begins when we first hear Ludlow mentioning the Raptors and hear the first rendition of the Carnivore motif. 17. The Trek (8m4-9m1) 5:25 (LLL set D 3 Track 15, OST track 5 The Trek) Orchestrator: John Neufeld Length (sheet music): 138 bars And so the group is on its way in the rain through the jungle towards their destination. Deep resonant exotic drums play a steady softly pounding figure for the jungle trek, the horns rising ominously in series of dark melodic phrases, a Trek motif, strings making nervous jittery interjections, lower woodwinds bubbling subtly underneath and growing into a percussion accompanied horn statement of the Island Fanfare while Ian Malcolm talks to Ludlow and mentions John Hammond and his doomed dream of Jurassic Park. The rising Trek melody from the beginning of the track is repeated more grandly in the brass with woodwinds squirming underneath as we see the long line of people walking through the jungle scenery, cloud capped mountains looming ominously in the background and Roland giving a dark nervous glance as they hear the distant roar of a Tyrannosaurus. When the group arrives to a red wood forest the travelling music gives away to a collection of dark orchestral and percussive sounds that underscore Roland Tembo spotting blood on Sarah’s coat and asking is she hurt, the eerie music enhancing the dangerous situation and environs these people are in. Dieter Stark hears the nature’s call and wanders off to satisfy its demands, hollering to one of the men, Carter, to keep at a shouting distance in case he gets lost. Carter, with a walkman blaring Mexican music ("Tres Dias" by Tomas Mendez), is completely oblivious to this which is announced with foreboding by queasy strings. After stopping for a suitable spot, followed by the unnerving snapping of the orchestra and percussion, Dieter is interrupted by rustling in the underbrush and he grabs his gun, ready for anything, backing away, searching for the assailant. As he sweeps the bushes with his gun he is startled by a single Compsognathus sticking its head out of the undergrowth accented by a shakuhachi wail at 3:48. Dieter is annoyed and tries to tazer the little lizard as he has done once before but it escapes in a sizzle of a rubbed tam-tam and bubbling of woodwinds and strings. But now the mercenary is truly and hopelessly lost and Carter (who still enjoys the fine performance of the Mariachi Los Camperos De Nati Cano) can’t hear his screams from the jungle. Strings pull nervous twittering sounds, shakuhachi howls again and pizzicato violins and the sizzling of suspended cymbals all cry out his panic as he wanders through the woods frantic, woodwinds, choice brass and low strings joining an insistent rhythm as he trips on a tree root and falls down a steep slop. Suspended cymbal swell and synthesized metallic zither notes underscore him hitting the bottom with a thump. In the Making This cue was dialled almost in its entirety out of the film, the Lost World theme tracked from To the Island in its stead, replacing the rising Trek motif for the travelling sequences, the film makers favouring silence and the adventurous feel in the music over Williams’ darker and more tense and grimly determined take on their journey across the island. The eerie underscore of the red wood forest was also removed and Dieter’s predicament left mostly unscored (although the music from 3:20-3:59 for compy's appearance from the underbrush is heard in the film), very likely because Williams’ music added too much tension and foreboding to the preceding dialogue between Roland, Nick and Sarah and could have dampened the horror of the Compsognathi in the following scene. 18. The Compys! (9m2) 1:34 (LLL set D 3 Track 16 0:00-1:34, OST track 1 Island Prologue 3:27-end) Orchestrator: Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 67 bars This music should have continued without a pause from the previous cue. Dieter has no time to gather his wits after the fall when he is attacked by a swirling pack of Compsognathi, biting and clawing and climbing all over him. Piccolos chirp furiously, sul ponticello strings bow queasily, horns hoot and growl full of menace (performance for the whole ensemble is marked sinistro in the score) and is soon joined by the rest of the orchestra, the percussion pounding mercilessly, many sections of the ensemble playing aleatorically, achieving an organized chaos that describes the little dinosaurs perfectly as they swarm upon the mercenary with blood thirsty glee. The music is very similar to that heard in the first cue of the score, the little dinosaurs characterized by the same orchestral effects but even more frenzied this time around. Dieter repels the attack of the swarm and drives them away, swaying wearily along the river bed, the sinister strings, synthesized breath effects and woodwinds promising him no respite while at the temporary camp Roland calls everybody to continue their march. 19. The Compys Dine (9m3/10mA) 2:54 (LLL set D 3 Track 16 1:35-end, OST track 10 The Compys Dine 0:00-2:47) Orchestrator: Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 76 bars Carter rises from his place to leave and the camera lowers and catches Dieter’s backpack on the ground forgotten, celli and double basses and a subtle timpani rumble commenting this with quiet and tense notes. Tabla drum and maraca take us back to the river bed where the mercenary is fleeing, still shouting for help. Horns and muted trombones rise menacingly, the woodwinds slowly return to the aleatoric style of the previous cue, all orchestral sections joining in a cacophonic carnage as Compys attack in force, appearing all around, Williams scoring both their action and the sheer terror they evoke with equal precision, the musical texture and performance style becoming a theme of its own for these little carnivores. Dieter stumbles over a large fallen tree and out of sight but the dinosaurs follow in a merciless swarm, music rising to a fever pitch with raging clarinets and piccolos, timpani accenting their menace and the brass announcing the end of the man at 1:10 as we see the water turning blood red, fluttering flutes and unsympathetic strings sighing as if for his last breath. Later Roland Tembo questions Carter about Dieter Stark and atmospheric percussion and rhythmic tugging of double basses underscore his decision to go find his second-in-command. Flutter-tongued shakuhachi carries the danger inherent in the decision and the troop gets moving again, leaderless, to the sound of low ominous brass and woodwinds repeating a subtle quote of the Trek motif from cue The Trek. A light cascade of notes from the harp and percussion transition to the night camp where the dark mood is further enhanced by the cold string lines and drum rumbles as the camera moves past the sleeping men. 20. Rialto Ripples (10m1) 5:53 (LLL set D 4 Track 1, OST track 12 Ludlow's Demise 0:00-1:35) Orchestrator: John Neufeld Length (sheet music): 183 bars As Roland returns from his search double basses start a subtle menacing figure, bass drum beating a ghostly rumble in the background, the big game hunter noting flatly that Dieter is dead. Flutes, rubbed aluminum rod, triangle and vibraphone strike a cold clear sound when Tembo lights his flashlight and Malcolm and Ajay read the map with him and make plans for their next move. Strings continue dark and mysterioso, the woodwinds and brass joining them, a few slow deep bass drum cadences giving the listener a small hint of what is to come as we see Kelly and Sarah sleeping in a tent, Malcolm walking towards them. Then Sarah is suddenly awake and feels a low rumble, alarmed by it. At 1:02 the percussion section starts pounding a steady, simple and menacing march rhythm as trombones and horns flutter and growl full of dark danger, woodwinds joining soon in a repeated figure, the suspense climbing continually, timpani spiking the tension along with the continuous sizzling sounds of a suspended cymbal. Outside Malcolm sees the ripples in a muddy pool, realizing the coming threat (Williams’ cue title refers to this and nods humorously at an old rag time standard by George Gershwin called Rialto Ripples). Inside the tent the paleontologist notices the bloody coat left hanging out to dry inside, realizing that the smell of blood of the baby dinosaur must be attracting the T-Rexes but before she can do anything about it, a huge shadow is cast over the tent. The violins and violas add their cold colours to the mass of sound, suspended cymbal hissing over the bed of repeating churning orchestral effects and timpani attacking violently as the beast approaches. Here the brass becomes more pronounced, the blasts oppressive and demanding underpinned by the rolling overpowering percussion as the T-Rex pushes its head inside the tent, searching, sniffing. Kelly wakes up, and Sarah who is in a state of terror herself tries to keep the girl silent and still. The presence of the dinosaur hammers at them in Williams' music, the coiled, violent bursts of the orchestra threatening to crush them. The strings, first the high and then low register, spin uncomfortable cyclical figures backed up by synthesizers, further ratcheting up the suspense to unbearable levels. But suddenly the bottled up tension is released at 3:24 as Carter wakes up and sees the beast, screams and fires at it with his gun. Strings whip into frenzied action as they flail in rhythmic anger and the whole camp wakes up in panic, the T-Rex turning to face the sudden attackers, the lowest brass ascending ominously in the fashion of monster music of old as we get a wide shot of the dinosaur. To add to the constant sense of energy Williams keeps the pounding march from the opening half of the cue constantly going underneath the action, creating a relentless steady drive to the scene. From 3:35 until 4:06 the music again reprises a furious staccato brass and percussion passage from the cue Truck Stop underscoring here the panicked flight of the people and Tembo’s failed attempt to shoot the T-Rex as Nick Van Owen had emptied the shells from his rifle while Roland wasn’t looking. Panicked, forward hurtling rapid fire brass phrases (with virtuoso playing from the session musicians) and sharply chirping woodwind runs underscore the wild flight of the team through the jungle with the T-Rex on their tail, characterized by the low brass sounds. As the scene shifts rapidly the percussion strike up an agitated jungle rhythm underpinned by aggressive brass blast again when Roland Tembo tries to capture the other T-Rex with a tranquilizer gun, rattling clanging metallic percussive sounds further instilling momentum and tension and the low brass again rising to a monster music style deep exclamation as Tembo hits his quarry. The rhythms from the furious sawing strings, pealing synthetic chime effects and percussion become increasingly frantic as we cut to the T-Rex chase, the score surging to keep up until the ingeniously driving and wildly chaotic orchestral and percussive melange comes to a dead halt when the fleeing protagonists jump through a waterfall for safety. In the Making In the film this piece underwent editorial tinkering and as a result it was re-edited, layered with material taken probably from the unused portion of the Up in a Basket I and mixed very differently resulting in the opening part prior to 3:24 to sound wildly different in the film compared to Williams' original intentions. 21. Steiner in the Grass (10m2) 2:28 (LLL set D 4 Track 2, OST track 8 Hammond's Plan 2:05-end) Orchestrator: Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 60 bars The survivors of the T-Rex attack (Carter and Dr. Burke didn't make it) continue towards the InGen facilities and cross a meadow of high grass, the line of people filing through high stalks, forming dark furrow as they go while Ajay is in vain trying to stop them. The title of the cue is a wink to the grandfather of film music Max Steiner, whose score for 1933 film King Kong was almost certainly a partial inspiration for this score and contained exotic music for the jungle travel and locale of the Skull Island, Williams is tipping the hat to the old master in styling his piece in somewhat the same vein. Another new jungle rhythm on the percussion and jazzy low piano open the cue and slowly rising ominous brass and string lines continue in the style of the previous Trek motif but spinning unique melodic variations for the scene. Soon colder tones from the tense brass, strings and woodwind stings creep into the texture of the music as we see new dark furrows forming in the grass all around the group. Velociraptors approach and stealthily start picking off people one by one, soon creating another panicked flight. The brass continue to develop the trek material, ever ominous as Raptors go about their bloody business and the protagonists behind the main group appear just at the edge of the meadow. Nick finds Ajay’s bag in the dark, the rhythmic basses and marimba beating almost a countdown and as Malcolm hears the horribly familiar snarling in the darkness and the cries of the dying men, he breaks into a hurried flight, the orchestra following suit and with a swirl at 1:55 mark, releasing the tension, picking up speed, all orchestral sections urging them on with furious flurries as the heroes race towards the forest edge and safety, only to tumble down a slippery slope, a downward string and woodwind surge and a percussion hit signifying the end of their fall. The music continues without a pause with 22. After the Fall (10m3-11m1) 3:05 (LLL set D 4 Track 3, OST track 6 Finding Camp Jurassic) Orchestrator: Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 58 bars Under a brooding contrabassoon drone, deep trombone sonorities and celli’s and basses’ menacing murmurs the heroes find themselves in what seems like a dinosaur graveyard with huge rib cages surrounding their path. Nick says he is going to find the communications center and radio for help, not staying to wait for Malcolm who has hurt his leg in the fall, piano and harp playing probing notes as the photographer runs through the broken gates of the facility towards the main building with strings rising full of mystery. As he enters through the main entrance of the Camp Jurassic center a percussion rhythm starts over nervous strings and bubbling woodwinds. At 1:11 when Nick first jumps at seeing a T-Rex’s snout in a poster and then looks at a faded advertisement banner of Jurassic Park on the wall, we hear an equally faded and ghostly setting of the Island Fanfare, a reminder of lost dreams and faded glory, Williams again tying the old theme firmly to the earlier park rather than Isla Sorna's situation. As Nick continues to explore the vines and jungle infested main building, part shadowy part enigmatic orchestral and percussive elements take over, heightening the suspense of the exploration until another subtle variation of the Island Fanfare on brass supported by woodwinds at 2:30 announces his success of turning on the power and finding the radio, the percussion slowly fading into silence as he makes contact with the main land. 23. The Raptors Appear (11m2) 3:44 (LLL set D 4 Track 4, OST track 9 The Raptors Appear) Orchestrator: John Neufeld Length (sheet music): 104 bars Malcolm, Sarah and Kelly have finally caught up with Nick, walking past dinosaur bones and huge geothermal pipes. A ghostly wail of the Island’s Voice motif sounds repeatedly on synthesizer accompanied by almost breath like shakuhachi synth effects, tabla drum echoing alone in the distance. The group reaches the gate and the courtyard of the InGen center with strings and subtle percussion keeping up the suspense, when out of nowhere a Velociraptor appears and attacks Sarah, eliciting a rising scream from the horn section and a new action rhythm from the percussion. Luckily the raptor decides to maul Sarah’s backpack instead and so she escapes with her life. Malcolm heroically attracts the attention of the beast as Kelly and Sarah run for safety into an old shed but two more Raptors appear and immediately go after them and try to dig their way in, all the while the women try to dig their way out from the the other side of the building and Malcolm fights for his life in the courtyard. Much as in the cue Truck Stop, the percussion rhythm established at the beginning dominates while brass makes snarling and hooting interjections and drives the music forward by presenting snatches of their own action motif and the Island’s Voice, the synthesized animal noise rising to haunt the protagonists along with aleatoric woodwind screams as three raptors try to kill our heroes. The Island’s Voice calls out in deadly synthesized voices around 1:25 and 2:25, receiving a more ponderous reading with brass accompaniment at 2:42 as the situation grows more dire and until all the orchestral forces, notably including wild aleatoric woodwind section, grow more chaotic by the second and finally the music comes to a staccato halt with brass and percussion hits when the women get the boards loose in the back wall and try to escape that way. 24. High Bar and Ceiling Tiles (11m3-12m1) 4:12 (LLL set D 4 Track 5) Orchestrator: John Neufeld Length (sheet music): 136 bars But another Raptor is waiting outside and a sharp timpani stinger and the percussion rhythm return as the action writing in the style of the previous cue continues fresh and furious. Sarah and Kelly have no choice but to go up climbing toward the roof for safety. Malcolm who has been trapped in a car, succeeds in evading the Raptor and runs inside driven by nervous blasts of brass, only to find himself face to face with another of the vicious carnivores that has nearly gotten in. He decides to climb as well and the orchestra and percussion follow his movements while cruel rhythmic brass exclamations trail the Raptor jumping after him. In the nick of time Kelly saves her father with a well targeted gymnastic move, sending the dinosaur through a window and to its demise below, impaled on a palisade, underscored by cymbal crashes and deep fateful staccato bursts from the brass section starting at 1:19. But the victory is only temporary and after a short pause the Raptor brass sounds return with vengeance as Sarah heads for the roof while Malcolm and Kelly escape through the shed door. Nervous aleatoric woodwinds again creep into the score alongside Sarah’s panic as the vicious beast is after her and she has to make a leap to the roof of another building with the creature in hot pursuit. Her jump falls short, leaving her hanging from the slate roof edge with the score ratcheting up the tension and drive with the ever present percussion drive and sharp trumpet figures. The dinosaur jumps ahead of her so now one Raptor waits Sarah on the roof and another on the ground below. She hangs by the roof tiles and gets a quick idea and begins to pull the slates down. Slowly but surely the shingles give away and take the precariously balanced Raptor with them. Here the raging woodwinds, quick sharp brass bursts and string figures now accentuated by cymbal hits create a feel of deadly unpredictability, the musical chaos climbing to a small crescendo at 2:31 resembling the finale of the previous cue. But as Sarah loses her hold of the tiles and falls, the score shifts to new action rhythm and the two Raptors, now is midst of a scrambling fight with one another battling for the quarry, are scored by keening brass tones and a subtle quote of the Island’s Voice at 2:36. The paleontologist tries to stay out the way of the hissing, biting creatures and suddenly falls through a trap door and out of a window to land safely near Malcolm and Kelly. Brass and percussion continues in staggered bursts, repeating the action motif of the previous two cues, the Island’s Voice howling several times in the brass becoming each time more dramatic and ponderous as the heroes try to make their escape. And almost as if exhausted along with the characters the score comes to a sudden slow fading coda in the strings and weary horns as they get to the helicopter pad of the visitor center with Nick waiting for them and InGen helicopter approaching. In the Making In the film the Lost World theme concert version was tracked in as Sarah falls through the floor and continues when the trio heads for the main building’s helicopter pad, the triumphant feel more suitable for their rescue. Williams original music was much darker and harsher, letting the savage mood and tension continue almost up until the last minute. 25. Heading North (12m2) 2:14 (LLL set D 4 Track 6, OST track 3 Malcolm’s Journey 3:33-end) Orchestrator: Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 46 bars Weary string lines rise as the helicopter is taking our heroes off the island, offering a melancholy respite from the ordeal they have just experienced, harp and brass offering their own somber tones to the quiet moment of aftershock for the protagonists. Deeper brass creeps into the music assisted by a timpani roll when we are shown Ludlow and Tembo with another InGen team capturing the sedated T-Rex male, the CEO congratulating the hunter for his prize. Tembo, who has lost his friend Ajay, is grim, remarking that he is glad to get away, having spent enough time in the company of death, timpani rumble, husky flutes and low strings underscoring his lines. For a transition shot of the helicopter appearing in the night skyline of San Diego Williams offers a grand yet dark reading of the Lost World theme complete with tambourine flourishes, but even in triumph it is tempered by the horrors experienced on Isla Sorna. And thus the new main theme of the score musically bookends the whole experience on the island. But the story isn't over yet. 26. Ludlow’s Speech (12m3) 3:15 (LLL set D 4 Track 7) Orchestrator: John Neufeld Length (sheet music): 91 bars This cue begins the last act of the film. Ludlow is desperate to re-coup his losses and is transporting the T-Rex to San Diego on a boat, having already spirited the infant Tyrannosaur to the InGen facilities in the city via helicopter. He has gathered media at the docks to greet the arrival of the cargo ship due to land in the early hours of the morning and is holding a press conference. Ian Malcolm and Sarah are there to witness this folly. The music continues very much in the jungle mood as the percussionists set up another rhythmic groove underneath the orchestra that now has both a conspiratorial and expectant feel to it, especially thanks to the dotted nervous woodwind lines that crisscross the composition. As the harbor master interrups Ludlow’s speech and calls him to inspect something in the offices, the inexorably rising orchestral and synthesizer lines of the Island’s Voice motif supported by the percussion section give us a forewarning that something is certainly amiss as the motif is taken over and repeated in turn by several sections of the ensemble. The ship arrives but they can’t make contact with it, the vessel approaching the docks with an alarming speed with no signs of slowing down and when the blinking dot on the radar grows closer and closer the brass and woodwinds present their own nervous dotted figures over ominous high string lines and percussion for the nearing ship. A tense countdown motif begins in the orchestra, rhythmically taut and persistent, gathering up speed with the vessel, a ghostly synthesized wail of the Island’s Voice and full ensemble reaching terrifying intesity and a lengthy thunderous crescendo the score comes to a halt just after the ship appears from the darkness and plows into the pier wreaking chaos and destruction. In the Making In the film the music stops short at 1:59 as people are watching the night sea and hearing the ship approaching, the rest of the mounting tension of the scene is carried just by sound effects. 27. WOMPI’s Wrench/Wreck? (12m4) 2:22 (LLL set D 4 Track 8, OST track 10 The Compys Dine 2:47-end) Orchestrator: John Neufeld Length (sheet music): 36 bars Muted horns and slow ominously tremoloing strings set the mood of building horror for the scene, the Island’s Voice motif performed cruelly by the woodwinds and then passed between different instruments, obviously announcing death. Ludlow, Sarah and Malcolm with the harbour and InGen officials climb to inspect the ship only to find carnage onboard, with bodies littering the decks, victims of unseen assailants. The Island’s Voice is heard again in ghostly synthesizer voices, Ludlow nauceously backing out from the bridge of the ship after seeing the captain’s severed hand holding the wheel. Sarah and Malcolm both notice the big cargo hatch of the ship clanking as if the mechanism had stuck and notice a dead man holding the remote. With tabla playing softly in the background, the brass section starts a slow menacing series of growling bursts that grow in intesity, the Island’s Voice making another exclamation in the midst of mounting dread. Strings shudder, the brass continue their deep ponderous blasts now paced out slower for increasingly foreboding effect as Ludlow wants the cargo hold opened and while Malcolm tries to stop him, one of the police is quicker and obliges. Malcolm calls everybody off the boat. In the Making This cue went completely unused in the film which favours again silence over music. The music would have started immediately in the aftermath of the ship’s crash, as the survivors survey the devastation. 28. Monster On the Loose (12m5) 2:38 (LLL set D 4 Track 9) Orchestrator: John Neufeld Length (sheet music): 50 bars And thus the button is pushed setting the Rex on the loose! The ponderous monstrously deep brass blasts from the previous cue return with even more commanding weight as the T-Rex emerges from the cargo hold, crying havoc, the rhythmic gait of the music underscoring its heavy steps as it disembarks the ship and heads for land. Strings spiral into a tight knot and a percussion and timpani rumble alongside the grave brass heralding a dire reading of the Island Fanfare as Malcolm announces to the trembling CEO of InGen that now Ludlow is like John Hammond, his dream in pieces and a monster set free in the city of San Diego, the theme here another bittersweet reminder of the noble pipe dream gone awry for the second time. The T-Rex crashes past the harbour buildings to the heavy plodding of the orchestral forces, high strings presenting their own fateful rhythmic motif over the cymbal crashes, double bass and timpani, Tyrannosaurus Footfalls, the phrase ending with pounding timpani notes as we see the creature against the silhouette of the city growling its fury. The percussion section offers some suspense accompanied by writing for strings and synthesizers, Malcolm and Sarah inquiring from the InGen technician what was used to tranquilize the beast and demanding from Ludlow where the T-Rex baby was taken, Sarah planning to use the infant to lure the monster back to the ship. The Island’s Voice on ghostly synth voices and strings makes an eerie another appearance, Ludlow sitting despondent and still in shock, telling them the baby is at the InGen waterfront facility, muted sharp horns and clarinets underscoring the duo’s decision to go and get it as they speed off in Malcolm's car. In the Making In the film a portion of this composition was replaced by music tracked from the following cue (A Neighborhood Visitor) when we see the T-Rex against the city lights. 29. A Neighborhood Visitor (13m1) 3:26 (LLL set D 4 Track 10 0:00-3:26, OST track 13 Visitor In San Diego 0:00-3:24; Unused in the film 0:00-22) Orchestrator: John Neufeld Length (sheet music): 72 bars In the middle of the night the T-Rex wanders around a San Diego suburb, seeing a pool in the backyard of a house and stopping for a drink. Deep taiko drums, bass trombones, contrabass clarinets, bassoons, celli and double basses shudder under the steps of the monster, catching its movements, horns growling a throaty and pinched variation of the Island’s Voice motif. The camera moves inside the house and into the bedroom of a small boy. The fish tank beside his bed vibrates to unseen footfalls, the tremors captured by the harp, metallic rub rod,skittery sul ponticello strings, woodwinds and percussion and synthesizers, the Island’s Voice subtly quoted by bass clarinets as the boy wakes up. He sees the T-Rex and backs away, goes to his parents’ room and drags the sleepy and complaining pair to his room babbling all the time about a dinosaur in their backyard, the expectant nervous orchestral effects coalescing, clarinet and flute presenting twice a jumpy variation on the Island’s Voice in a bed of bubbling woodwinds and percussion. At 1:35 very quietly at first a familiar rhythm of Tyrannosaurus Footfalls takes hold of the score, growing slowly in menace under rising string reading of the Island’s Voice, finally reaching a dramatic peak as the parents see the hulking beast through the window with a dog coop hanging by the chain from its jaws, ferocious horns repeating the 4-note Tyrannosaurus Footfalls rhythm and adding a 5th note here imitating the T-Rex’s roar. At 2:09 the Tyrannosaurus Footfalls and its accompanying rhythmic string motif continue as we cut to Malcolm and Sarah speeding towards the InGen facilities, the cymbal crashes coinciding with the moment before the car crashes through a guardpost safety beam. The heroic and urgent Island Fanfare calls out over the string motif as the two arrive at the Jurassic Park facilities and the discovery of the caged baby T-Rex is treated to a brief ethereal passage for flute and synthesized zither, perhaps a textural nod to the earlier music for the infant dinosaurs heard in the film. As our heroes take the infant and get into the car, the forceful string motif from earlier returns and with this determined musical ally the pair prepares to go searching for the adult Tyrannosaurus. In the Making The heavy percussive opening (0:00-0:22) was ultimately not used in the film and T-Rex steps into the backyard in silence, the sound effects again carrying the suspense without musical help. 30. Streets Of San Diego (13m2) 4:14 (LLL set D 4 Track 10 3:27-end, OST track 13 Visitor In San Diego 3:24-end; Unused in the film 0:00-0:41) Orchestrator: Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 105 bars Meanwhile on the streets the panic is rising. A quick cut to a screaming woman’s face opens the cue as rapid fire trumpets and yelping piccolo runs launch her car away from the T-Rex only to crash into the side of another vehicle. Sharp snapping of piccolo snare drum, percussion, resounding cymbal hits and brass describe the on-screen mayhem with raucous fury, low thumping piano and the strings joining the fray. People flee in panic. The Island’s Voice makes a doom laden announcement in the brass further enhanced by the cymbal crashes at around 0:50. The raging orchestral forces push the action forward, Malcolm and Sarah spotting the monster, Sarah waking the baby and its voice luring the adult T-Rex after them and the beast giving furious chase all captured with brilliant aggressive and blazing music for orchestra, brass and percussion highlighted throughout the cue. Again the rhythm seems to be the key here, the ever driving momentum hurtling the action forward with unstoppable speed. At 2:32 a new action rhythm appears, underpinned by deep blasts from trombones and tuba, the trumpets wild and fervent, horns howling the Island’s Voice, the music underscoring Malcolm and Sarah dashing through the streets and into the harbor, abandoning the car and cutting through the warehouses on foot with the T-Rex in hot pursuit, reaching the ship and dropping off the Tyrannosaurus baby and with the final flourish of the Island’s Voice from the orchestra the pair jumps over the ship's railing into the water, leaving baffled Ludlow to take measure of the situation. In the Making The opening 42 seconds music were not used in the film for the initial shots of the Tyrannosaur attack starting from the transition to the screaming woman backing away from the dinosaur up until the shot where the mauled bus crashes into the video rental store. Interestingly a brief snippet of High Bar and Ceiling Tiles (deep Island's Voice exclamation) makes an appearance for the shot of fleeing Japanese businessmen before the actual cue returns as the script writer David Koepp makes his cameo as the unfortunate pedestrian who gets eaten by the Tyrannosaurus. 31. Ludlow’s End (13m3-14m1) 2:52 (LLL set D 4 Track 11, OST track 12 Ludlow's Demise 1:35-end) Orchestrator: John Neufeld & Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 74 bars A string motif similar to the one heard under Tyrannosaurus Footfalls (and in snippets in the previous cue) returns in much accelerated guise with full orchestra backing as Ludlow looks down into the cargo hold with a helicopter and a sniper emergimg from the background ready to kill the adult dinosaur. In a shimmer of harp the motif dies down and atmospheric sul ponticello strings and the nervous percussion passages underscore Ludlow descending to the cargohold to find the baby T-Rex, synthesized animal howl further enhancing the edgy moment for the InGen CEO. But soon the adult T-Rex emerges behind the cargohold doors and comes down to find its infant and the previous string action ostinato motif returns with vengeance punctuated by agitated woodwinds, fateful brass rising to an exclamation point of Ludlow’s demise, orchestral hits scoring the baby T-Rex descending on the wounded man and finishing him off. Outside Sarah and Malcolm are determined to safe the dinosaurs, Sarah loading a tranquilizer gun, the string action motif, breathlessly fast brass figures and cymbals raising the tension while in the helicopter the sniper is ready to take the T-Rex down per Ludlow’s orders. Finally the piece reaches its dramatic conclusion with the tortured string and brass lines over percussion pulse rising to a climax, a heavy orchestral thump announcing Sarah’s tranquilizer dart finding its mark. In the Making In the film only the first 15 seconds of the cue are used but the suspenseful underscore is dropped and the T-Rex capturing and crippling Ludlow and feeding the man to his infant and Sarah tranquilizing the creature were tracked with the Lost World theme concert version (and End Credits intro). Williams originally scored the scene much as a continuation of the previous action cues, the string motif heavy and unrelenting, enhancing the ferocity and merciless way the dinosaurs dispatch Ludlow. The film makers’ intention was obviously to highlight justice being done, the bad guy of the movie getting his rightful reward for his actions, with the dinosaurs representing the nemesis and the music celebrating the happy ending for these animals. This could be seen as a continuation of a tradition started in Jurassic Park of showing the T-Rex in a heroic light as it's appearance was re-scored with tracked music (The Island Fanfare) also in the first film to give the finale an optimistic feel. But in some way the original cue fitted the action much better even though it deprived the scene of a victorious sense of closure, which Williams reserved for the next cue. 32. The Saving Dart (14m2) 3:01 (LLL set D 4 Track 12, Film Edit LLL D 4 Track 15, OST track 14 Finale and Jurassic Park Theme 0:00-2:23) Orchestrator: Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 57 bars Fluttering woodwinds, synthesized celesta/piano and tremoloing strings announce the Tyrannosaurus falling unconscious and into the safety of the cargo hold. Led by the horn section the orchestra rises to a noble but tragic exclamation of victory and the end for the adventure as Malcolm, weary and breathless surveys the scene in front of him, offering Sarah a grateful and relieved look. We cut to a hotel room and see the trio on a couch with a CNN news report showing on the television, Sarah and Malcolm sleeping, Kelly alone watching the transportation of the dinosaurs back to the island. With harp accompaniment flutes, horns and strings present a luminous slow and fragmented major mode variation on the Lost World theme, here warm and comforting, the news showing the cargo ship at sea escorted by the military back to Isla Sorna. When John Hammond offers his own view on the matter in the TV interview, piano enters alone, playing the Dinosaurs theme (or the Main theme) from Jurassic Park offering its gentle blessing to the endeavor and to Hammond’s dream continuing in another form. The film then cuts to Isla Sorna and shows the dinosaurs living in their natural habitat while a wistful and slightly pensive coda using subtle interpolation of the Island's Voice motif on synthetic chorus with gentle harp arpeggio accompaniment trails into silence as a Pteranodon lands on a branch of a nearby tree, letting out a victorious cry. Life has indeed found a way. In the Making In the film the short 38 second ending of the cue was replaced by the Island Fanfare tracked from the concert suite material recorded for the film, ending the movie on a more positive and triumphant note. This editorial version was also included on the LLL set (Disc 4 track 15) while on the original soundtrack album the suite from Jurassic Park followed immediately after the piano rendition of the Dinosaurs theme. Williams original more subdued and pensive ending can be heard on the LLL set for the first time. 33. End Credit Intro (unnumbered) 0:14 Orchestrator: ? Length (sheet music): 11 bars For the End Credits Williams wrote a revised opening for the new theme of the film featuring a bit deeper brass, horns and trombones in particular, and percussion than the original version. This is edited to flow to 34. The Lost World (End Credits) 3:34 (LLL set D 3 Track 1, D 4 Track 14 (with End Credit Intro), OST track 1 The Lost World) Orchestrator: John Neufeld & Conrad Pope Length (sheet music): 134 bars The concert version of the main theme. As with many Williams’ concert suites this seems to almost tell the story of the film. Here the thematic material receives its most adventurous, celebratory and lengthiest development closing the score in the most triumphantly thrilling and satisfying way. 35. Jurassic Park Theme 5:30 (unnumbered) (LLL set D 4 Track 13, OST track 14 Finale and Jurassic Park Theme 2:23-end) To accommodate the length of the end credits Williams re-recorded his concert arrangement of his two main themes from Jurassic Park, which he created after the release of the first film and recorded for one of his Boston Pops compilation albums, Williams on Williams: The Classic Spielberg Scores. In the suite he first presents the Dinosaurs Theme/Theme from Jurassic Park, which starts much as it does on the original soundtrack album, on solo horn, but the performance is markedly faster and there is no choral accompaniment. The composition fuses together thematic development from the Welcome to Jurassic Park and the cue Dinosaurs from Jurassic Park and goes fluidly to the Island Fanfare that has also gotten embellishments in the orchestration, making it a bit more powerful performance percussion-wise than on the Jurassic Park OST and closing with the triumphant music from the end of T-Rex Rescue and Finale. In the Making In the film the Island Fanfare portion of this suite opens the end credits which is then edited to continue with the Lost World theme concert arrangement which in turn is editorially combined with theme's variations from the cue To the Island . The Theme from Jurassic Park section of the suite goes completely unused in the film and the end credits and can only be heard on the album releases of the score. -Mikko Ojala- © Special thanks to Datameister, Jason LeBlanc and Goodmusician for complete cue lists, musical analysis, mock-ups and all the rest. Notes [1]The Lost World DVD documentary: The Making of the Lost World. © 1997 Universal Studios & Amblin Entertainment Inc. © 2001. All Rights Reserved. [2]Wikipedia article: The Lost World Jurassic Park (film score) written by Datameister. [3]Wikipedia article: The Lost World Jurassic Park (film score) written by Datameister. [4]The Lost World DVD documentary: The Making of the Lost World. © 1997 Universal Studios & Amblin Entertainment Inc. © 2001. All Rights Reserved.
  3. Hello, people...I'm back! Anyway, way back in the year 1977 (the same year that George Lucas' original Star Wars movie came out on 32 to 40 movie theaters and unexpectedly became the most gigantic hit of the land during the summer of 1977 and the following years), while working on the classic science fiction movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"... Filmmaker Steven Spielberg and his music composer John Williams had this Disney song in mind: The very sounds of Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards as Jiminy Cricket singing the song "When You Wish Upon a Star" from 1940's Pinocchio and written by Ned Washington and Leigh Harline. Here's more info about that song as well as the lyrics and the linked video: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/cliff-edwards/when-you-wish-upon-a-star Classic, isn't it, folks? Anyway, I don't know about you guys, but as for me... Just as both Steven Spielberg and John Williams had the Disney song "When You Wish Upon a Star" from 1940's Pinocchio in mind while working on Close Encounters of the Third Kind way back in 1977... As for myself, in more modern times like this, and I hate to be off-topic here, but while I was working on a rather whimsical idea involving three young men or brothers who flew themselves through outer space in a flying white Chevrolet Equinox car to escape the turmoil into which the planet Earth has fallen... I was looking for a song that could help connect any or all of my ideas and concepts and elements that I was trying to assemble for 14 years and counting and help meld any or all of them into a unified whole, and what I always have in mind could well be one of my favorite songs from my own childhood. And that song I'm talking about in question could be "Dreams to Dream (Tanya's Version)" as sung by The Powerpuff Girls' Blossom's original voice actress Cathy Cavadini and written by the late James Horner and Will Jennings for the rather obscure and forgotten 1991 Steven Spielberg-produced animated movie An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. You see, every time I hear Fievel's sister Tanya's version of the song "Dreams to Dream" from the movie "An American Tail: Fievel Goes West", as sung by Cathy Cavadini, I hope that everything will fall into place very soon as far as my dream epic movie project, the title of which I have yet to finalize, and especially as far as giving the epic movie or story of my dreams the hook I'm looking for. . But in addition to Tanya's version of Dreams to Dream as sung by Cathy Cavadini in the actual An American Tail: Fievel Goes West movie itself... There is also the version as sung in the end credits of that movie by Linda Ronstadt... As well as the rendition of that song as heard in the An American Tail: A Musical Adventure with Fievel and Friends companion soundtrack album that they put out around the time of Fievel Goes West's 1991 theatrical release. Beautiful song, isn't it, folks? Anyway, and I hate to be off-topic once again, but I was thinking... Not only I wanted to pretty much hang the epic film or story of my dreams on the mood that song "Dreams to Dream (Tanya's Version)" from An American Tail: Fievel Goes West created, and especially the way it affected me personally and emotionally, but if I do, say, use the actual vintage Cathy Cavadini recording of Tanya's version of the song "Dreams to Dream" from Fievel Goes West on the soundtrack during one sequence for my dream epic movie when the Chevrolet Equinox car magically flies away from Earth's atmosphere to ride towards outer space -- then in effect, [almost] similar to how John Williams' music score for Steven Spielberg's 1977 Close Encounters of the Third Kind quoted Disney's Pinocchio's When You Wish Upon A Star, my possible usage of "Dreams to Dream (Tanya's Version)" by Cathy Cavadini from An American Tail: Fievel Goes West in my dream epic film -- especially on the soundtrack during one such sequence for such a thing where the Chevrolet Equinox car (with the aforementioned three young men or brothers inside) magically flies away from Earth towards outer space -- well, all that could hopefully turn an already beautiful piece of music from some obscure and forgotten animated movie produced by Steven Spielberg at the beginning of the 1990s, ( in my case, "Dreams to Dream (Tanya's Version)" from 1991's An American Tail: Fievel Goes West) into something even more breathtakingly beautiful than what it already is, especially through a different environment like outer space. But even so, then, I will always have the song "Dreams to Dream" (especially the version sung by Cathy Cavadini as Fievel's sister Tanya Mousekewtiz) from An American Tail: Fievel Goes West in my mind not only for my dream epic film production, but also for that flying Chevrolet Equinox car space travel scene that I hope to include in my dream epic movie idea, similar to the way that Steven Spielberg and John Williams always had the Disney song "When You Wish Upon a Star" from 1940's Pinocchio in their minds while they were working on the 1977 classic sci-fi movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Anyway, apologies for the long post, but the question is: What would you really think if you happen to hear the song "Dreams to Dream (Tanya's Version)" from An American Tail: Fievel Goes West playing on the soundtrack during a scene in my dream epic movie where the Chevrolet Equinox car (with three young men or brothers inside the vehicle) flies or rides through outer space on the big movie theater screen and especially with the likes of Disney/Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic (or ILM for short) or someplace contributing some breathtakingly beautiful effects movie magic to such a scene as the Chevrolet Equinox car magically flying through space set to Cathy Cavadini's rendition of Tanya's version of the song Dreams to Dream from An American Tail: Fievel Goes West playing on the soundtrack? Well, wouldn't all that be breathtakingly beautiful or something else entirely if such a movie scene ever do come true? Just wondering...
  4. Some news regarding the sequel: The first Tintin has been very successful around the world. Mr. Jackson is very caught up in The Hobbit for a while. Assuming that it’s a success in America, when do you envision a sequel being able to move forward? Is it being moved forward right now? Kennedy: Oh yeah it is being moved forward, in fact Steven and I were talking about it this morning. We’re working on a script right now, we’ll see a script probably February or March. If we can do some camera capture this summer, which I think we could do, then we would be on track to have the movie either Christmas 2014 or summer 2015, and so that’s what we’re looking at right now. http://collider.com/kathleen-kennedy-jurassic-park-4-tintin-sequel-jurassic-park-3d/130315/ It seems Jackson will do the motion-capture stuff between Hobbits... Let's hope Williams ends up scoring it.
  5. Hi to all JWFN members. It is great to see such dedication and knowledge to the man who has scored more than just the movies. On that note The History Press and I would like to share word of a new book published now in the UK and September 1st 2018 in the US. John Williams is the spine and soul of this book. Mark O’Connell didn’t want to be Luke Skywalker. He wanted to be one of the mop-haired kids on the Star Wars toy commercials. And he would have done it had his parents had better pine furniture and a condo in California. Star Wars, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Superman didn’t just change cinema – they made lasting highways into our childhoods, toy boxes and video stores like never before. In Watching Skies, O’Connell pilots a gilded X-Wing flight through that shared universe of bedroom remakes of Return of the Jedi, close encounters with Christopher Reeve, sticker album swaps, the trauma of losing an entire Star Wars figure collection and honeymooning on Amity Island. From the author of Catching Bullets – Memoirs of a Bond Fan, Watching Skies is a timely hologram from all our memory systems. It is about how George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, a shark, two motherships, some gremlins, ghostbusters and a man of steel jumped a whole generation to hyperspace*. *Action figures sold separately. From examining his contributions to these key films, the soundtracks to broken homes and the VHS revolution to seeing the musical DNA from JANE EYRE all the way through to ATTACK OF THE CLONES, WATCHING SKIES is as much about John Williams as it is Spielberg, Lucas and Donner. It is about how 'Leaving Home' was exactly the cue going through the author's life and mind when he did just that, how the 'Love Theme from Superman' had to be played at a Pinewood Studios wedding, how 'ET and Me' scored a divorce and how a honeymoon on Amity Island couldn't help but hear those JAWS 2 harps at every street corner and beach rock. Were it not for the work of Williams, this book and these movies would not exist with the same legacy they have today. WATCHING SKIES - STAR WARS, SPIELBERG AND US is available now. WATCHING SKIES on Facebook WATCHING SKIES on Twitter For more about WATCHING SKIES and author Mark O'Connell
  6. Here is a revised version of the analysis I wrote, gosh, nearly 10 years ago. Again feedback and comments are more than welcome, especially on the technical side. ANALYSIS UPDATED IN 2016 to take into account the LaLa-Land Records complete release of the score. A.I. - Artificial Intelligence A Complete Score Analysis by Mikko Ojala http://www.jw-collection.de/images/ai.jpg Introduction A.I. Artificial Intelligence was a project long nurtured (the idea was produced as early as 1980's) by the late director Stanley Kubrick but eventually he chose only to produce the film as he was busy with other projects and let his friend and fellow film maker Steven Spielberg step in the director's seat. The two further developed the material in collaboration over several years until the sudden demise of the great auteuristic director in 1999, certainly a setback for the production, but with Spielberg firmly at the helm the film went into production in spite of it. Before this film was a close collaboration but now it became a dedication of respect and in part an homage from Spielberg to Kubrick (it is indeed dedicated to Kubrick's memory). The origin of A.I. - Artificial Intelligence lies with two short stories by a British author Brian Aldiss (especially the other, Supertoys Last All Summer Long), whom Kubrick encouraged to expand his ideas but subsequently they were adapted by Ian Watson into a screen story and finally by Spielberg and Kubrick into script form. It is a tale of a robot boy named David, who was the first of its kind, built to feel affection and love for his owners, and his odyssey to try to become human and thus earn the acceptance and love of his human mother. Although set in the future, the film is essentially a fairy story with clear parallels to the classic tale of Pinocchio written by Carlo Collodi as the protagonist of that children's story also strove to become a real boy to win his father's love. The film follows the book’s plot only in the broadest sense however as both include a fantastical quest through various adventures and hardships . The moulding of the final story was a gradual process during the 1990’s when Spielberg and Kubrick presented ideas to each other via fax and phone and the outline and script for the film evolved over the period of several years. Kubrick had also had the screen story partially story boarded so the world of the film was quite extensively visually defined well in advance of the shooting, which meant that even after the director's death, Spielberg was left with a clear idea of what Kubrick had wanted to achieve visually with the piece. By November 1999, Spielberg was writing the screenplay based on Watson's original 90-page story treatment, which made it his first solo screenplay credit since Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The movie began shooting in August 2000 and finished post production in the spring of 2001 ready to open in the United States on June 29, 2001. Upon its initial release the film garnered generally positive reviews from critics and grossed approximately $235 million worldwide during its theatrical run, which made it a modest hit. But perhaps most importantly it yielded one of the most significant scores of the year (and could be said of the decade) that was composed by John Williams. A.I. - Artificial Intelligence is the 17th collaboration between director Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams. Their working relationship is nowadays very mature one and Spielberg has perhaps served Williams music over the years better than any other filmmaker and inspired the composer to write some of the most memorable and iconic film music in the history of cinema. As Williams himself puts it, Steven Spielberg loves music and likes to use as much as possible of it in his movies. The composer has remarked on several occasions that the director always feels that music adds something to a film instead of taking away from the experience and his films seem to lend themselves very easily to and embrace and accommodate the use of music and it often becomes an important storytelling element, almost like another character. Spielberg, who unlike many directors is in very close contact with Williams throughout the whole period of the compositional process, likes to hear the musical ideas early on and have constant dialogue about the music with the composer. Spielberg is described by Williams as a very supportive and musically knowledgeable director, who allows him a lot of creative freedom. The composer has often remarked how Spielberg discusses mainly about the pacing of the scenes, the rhythmic and kinetic aspects of the music, leaving the thematic material, ambience and emotion to Williams' expertise. This working method and their close friendship and camaraderie has yielded many memorable and intricate film scores in the past and their working relationship seems to grow stronger with each new score. This music is no different and shows the composer's understanding of the film and its message and how the music can aid in bring out the various subtexts of the story. There is of course a flipside to this coin, this love of music. Because Steven Spielberg loves film music so much and directs movies almost with the composer and his dramatic input in mind, Williams is often called upon to write large amounts of music for his films. A.I. contains by the composer's own estimate well over two hours of score that went through a very extensive period of development evinced by the amount of alternate and revised material. While it is part and parcel of a film composer's job this is an admirable feat considering that Williams had another big project slated in 2001, the franchise starting fantasy film Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone based on the immensely succesful fantasy novel by J.K. Rowling. For Harry Potter he wrote also over a 2 hour score, not taking into account the Harry Potter and Philosopher Stone Children’s Suite for Orchestra which is an “Introduction to the Orchestra for Young People”-styled 9-movement suite based on the themes of Harry Potter, which was also recorded during the recording sessions of the film. And this hard work earned him 2 Academy Award nominations in 2002, for both of these scores but they lost to Howard Shore's The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring, which inarguably was a worthy contender alongside Williams' modern magna opera. The film was certainly to some extent a departure from the usual Spielberg style, perhaps Kubrick's influence still hovering over the project after all, which might have contributed to the wide range of musical styles explored in the music. Williams' score orchestrated by Miriam A. Mayer, John Neufeld and Conrad Pope uses quite extensively the 20th century art music styles and techniques like minimalism in the spirit of Steve Reich and John Adams and atonalism and avant garde techniques of the Hungarian composer György Ligeti and his school, especially in the choral writing. The score was performed by the Los Angeles Recording Arts Orchestra, which is in its majority made up of the film scoring musicians of the L.A. area. The composer has recorded several other projects with this ensemble since, including selections for the 2002 Call of the Champions Olympics album and the Yo-Yo Ma Plays the Music of John Williams disc featuring Williams' concert works. The L.A. Master Chorale under the direction of Paul Salamunovich provided the varied choral work for the score and the composer sought out the operatic soprano Barbara Bonney to lend her considerable vocal talent to the project. The score was recorded by Shawn Murphy at Sony Pictures Scoring Stage, Culver City, CA and at UCLA's Royce Hall in February 12, 13, 15, 16 and March 6, 7 and 15, 2001. The music also quite surprisingly flirts with modern popular music with integrated techno beats and synthesizers at some instances, a rare occurrence in Spielberg/Williams scores in the past. Here the composer readily admitted that he leaned on the expertise of his son Joseph, who is an accomplished musician, singer and a music producer in his own right (having been e.g. the lead singer in Toto) with whom the composer has collaborated on several projects over his career including e.g. The Fury (1978), Return of the Jedi (1983) and most recently on the first two Star Wars Prequels Episode I The Phantom Menace (1999) and Episode II The Attack of the Clones (2002). Joseph Williams' job in all these instances was to provide pieces of diegetic music for these films, i.e. music heard from an on-screen sound source such as songs heard on the radio, played by on-screen musicians or from other sound sources. For A.I. Artificial Intelligence he composed several source pieces that range from funky saxophone passages to propulsive techno-beats for the Rouge City locale and most importantly he contributed a techno-industrial action music woven into his father's score for a Mecha hunting sequence in the second act of the film. Despite the eclectic collection of stylistic influences at the heart of the score is the melodic and symphonic ingenuity of John Williams as he creates the varied soundscapes for the world of the film and captures the spirit, heart and subtextual meanings of the story with his central thematic ideas and orchestral moods. The composer has said that in his mind this score stands apart from his other works with perhaps the exception of Close Encounters of the Third Kind in it's timbral qualities and this is certainly true. In creating the often unsettling and haunting soundscapes he taps into not only the same avant garde but also the same human warmth as he did with the Close Encounters when expressing the slow transformation of fear into awe and wonder and tried to capture something profoundly spiritual about David's journey to gain his mother's love and so to attain some measure of humanity. The Themes of A.I. - Artificial Intelligence Several major themes and accompanying motifs capture the world and characters of A.I. and illustrate the journey, both physical and spiritual, that David the robot boy goes through in his search for his humanity. While Monica's Theme is the most significant of the major thematic ideas, it is noteworthy that the composer never assigns an overarching theme for the whole story but rather treats his musical ideas as an ensemble where each comes to the fore and receives development in different acts of the film. Most of the themes also relate to the main character of David in one way or the other, either by clearly attaching to him or being themes related to him through other characters in some way. This makes them less leitmotific as they do not seem to be connected to specific people, objects or places but rather to abstractions and are thus often more psychological in nature. David David's Theme David, the main protagonist of the film, has two thematic identifications to describe his dual nature. The first theme is used to describe the more human side of him and his wish to be and become human. It is a wistful, playful melody full of tender innocence and it is in close connection with Monica's theme but also illustrates certain childish simplicity and wonder in its progression, linking mother and child. Williams uses it sparingly but effectively through the movie and it receives its final full rendition in the last scene of the film coupled with Monica’s theme, finally weaving together the two melodies as the characters are finally reunited. NOTE: Jeff Bond calls this musical idea "The Parenting Theme" on the LLL set liner notes. While it does apply to some of the scenes where the theme appears, it usually has a much more direct connection to David himself, his journey and inner self than purely to his interaction with his parents and Dr. Hobby although it appears in scenes with both. The Mecha Motif The second theme/motif associated with David is a simple and clear 7-note synthesized piano motif to represent his robotic side, which cleverly resembles the first phrase of David’s Theme. It is stated often when David's Mecha origin is implied and creates a sort of minimalistic repeating inorganic robotic effect to remind the audience he is originally a machine, further enhanced by its use of synthesizers. This is the theme that is heard underscoring his first appearance and it creates a sense of curious wonder of the robotic child as it has a repeating searching quality to it, restated in an almost mechanic fashion over and over as David studies his parents and the world. A Child Lost Theme: Theme for both Monica's and Professor Hobby's longing for a lost child, in Monica's instance for Martin and in Professor Hobby's David (his dead son who was the model for this first Mecha child). This is a nostalgic melancholy melody most often voiced by a piano and appears throughout the first and second acts of the movie, tied dramatically firmly to the two aforementioned characters. The style of the theme is always wistful and slightly pensive, a delicate and warm reminder of a lost child with shades of loss colouring its contour. In addition this melodic idea seem to represent an idealised and nostalgic image of a lost child and changes very little in mood as the emotion it illustrates is always the same. The musical theme drifts off into silence in the second act of the story as the character of Monica leaves the film until the finale and Dr. Hobby's longing for his child is not emphasized. Although we see him later in the film as he is actively trying to use the little robot boy for his own scientific and commercial ends, as good as they might seem, that are from the point of view of the boy highly questionable. A Child Lost Theme is also the only major theme to be left out of the original soundtrack album but can now be heard on the La-La Land Record's complete release in all its haunting delicate beauty. NOTE: Jeff Bond on the La-La Land Records release liner notes identifies this actually to be David's Theme. While it does represent the boy to Monica and professor Hobby especially, I would argue that the music is almost in all instances more linked to the longing and memory of a child than the actual character of David as the robot boy evokes various feeling in these two characters that relate to their flesh and blood children, not always the Mecha David. Monica's Theme: This melody is associated with Monica and David, David's love for his mother and Monica's feelings toward David. A warm tenderly lilting theme with a touch of lullaby to it is the real centerpiece of the score and the thematic core (alongside with the Blue Fairy's theme) of the last third of the movie. Williams and Spielberg mention in a DVD documentary interview how they searched a long time for the correct melody for the last scene with Monica and David and Williams wrote 6 or 7 melodies and played them to the film to find one that would be just right. Eventually this one piece seemed to feel right and it became the cantilena-like Monica's theme. The theme itself is a long melody with multiple sections that is applied to the mother/child relationship as soon as Monica imprints David to herself and thus it has the character of a love theme, not of romantic love but of child's love for his mother and vice versa. The theme begins more as a love theme from David's perspective as he is imprinted to Monica but in the end it can be seen as an expression of mutual love and affection between the two. Williams’ orchestrations for this theme range from delicate chimes and string readings to the lullaby waltz on piano for the film’s finale and a solo soprano interpretation for the end credits. Abandonment/Lost This theme comes represent the fear and apprehension humans feel toward Mechas, which is also then tied to the jealousy and malice that Martin, the son of Swinton family, feels toward David. To him David is a rival for his mother’s affections and as he is artificial, Martin regards him more as a strange and curious toy than a person. All the animosity will eventually lead to David's expulsion from the family as Martin's attempts to oust the robot boy finally succeed and Williams presents the theme full-fledged in the abandonment sequence where it describes David's horror, shock and desperation of being abandoned by his mother and Monica’s inner turmoil since she has genuinely become emotionally attached to this robot child. There is subtly ominous malevolence in this music, which goes from the uncomfortable foreboding in the early dinner scene between Monica, Henry and David (Williams' unused original version) to the tracked statement during Martin's return to operatic heights in the abandonment scene but its message is always that of impending sense of dread and tragedy. The Blue Fairy/Humanity: The second central cantilena-like theme Williams composed for the movie is for the character taken directly from the story of Pinocchio and she is the person who first breathes life into the wooden puppet, when Gepetto the carpenter wishes to have a son and finally transforms the puppet into a real boy after his long adventure-filled journey. In the film Monica reads the story of Pinocchio to David and Martin and it is then that David gets his childish idea of the Blue Fairy being a key to his salvation. The theme portrays gentleness and awe of the character of the Blue Fairy from David's perspective but also on a deeper level David's wish to become a real boy and the hope of reuniting with his mother but most importantly it is connected with his hope of achieving humanity. The Blue Fairy's theme has a gentle fairy tale-like quality and like Monica's theme it resembles a lullaby, being a broad, slow and song-like in its melodic contour and full of warmth but also sorrow, for it implies that David’s hopes are ultimately impossible through the Blue Fairy, who is not real. It is one of the most touching themes Williams wrote for the movie and has a spiritual depth which is further enhanced by the use of solo soprano voice during its pivotal appearance. The soprano soloist Barbara Bonney’s voice seems to be keyed to the Blue Fairy in the music as she gently hums and sings in the scenes involving the character. Cryogenics This minor thematic idea is performed solely on strings and connects subtextually with the Cryogenics Institute and the unchanging and unending cryogenic suspension it provides for the terminally ill. This minor mode melody minimalistically repeats and alternates around a core of constantly rising and falling series of six and seven note patterns. This creates a very uneasy, emotionally detached, mechanized and unchanging atmosphere, very like the containment where Martin, the Swinton family's real boy, is kept. Interestingly there seems to be a faint echo of Williams' music in The Empire of the Sun here, where he responded with similarly Aram Khachaturian-styled despondency to another broken family and feelings of isolation. The motif is later reprised for uneasy effect when the score draws parallels between Monica's bedtime stories at the Cryogenics and when she reads them to both David and Martin. The Mecha World/Travelling Theme This is a collection of minimalistic and orchestrational devices representing the futuristic modes of travel in the world of A.I. The musical ideas for both major travelling montages in the film consist of repeating motifs on percussion, most pronouncedly marimba, and strings augmented by ostinati from the whole orchestra.The composer uses these figures to represent the high-tech mechanized age of the future and these ideas are used whenever David is seen travelling in the various vehicles (namely in the cues The Journey to Rouge City and To Manhattan) on his journey. Williams varies this musical idea in the travelling sequences and the minimalistic repetition of these musical cells in the style of Steve Reich and John Adams adds to the feeling of movement and busy atmosphere that drive the travelling sequences. These ostinati patterns would also become prevalent in several scores of the composer in the new millennium as Williams answered the new film scoring challenges with a touch of minimalism. *** The original soundtrack album containing 60 minutes of Williams' score and two different versions of the song For Always was released in conjunction with the film in 2001. Shortly after in 2002 a For Your Consideration Oscar promotional 2 disc set compiled from the score (still incomplete) surfaced and started making rounds in the collector circles. This apparently was created in error as the composer had not authorized such extensive promotional release for the awards season and subsequently also a single disc promotional CD appeared (with content matching the soundtrack album). Finally the full score was released by the La-La Land Records in 2015 on a lavish 3 disc set providing the fans of the composer and this score the complete release of the film's music on first two discs and another disc's worth of alternate material from the lengthy score making it one of the most extensive John Williams releases in history with more than three hours of music. The actual cue titles in the below analysis are available on the 2015 La-La Land Records 3 disc release of the score and they are provided along with the slate numbers for each cue. Similarly I provide information where this music can be found on the previous existing releases. TRACK-BY-TRACK ANALYSIS OF THE FILM SCORE The movie opens with silence and the gradually emerging sounds of crashing waves as Ben Kingsley's narrator voice presents a prologue describing the world of the future, where polar ice caps have melted and seas have swallowed up the coastal cities, causing displacement of millions. The richest nations soon developed laws to control birthrate of their people to conserve the now limited and contested resources. In the wealthier countries robotics have advanced to a whole new level and people now employ human-like robots called Mechas as menial labour and servants to make up for the lack of a larger work force mainly due to the fact that they do not consume resources beyond their original manufacture. The scene shifts to a meeting between professor Allen Hobby and his colleagues at Cybertronics robotics company where they discuss the nature of Mechas, their capabilities and defects and finally Hobby's proposition to build a robot child that is capable of love, one trait a Mechas have lacked in the past. His colleagues express skepticism at his idealistic proposition, which also presents the moral dilemma of what would be the human responsibility to these robot children who would become imprinted on their parents. As the question is left hanging in the air, the score begins as a cue called Cryogenics opens with cold dispassionate strings, that are used in conjunction with the image of a Mecha woman detachedly applying make-up despite being stabbed in the hand by professor Hobby earlier in his demonstration and after just being an unconcerned witness to this debate concerning her kind. The film then cuts to Monica (Frances O'Connor) and her husband Henry (Sam Robards) driving out to visit their son Martin (Jake Thomas), who is terminally ill and is therefore in cryogenic suspension in the Cryogenics company's facilities. Here we hear first a snippet from Waltz from Sleeping Beauty by Pyotr Tchaikovsky as a source cue when Monica approaches her son's suspension pod and starts to read the story of Robin Hood to Martin though the music is cut around Williams' first cue: 1. Cryogenics (1mA) (3:30) (OST track Cybertronics, LLL set D 1, Track 1, D 3 Track 2 (Alternate). OST track Cybertronics, Oscar Promo Disc 1 track 2😞 This piece is in essence a long nearly concertized development of the Cryogenics Theme. As mentioned above it is played solely on strings and features a continuous slow ostinato figure of 7-notes and a series of 6- and 7-note fragments ascending and descending to create a clinical cold and mechanized atmosphere. It seems like music without passion, repeating slowly, difficult to read emotionally yet slightly thredonic, even a bit sinister but ever calm. This is the scene where Dr. Frazier of the Cryogenic institute suggests to Henry the horrible possibility that Martin may be never healed and the composer hones in on the emotional strain of both Monica and Henry, whose son has been in cryo-suspension for five years because of his incurable illness. Around 1:47 a central searching 6-note melodic fragment appears to create the sense of unending cryogenic sleep, the mood cold and full of unease but the scene soon intercuts with professor Hobby and his assistants, who are with nearly equal dispassion selecting a candidate for the parent of the first robotic child with an imprinting protocol among the workers of Cybertronics employees and Henry's name has come up. With this cue Williams establishes minimalism as one of the main musical elements of the score, gives a nod Stanley Kubrick's musical tastes with the use of Aram Khachaturian-like musical approach (Gayane Suite to be exact) and adds a subtle layer of uncomfortable mood and psychological meaning to the scene. The score is almost asking a question when desperate Henry ponders on his family's possibilities. In the Making John Williams named this composition Cryogenics on the cue sheets but Cybertronics on the original soundtrack album. Beyond a simple oversight in the naming the reason for it might simply be that this piece of music actually plays during scenes taking place in the cryogenics facility and at the Cybertronics where professor Hobby is selecting the parents for the new child Mecha. The composer wrote also an alternate variant of this piece that can be heard on the LLL set (D 3 Track 2), which basically has some sections of the cue shortened and runs for about half a minute less than the film version, which itself is edited around the Sleeping Beauty snippet so this cue is never heard in its full intended form in the film. 2. Henry Is Chosen (1m2) (1:54) (LLL set D 1, Track 2) (Music for a deleted scene?) A cor anglais solo opens the piece as the music subtly hints at David's Theme in the extensive searching woodwind line, presenting fleeting snatches of the melody as it proceeds in enigmatic tones and suddenly ends in forebodingly ebbing and flowing high string idea accompanied by a harp and contrasted by slowly rising low woodwinds. This short piece of atmosphere setting scoring went entirely unused as the scene for which it was composed was most likely cut from the final film. One can suspect it was a scene involving professor Hobby interviewing Henry just as he requested at the end of the previous scene. 3. David’s Arrival (1m3/4)(3:50) (LLL D 1, Track 3, LLL D 3 Track 3 (Alternate), Oscar Promo Disc 2 track 3 (Alternate)) Off-screen Henry makes the decision to bring the Mecha child home and to surprise Monica despite the risk of her reacting badly to the situation. The film version of the music is created editorially by using the original version of the piece and tracked music from a later scene 2m1 Reading the Words. The cue begins quietly with austere hollow glassy electronic sounds and high strings, creating an understated uneasy underpinning to the moment when Henry brings the Mecha boy in and David (Haley Joel Osment) steps into the room. A Child Lost Theme is heard for the first time but in a halting fragmented form on celesta as Monica gazes at the boy in amazement and slight disbelief which is followed by a reflective cor anglais melody to underscore her sadness and emotional confusion when Henry tries to calm her down by saying he can always take the robot back to Cybertronics is she doesn't want to keep it. From now on cor anglais becomes Monica's musical voice in many of the subsequent scenes as Williams doesn't unveil her own theme until the imprinting of David as it relates as much to him as it does to her in the musical narrative. As she claims that the boy is not real, Henry concurs saying that he is a Mecha child and we hear David's Mecha Motif for the first time informing us of his robotic nature as it appears curiously out of the orchestral texture on synthesizer. A Child Lost returns and this time in a more developed guise on solo piano with a little more warmth to it as the couple notices David watching the family pictures of Monica, Henry and Martin, the music drawing a connection to their real son and the open wound of his absence and Monica's longing for her boy. This cue continues to the next one without pause. In the Making Williams wrote at least two different versions of the cue, neither of which were used in their entirety in the film: David's Arrival (1m3/4) (2:44) Original Version (LLL D 1 Track 3) The original take begins the same as the film edit but we hear first Mecha Motif on the synthesizers interspersed with a short rendition of David's Theme on oboe to announce his arrival. The music continues warmer and inviting on strings with the cor anglais presenting a long melodic line as Monica meets David, but the Mecha Motif repeats as if to remind that this real looking child is a robot and suddenly as she acutely recalls her own child A Child Lost Theme sounds on the piano that ends the cue with delicate sense of sorrow. This version of the cue found its way to the Oscar Promo as well. David's Arrival (1m3/4) (3:10) Alternate Version (LLL D 3 Track 3) Similar cold synthesizer sounds which sustain the apprehensive mood open the alternate version before Mecha Motif appears, just like in the original version but in this take the oboe solo of David's Theme interwoven with it is lengthier and emphasized in the mix, presenting the entire melodic line before the yearning delicate strings from the original version come in and the piece proceeds to the cor anglais solo voice which represents Monica in several scenes. This version creates slightly more sympathy for David on Monica's behalf although it also ends with the Mecha Motif and A Child Lost Theme on solo piano to remind of how torn Monica is of this turn of events and the halting theme suddenly just ends mid-phrase. This is an alternate beginning of the piece which Williams wrote after the original version (marked on the score 1m3 New start) which segues to the original version at bar 21 but they ended up using the original composition's opening in the film. 4. Of Course I’m Not Sure (1m5) (2:41) (LLL set D 1, Track 4) Another cor anglais melody and soothing strings reflect Monica's initial apprehension of taking David in and cold electronics describe her discomfort and doubt as Henry tells her of the imprinting protocol which supposedly will make the robot to identify to a person like to a real parent, simulating love and affection in their programming. He also emphasizes that if they are ever going to return an imprinted Mecha to Cybertronics it will be destroyed as it cannot be resold. Strings and woodwinds continue creating an airy atmosphere where the tone shifts from familial warmth to hesitant uneasiness as David asks Monica to dress him in pajamas when it is his bedtime and she declines and flees outside the bed room leaving his husband to take care of the boy. In the Making The film version dials out the middle portion of the cue from 1:01 to 2:01 and continues to the end as written. The LaLa-Land release contains the complete cue. 5. Hide and Seek (1m6) (3:23) (LLL set D 1 Track 5. OST track Hide and Seek (3:03), Oscar Promo Disc 1 Track 3) Monica spends a day with David and as she does the household chores the curious robot follows her silently everywhere observing her constantly in silence which makes her uncomfortable. This starts Monica's bonding with David after feeling reluctant to be a mother to a robot boy and this awkwardness creates many humorous situations for both of them and Williams' cue captures the light-hearted and tenderly playful nature of the scene perfectly. The composer continues to illustrate the dichotomy of David by counterpointing the Mecha Motif with David’s Theme. He creates a duet of synthesized piano playing Mecha Motif which forms the ostinato that drives the scene and real piano and orchestra playing David's humane theme, harp and light woodwinds and strings twirling about airy figures to depict the gradual disappearance of Monica’s apprehension towards David and the relationship that is slowly forming between the two while the piano and synthesizers bring the cue to a calm close with the mischievous Mecha Motif ostinato twinkling in the background. Soundtrack Album VS the Film Version The version of this piece found on the soundtrack album has been slightly truncated, omitting about 20 seconds of material from the full cue. 6. David Studies Monica (1m7) (2:01) (Unused in the scene, LLL set D 1, Track 6, Oscar Promo Disc 2 track 5): Lengthy and ominous introduction of the Abandonment Theme on strings, subtle synthesizers, woodwinds and harp underscores a quiet dinner scene with Henry, Monica and David, who starts to observe and imitate his foster mother as she eats. This provokes some unintentional humour with spaghetti and also a mechanical bout of laughter from David, which in turn provokes nervous giggles from the parents at the absurdity of the scene. Williams originally coloured the uncomfortable atmosphere of the scene with the Abandonment Theme, delving again into the psychology of the moment, forming a link to the family that was and how the parents still feel uneasy with the robotic boy who after all is mechanical. His tone for the scene is ominous and while the strings momentarily present soothing chords in the end they swell chillingly and an almost sinister rendition of the theme on celesta, harp and oboe ends up underscoring the laughter which leaves the listener subtly perturbed at the event, hinting at the unnaturalness of David as a Mecha, the still lingering apprehensions Henry and Monica have although the image might at first glance tell otherwise. This cue went unused in this scene as it was left entirely unscored in the finished films, letting the awkward and uncomfortable feel come from the silence and actors' performances rather than enforcing it with music. 7. Reading the Words (2m1) (3:34) (LLL D 1 Track 7 (original version 5:58 of which 0:00-1:15, 2:50-end is used, Oscar Promo Disc 2 track 4 (4:00) (Edit): The film version is a shorter edit of the full lengthy composition, which removes a good portion from the middle of the cue. The below analysis refers to the complete version Williams originally wrote. This cue starts of with the harp playing gently the A Child Lost Theme to express Monica's longing for her son and need to have a child in her life as she tucks David in his bed at night. English horn solo with harp, bells and string backing is heard expressing warmth and affection Monica is gradually starting to feel for the Mecha child. Suddenly the cue receives hollow and glassy synthesizer colourings as Monica's conviction wavers when her thoughts turn to her real son and she feels like she is betraying him. After this we are presented with some unused material as a fragment of A Child Lost Theme sounds again on ghostly celesta as we see how torn she is between her need for a child and the thoughts of Martin. Eerie electronic effects and glinting of celesta chords continue to hint at the A Child Lost Theme and another motherly cor anglais solo and a wash of synthesized voices create a quiet sense of conflict and suspense to the scene. The music is reminiscent of the dramatic underscoring of the previous cues, reflecting apprehension and longing in equal measure, organic acoustic instruments and the synthesizers providing musical dichotomy, but went unused in the film. The score in the film continues with hushed coolly detached synthesizer chords, piano, oboe and pensive harp all performing slow deliberate progressions to further suspensefully underscore the sequence and finally as the moment when Monica imprints David is reached the melody of Monica's Theme kindles for the first time on light tender piano backed by synth celesta to imply David's awakened love and affection for her as he looks at her for the first time as his mother. It is in essence a love theme, dreamy and innocent, depiction of child’s love for his mother. And it is at this moment that Williams begins the thematic development of the most central idea of the entire score, which is initially very sparsely used but will grow to dominate the last third of the film. In the Making Williams' original version of this cue can now be heard on the LLL release which runs for nearly 6 minutes. The opening 1:15 is used in the film before a long part lyrical part haunting segment is left entirely unused (1:16-2:50). In the movie the 1:15 opening section is edited into the extended atmospheric middle section (2:50-4:48) of the piece and this atmospheric music for the imprinting then flows into Monica's Theme at the end as it does in the film. This lengthier version would indicate that the composer originally wrote his music to a longer cut of the scene or that the music 1:16-2:50 might be some sort of alternate for the imprinting sequence which later got replaced with the largely atmospheric material. The Oscar Promo contains an alternate edit of this cue which uses the first 2:50 of the composition and then goes to the Monica's Theme which starts at 4:49. 8. Wearing Perfume (2m3) (4:13) (LLL D 1 Track 8, Oscar Promo Disc 1 track 8): The Swintons are leaving for a party one night and David is left home alone for the evening. The robot boy observes Monica applying some perfume and as Henry complements her for it, David decides to imitate to win his parents' approval. Synth celesta glistens with ethereal crystalline tones as he pours the whole bottle on himself and we hear an oboe soliloquy alternating with the Mecha Motif, the music reminding us of his naiveté and robotic way of thinking, and as Monica notices this, celesta, xylophone and lyrical cor anglais representing Monica interplays with Mecha Motif on glockenspiel, strings and harp accompanying tenderly until David suddenly inquires from her mother ”Will you die?” As Monica answers Williams presents here the lengthiest development of the A Child Lost Theme on piano full of melancholic yearning (marked gently in the score) as Monica explains to him that she will live for many many years, but yes, she will eventually die. The music offers heartfelt commentary on the notion of mortality but very much tinged in sorrowful longing, the score drawing again the memories of Martin to the fore, the lost child, David's sudden understanding of the possibility of losing his mother and Monica's underlying guilt which still battles with her sense of loss and yearning to have a child. And so to comfort the now somewhat shocked boy Monica produces Martin's old toy bear, a super toy named Teddy, from the closet to keep him company and oboe introduces a new playful element, a lilting little melody full of childish whimsy, the piano, strings and harp taking over the music and carrying it to a delicate finish. 9. Martin is Alive (2m4) (0:50) (Film Edit): David’s life changes rapidly when out of the blue Swinton's real son Martin is suddenly cured and brought home. And as Martin returns, he immediately feels jealous towards this new family member. Gradually the boys begin to compete for their mother's affection and even Monica is at a loss to how to deal with this. The film version of the music starts as Henry in frantic haste calls Monica and she hears that Martin has awoken and cured. This scene underscored by subtle up-and-down moving piano motif which has an ever so slightly ominous edge to it and as the Martin is brought home in a wheelchair accompanied by nurses cor anglais introduces the Abandonment Theme after which the music turns dark as the glittering rambling cold piano notes describe the threat David now suddenly feels. This film version of the cue was created editorially, a composite of two different segments edited together, taken from the cues Monica's Plan (3m6) and the original Martin Is Alive (2m2) composition. Martin Is Alive (2m4) (1:27) (LLL D 1 Track 9, Oscar Promo Disc 2 track 7): The original version of this cue does not use Abandonment Theme at all and runs without themes as moody underscore. Bubbling clarinets under a wash of strings evoke the threat David feels, the echoing moaning synthesizer motif enhancing the fear and uncertainty for David. Chimes and a lone cold violin line and sparse piano and celesta notes try to announce a melody as Martin arrives but cannot and end the piece with a sense of unease. All will not be well in the Swinton family. The last 27 seconds of this cue made it to the film. In the film most of the scene is underscored by the statements of Abandonment Theme tracked from the above mentioned cues, creating in the process a stronger melodic connection with Martin and his plan to oust David from the family, his arrival spelling foreboding from the start. This is a good example of how editorial process can affect the score as a whole and how music can be shaped to form narrative paths not initially intended by the composer. 10. David and Martin (2m5) (2:18) (LLL D 1 Track 10, Oscar Promo Disc 2 track 8): Martin and David spend time together and Martin asks where David came from and who made him, obviously trying to belittle the robot boy. David answers that the first thing he remembers is a bird. Martin urges him to draw it. Music is very light and ethereal using oboe, flute, celesta, strings and electronics to create a suitably mysterious and airy atmosphere to complement the somewhat existential discussion of the two boys. The music builds to a small crescendo with a bubbling clarinet line supported by the strings and a synthesized choir (1:33) that is cut off when Martin remarks on David’s origins making the robot boy ever more insecure about his status in the family. While the music is dialled out after this in the film the complete composition featured sinister high strings and celesta creating further enhancement to Martin's cruelty as we see him bringing Pinocchio to Monica to read to him and David. This means that the next cue would have continued without pause from the end of this one. 11. Canoeing with Pinocchio (3m1) (1:37) (LLL D 1 Track 11 and LLL D 3 Track 4 (Alternate), Oscar Promo Disc 2 track 9): Martin, knowing how desperately David wants his mother to love him brings a book to Monica to read, knowing full well how hurtful it can be to the robot. It is Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. The mother looks worriedly at the cover of the book and as Martin with a smirk announces "He'll love it." Cryogenics is restated as if to remind of the time when Monica used to read to Martin in the Cryogenics lab but here it is also used to imply Martin's evil intent, where the innocent act of storytelling becomes another way of undermining David. The picture here is totally opposite of the music to suggest something is wrong as we see Monica reading to the boys in a boat bobbing on a pond on a sunny afternoon and yet we hear the coldness of the score. Soon it subsides however as we see Monica reading by Martin's bedside and David listening on the floor. A soft and dreamily hopeful piano rendition of Monica's Theme full of emotion subtly supported by harp and calm strings expresses here David's awakened wish to become a real boy as she reads the segment where Pinocchio pleads the Blue Fairy for the same thing. And it is here that David’s first idea or dream of becoming real is formed through which he hopes will achieve his mother’s complete love. In the Making There exists an alternate take on this scene (LLL D 3 Track 4), where the musical content is mostly the same except that it uses an oboe and piano duet of David's Theme instead of Monica's at the end, shifting the focus of David's awakened wish to become human from Monica to the boy, emphasizing the David himself instead of his mother as the driving force of the whole notion. 12. David and the Spinach (3m1) (1:02) (LLL D 1 Track 12, Oscar Promo Disc 2 track 10): The Swintons are having a dinner and Martin goads David into an eating contest with him. As the Mecha wants so very much to act like a real human child and possibly best his adversary, David gives in to Martin’s bullying. First the ever level-headed Teddy and then both parents try to stop it but David wants to show his mother he can eat like a real boy, so he in a moment of determined anger shoves a spoon full of spinach into his mouth. Suddenly he malfunctions and his face slackens and looks like it is melting down as he is not supposed to eat. This short cue is played mainly by the strings rising to a slow alarmed crescendo and develops a sense of urgency, shock and dismay as it swells while David's face prolongs horribly. 13. The Operating Scene (3m3) (2:07) (Unused in the film. LLL D 1 Track 12, Oscar Promo Disc 2 track 11): Similar uncomfortable dark mood continues in this next piece as David is being cleaned after the dinner incident and the family has gathered around the operating table with two mechanics in nonchalant fashion chatting around the robot's opened machinery and chide him playfully for making a mess. Ethereal frosty synthesizer sheen heard in previous cues to give a sense of alienness between humans and Mechas and subtle ghostly synth choir evoke the discomforting mood of the scene, sizzling of percussion, deep rumbling piano chords and growls from tuba all fashion a sense of apprehension and subtle horror, strings sliding slowly in high register, a cool and dispassionate portrait of this imagery of David with his chest cavity open on the table, technicians treating him like any piece of machinery. The cue went unused in the movie as again Spielberg lets the scene again speak for itself without underscore. But yet again the film maker found another placement for this music, the cue appearing late in the middle part of the film as Gigolo Joe explains to David in Rouge City how humans hate the Mechas. It appears in the film tracked into this scene after the cue To Manhattan (5m8). On the LLL release this and the previous short cue are combined. 14. The Scissor Scene (3m4) (3:46) (LLL D 1 Track 13, Oscar Promo Disc 2 track 12): This dark, ambient cue underscores the scene where David out of the suggestion from Martin sneaks up to her sleeping mother at night and tries to cut a lock of her hair. This is because according to Martin she would love him for it, just like it happened in a story about the princess who loved the prince whose lock of hair she possessed. Martin also promises to tell Monica that he loves David so she'll love him even more. With ominous orchestral rumble and very atmospheric orchestrations this music conveys perfectly the mood of the scene as David sneaks through the dark house towards his parents' bedroom. Skittering strings, halting echoing celesta and small chimes, rumbling piano, bass flutes all enhance the feel of something wrong in this whole scene. Music turns more busy toward the end of the cue as Monica wakes up just as David cuts her hair and she gets a small cut near her eye from the frightened David’s scissors and panicking Henry shakes him angrily demanding an explanation. As Henry had already become suspicious earlier that David was trying to hurt them out of jealousy, he sees his fears confirmed. Monica still has doubts. Piano rises among the low strings and rubbed tam tam. Oboe, harp and chimes play a sympathetic yet disheartened line that suddenly ends in an ominous rumble. The music here tells the story from both sides, the distress and confusion of David and the shock of his parents. Teddy who is accompanying David on his nightly mission saves the now forgotten lock of Monica's hair from the floor. 15. The Pool Rescue (3m5) (1:41) (LLL D 1 Track 14, Oscar Promo Disc 2 track 13): It's Martin's birthday and he and his friends are playing beside the pool in the garden. He is showing his robotic brother to his curious guests and because Davisd seems so human-like they want to see if he has DAS a Damage Avoidance System like other Mechas by stabbing him in the arm. Frightened David cowers behind Martin and grabbing him by the hand repeats: "Keep me safe Martin, keep me safe!" as the boys close on him with a sharp cake cutter. Martin tries to pull himself free from David’s grasp but stumbles right into the pool with David still firmly holding him. The metallic body of the robot boy pulls Martin underwater and David ceases to function. The cue starts with slowly growing uneasiness in low strings joined by a skittering sounds of a tam tam as the boys plunge into the pool and alarmed high strings combine with deeper brass notes from horns as they fall to the bottom of the pool and watery dripping synthesizer sounds play as we see David still pulling Martin down and unsettling chorus of synthesized voices and ticking echoing synthetic piano effects play as David has fallen alone to the bottom of the pool and Martin is rescued by frantic Henry who is now sure that the Mecha boy tried to kill Martin. 16. Monica's Plan (3m6) (3:30)(LLL D 1 Track 15, Oscar Promo Disc 2 track 14): Monica and Henry are now both certain that David poses a threat to their son and the whole family, so Henry proposes for him to be demolished at Cybertronics. But Monica has developed feelings for the boy and is hard pressed to carry out this plan. Torn between love and fear she finally comes to David and says they are going for a drive in the country. This cue begins with a new, peaceful yet ominous piano motif that creates a sense of quiet unease as we see Monica persuading David to take a drive with her the next day. Then in the next shot Monica sees some writings and drawings David has made for her that almost break her resolve and A Child Lost Theme receives a yearningly tragic reading on solo piano with delicate harp accompaniment figures as Monica's inner conflict is conveyed musically, the theme transformed into a motif of Monica's awakened affection for David, and the strings swell ever so slightly in warmth but in the end she decides to go through with the plan. Next morning the family car is speeding through the woods towards Cybertronics and Williams answers with a pinched oboe variation of the Abandonment Theme ghosted by the celesta and soon the composer speeds it up with the accompanying arpeggio figures rolling on piano and synthesizers to emulate the visuals of the spinning wheels of the futuristic car. Monica’s emotional conflict reaches its apex and in the end she decides to abandon the boy instead of taking him to be destroyed. Abandonment Theme begins on the synthesized piano, the melody finding new contours along the way but then the music steadies as does Monica’s resolve and grows to full force on lower strings that presage tempest as if to show that this was in the end Martin’s doing and to enhance the desperation she is feeling. She stops the car and drives to a different direction and as they stop in the woods, a segment of Abandonment Theme arpeggio up-and-down accompaniment figures is uncomfortably repeated on the piano and double basses until the cue ends abruptly. 17. Abandoned in the Woods (3m7) (3:57) (LLL D 1 Track 16, D 3 Track 5 (Alternate), OST track 10 Rouge City 0:00-2:00 and track 2 Abandoned in the Woods (Alternate), Oscar Promo Disc 1 track 5 0:00-2:00 and Disc 2 track 1 Abandoned in the Woods (Alternate)): The music starts off with a subtle sonic alert of a threat as contrabassoons murmur ominously together with the double basses to warn of danger to come. Williams then presents heartbroken and despondent musical portrait as the strings in high register play a new tragic and searching melodic fragment somewhere between the A Child Lost Theme and Abandonment Theme as Monica leads the unsuspecting David into the woods. The music is generating a sorrowful sense of foreboding as an emotional version of the Abandonment Theme sounds vulnerable and touching on solo piano and strings as she struggle's to leave him and David pleads her not to. The theme conveys here both desperation and horror as suddenly the music gains a threatening and forceful edge when the terse high string tremolos lead the orchestra to a full reading of the theme and David finally understands what is happening as the swelling ebbing and flowing arpeggios gain more strength. The strings section churns in minimalistic style reminiscent of Philip Glass, the woodwinds and brass presenting the Abandonment/Lost Theme on top of them, growing in intensity with each new iteration of the thematic line, the strings rising and falling mercilessly with the arpeggio figures like an oncoming storm. Horns makes subtle groaning utterances that add to the tension and tragic desperation of the moment. Finally as the melody rises to its peak of the it is joined by the rest of the orchestral brass and a synthetic choir. Struggling to get free from David's grip Monica pulls and tugs and the music grows louder showing both her inner conflict and the child’s confusion as she frantically gets to her car and drives away sobbing. And when camera pulls away and shows us David’s horrified expression through the rear view mirror of the departing vehicle the music reaches a shocking climax with hammered violent and cold piano notes. On the LLL release the complete version contains a previously unreleased and unused coda that contains frantic high string lines churning furiously as celesta and flutes inject quick cries, the piece coming to rest on pulsing low piano chords. Soundtrack Album VS the Film Version This cue is one of the few centerpieces of the score not released in it's original form prior to the LLL 3 disc set. All other versions are shorter and are missing the 0:00-1:51 portion from beginning half of the scene. The latter half of the film version of this cue is on the original soundtrack album and on the Oscar Promo, coupled on the OST track Rouge City with the music from that later travelling scene. In the Making There exists an alternate version of this cue that can be heard on the LLL set (D 3 Track 5), where the beginning of the piece is scored solely with ominous double bass figures with chilling high strings exchanging phrases with them instead of the double bass/contrabassoon material found in the film take. This take also also contains subtle performance differences in the various variations of the Abandonment Theme and a new dramatic desperate sounding string swell before the pounding piano chords for the moment Monica drives away. And thus the film moves to its second act. 18. City source cue(1:29) (Unreleased) There is a short saxophone lead techno/disco piece in the scene where Gigolo Joe (Jude Law) is introduced and it is continued further in the subsequent street scenes. This and other techno source music is composed by John Williams' singer/song writer/composer son Joseph. He is credited for three unnamed source cues on his resume on the Schwatz-Gorfaine agency’s site. 19. The Moon Rising (4m5) & The Biker Hounds Extensions (Joseph Williams' source music) (4M6) & The Biker Hounds (4m7) (7:48) (LLL D 1 Track 17 (4m5 & 4m7, 5:10) & D 3 Track 6 (4m6, 2:38), OST track 7 Moon Rising, Oscar Promo Disc 1 track 10): The only all-action cue of the movie Moon Rising is actually divided into three separate cues, 4m5, 4m6 and 4m7. The sequence begins when the audience encounters David in the forest alone and wandering through the dark woods. He sees a garbage vehicle dumping something on the ground near him and suddenly he sees dozen of abandoned Mechas scavenging for parts from what seems to be a dumpsite for broken robots, a fate David has unbeknownst to him just barely avoided. The Moon Rising (4m5) (3:25) The music opens with dark slowly rising orchestral and synthesizer effects and a very low male choir expresses David's shock and amazement and the piece gradually builds into a booming choral, string and brass laden fulgurant crescendo that seems to express sheer horrific panic and violence when the lord Johnson Johnson's (Brendan Gleeson), a Mecha hating showman’s, Moonballoon rises over the edge of the hill at 1:50 and the hunt for the Mechas begins. Percussion, forceful brass and churning chaotic strings bark out rhythmic figures and roaring angry chords full of ruthless menace, followed by rambling low piano coda and a woodwind and brass finale accompanied by a steady metallic and threatening synthesizer staccato pulse before the score slows into... The Biker Hounds Extensions (Joseph Williams' source music) (4M6) (2:38) At 3:26 the Mechas escape through the woods, scored with whirling techno effects and driving beats, aggressive electric guitar and a lone male voice chanting in the distance. This section is the cue 4m6 and was co-written with the composer's son Joseph Williams who lent this project his expertise on a few modern touches and source pieces. In the following chase most of the Mechas are captured by the Wolfbikers (men with motorbikes and Mecha hunting weaponry) and while others try to hide in abandoned buildings amidst the trees they are soon captured. The piece as written is longer than this brief action scene and only a portion of the music is used, inserted editorially between John Williams' cues for the sequence. The Biker Hounds (4m7) (1:43) The orchestra returns with violent brass outcries, steely percussion and fervent strings playing rolling churning ostinati figures as bikers rip off the wall of the shack and net the helpless Mechas hiding inside, including David. The desperation and panic of the Mechas and the terrible efficiency of the hunters is depicted in the music that is full of sharp angles, growling percussion, churning string patterns and relentless angry brass sounds. At around 4:25 mark groaning double basses play repeatedly a 4-note motif which is then taken up by the lowest brass to create a threatening merciless drive as the Mechas are hauled into the Moonballoon of Lord Johnson Johnson. When it rises we spot Teddy hanging outside the net and when David can't hold on to him, his fall is underscored with swirling strings followed by a whimsical oboe melody which coincides with his safe landing and pursuit of the balloon on foot (or rather paw in his case). In the finished film Teddy's fall was left entirely unscored and the music dialed out. Soundtrack Album VS the Film Version The original 2001 soundtrack album version of Moon Rising switches the position of the three sections placing the furious music of the Mecha hunt at the beginning leaving a short portion of the Joseph Williams' techno beats and the solo voice in the middle and and ending with the original Moon Rising cue. It also omits the music for Teddy’s fall altogether. The LLL release combines Moon Rising (4m5) and The Biker Hounds (4m7) for listening purposes and provides Joseph Williams' composition for the Biker Hounds (4m6) on disc 3 as a separate bonus track that actually runs longer than the version heard in the film. *** Gigolo Joe, a lover Mecha and David among other robots are carried off to the Fleshfair where disgruntled people who hate all Mecha related artificiality execute them on an arena for entertainment in the style and tradition of Ancient gladiatorial games. The Fleshfair sequence plays without traditional underscore and all that is heard is source music, provided by a band called Ministry (Al Jourgensen, Paul Barker, Max Brody and Deborah Coon) who perform two songs, What About Us? and Dead Practice on-screen in the film. When the time of David’s execution comes and he is brought to the arena to be destroyed, the audience, who has not seen a Mecha child before and does not even know they exist, demands for David to be set free and under the pressure from an outraged angry mob Johnson-Johnson has no alternative but to let David and Gigolo Joe go free. *** 20. Remembering David Hobbie (5m3) (2:20) (LLL D 1 Track 18, Oscar Promo Disc 2 track 15): Joyous warm string melody with horn lines underneath plays as David and Gigolo Joe are freed from the Fleshfair, the music celebrating their freedom and relief. As the film cuts to Professor Hobby's facilities, where he is watching some photos of David (as we later find out his own dead son), the A Child Lost Theme makes its final appearance in the score, luminous piano and harp dueting in a nostalgic fashion. When his team informs him they have located David, the music continues optimistic and warm, a variation of the theme's melody passing to flute and ghosted by clarinet as we cut back to the woods, where Gigolo Joe and David are trying to make their way to the Blue Fairy. Here can be heard a faint reference to the minimalistic figures of the Travelling Theme for the first time (1:28-1:39), presented on piano and glittering harp figures as David and Joe talk about the journey. A lyrical dreamily wandering oboe line scores a shot of the night sky and the moon but as David ponders if it is the real moon, remembering the Moonballoon, the music suddenly grows eerie with queasy strings and synthesizer tones darkening the mood. 21. The Journey to Rouge City (5m5) (3:51) (LLL D 1 Track 19, OST track 10 Rouge City 2:00-end (Album Edit), Oscar Promo Disc 1 track 5 2:00-end (Film Version)): The Mecha World/Travelling Theme prominent in this scene is very effective describing the robotic and highly Mechanized age of the film but importantly provides dramatic propulsion for the journey montage. It also conveys the thrill and excitement of this futuristic travel and David’s marvel at all the wonders he is now experiencing. A short lyrical oboe line backed by strings, solo horn and harp is heard when we see the moon far in the distance, the score conjuring a small but magical little moment of beauty before it flows into a rhythmic repeating motif that could be characterized as The Mecha World/Travelling Theme ticking away on marimba and other percussion and supported in its drive by the rest of the orchestra. A short optimistic interlude for woodwinds seems to remind us of the oboe ideas of the previous tracks before the travelling motif takes over. Most of the cue consists of the development of the travelling music that steadily and minimalistically in the mode of John Adams and Steve Reich grows and modulates in orchestrations when David and Joe are seen driving towards Rouge City, an exotic den of pleasures and vices, to find Dr. Know and around 2:33-2:58 as their vehicle dives into a tunnel shaped like a woman's mouth that leads to the city the piece bursts into a grand rolling string statement of Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier waltz theme (taken from Der Rosenkavalier Suite Opus 59 and adapted for the scene by Williams). From here the cue winds slowly to a close, orchestration gradually becoming sparser until only marimba accompanied by synthesizers is left and fades into silence as the group arrives to their destination. The Rosenkavalier waltz was the one piece of music Kubrick wanted to include in the film and as an homage Williams incorporated it into his score though not knowing where exactly Kubrick himself had planned to place it he chose this particular sequence to use it. The Soundtrack Album VS the Film Version The soundtrack album track Rouge City contains as an intro a part of the film version of the Abandoned in the Woods (3m7) and the Travelling Theme is cut short just as it would go into the Rosenkavalier waltz section. Most probable is that Williams didn’t want to present other composer’s work on his album or the rights of the music were an issue though you can clearly hear the clumsy transition from one part of the cue to the next on the soundtrack album. The LLL set contains the full cue. This is a good example of how differently the composer can reimagine his music for a soundtrack album for listening experience purposes. 22. Immaculate Heart (0:46) (5m6A) (LLL D 1 Track 20, Oscar Promo Disc 2 track 16) Gigolo Joe and David arrive to the Rouge City and head for the cyber parlour called Immaculate Heart where the mysterious and sage Dr. Know can be found. The composer introduces the Blue Fairy /Humanity Theme here as it rises from a fluttering bed of strings on solo flute with ghosting clarinet and slightly comedic rhythmic backing, an inkling of what is to come, a fragment that has yet to reveal its true significance in the story but at this moment it reinforces David's wish of finding the Blue Fairy with Dr. Know's advice. 23. Rouge City source music (1:45) (Unreleased. Source music composed by Joseph Williams): Techno flavoured and beat heavy source cue plays as David and Gigolo Joe are walking through the neon sign illuminated streets of Rouge City. 24. Inside Dr. Know's (4:32) (LLL D 3 Track 7) Williams provides ambient and mickey-mousy quirky entirely electronic underscore for this scene where the animated Dr. Know, voiced by Robin Williams, is seen consulting David and Joe. This diegetic piece of music emanating from the Dr. Know interface (he is a database programme) with its different question categories, that launch various musical effects takes on a deliberately cartoony character that doesn't seem to stay in the same mood or style for long. There is also a repeating motif for the main menu of the programme David is using which bridges the gap between pure sound effects and underscore and Williams even finds a way to inject a little fragments of David's Theme into this colourful and playful musical collage. 25. To Manhattan (5m8) (1:27) (Unused in the film. LLL D 1 Track 21, Oscar Promo Disc 2 track 17): As the curious exchange between Dr. Know and David comes to close the Mecha boy sees a puzzling message appearing on the screen that initially quotes Williams Butler Yeats' poem The Stolen Child: Come away,O human child! To the waters and the wild With a fairy, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand. Your quest will be perilous Yet the reward is beyond price. In his book 'How Can A Robot Become Human', Professor Allen Hobby writes of the power which will transform Mecha into Orga. DAVID Will you tell me how to find her? DR.KNOW Discovery is quite possible. Our blue fairy does exist in one place, and one place only, At the end of the world Where the lions weep. Here is the place dreams are born. The music would probably start just as the message appears, but since the cue went unused in the film, it is difficult to tell its exact placement in this sequence. It begins with swaying figure on the strings but turns into a lovely longing piano version of the Blue Fairy/Humanity Theme that suddenly ends unresolved as David’s hope of becoming a real boy is rekindled but the end of his journey still remains a mystery. Incidentally Williams named two consecutive cues, 5m8 and 6m3, To Manhattan on his original manuscript. 26. Amphibicopter Escape (source) (0:31) (Source music composed by Joseph Williams): As soon as the pair exits the Dr. Know parlour the police are waiting outside as the law has finally caught up with Joe. Here a piece of threatening tracked material from Moon Rising is used. Another source cue begins here as tense synthesized drum beats go to a techno drumming and effects that underscore the hijack and escape in the police amphibicopter. This is another piece probably composed by Joseph Williams and resembles quite a bit his music for the Biker Hounds sequence. This energetic passage is immediately followed by... 27. To Manhattan (6m3) (5:28) (LLL D 2 Track 1 (0:00-5:28), OST track 1 Mecha World 0:00-4:42, Oscar Promo Disc 1 track 1 0:00-5:14): David, Joe and Teddy are seen flying towards Manhattan in the amphibicopter and Williams delivers a forceful variation of the minimalistically inspired constantly building repeating Mecha World/Travelling Theme, that seems like an extension and elaboration on the music of the previous travelling scene to Rouge City. With rhythmic tug of the strings and burnished steely fanfares from the trumpets and horns the ship is on its way. Long clear string and brass lines supported by the mechanical beat of marimbas and glittering harp underscore the ride of the protagonists through the skies. It feels like the whole orchestra becomes a giant clockwork machine repeating and modulating the constant ostinato motif of the theme as it keeps building and building with propulsive brass, steady marimba pattern over continuous rhythmic string figures until it reaches a climax at the 3 minute mark with the combined forces of the orchestra, percussion and the electronics when the flying machine plunges into the full view of a skyscraper in the sunken Manhattan that indeed has gigantic lion statues on top of outlying buttresses “weeping” through their metallic jaws and eyes like enormous fountains. From here the music continues subdued as David and Joe land in the Cybertronics main building, the tone of the music turnining gentle with probing high strings, luminous sparkling harp and a dreamy solo horn line as the score voice the robot boy's excitement. David seems so close to his goal (or so he thinks) and the cue ends with clear tones of bell tree and celesta but the musical sequence continues on without pause to an interconnected cue... 28. The Reading Room (6m4) (3:13) (LLL D 2 Track 1 (5:59-end), OST track 1 Mecha World 4:42-end, Oscar Promo Disc 1 track 1 5:14-end): After a probing light figure in string the music grows eerie with a cold electronic pulse, yawning ominous string figure and scraped gong as David steps into a room that is revealed to be a library. Just then one of the chairs turns and both audience and the robot boys see a David replica reading there calmly. Subtle yet hard edged cold string sustain and hollow synthesizer sounds underscore this revelation. Baffled David is feeling confused and angry since he realizes that he is not unique and thus special any more, the ghostly synthesized voices and subtle icy twinkle of piano depicting his psychological state. Rubbed tam tam groans, strings and synthesizers rise and as David flies into a fit of uncontrollable manic rage as he thinks this clone is after his mother’s love as well, he in a moment of fury decapitates the robot with a table lamp. Here the score turns from fear and confusion to rage and the woodwinds and strings swirl furiously, chirping and screeching, creating the confusion and horror while underneath the percussion hits imitate the blows of the lamp although they do not catch the on-screen action blow-by-blow. In this moment of madness proferssor Hobby appears out of the blue and stops David and calms him explaining the purpose of the Mecha child. He is the test version of imprinted robot capable of love and affection and that there will be many more of his kind for those who are unable to have a child of their own or have lost their own children. When Hobby mentions that David, his real son, was one of a kind, unique, in anguished tones, we hear David’s Theme sing out on compassionate oboe which ends the cue on a warm note which makes the next cue a sudden but narratively effective shift in tone. Album Versions VS the Film Version The music underscoring David's rage is included in the album version of The Mecha World but it is missing the atmospheric middle portion of David meeting his robotic clone. The Oscar Promo is missing the same section as the OST. The LLL release features the entire sequence as written, joining the cues 6m3 and 6m4. 29. The Replicas (6m5) & Floating Downwards (6m6) (5:58) (LLL D 2, Track 2, OST track 3 Replicas, Oscar Promo Disc 1 track 9): This sequence is also composed of two continuous cues. Professor Hobby leaves David alone in the offices as he goes to fetch his team of scientists so they can start to analyze David, his data and his experiences to learn more from them in order to perfect their imprinting protocols. The robot boy wanders off into a workshop nearby and makes a startling find that brings home professor Hobby's words: A room full of Mechas, replicas of David, have already been manufactured and packaged for sale with female versions lined next to them. He is not unique, not like human children are. The music starts very sparse and haunting as chilling treble voices of the women's chorus seem almost to moan as they murmur in high register, piano, sinister percussion, distant muted brass and high strings underscore the scene where David discovers the replicas. As he notices the packaged robots his horror and dismay increase and finally as the boy finally seems to lose all heart and his hopeless horror is revealed, the camera zooms to his eyes and the choir and orchestra build to a literal screaming halt around 3 minute mark. Subsequent scene finds David sitting on a ledge high up in the Cybertronics building at the heart of sunken Manhattan completely heartbroken and forlorn, oboe and the choir now expressing his heartache in mournful and sympathetic tones. Finally in his despair the robot boy plunges down into the ocean that now covers all of New York (witnessed by Joe from the copter) and with this the music takes a sudden turn to ethereal and reflective with twinkling piano and luminous strings as David is seen sinking to the bottom through water pierced by clear shafts of sunlight from the surface. Luminous high register orchestrations follow when a school of fish swim around him and he is carried on by them, the sunlight dazzling in the clear blue water, Williams capturing the lyrical atmosphere in his music. Subtle fragments of Monica's Theme can be heard amidst the music along with something that sounds like a slight nod to Albinoni’s Adagio for Strings (beginning at around 4:20), creating a spiritual almost religious musical tableaux. Just as David hits the ocean floor, Joe comes to his rescue and at that very moment David sees a glimpse of something that catches his eye in the water which animates the score on hopeful singing strings. He has seen the Blue Fairy! In the Making The LaLa -Land set (Disc 3 Track 8 includes an alternate take on the Replicas section of this sequence with notably enhanced brass starting at 2:20 mark with a disconsolate horn passage and a pinched trumpet cry during the choral crescendo. Alas Gigolo Joe has been tracked by the police because he is wanted for a murder of a client and at this precise moment they descend on him in the Manhattan ruins and capture him. Saying quick goodbye to David, he in his last selfless act of kindness to his diminutive saviour activates the amphibicopter which plunges under the waves towards the place where the Blue Fairy lies! 30. Finding the Blue Fairy (7m1/2) (5:59) (LLL D 2 Track 3. OST track 11 Search for the Blue Fairy (Edit), Oscar Promo Disc 1 track 7 (Edit)) Music takes a murky, meandering underwater quality as David is seen slowly propelling past the old Coney Island amusement park buildings. Slow, deep orchestral sonorities, rumbling piano, tuba, double basses, lower woodwinds and deep horn lines all create the sense of antiquity and the ocean depths, the higher strings counterpointing the atmosphere with their colours. Williams even adds a carnival organ into the orchestral palette as a nod to the atmosphere of the amusement park, a ghostly musical reminder of the bygone eras, harp glittering like light through shadowy waters above the orchestral textures. At 1:58 the music becomes more agitated and anticipatory. Barbara Bonney’s voice is heard humming softly under the coalescing orchestral forces as David closes on his goal with strings and bubbling woodwinds and a wash of sound from the bell tree heralding his arrival to the statue of Blue Fairy with their swirling excited textures. Here the orchestra gives a way to a humming human voice, soprano Barbara Bonney, who performs the Blue Fairy/Humanity Theme. The soprano voice complements the orchestra with beautiful subtle wordless solos as Ben Kingsley's narrator voice continues David’s story. The whole scene is musically based on one long development of the Blue Fairy/Humanity Theme as David has reached the fulfillment of his dream. But since he cannot achieve his hopes, the theme is full of both hope and profound spiritual beauty but also quiet sorrow of unimaginable depth. There in the deeps of the sea the amphibicopter is stuck under the crumbling metal of a falling ferris wheel, trapping the robot boy and his teddy bear in their craft. And as the screen grows dark while the narrator tells us how David still continued to make his innocent plea to the statue that was standing right before him but beyond his reach, again and again praying to become a real child, the Blue Fairy/Humanity Theme fades softly away in tones of hushed sadness. This cue along with the lengthy finale is one of the emotional centerpieces of the score. Williams has here captured all the spiritual depth of David's hope and faith and also the deep sadness of this search for something he cannot ultimately achieve and thus has created a moment that both rejoices and laments for David with profound sympathy. It is one of those unique opportunities where music can speak deeper than words and the composer captures the deeper subtext of the scene with poignant lyricism that reaches for the human soul. He gives David’s most fervent dream, his belief, and the character of the Blue Fairy a voice of her own. In the Making Although the music of this scene always used the broad cantilena melody of the Blue Fairy/Humanity Theme, the music itself went through several different versions before an edit of several takes and elements was used to compile the final cue heard in the film. Williams created at least a purely orchestral version (LLL D 3 Track 10 (Orchestral Excerpt)), an orchestral version with shimmering bell-like synthesizer accompaniment without vocals (LLL D 3 Track 9) where oboe takes the solo part and a combination of soprano soloist and orchestra (D 2 Track 3) before the film makers opted for an orchestra and subtle vocal accompaniment heard in the film. There is yet another alternate version of this piece with the major difference being that the solo soprano is in the forefront of the composition. This is the concertized version of the Blue Fairy/Humanity Theme Williams reworked for the soundtrack album and there exist two different arrangements of it, one with and another without the soprano vocals (titled A.I. Theme (Instrumental Version) LLL set D 1 Track 22 (4:08) and A.I. Theme (Vocal Version) D 2 Track 11 (4:01)). In the end Williams chose to use the vocal version edited together with the film opening of Finding the Blue Fairy on the soundtrack CD. Bonney's voice conveys perfectly the feel and emotion of the scene and gives the piece a fairy tale-like quality but it also enhances the feelings of sorrow and loss in the scene, Bonney's voice echoing powerfully and operatically as if from the depths of the sea itself. 31. Journey Through the Ice (7m3)/Stored Images (7m4)(Film Edit)(~5:14): Stored Memories forms one long 5 minutes track but was created editorially from two different versions Williams wrote of this cue. The film version opens with the original version Williams wrote but at around 2:25 mark it is edited into the ending half of the revised version 2 of the cue. Both versions are analyzed separately below: Journey Through the Ice (7m3) (Version 1) (4:43) (LLL D 2 Track 4, OST track 8 Stored Memories and Monica’s Theme 0:00-4:43, Oscar Promo Disc 1 track 4 0:00-4:43) The piece starts directly after Barbara Bonney's and orchestra's last notes have faded as we now are introduced to the world of the far future and Manhattan all covered in ice 2000 years after David was trapped in the sea in front of the Blue Fairy. A solemn religioso piece for a mixed choir singing a long lined wordless melody underscores the flight of the futuristic Super Mechas over the glacier city. As they land to the site where David has been found in the ice, the music remains mournful, almost like a funeral hymn and when the Mechas approach the amphibicopter and brush off a layer of snow to reveal David inside, frozen, still staring at the unattainable Blue Fairy standing before him, the statue by some miracle yet intact after two millennia. One of the Mechas reaches out and accesses David’s memories and reads them and twinkling piano and bell tree underscore his sudden awakening at 2:17-2:25. Glittering celesta and other chimes play with the rising choral forces and strings spin luminous busy figures underneath as amphibicopter and David are melted from the ice, the musical atmosphere itself warming and lighting up. Clear flute and clarinet bubble to life as the ice melts and David with seeing eyes looks in astonishment at the Blue Fairy standing even after all this time before him. He steps slowly out of the amphibicopter and the music retains the sense of awe as the little boy approaches and touches the statue, an oboe’s warm voice greeting him over a bed of strings, pensive and lyrical. But the statue falls apart under David’s touch and his horror but most of all his grief is announced when the choir repeats the mournful theme from the beginning of the piece almost as a quiet thredony, double basses ending the piece almost in mid-phrase as David notices the Super Mechas for the first time. This original take on the material is much more sentimental than the revised version which explores the alienness of the scene. Williams scored David’s reawakening with empathy and pathos that was in the end perhaps considered a bit too emotional by Spielberg. The final version underscores David’s horror and discomfort and the ambience of the icy world is emphasized in the orchestrations and nearly themeless approach. Journey Through the Ice Version II (7m3) (Version 2) (5:04) (LLL D 2 Track 5, Oscar Promo Disc 1 track 6): This version of the piece opens with a high female chorus, shimmering bell tree, harp and celesta, the music very dispassionate and emotionally detached, depicting the icy world where the futuristic Mechas approach the excavation in the ice. The chorus becomes almost a drone and bell tree offers glinting icy accents with harp as the robots approach David, celesta presenting few scattered notes here and there and piano rumbling in the cold space. The opening 2:17 of the music was not used in the film. At 2:18 icy strings, harp, orchestral chimes, bell tree and high female choir continue to enhance the alien and cold atmosphere as David stares out with seeing eyes first time in 2000 years. The Mecha child espies the statue of the Blue Fairy still intact and gets out vehicle and slowly approaches his goal just few feet away. As David feels the the frozen statue with his hand the hoarfrost covered edifice crumbles to pieces under his touch which is scored with subtle intensified orchestral rumble (3:20) but in the film sound effects take precedence over music, which is dialled out at this moment. David is confused and horrified and icy piano plays fragmented pieces of the Blue Fairy/Humanity Theme as he suddenly becomes aware of the the Super Mechas around him and indeed the huge icy cavern they are in. The remainder of the cue continues eerie but now more luminous with women's choir singing in the background and Williams offers further fragmented readings of what sounds like both The Blue Fairy/Humanity and Monica's Theme on piano while the Mechas keep studying David's memories. This latter portion (from 2:18 onwards) was used in the film, where the cold and slightly alien atmosphere was favoured over direct emotionalism. 32. Stored Memories (7m4) (3:07) (LLL D 2 Track 6) With clear peal of triangle and harp the Mechas start to read David’s memories and a lovely lilting duet for cello and piano performing full version of Monica’s Theme appears as images of her from David’s memory are projected through the glassy bodies of the super Mechas as they share the information among themselves. Then in a flash accompanied by subtle sizzling high strings and icily coruscating synthesizer effects David appears to be at home again. In this familiar environment Williams again reiterates Monica's Theme on piano as David's hope of returning home to his mother seems to have come true and the piano enhances the simple direct emotion of the calming song-like theme. But soon the robot boy encounters someone unexpected. 33.What Is Your Wish (7m5) (4:12) (LLL D 2 Track 7, OST track 8 Stored Memories and Monica’s Theme 5:40-end, Oscar Promo Disc 1 track 4 5:40-end) Then and there the David hears the unlikeliest voice in their house, the Blue Fairy (voiced by Meryl Streep), calling out to him as she has appeared as if by magic in the next room. As he goes to her, the source of his greatest desire and dream, a subtle soothing wordlessly sung melody of the gentle female chorus over a bed of warm string harmonies represents the Blue Fairy instead of her actual theme. Perhaps Williams is suggesting subliminally here that David's wish to become a real boy is not in the power of this enchanting figure as she is not real after all, only a figment of Super Mechas' doing, and can't grant him his wish in the way he desires. The fairy then proceeds to explain the situation to David, about his mother and how he is the only living memory of human race left in the world while the music retains a sympathetic tone with the chorus intoning their warmly serene melody. She informs Monica cannot be brought back after such a long time, not without some trace of her physical being, a finger nail or hair, but Teddy, who has also been revived after his long journey with David, has saved the lock of hair the boy cut from Monica's head all those years ago. This means that she can be created anew from its DNA and so solo harp presents a meaningful and poignant melodic phrase (2:59) as we see David handing this precious memento to the Blue Fairy and Monica's Theme calls delicate out on celesta, softly played shimmering glockenspiel notes and glimmering bell tree. It is a moment of innocent hope and determination and the expectant rhythmic string chords that close the cue illustrate the boy's renewed faith. In the Making The version of this music found on the soundtrack album is slightly truncated. An alternate version of this piece can be found on the OST album and the Oscar promo that features Barbara Bonney's solo voice humming gently in the place of the chorus. This alternate is also presented on the LaLa- Land set (D 3 Track 11). 34. The Specialist Visits (8m1) (3:59) (LLL D 2 Track 8, Oscar Promo Disc 2 track 18) We see David next in his old room and the harp plays a solo over a wash of gently dancing luminous strings and glinting chimes and for the first minute or so the music is ethereal, magical and calm as we are shown David calmly playing with his old toys again. Then crystalline musical tones usher in a Super Mecha, the Specialist (voice by Ben Kingsley), who we now find out has been the narrator of the story all along. And when he explains to David that they can bring his mother back for just one day and how it can be done only once (wish fulfilment in the best Spielberg fashion) Williams spins a beautifully heartfelt and delicate chamber-like variation of the Blue Fairy/Humanity Theme on strings, celesta, flutes and two harps that expresses sadness and tenderness in equal measure, the score capturing the sorrow and comforting wisdom of this futuristic being. It is almost as if the score is preparing the listener for what is to come, singing a quiet lullaby to David but also in its poetic way extolling the human spirit, the Specialist viewing human fragility with sadness but also with wonder, their soul something he cannot fathom, nor their concept of love and what it can help them to achieve. Around the 3 minute mark a haunting sonorous voice of solo cello intones the theme for one final time with delicate lyricism signifying that David stands behind his decision to meet his mother for one last time even if it will be for only a single day. Here the Blue Fairy/Humanity Theme has fully changed from a theme for a character to a musical identification of David’s dream of reuniting with his mother, of achieving humanity, which his wish to become a real boy has actually been all along. 35. The Reunion (8m2) (7:29) (LLL D 2 Track 9, D3 Track 12 (Alternate), OST track 12 Reunion (7:45), Oscar Promo Disc 1 track 11(7:00) (Alternate)) After David has restated his wish to see Monica for one last time, the morning miraculously comes and as the sun rises Specialist urges David to go to his mother and spend a day with her. Williams uses a fleeting variation of the Blue Fairy/Humanity Theme here to signify that David's impossible dream has after all come true and from this point on piano takes the centre stage. Accompanied by oboe, cello and strings a beautiful long development of Monica's Theme is first heard on the piano as David wakes Monica up and they sit together for a breakfast. The theme continues with oboe peacefully accompanying, cello ghosting the piano melody, adding a warm texture underneath as the two spend the day together, the music playing lullaby-like, lilting warmly and reassuringly in the background. When David tells of his incredible journey to his mother (close to the 4 minute mark), with a shimmer of violins Williams weaves David's Theme together with Monica's and so these two musical ideas are finally united. David's melody continues on solo oboe in a bed of soothing string textures, harp effects and etheral celesta interjections as they celebrate the boy's first birthday as he has never had one before. But eventually the night falls and the moment of their parting is drawing nigh. David tucks his mother to bed and as she finally says that she loves him, the everlasting moment that David has waited for so long comes. The composer presents a small anticipatory harp and string cascade when she finishes her sentence and the camera closes on them as they hug, the soloist beginning a rendition of Monica's Theme full of serene finality and acceptance, the hopes and dreams of David at last fulfilled. Monica falls asleep, never to wake again and David goes to sleep beside her, closing his eyes for the last time and Monica's Theme on the piano, harp and graceful warm strings brings the cue to a peaceful close, like a lullaby sending our small protagonist to where dreams are born. In the Making The film version of this piece is likely a hybrid edit of different takes of the piece. Neither the LLL set, OST version nor the Oscar Promo version fits the film’s running time or performance of the music completely. The OST performance is close to the film version in some portions while the Oscar Promo in others. The LLL set (and the Oscar promo) contains an alternate slightly faster version of the piece but Williams chose the slower lengthier performance as the one presented on the original soundtrack album and in the complete score programme on disc 2 of the LaLa-Land Record's release. 36. End Credits (Where Dreams Are Born) (8m3) - Opening End Credits/Vocal and Credits (4:24) (LLL D 2 Track 10, OST track 9 Where Dreams Are Born, Oscar Promo Disc 2 track 2): For the film's end credits John Williams created this hauntingly beautiful and lyrical concert version on Monica’s Theme that features soprano Barbara Bonney singing the wordless cantilena version of the theme accompanied by piano, cello, oboe and strings. It is a fitting and poignant farewell to David, the score gently addressing his achievement of some measure of humanity at the end, Bonney's voice lending a spiritual depth to his character and the end of his quest with this gorgeous vocalize. 37. End Credits part II (2:21) (Film Edit) To accommodate the end credits' length music was tracked from the cue Journey Through the Ice (Version 1). It is the segment from the beginning of the cue until 2:20 where the choral section of the piece ends. Abandoned in the Woods (Album Version) (LLL D 3 Track 13) Originally John Williams recorded another version of the Abandoned in the Woods (LLL D 3 Track 13, OST track 2, Oscar Promo D 2 Track 1) to function as the second part of the end credits. He wrote essentially a concert version of this particular theme, which features more powerful full ensemble orchestrations for the material and the accompanying minimalistic arpeggio-figures than the film counterpart but it also adds a completely new coda after the crescendo after the 2 minute mark, which restates the Abandonment Theme on woodwinds and tense brass with the minimalistic string motif slowly winding down to silence. While it was ultimately unused in the film's credits, this version made it to the soundtrack album and the Oscar promo, while the film version of the film cue of the same name was finally released on the LLL set in 2015. The Song For Always (LLL D 3 Track 1 & 14 (Duet) (4:40) Poet Cynthia Weil wrote lyrics to John Williams’ Monica's Theme and two different versions of the song were recorded, one with Lara Fabian and the other with Josh Groban and Lara Fabian singing a duet. Neither version of the song appears in the film and was created just for the soundtrack album. Here follow the lyrics of the piece: I close my eyes And there in the shadows I see your light You come to me out of my dreams across The night You take my hand Though you may be so many stars away I know that our spirits and souls are one We've circled the moon and we've touched the sun So here we'll stay For Always Forever Beyond here and unto eternity For Always Forever For us there's no time and no space No barrier love won't erase Wherever you will go I will know in my heart you will be With me From this day on I'm certain that we'll never be alone I know what my heart must have always known That love has a power that's all it's own And for always Forever Now we can fly And for always and always We will go on beyond goodbye For Always Forever Beyond here and on to eternity For Always And ever You'll be a part of me And For Always Forever One thousand tomorrows may cross the sky And for always And always We will go on beyond goodbye © Mikko Ojala
  7. Well the trailer was just streamed live here: http://www.lincolnmoviehangout.com/ I'm sure it will turn up in the usual places soon but for those who saw the stream: What did you think? I think it's looks interesting - SO many famous actors in it! I HATED the use of constant fading in and out of black... why do all trailers these days do that???? Williams' music sounded gorgeous Even if you missed the trailer, go to the stream now, Spielberg is being interviewed. First he talked about directing Daniel Day Lewis, now he's talking about how the book was whittled down to the screen play
  8. Warner Brothers is closing a deal for Lynsey Addario's memoir It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love & War with Steven Spielberg attached to direct, with Jennifer Lawrence starring. http://deadline.com/2015/03/steven-spielberg-jennifer-lawrence-warner-bros-its-what-i-do-lynsey-addario-war-photographer-1201384706/ No telling whether Spielberg will actually make this, or let it lapse for someone else to pick up.
  9. I'll repost my review here at this point and I will be making updates once I have seen the film to make more accurate comments on how the music relates to the story and the drama. Lincoln Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by John Williams http://www.jw-collection.de/images/lincoln_02.jpg A Review By Mikko Ojala The 26th collaboration between Steven Spielberg and John Williams takes them to the turbulent Civil War era of American history, the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. The upcoming motion picture Lincoln focuses on the last four months of the president’s life and the momentous decisions he was faced with during the ending of the civil strife and drafting the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery. Tony Kushner the famed screenwriter and playwright, who previously collaborated with Spielberg on Munich, provided a script based on the mammoth of a historical biography A Team of Rivals by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, which apparently took 6 years to forge into a workable script as the entire presidency and life of Abraham Lincoln proved too much for a single film to depict. The film boasts an impressive cast of Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln, Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robert Todd Lincoln, Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens, David Strathairn as the Secretary of State William Seward just to name a few and part of the film crew are the usual suspects in a Spielberg production, the cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, editor Michael Kahn and of course composer John Williams. John Williams is certainly no stranger when it comes to portrayals of American history and Americana as he has scored numerous films in the spectrum of the idiom throughout his career from the rural, frolicking The Reivers and The River to the heart aching string led lyricism of Born on the Fourth of July, and from the Southern flavoured blue grassy Rosewood to the stately nobility of Amistad or quiet heroism of Saving Private Ryan or the brassy valour of The Patriot. His approach to this type of film could be said to be archetypical for such a subject matter, the composer describing his score in a May 2012 interview with Jon Burlingame as written in the 19th century musical language and containing hymnal modalities in the spirit of the American music of the times. So it might not come as a huge surprise to Williams’ dedicated fans that he chose a mix of Coplandesque and his own inimitable brand of Americana to address Lincoln and still this might actually be one of his most outwardly traditional scores in the idiom to date, so strongly he embraces the modes and musical gestures, feel and inflections of tradition of American music. You could say that this new score forms a walk down the memory lane to the long time afficionados of his music as the different facets of his Americana writing pop up constantly on the soundtrack album and we do encounter in Lincoln brass and string writing in line with the style of Saving Private Ryan and Amistad, folk music stylings from scores like The Reivers, solemn sections similar to those in both The Patriot and War Horse and elegiac tones of Born on the Fourth of July, JFK and Nixon, but it has to be said that Williams does not self quote his old music but rather the overall sounds and styles of what has come before and building again something new on this foundation. In this respect Lincoln might not be groundbreaking in style and sound but it is despite of this highly entertaining and accomplished, at times ravishingly beautiful and powerful music which showcases once more Williams’ strengths, his gift for strong themes, deftness of orchestration and dramatic instinct. To enhance the connection of the music to the president himself the composer at Spielberg’s suggestion engaged the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus to perform the music in honor of Lincoln’s old home state of Illinois and to evoke some of the local musical flavour through their talent on the soundtrack. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has to be complemented for its vibrant and warm sound and the beautiful and numerous heartfelt solos gracing the album, the playing further elevating the emotional appeal of the music. Violin, trumpet, clarinet, bassoon, horn, cello and piano all receive lengthy solo passages but the entire ensemble creates a very empathetic, resounding and warm sound that feels very appropriate for this kind of music, capturing both the tenderness and the stateliness with equal skill and certainly gives the studio orchestras run for their money. The music on the soundtrack album travels between the two poles of stately reverent and lyrically intimate by the way of some rustic humour, reflecting perhaps the balance of these elements in the film, the public and private persona of the president and the affairs of his office. The above mentioned soloists play an important role in the music and on nearly every track one or more of the Chicago Symphony’s musicians are offered a moment to shine. This serves both the restraint for which this score audibly strives but also imparts a sense of simplicity, honesty and fragility, a certain sense of isolation, giving an impression a man amidst events that are greater than he is, and provides a great deal of emotional resonance to the music. A healthy amount of restraint seems to be a guiding thought in this project to both Spielberg and Williams so as not to overpower the performances of the actors or the reality of the film and the composer is obviously trying to do more with less in many instances, reserving grander musical histrionics only for a handful of moments on the album. This restraint and certain stream lined sparseness and reliance on gentle simplicity does not however dilute the musical expression of the score and I actually feel that it strengthens and focuses it, Williams saying perhaps more emotionally with reduced forces than with a complete symphonic ensemble blowing full steam ahead with brass section blazing through every track. Themes: The score boasts with a whole host of themes ranging from noble pathos to familial tenderness. As it might be clear from the above general description of the music all these ideas share a strong Americana feel, whether it is a down-to-earth and folksy or more classical hymnal one and here as in both of Williams’ recent scores (The Adventures of Tintin The Secret of the Unicorn and War Horse) these themes seem to form a family, that shares common musical roots. The composer’s decision to provide so many different ideas perhaps reflects the different aspects of Lincoln and the people close to him, the themes forming a tight knit fabric of motifs that flows from one to the next with fluid ease on the soundtrack album. Partly as a consequence from this way of writing and thinking Williams doesn’t obviously assign any of his themes a clear central position as the “main theme” of the score that then would be stated and restated with regularity, which might puzzle and frustrate some of his fans, and there are indeed several long and well developed ideas on the album vying for that title, appearing continously from one track to the next. Still after numerous consecutive listens With Malice Toward None seems to be for me the most important and emotional and certainly most memorable of all the themes on the album. With Malice Toward None (Lincoln’s Theme): The name of the theme refers to the second inaugural speech of Lincoln and it is a folk song styled, simple, lyrical and honest melody that could be said to be main theme of the score. It seems to embody the down-to-earth nobility of the main character and his humanity. Coloured with lilting gait of folk music in some settings and slow solemn progression of traditional hymns in others, this theme paints a very humble, thoughtful and gentle picture of the president of United States. Appears on the album: 04 The American Process: 1:18-1:47 and 3:10-end 06 With Malice Toward None 12 Freedom's Call: 0:24-2:29 16 The Peterson House and Finale: 1:49-3:13 and 7:40-8:25 17 With Malice Toward None (Piano Solo) The American Process: A gentle lilting Americana "home and hearth" melody with almost folk song quality, the theme pensive yet optimistic with a sense of earthy wisdom. It is set often in the woodwinds, clarinet, bassoon and flute but this idea is also frequently developed on stately strings or brass, revealing a nobler aspect and aspirations in this guise. Appears on the album: 01 The People's House: 2:16-3:09 04 The American Process: 0:00-1:19 and 2:10-3:00 11 Equality Under the Law: 0:00-1:36 12 Freedom's Call: 2:29-3:18 16 The Peterson House and Finale: 4:50-5:43 and 8:26-9:14 The People’s House: The most dramatic and triumphant of the themes, this noble and heroic idea is built on a leaping four note clarinet figure heard initially on the opening track and soon blooms to a full brass and strings setting, imparting a sense of victory and achievement, probably reflecting political and personal accomplishment. The idea is used sparsely on the soundtrack album appearing only on the opening track and the Finale track, and it seems that Williams is reserving this level of musical heroism for specific and crucial instances in the narrative. Appears on the album: 01 The People's House: 0:00-2:15 and 3:10-end 16 The Peterson House and Finale: 3:14-4:49 Freedom’s Call (The 13th Amendment): A short and direct melody, composed of a series of a few alternating chords, depicts perhaps Lincoln’s just and good aspirations and goals, the 13 Amendment and the abolition of slavery and his gentle wisdom and noble humanity. There is stately grace in this simple yet affecting idea, bridging the public and personal side of Lincoln and Williams offers numerous alternating variations of it throughout the score in different settings from solo piano to brass chorale. Appears on the album: 02 The Purpose of the Amendment: 0:55- 1:39 and 2:26-end 09 Father and Son: 0:34-0:52 and 1:08-end 11 Equality Under the Law: 1:37-end 12 Freedom's Call: 3:18-5:29 15 Appomattox, April 9, 1865: 0:24-1:08 16 The Peterson House and Finale: 0:24-1:20 and 6:19-7:39 The Elegy: A mournful and anguished string elegy, quite religioso in nature, that seems to exude regret, sorrow and horror all in one harrowing theme, a reminder of the Civil War and its ravages. Appears on the album: 08 The Southern Delegation and the Dream: 3:06-end 13 Elegy The Loss and Remembrance Theme: A theme that seems to relate both to Lincoln's personal loss, of his son William, but also to mourning of the tragedy of Civil War and remembrance. It is an unadorned piano melody that expresses bittersweet sorrow with a hint of regret. This musical idea is used sparsely and always retains the same guise, invoked on the piano, the most familial and "domestic" but also emotionally direct of instruments. Appears on the album: 05 The Blue and Grey: 0:00-1:01 14 Remembering Willie: 0:29-end 16 The Peterson House and Finale: 9:29-end *** Track-by-track analysis As I have not seen the film nor do not know the full narrative of the movie, the below analysis and names of the themes are pure speculation on my part, made only to give the piece a structure and to help identifying recurring musical ideas on the album. 01. The People’s House (03:41): A pensive 4-note phrase (a warm nod to Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring) on solo clarinet, played by Stephen Williamson, opens the album with an air of gentleness and optimism, the lilt of the melody almost asking a question as it repeats several times all the while developing the phrase, strings rising to support it. Flute and clarinet restate the original 4-note idea before Williams lifts the melody forth in key and strings sing out a fully formed upward climbing People’s House theme, noble and stately, as if denoting a moment of accomplishment and victory, brass accompanying the melody warmly underneath. Woodwinds present the second phrase of the thematic idea, slightly more thoughtfully winding melody implicating resolve before it is swept again into a majestically fanfarish and rousing full orchestra statement of this Americana theme, the 4-note motto of the theme slowly receding through the ranks of the orchestra to solo trumpet after the crescendo. Clarinet and flute duet plays a new theme, The American Process, another Americana melody where the two swaying woodwinds interlace their voices in the song-like melody that is dignified and initially almost folksy but soon reaches stately proportions as suddenly glowing violins underpinned by lower brass take up the theme, giving the music an air of importance, solo trumpet rouding out the track with a calm and proud statement of the People’s House theme. One of the stand-out pieces of the album, this is a wonderful way to open the CD but oddly the opening heroic musical idea does not return to the score until the finale. In overall feel this cue sounds like Amistad meeting Saving Private Ryan with a dash of the unabashed heroism of The Patriot thrown in. 2. The Purpose of the Amendment (03:06): A new ruminating and stoic melody is heard on clarinet and bassoon, developing slowly phrase by phrase but then moving to a hopeful and warm string idea, the first appearance of the Freedom’s Call theme, that calmly rises forth on higher strings, the celli and basses playing accompanying figures underneath giving the music a sense of forward progress, the theme perhaps illustrating Lincoln’s ideals and political aspirations concerning the 13th Amendment and healing the war torn nation. Clarinet and horns and trumpets all pass phrases, solo trumpet’s clear tones rising alone for a moment before autumnal strings and clarinet transition again to Freedom’s Call theme in the string section, this time more assured, glowing and reverent, clearly indicating a moment decision. The writing here reminds me of War Horse and Saving Private Ryan, especially Williams’ way of combining flute, clarinet and bassoon voices and the way the broad long lined theme is developed on strings. 3. Getting Out the Vote (02:48): Solo violin quickly and subtly hints at the chords of Freedom’s Call Theme, maybe a nod to the political action taking place during this light hearted cue, before Williams spins a wonderful jaunty Appalachian scherzando or dance for strings, solo fiddle, viola, woodwinds, tuba and light percussion, the music exuding wonderful hoe-down folk music feel and humour. The soloists have their moment to shine, violin and bassoon performing particularly delicious solos. This piece is a delightful interlude that offers not only variety and levity but allows the composer to explore a different side of Americana writing, the style and feel of the piece harkening back to his similar music in The Reivers. A terrifically sprightly and fun piece! 4. The American Process (03:56): Clarinet and bassoon duet once more, this time giving a long rendition of the American Process theme, solo flute joining them and for a while the trio develops the music alone the melody full of tender warmth. Oboe’s lyrical voice has almost a bucolic air here supported by the gentle lower strings before stately and burnished low and slow brass choir introduces a brief first statement of With Malice Toward None that ends in very dignified sounding brass phrases, hinting possibly at official state business. Randy Kerber, the only soloist not from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, performs a simple yet emotional piano variation on the American Process theme with solo flute ghosting subtly, calm swaying string chords melting into Christopher Martin’s sublimely serene trumpet reading of With Malice Toward None, a perfect depiction of nostalgia and longing, which closes the track in soothing tones. 5. The Blue and Grey (02:59): A dark hued theme plays on solo piano, the Loss and Remembrance Theme, slow and thoughtful, expressing in equal measure sorrow and regret, a warm yet sad memory. Randy Kerber’s reading is beautiful, the halting phrases of the theme capturing a quiet sense of loss and the toll of war. A repeating string rhythm starts a slow tug, piano first striking paced rumbling chords underneath, the music expressing deliberation, slow wait for a moment of decision, pensive clarinet and bassoon appearing underneath the rhythm, which transitions briefly from strings to the woodwinds and then back again continuing inevitably and finally slides into resigned silence. 6. “With Malice Toward None” (01:50): String orchestra performs the main theme of the film with sensitivity and grace, the melody in equal part hymnal and traditional folk music, the nobility, humane spirit and a sense of wisdom captured in this gentle lyrical melody. One of the highlights of the album full of emotion and tenderness of Williams’ best themes, the only downside being that it feels too short and I would have loved to hear Williams develop this theme further. 7. Call to Muster and Battle Cry Of Freedom (02:17) Williams includes on the album this resounding reminder of the music of the Civil War era, a piece of diegetic music for militaristic drums and choir, where the traditional sounding military snare drum tattoo with a lively piccolo melody bookends a performance of a famous Civil War era song Battle Cry of Freedom sung by the Chicago Symphony Chorus with patriotic resolve. 8. The Southern Delegation and the Dream (04:43) Somber strings and subdued militaristic brass calls give away to a solo trumpet intoning a tragic and dark melody above string harmonies, paced by subtle timpani, the atmosphere grave. The same grimly martial mood continues and after a brief passage for snare drum, elegiac strings and solo trumpet the music suddenly plunges into disturbing rumbling synthesizer textures and turbulently quivering murkily dissonant string layers, like a musical depiction of a nightmare. High strings slowly rise from the dark cloud of sound and begin a reading of the Elegy Theme, a mournful, lonely and subtly religioso composition, which seems to lament the tragedy of the Civil War and the countless victims of the conflict, the tone of the music forlorn and sad although the piece seems to find some measure of solace in the end. An interesting mix of moods, this piece conjures up shades of the darker and more challenging music and elegiac writing from Born on the Fourth of July, Nixon and JFK. 9. Father and Son (01:42) A solo bassoon presents a halting ruminating melody that moves on to a noble but grave horn statement before melting into a variation on the Freedom’s Call theme on celli and basses, a brief lyrical solo oboe phrase transitioning back to the theme, this time heard in a simple affecting solo piano reading, suggesting a moment of paternal wisdom. 10. The Race to the House (02:41) (Traditional, arranged and performed by Jim Taylor ) A selection of Civil War era folk music titled The Last of Sizemore arranged and performed by the traditional and folk music expert Jim Taylor and licensed from his album The Civil War Collection. A jaunty jig for fiddle, banjo, guitar and hammered dulcimer that contains excerpts from "They Swung John Brown To A Sour Apple Tree", "Three Forks of Hell", Last of Sizemore" and Republican Spirit". Another track that offers some authentic diegetic music from the era and at the same time some lighter tones amidst all the serious and solemn music. A very entertaining piece of music. 11. Equality Under the Law (03:11) A dreamy clarinet solo over expectant string harmonies plays the American Process theme before whole string section takes up the phrase, hinting at the Freedom’s Call’s harmonies before horn and clarinet in somber mood move to a humble statement of American Process theme. Clarinet and flute pair to perform the Freedom’s Call again, this time with solemnity, developing the original melody further until string section rises through this build-up finally to a beautiful yet restrained and reverent reading of this idea that poignantly rises higher and higher, a powerful and emotional musical moment before subsiding in warm harmonies in a classic Williams style. Another winner track, the slow build through the cue reaching a highly satisfying release at the end of the piece. 12. Freedom’s Call (06:06) Tubular bells toll quietly over glowing strings that flow into a solo violin rendition of the With Malice Toward None, a soulful and yearning performance by Robert Chen of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the melody gently underlined by simple guitar chords. The solo is full of poignancy and idealism yet the violin lends the melody touching emotional fragility that would melt the hardest of hearts. The string section continues to develop the theme, finding new avenues for it and in solemn beauty raises the music to a magnificently emotional height. After the theme has subsided clarinet and bassoon appear together, duetting and performing the American Process Theme that is taken over by the brass in almost heraldic proclamation, the theme working in this piece as a bridge melody that ushers in high strings that play the Freedom’s Call theme in its more developed and emotional guise while rhythmic figures on the double basses play underneath with a feeling of determination, the performance full of stately largesse and sense of accomplishment. Horns and trombones continue the theme reaching a triumphant peak with sense of finality when Williams suddenly releases an ethereal almost beatifically glowing variation of the theme on strings and ends the piece in a noble horn soliloquy by Daniel Gingrich. A stunning composition by the Maestro, drawing together the three central themes of the film. The music is combining moods similar to those of Saving Private Ryan, War Horse and the fiddling of Mark O’Connor from The Patriot. 13. Elegy (02:34) This track is a long development of the Elegy Theme that was previously hinted at on the track The Southern Delegation and the Dream. It opens with a duet for trumpets in almost military bugle call style singing the main melodic line of the sorrowful and tragic theme before the strings come in and repeat the theme in harrowing tones, Williams’ elegiac writing strong and lyrically moving as usual, the performance of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra highly emotional, the mood alternating from sadness to heart rending pathos and finally to religioso majesty, which ends the piece in a resigned calm. 14. Remembering Willie (01:51) After a few harp notes, solo violin and viola receive their own passages, subtly quoting the Elegy Theme before the cello takes over and sings forlorn above simple guitar chords until Loss and Remembrance Theme appears on the solo piano as mourning and contemplative as before, now further enhanced by the sonorous emotionality of the solo cello that appears in brief duet with the piano, expressing quiet but powerful sorrow and feeling of loss. The fragile tone of the music is just superb here, this brief but powerful piece full of emotion. 15. Appomattox, April 9, 1865 (02:36) Horn calls out alone, solemn and slightly mournful and a piano variation on the Freedom’s Call plays serene and unadorned, Williams relying on the simplicity of the most domestic of instruments to carry the emotion and message of the moment, before brass chords slowly flow into heart breakingly beautiful, ethereal sounds of ghostly choral voices, a moment of haunting sorrow, followed by solo clarinet and horn both equally sorrowful and pensive, deep woodwinds and strings bringing the cue to an ending full of dark foreboding. 16. The Peterson House and Finale (11:00) This piece draws together all the themes of the score into a long tone poem styled piece, meditation on all that has gone before on the soundtrack, a stunning and emotional finale. Oboe starts off alone, wandering and ruminating when solemn chords appear halfway between the opening of several of the main themes, showing their interconnectedness, but finally clarinet and flute settle on Freedom’s Call in a humble setting, oboe and cor anglais interrupting, a hint of the Elegy Theme darkening the mood. Reverently slow the With Malice Toward None rises in the strings, Williams omitting a few folk song styled decorative notes here and there in the melody to transform the theme into a more hymn styled variation, a regal deep brass choir repeating the theme full of telling solemnity, slow and dignified in their progressions from which the People’s House Theme begins in the flutes and surges quickly up into a fantastically triumphant full ensemble statement of the theme that slowly fades into a solo trumpet stating the 4-note motto of the idea. The American Process theme on its emblematic woodwinds, clarinet and flute, appears and soon leaps into glowing and courageous string rendition that is followed by a heraldic trumpet solo interlude, showing again the skills of Christopher Martin, his voice sounding like a lonely bugle over a field of battle. From this grows the Freedom’s Call theme in the high strings with the rhythmic low string accompaniment, here perhaps even more expressive than on track 12 and it marches forth, the theme statelier here than ever before. The solo trumpet returns singing With Malice Toward None in serene, warm and clear tones over piano chords, a stunning moment of Americana before the piano continues alone performing an innocent and down to earth variation on the American Process Theme, flute appearing to ghost the theme and in the final reassuring chords the music seems to fade into silence accompanied by a swaying string figure but Williams gives the last word to the Loss and Remembrance Theme, its somber and sorrowful notes bidding farewell to the listener in bittersweet thoughtful tones. 17. “With Malice Toward None” (Piano Solo) (01:31) A solo piano rendition of With Malice Toward None theme rounds out the album in a gentle, pensive mood, Randy Kerber’s performance liltingly warm and even nostalgic, a great finale to the entire listening experience. *** Lincoln is a very strong entry in Williams’ dramatic ouvre and on album it is a highly entertaining and listenable score, permeated strongly by the spirit of Americana. It might not break radically new ground in its approach for such a subject matter but it makes up for it in engaging thematic material, emotional soloist performances and a strong dramatic arc. While the score does make an instant impression with its melodic nature and warmly emotional tone, this is music that benefits from multiple listens, the thematic ideas intertwining through the album so that it takes a few listens to explore Williams composition in full and appreciate the way he approaches the subject matter and Lincoln's different facets. Those who come to this score expecting for the music to impress with bold brassy themes, sweeping statements and grand musical gestures or some kind of complete reinvention of the composer's style might be disappointed but all I can say as a fan of his intimate scores for dramas, his writing for solo instruments and his trademark Americana, this is another wonderful and heartfelt score from the Maestro and shows yet again how Williams is still at the top of his game and going strong at the age of 80, continuing to create some of the best film music around. Lincoln is definitely among the best of the year for me for its mastery of the idiom and sheer emotional appeal. © Mikko Ojala Credits: Music composed and conducted by John Williams Performer: Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Chicago Symphony Chorus Violin: Robert Chen Trumpet: Christopher Martin Clarinet: Stephen Williamson Bassoon: David McGill Horn: Daniel Gingrich Piano: Randy Kerber Additional Musicians: Charles Bisharat fiddle George Doering mandolin Alan Estes, Don Williams percussion Tommy Morgan harp Michael Valerio arco bass Producer: John Williams Editor: Ramiro Belgardt / Robert Wolff Recording Engineer: Shawn Murphy Mixing Engineer: Shawn Murphy Engineer: Brad Cobb Contractor: Sandy De Crescent Preparer: Jo Ann Kane Music Service Mastering Engineer: Patricia Sullivan Update: Film Cue List and approximate correspondence with the soundtrack album I have tried to figure out how does the soundtrack album line up with the film and how much of it is used in the movie and how much left out. Below is a break down of the score in the film cue-by-cue with track times to indicate pieces found on the album. This list contains a rough estimation as some cues sound very similar to the music on the CD but might be different takes. The track titles are either taken from the soundtrack album or the FYC promo and where none is found I have made them up myself. 1. Quickstep and the American Process/ The Dream (1;36) (OST track 7, approx. 0;00-0;32, 1;40-end + unreleased 0;30 + OST track 8, approx. 2;20-3;04) FYC CD track 1: Quickstep and the American Process The film version uses only a short portion of the Call to Muster found on the OSTberfore transitioning to the unreleased piano section and the music for the dream. 2. Sleeping Tad (1;42) (OST track 9) FYC CD track 2: Sleeping Tad 3. With Malice Toward None (0;48) (OST track 4, approx. 2;09-3;01?) FYC CD track 3 With Malice Toward None The OST section is probably an alternate take or a more fleshed out version of this variation of the American Process Theme made for the album. 4. Getting Out the Vote (2;25) (OST track 3, (2;49)) FYC CD track 4: Getting Out the Vote The album version is slightly longer than the film cue, which sounds like editorially shortened and looped. 5. The Southern Delegation Arrives (2;13) (OST track 8, 0;00-2;01) FYC CD track 5: The Southern Delegation Arrives On the OST the music crossfades with the dissonant Dream music. 6. Remembering Willie (1;41) (OST track 13) FYC CD track 6: Remembering Willie 7. Fort Fisher Is Ours (0;39) (Unreleased) 8. Trouble with Votes and Voters (1;20) (OST track 10, approx. 0;29-1;57) Non-Williams material. The music differs slightly from the OST counterpart, the music edited at various points. 9. Message from Grant and Decisions (2;35) (OST track 5, 1;01-end) FYC CD track 7: Message from Grant and Decisions The OST is missing some material and a clean opening. 10. No Sixteen Year Olds Left (1;51) (Unreleased) FYC CD track 8: No Sixteen Year Olds Left 11. The Telegraph Office (1;44) (OST track 1, 0;00-0;48 + track 12, 4;46-5;05 + track 1, 3;07-end) This piece is comprised of the clarinet and flute opening of track 1, which is edited into a short snippet of the Freedom's Call (track 12) and then quickly goes to the track 1 again. FYC CD track 9: The Telegraph Office 12. The Purpose of the Amendment (1;28) (Unreleased) FYC CD track 10: The Purpose of the Amendment 13. Equality Under the Law (1;34) (OST track 11, 1;37-end) FYC CD track 11: Equality Under the Law 14. The Military Hospital – The Argument (Unreleased) (1;35) 15. Persuading George Yeaman (0;27) (OST track 11, 1;09-1;36) 16. Mr. Hutton (0;59) (Unreleased) 17. Welcome To This House (1;41) (OST track 2, 0;00-1;40) FYC CD track 12: Welcome To This House 18. Race to the House (1;12) (OST track 10, partially unreleased) This piece mixes both the authentic folk music snippet from track 10 of the OST with a short new variations on the Getting Out the Vote (track 3) material which is editorially spliced together. 19. The American Process (2;26) (OST track 4, 0;00-2;10, (alternate)) The OST album contains an alternate version of the cue with different ending. FYC CD track 13: The American Process 20. Battle Cry of Freedom (0;50) (OST track 7, approx. 0;33-1;39) This is probably for the large part the same performance heard on the soundtrack album. 21. Thaddeus Stevens Returns Home (1;44) (OST track 2, 1;40-end, alternate) (Film version: unreleased opening section + OST track 2, 1;40-2;24 + 0;55-1;40) The version on the album is probably an alternate. The film version seems to combine a short unreleased opening section with the music found on the OST plus some tracked music from the Welcome to This House cue (incidentally found on the same track on the OST). 22. Lincoln Responds to the Southern VP (1;18) (Unreleased) FYC CD track 14: Lincoln Responds to the Southern VP 23. City Point (1;16) (OST track 5, approx. 0;00-1;00) FYC CD track 15: City Point The album cue crossfades with the Message from Grant and Decisions material. 24. Lincoln and Grant/Lee’s Departure (1;57) (OST track 15 (Alternate) (2;38)) FYC CD track 16: Lincoln and Grant/Lee's Departure 25. Trumpet Hymn (1;06) (Unreleased) FYC CD track 17: Trumpet Hymn 26. Now He Belongs to the Ages (2;47) (OST track 16, 0;00-2;47) FYC CD track 18: Now He Belongs to the Ages 27. End Credits (8;13)(OST track 16, 2;47-end) FYC CD track 19: End Credits Entirely or mostly unused pieces/concert suites: Track 1: The People's House: Aside from the opening, the whole middle section with the People's House theme and the whole American Process Theme are unused in the film. Track 6: With Malice Toward None: A concert arrangement of the theme. Track 8: Southern Delegation and the Dream (3:05-end): A variation on the Elegy Theme, which was entirely discarded in the film. Track 12: Freedom's Call: Again only a small snippet was used in the film, edited together with the music from the People's House track. Track 13 The Elegy: This theme is unused and its placement in the film is uncertain. Track 17: With Malice Toward None (Piano Solo): A concertized solo piano version of the theme. Warning the following contains spoilers! The Complete Score Analysis Lincoln is among the most subdued of the Spielberg/Williams collaborations in terms of the amount of music and its function in the film. John Williams has spoken in several interviews of trying to work underneath Tony Kushner's wonderful script and enhance the words and not to be a too obtrusive partner to the images. The composer was also extremely aware of the style and focus of the film and he and Spielberg use the music more as a subtle support for the drama than as a forefront participant in the storytelling. On the other hand the score works in a very traditional way by accenting the small beats and nuances of the scenes, fleshing out the emotions, the subtext often the unseen emotional turmoil of the main characters. It underscores the important turns of events in the film, facilitates transitions and provides humour but there is audible restraint working in the music throughout, the composer approaching the subject with obvious reverence (for good and for ill), the music rarely rising above a gentle whisper. As scoring approach is restrained and almost reverent, the composer chooses to enhance the positive qualities of the main character with various themes, all drawn seemingly from the Americana vocabulary of the times but still carrying Williams' indelible musical stamp on them. His inspiration were indeed the hymns and folk music of the 19th century but he has chosen rather to channel them through allusion than try to employ a completely authentic approach involving rigorous scholarship or strict recreation of the music of the times. Williams also focuses much of the time on soloists of the Chicago Symphony, their numerous solo parts and duets and trios throughout the score evoking an intimate lyrical atmosphere. Williams by his own word recorded over 90 minutes of music with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus but only about 40 minutes of this material ended up in the finished film. The soundtrack album contains a good portion of this music but a few sections still remain unreleased. The CD also includes much music that went unused in the film or these pieces were perhaps meant as concept compositions that would enhance the album listening experience as they are obviously well rounded pieces in their own right. A For Your Consideration album was sent at the eve of the Academy Award season to the voters, which presumably contains the music as it is presented in the film (by Academy rules) and also is the source of some of the track titles in the below track-by-track analysis. Themes Freedom’s Call (The 13th Amendment): A short and direct melody, composed of a series of a few alternating chords, depicting Lincoln’s just and good aspirations and goals, the 13 Amendment and the abolition of slavery and his gentle wisdom and noble humanity. There is stately grace in this simple yet affecting idea, bridging the public and personal side of Lincoln and Williams offers numerous alternating variations of it throughout the score in different settings from solo piano to brass chorale. The music connects especially to the moment when a group of blacks for the first time in the history of United States arrive at the People’s House to observe the vote for the Amendment. As stated the motif portrays Lincoln's noble qualities and humanity but also the great work of passing the 13th Amendment and ending slavery and naturally becomes the central musical idea that travels through the entire film, appearing more frequently than any other theme in the score. Appears on the album: 02 The Purpose of the Amendment: 0:55- 1:39 and 2:26-end 09 Father and Son: 0:34-0:52 and 1:08-end 11 Equality Under the Law: 1:37-end 12 Freedom's Call: 3:18-5:29 15 Appomattox, April 9, 1865: 0:24-1:08 16 The Peterson House and Finale: 0:24-1:20 and 6:19-7:39 With Malice Toward None: The name of the theme refers to the second inaugural speech of Lincoln and it is a folk song styled, simple, lyrical and honest melody. It seems to embody the down-to-earth nobility of the main character and his humanity. Coloured with lilting gait of folk music in some settings and slow solemn progression of traditional hymns in others, this theme paints a very humble, thoughtful and gentle picture of the president of United States. In interviews Williams said that he started the scoring process from the final scene of the film and worked backwards from there after he had gotten the theme for the inaugural address right. His goal was to find a melody close to the hymnal writing of the times and he mentioned that he had searched for something suitable from old hymnals but in the end found it better to try to convey the spirit of the music of the era and hymns with his own theme for the president. While this theme is frequently used on the album, in the film it appears a scarce few times, the composer reserving it for a few key scenes toward the end of the film, the most pivotal being the finale, where it gains a near beatific character. Appears on the album: 04 The American Process: 1:18-1:47 and 3:10-end 06 With Malice Toward None 12 Freedom's Call: 0:24-2:29 16 The Peterson House and Finale: 1:49-3:13 and 7:40-8:25 17 With Malice Toward None (Piano Solo) The American Process: A gentle lilting Americana "home and hearth" melody with almost folk song quality, the theme pensive yet optimistic with a sense of earthy wisdom. It is set often in the woodwinds, clarinet, bassoon and flute but this idea is also frequently developed on stately strings or brass, revealing a nobler aspect and aspirations in this guise. Williams keys this musical idea to the processes of state, the peace making overtures and especially the actual vote and work at the House of Representatives, the music exemplifying the positive force of democratic process. Appears on the album: 01 The People's House: 2:16-3:09 04 The American Process: 0:00-1:19 and 2:10-3:00 11 Equality Under the Law: 0:00-1:36 12 Freedom's Call: 2:29-3:18 16 The Peterson House and Finale: 4:50-5:43 and 8:26-9:14 The People’s House: The most dramatic and triumphant of the themes, this noble and heroic idea is built on a leaping four note clarinet figure heard initially on the opening track and soon blooms to a full brass and strings setting, imparting a sense of victory and achievement, probably reflecting political and personal accomplishment. The idea is used sparsely on the soundtrack album appearing only on the opening track and the Finale tracks. In the film this motif appears only as a single subtle quote of the opening phrases in one cue, the actual full melody appearing only in the end credits. Appears on the album: 01 The People's House: 0:00-2:15 and 3:10-end 16 The Peterson House and Finale: 3:14-4:49 The Elegy: A mournful and anguished string elegy, quite religioso in nature, that seems to exude regret, sorrow and horror all in one harrowing theme, a reminder of the Civil War and its ravages. This musical idea went entirely unused in the film, the movie makers most likely deciding that the images of war spoke even more powerfully without musical accompaniment. Appears on the album: 08 The Southern Delegation and the Dream: 3:06-end 13 Elegy The Civil War: This theme or motif is more of a set of orchestral colorings, military styled brass calls, snare drums and tense strings conjuring terse martial mood. A few alternating chordal progressions seem to convey the looming threat of the civil war and the military aspect of the political machinations. This style of music is reprised a few times in the film always either directly relating to the Southern Delegation and their military surroudings or the presence and danger of the war, which sets a dark backdrop to the whole story. This is another subtle nod the the direction of Aaron Copland, his work The Lincoln Portrait in particular. Appears on the album: 08 The Southern Delegation and the Dream: 0;28-1;39 The Loss and Remembrance Theme: A theme that seems to relate both to Lincoln's personal loss, of his son William, but also to mourning of the tragedy of Civil War and remembrance of the dead. It is an unadorned piano melody that expresses bittersweet sorrow with a hint of regret. This musical idea is used sparsely and always retains the same guise, invoked on the piano, the most familial and "domestic" but also emotionally direct of instruments. Appears on the album: 05 The Blue and Grey: 0:00-1:01 14 Remembering Willie: 0:29-end 16 The Peterson House and Finale: 9:29-end *** Complete Score Track-by-track Analysis The track names are taken from the For Your Consideration album and Original Soundtrack and where unavailable made up by myself. 1. Quickstep and the American Process/The Dream (1;36) (OST track 7, approx. 0;00-0;32, 1;40-end + unreleased 0;30+OST track 8, approx. 2;20-3;04, FYC CD track 1) Following the unscored bloody opening scene where the black Union men are locked in a hand-to-hand combat with the Confederate forces, president Lincoln is shown sitting under a tent tarp in a military camp where he is having a discussion with two black soldiers. Then two young awed Union soldiers approach as they spot the president and start to recite the Gettysburg Address to the chagrinned commander-in-chief. And none too soon the snare drums suddenly stir and interrupt the men and call the troops to muster (to the tune of the Quickstep march rhythm) before they can finish their rather automaton-like litany. A black corporal Ira Clarke, who has also been conversing with the president, continues to recite the ending of the Address almost as a reminder to Lincoln to heal the war torn nation and set the things right as he promised and a gentle piano rendition of The American Process Theme mixes with the snare drum tattoo, hinting at Lincoln’s important duty and work that still lays ahead of him. The film transitions to the president recounting his dream to his wife Mary, where he was riding a tall metal ship towards an unknown shore and this dissonant rumble in the lowest reaches of the orchestra, a bed of tremoloing strings and sizzling rubbed gong depicting the flickering dream imagery, sepia and grey in Lincoln’s memory, before fading slowly away as he finishes his tale. 2. Sleeping Tad (1;43) (OST track 9, Father and Son) Lincoln comes upon his son asleep before the fireplace with glass plates of African-American slaves sprawled beside his tin soldiers on the floor. A solo bassoon presents a halting ruminating melody that moves on to a noble horn statement as the president looks at the glass plate photos in grave sadness before the score melts into the first variation on the Freedom’s Call Theme on celli and basses, the theme associated here to Lincoln personally but also reinforcing his thoughts concerning the civil war and especially the 13th Amendment, a brief lyrical solo oboe phrase transitioning back to the theme as Lincoln lowers himself beside his son and gently awakens him. This time the melody is heard in a simple affecting solo piano reading, colouring this moment of paternal love as Lincoln carries his son to bed on his back, the familial moment of tenderness gracefully captured by the music. 3. With Malice Toward None (0;48) (OST track 4 approx. 2;09-3;01) After Lincoln makes a journey to the house of Preston Blair, the founder and head of the Republican party, and agrees to have him travel to Richmond to negotiate peace, we see the old man getting ready to leave in his carriage and a hopeful piano variation of the American Process Theme sees him off on his mission, the peaceful solution to the hostilities through negotiations his primary concern. 4. Getting Out the Vote (2;32) (OST track 3, (2;49)) A trio of agents (“skulking men” as the film puts it) is hired and sent by the Secretary of State William Seward to procure the critical votes on Lincoln’s behalf for the amendment. Solo violin nimbly opens this wonderful jaunty Appalachian scherzando or dance for fiddle, viola, woodwinds, tuba, light percussion and strings, the music exuding wonderful folk music feel, energy and humour when we see the various ways these voters are cajoled into changing their stance. The efforts of these three gentlemen are met by various stages of success and the music comments their haggling accordingly as we see them reporting to Seward on their results. The soloists have their moment to shine, violin and bassoon performing particularly delightful solos, the former actually underscoring an on-screen fiddler in the film. This music provides a much needed sense of humour and lightness to the otherwise serious film and Williams has fun with the rather salt of the earth and no nonsense characters of Robert Latham, W.N. Bilbo and Richard Schell. The film version is slightly different than the counterpart on the soundtrack album. Not only it is shorter but also contains repeated phrases to conform to the dramatic outline and beats of the scene. 5. The Southern Delegation Arrives (2;13) (OST track 8, 0;00-2;01) William Seward confronts Lincoln concerning the rumours of a Southern peace delegation arriving to Washington through the efforts of Preston Blair and somber strings slowly murmur to colour his feeling of apprehension at the notion, especially since the president neglected to consult him, his Secretary of State. When we transition to no-man’s land outside Petersburg, Virginia, subdued militaristic brass calls give away to a solo trumpet intoning a tragic and dark melody, The Civil War Theme, above string harmonies when the opposing forces have arrived to receive and escort the delegation, paced by subtle timpani, the atmosphere grave when the Confederates and the Union men stare at each other in obvious tension. The same grimly martial mood continues and after a brief passage for snare drum, elegiac strings and solo horn, the music suddenly plunges into disturbing rumbling strings when the dismayed delegates find out that majority of their escort is made up of black soldiers but in a show of temperate diplomacy ascend their carriage courteously, the score portending that these will not be easy negotiations. 6. Remembering Willie (1;50) (OST track 13) On the evening of the Grand Reception at the White House Lincoln is alerted of Mary’s sudden harrowing mood brought about by the party and grim memories connected with it. The president hurries to comfort her in Willie’s old room, their son having died 3 years prior during a party in the White House. The depressed and guilt ridden Mary is holding the portrait of their son, a few delicate harp notes and solo violin and viola subtly quoting the Elegy Theme, expressing her sorrow and remorse, the party another reminder of how they lost their child and how they couldn’t save him. As she laments the death and their time in the house that reminds her of it all, solo cello takes over and sings forlorn above simple guitar chords until Loss and Remembrance Theme appears on the solo piano, inconsolable and contemplative, further enhanced by the sonorous emotionality of the solo cello that appears in brief duet with it. The instruments express quiet but powerful feeling of grief and the parents' loss, the fragile tone of the music capturing both the tender bond between the pair and their shared sad memory as Lincoln gently urges his wife to stay strong. 7.Fort Fisher Is Ours (0;39) (Unreleased) Lincoln and his Secretary of War Edwin Stanton are in the midst of the nervous bustle of the War Department telegraph office monitoring the progress of the assault on Wilmington. Stanton is on edge and when the president goes into one of his stories the secretary storms out to oversee the war effort in less of a storytelling atmosphere. When he returns one of the telegraphs operators announces the news: Fort Fisher has fallen but Wilmington itself has not surrendered. Tense heavy and slow bass drum strokes amid grave low string chords announces the sour victory for the North as both the president and the secretary look alarmed and dismayed demanding to know the tally of casualties, the music portending heavy losses and further bad blood between the contending parties. 8. Trouble with Votes and Voters (1;20) (OST track 10 approx. 0;29-1;57) A selection of Civil War era folk music arranged and performed by the traditional and folk music expert Jim Taylor. A jig for fiddle, banjo, guitar and hammered dulcimer that contains excerpts from "They Swung John Brown To A Sour Apple Tree", "Three Forks of Hell", Last of Sizemore" and “Republican Spirit" underscores more efforts to get votes from rather reluctant Democrats, the troubles and unlucky incidents accented by this folksy and spirited music. Here the film makers saw an opporturnity to colour the characters of W.N. Bilbo and comrades and their rather unscrupulous dealings with sprightly humor and inject the score of the film with earthy and suitably playful music of the times. 9. Message from Grant and Decisions (2;35) (OST track 5, 1;01-end) Meanwhile General Grant has had discussions with the Southern delegates and telegraphs the president that someone of authority in the government has to come and negotiate with them or the opporturnity for peace will be lost. Seward in his usual habit presents Lincoln with the options, setting the peace and passing of the 13th amendment side by side, leaving the president to make the final decision, adding that he cannot hope to have both. A repeating string rhythm starts a slow tug, piano first striking paced rumbling chords underneath, the music expressing deliberation, slow wait for a moment of decision, pensive clarinet and bassoon appearing underneath the rhythm which transitions briefly from strings to the woodwinds and then back again continuing inevitably and finally slides into resigned silence when we see Lincoln torn over the chance of peace and the chance to end the slavery, both seeming to exclude each other at this juncture, the music enhancing the mood of his troubled pondering and the underlinining the high stakes of his decision. 10. No Sixteen Year Olds Left (1;51) (Unreleased) Lincoln, who is plagued by heavy burdens of the state and his important decision, can’t sleep and thus works through the night. He appears at the bedside of his young aides in the small ours of the morning, waking them up and arguing to the bleary eyed young men of the Stanton's decision of executing 16 year old private for laming his horse to avoid going to battle. He wants to pardon the boy, but the aides say that Secretary of Defence Stanton is against pardons to deserters. A pensive clarinet solo underscores Lincoln’s weary sorrow for such wasteful death and as he mentions to the surprise of his young assistants the Southern peace delegation and the rumours being true after all, the celli sing out a somber line. But when the president switches back to the issue of the young soldier, finally deciding to pardon him, an optimistic string phrase and noble solo horn quote the stately but stoic military brass colours of the Civil War Theme but here the mood is optimistic and resolved, the music blooming into a tentative reading of the first chords of Freedom’s Call Theme as Lincoln heads for the War Department telegraph office, the transition earning another statement of the military material pertaining to the peace delegation, now on glowing woodwinds. 11. The Telegraph Office (1;44) (OST track 1, 0;00-0;48 + track 12, 4;46-5;05 + track 1, 3;07-end) At the telegraph office Lincoln, while he is sending a reply to general Grant, gets into a conversation with the two young men on duty, the subject Euclid and equality. The president takes the mathematical theorem and expounds on its universal law so that it should apply to people as well as mathematics, the noble sentiments heard in the burgeoning clarinet reading of the opening phrases of the People’s House Theme that is gracefully taken up by the flutes when the president makes up his mind and decides to stall the arrival of the peace delegation, his desire to see the amendment passed winning in his mind and we hear a tenderly glowing strings rise into a short statement of the Freedom’s Call Theme, a trumpet soliloquy of People’s House Theme escorting the president out of the telegraph office, his plans and mind made up. In this piece the composer seems to pay homage to the great Aaron Copland, whose music has become almost synonymous with orchestral Americana, the initial 4-note opening phrase of the People's House Theme quoting the central motif from Copland's perhaps most famous work, the ballet Appalachian Spring. 12. The Purpose of the Amendment (1;28) (Unreleased) Things are coming to a boiling point in the debates at the House of Representatives and Thaddeus Stevens makes his entry in the discussion on the 13th Amendment bill. His word as the leader of the radical Republican wing holds a lot of weight and his colleagues plead him to compromise on his views in his speech and announce that the bill stands only for equality before the law and not universal equality for the blacks. A solo horn opens the cue when Thaddeus Stevens glances at the balcony where Mrs. Lincoln sits watching the debate, the music giving the moment pensive air, Mr. Stevens torn between his own radical opinion and what would be a politically more temperate approach. The solo continues as a Democrat representative Fernando Wood deliberately goads Stevens by proclaiming that he had always previously demanded full equality for the blacks and demands to know if this is still so. When Stevens seemingly struggles with the answer, the Freedom’s Call Theme plays in humble yet proud woodwind setting with subtle lower string accompaniment that rises to the fore, the rhythm of the motif repeating as everybody is holding their breath before Mr. Stevens answers. Solo horn calls out in stately manner as we see the brief moment of inner struggle of the representative, the music stopping just before he announces his stance: Stevens proclaims that the purpose of the amendment is to guarantee not full equality but equality before the law for the blacks. 13. Equality Under the Law (1;34) (OST track 11, 1;37-end) George Pendelton, one of the leaders of the Democrats and rabidly against the amendment, accuses Stevens of turning his coat and prevaricating. Stevens then repeats his stance, Freedom’s Call Theme starting a slow development on clarinet, flute and bassoon, Williams extending the theme’s melody ever so slightly as the leader of the Republican’s ends his scatching speech on equality before the law on a triumphant note, the Republican party members cheering, the orchestral strings blossoming into a soaring and unabashedly hopeful reading of the Freedom’s Call Theme, which continues relieved and confident as he walks slowly out of the House chamber after finishing his speech, the score celebrating this smaller stepping stone and victory on the road to abolishing the slavery. 14. The Military Hospital – The Argument (Unreleased) (1;35) Lincoln is visiting the military hospital accompanied by his eldest son Robert, who sulkingly accuses his father of deliberately trying to dissuade him from enlisting by bringing him along to see the wounded and the dying. Defiantly he says that he knows all about the horrors of war and that his father won’t turn his head. To all this Lincoln answers with apparent good natured calm. As the president goes about his official business of meeting the wounded, Robert sees two soldiers carting off a covered bloody heap on a wheelbarrow, their work leaving a grim red trail behind them as they go. He follows and sees to his disgust and horror that they were transporting amputated limbs to be buried, all unceremoniously dumbed into a pit behind the hospital. Robert walks away shaken and a tragic call of a solitary horn over whispering high strings exclaims his shock and sorrow. He stiffles a sob and when his father appears elegiac strings sing out the younger man’s defiant wish to enlist, the suffering of war only steeling his resolve and adding to his frustration. Lincoln understands but reminds him of the suffering of those, who have to give up their children to war, Freedom’s Call Theme humanely calling out his fatherly concern on warm brass as the president dispenses this wisdom as a father not as a head of state but he also reminds his son that he is the president and can decide on his enlistment if he so wishes. Robert snaps that his father is just afraid of his mother and what she might do or say, which suddenly provokes a slap from the president, the music turning tragic and ominous as Robert storms off shouting, the solo trumpet and accompanying grim horns quoting the militaristic mood of the Civil War Theme once more, the threat of war and death looming in the music as Lincoln wearily exclaims in half-whisper that he doesn’t want to lose his son to the civil strife. 15. Persuading George Yeaman (0;27) (OST track 11, 1;09-1;36) One of the uncertain Democrats, George Yeaman, is invited to the White House to a discussion with the president. Lincoln in his typical way starts a story, this time about him and his father, but finally makes an honest plea to the representative to vote for the amendment, arguing his case emphatically. Solo clarinet in equally pensive style opens this short cue and as he makes his final plea the American Process Theme on woodwinds and brass seems to ask a decision from Mr. Yeaman before trailing off into silence. 16. Mr. Hutton (0;59) (Unreleased) A somewhat gloomy clarinet and bassoon duet underscores Lincoln’s attempt to persuade Mr. Hutton, another Democrat representative, to vote for the amendment. The man refuses as he holds a deep grudge against the blacks as his brother died in the Civil War and the music remains stoic and melancholy as the clarinet and bassoon continue their discussion. Lincoln then says he is not going to try to turn Mr. Hutton around with any more speeches and that the amendment will likely pass without his help and that he has to acknowledge that the black people will live among the white and the score subtly quotes a few opening notes of the Freedom’s Call Theme before warm string phrase ends the piece as Lincoln offers his condolences to Mr. Hutton’s family and steps into his carriage having made his case. 17. Welcome To This House (1;41) (OST track 2, 0;00-1;40) And so comes finally the morning of the vote for the 13th Amendment. The stoic melody heard in the previous cue is reprised again on clarinet and bassoon, developing slowly phrase by phrase as Thaddeus Stevens is seen arriving to the empty House floor obviously full of trepidation on the eve of this momentous occasion. The melody moves gradually to flute and clarinet coupling as we see people assembling to the House of Representatives. When Asa Vintner Litton, a Republican representative and a fervent abolitionist, welcomes a group of African-Americans to the House balcony to observe the vote, first such group to ever visit the House of Representatives, a hopeful and warm string reading of Freedom’s Call Theme kindles in the orchestra that steadfastly rises forth on violins and violas, the celli and basses playing accompanying figures underneath. These are finally joined by low burnished brass to celebrate this historical moment, the music itself here winding into silence to observe the vote. 18. Race to the House (1;12) (OST track 10, partially unreleased) The debate preceding the vote for the amendment comes to a standstill when the Democrats demand confirmation to the rumours of Confederate peace delegation in the capital and thus of postponing the vote until a peace has been negotiated. The conservative Republican wing joins with the Democrats in their request under orders of Preston Blair and soon the president’s aides and N.W. Bilbo are rushing to the White House to inform Lincoln and asking him for the answer to the Democrats’ question. Williams answers this scene with a brief humorous scherzando, which editorially combines his motif for the “skulking men” heard in Getting Out the Vote and the traditional folk music melodies, when we see the trio of men running from the Hill to the White House in breathless hurry to deliver their message and to save the vote for the amendment. 19. The American Process (2;24) (OST track 4, 0;00-2;10, (alternate)) The vote is finally drawing to a close and Williams underscores the action with the American Process Theme that evokes in its honest simplicity the rightness of the democratic process. A duet of clarinet and bassoon sings the theme alone for a moment when representative Alexander Coffroth announces his “yes” vote and soon a solo flute joins in, the action moving to the headquarters of General Grant where the troops are intently following the tally through the telegraph. The orchestrations gather strength as the woodwind section finally reprises the melody in full form as votes are cast one by one by the representatives. In the White House Lincoln is seen sitting with his son Tad in his lap reading a book together and a serene and familial oboe solo expresses a tender and calm personal moment for the president in juxtaposition to the historical event taking place at the House of Represetatives, the deep and warm strings carrying the score back to the House where the roll call is concluding. A sustained chord in high string plays as the Speaker of the House Colfax announces suddenly that he wants to cast a vote and George Pendelton objects the rarely used priviledge as subdued clarinets play a dour phrase. Stately brass announces the Speaker’s “aye” vote and concludes the tally, strings rising with noble intent as the clerk hands the document to Schuyler Colfax, the cue ending in another sustained chord for suspense as he slowly reads the results. 20. Battle Cry of Freedom (0;50) (OST track 7, approx. 0;33-1;39) The 13th Amendment passes and the Republicans rejoice, the representatives beginning an impromptu chorus of Battle Cry of Freedom, a popular patriotic Civil War era song by George Frederick Root and the unofficial tune of Lincoln’s second term campaign. The song gradually morphs from the rough version sung out of tune at the House floor into a full chorus and orchestra, here performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, first male voices and then female joining with them when Thaddeus Stevens is seen taking the bill of the Amendment and walking home through the streets where people are celebrating, the song proudly calling out as a victorious march on this historical occasion. 21. Thaddeus Returns Home (1;44) (OST track 2, 1;40-end (Alternate)) (OST track 1;40-2;24 + 0;55-1;40) The orchestra starts tentatively when Thaddeus Stevens closes his door and is welcomed by his black housekeeper and he hands her the Amendment as a “gift”, the melody in the strings and woodwinds reminiscent of the one that opened the Welcome to This House cue. Clarinet passes a proud and confident melodic phrase to horns and finally to solo trumpet as Stevens is seen getting into bed, where his housekeeper is already seen sitting with the bill in her hands and a gentle and tender clarinet voices the man’s affection for her. She begins to read the Amendment aloud to him and Freedom’s Call Theme is evoked by Williams in its proudest and most resolute form yet, a musical reassurance of the values inherent in the document and the crowning moment to Mr. Stevens in his struggles against slavery, which as we now see has also had a very personal motive. 22. Lincoln Responds to the Southern VP (1;18) (Unreleased) After the passing of the 13th Amendment the president travels to meet the Southern delegation and their leader the Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens. Both parties express their views at the negotiation table, the Confederates bitter and resentful of their lot and the recent passing of the amendment. As Lincoln expounds upon the ideal of democracy and its longevity, the futility of further bloodshed and war, a ruminating bassoon solo above subtle string accompaniment supports his words with quiet lyricism. Strings slowly grow more insistent as the tension grows and the same turbulent orchestral rumbles that underscored Lincoln’s nightmare at the opening of the film are suddenly quoted when the president makes a plea to stop the war, the question left ominously hanging in the air unanswered, the image dissolved into a raging inferno of a town burning in the night, a grim nightmarish visage of the destruction of the Civil War. 23. City Point (1;16) (approx. OST track 5, 0;00-1;00) Outside Petersburg, Virginia Lincoln arrives at the scene of a recent battle, the land torn and burning, the countless dead, the Blue and Grey, lying side by side in the middle of the carnage. As the president rides amid the battle field a touching and unadorned rendition of the Loss and Remembrance Theme plays on piano, the head of state taking off his stove pipe hat and honoring the fallen soldiers as he passes in silence through the fields of the dead, the music giving the moment a poignant but mournful cast, the weariness brought on by this long suffering reflected in the president’s face and in the score. 24. Lincoln and Grant/Lee’s Departure (1;57) (OST track 15 (alternate) (2;38)) The piece opens with an unused section of music. Lincoln meets with general Grant at the Thomas Wallace House at Petersburg, where he holds his temporary headquarters. A horn calls out alone, solemn and remorseful as the two men share a moment while sitting on a porch by the roadside, the horror of the field of the dead still fresh in the president’s mind. A piano variation on the Freedom’s Call Theme serene and unadorned with a tinge of regret appears, Williams relying on the simplicity of the most domestic of instruments to carry the emotion and message of the moment, when Lincoln admits to Grant they have allowed each other to do terrible things, the gentle tone of the music almost rueful here as Lincoln is still shocked by the death he has seen, a concrete reminder of the toll of war. The general admits this but also says that they have won the war and that now Lincoln should focus on healing the nation. Slow and solemn brass chords (unused in the film) flow into heart breakingly beautiful, ethereal sounds of ghostly choral voices of the Chicago Symphony Chorus that seem to evoke the voices of dead of the Civil War as much as they mark this important moment of history as we see general Lee surrendering to general Grant and effectively ending the war. Here the significance of the relatively small and intimate scene and all the historical ramifications are carried by the score, which magnifies the near everyday scene with dramatic subtextual meaning. Solo clarinet carries a defeated and somber tones as Grant magnanimously salutes the defeated general with his men, horn answering for general Lee, both equally sorrowful and pensive, deep woodwinds and strings bringing the cue to a gloomy finale as the Confederate commander rides away from the Appomattox courthouse in silence, the music mirroring more the mindset of soldiers and their honor, won and lost, than the relief at the end of the civil strife. On the album this piece is slightly longer than in the film, opening with a solo horn soliloquy, which then proceeds to the Freedom's Call Theme. In the film the score opens with the Freedom's Call Theme on piano but in different key and omits the longer bridge between it and the choral section. 25. Trumpet Hymn (1;06) (Unreleased) And so the rebuilding of the nation can begin. At the White House Lincoln is holding a meeting with the Speaker of the House and select representatives, when his aide comes to remind him of his engagement at the theater and that he should be leaving to pick up his guests. Lincoln’s black valet Mr. Slade hands him his gloves and the president proceeds to leave and all the assembled rise to see him off and a solo trumpet sings With Malice Toward None in poignant spirit, the music speaking clearer than words for the significance of the moment, the noble yet earthy decency captured in the melody, the music equivalent of a goodbye as the president exclaims almost wistfully "I suppose it’s time to go, though I would rather stay". The president throws away the leather gloves that he distinctly dislikes and his servant tries to catch up with him but stops at the last minute and turns to take a look at Lincoln with some premonition in his eyes. Williams catches this foreboding by weaving a subtle strain of the supporting chords of Loss and Remembrance Theme into the score on piano as we see the figure of the president slowly walking down the hall and disappearing from view, the trumpet’s voice receding into silence with him, the scene and music full of poignant inevitability. Williams originally composed this cue for Lincoln's ride through the battlefield at City Point but the piece was unused in that scene. Instead Spielberg moved it in this scene where it provides a poignant final salute to the president before the assassination. 26. Now He Belongs to the Ages (2;47) (OST track 17, 0;00-2;47) The president has been shot (this happens off-screen) and we next see him when he has been taken to the Peterson House near the Ford Theater, where he has lain through the night. Oboe begins the piece alone, wandering and ruminating full of aching grief as near hysterically weeping Mrs. Lincoln is escorted out of the room, where she has just seen her dying husband. The cabinet ministers, the doctors, president’s aides and his eldest son Robert have gathered around the deathbed and slowly solemn chords appear halfway between the opening of several of the main themes, showing their musical interconnectedness and common source in Lincoln's character when a physician finally announces the president dead. When Edwin Stanton the Secretary of War exclaims “Now he belongs to the ages” clarinet and flute settle on Freedom’s Call in a humble setting as the camera glides away and moves to the flame of a lamp and we hear Lincoln’s voice reciting his second inaugural address, the president seen at the center of the flame. The speech continues and oboe and cor anglais interrupt the Freedom’s Call melody, a briefest hint of the Elegy Theme appearing as Lincoln reminds the listeners of the horrible cycles of hate and of the punishment for sins of which the slavery is among the worst to his mind and he saw the Civil War as a divine punishment for this. Reverently slow the With Malice Toward None rises in the strings when the president expounds upon the charity and humanity people should show in rebuilding the state, to friend and foe alike as they are still of the same nation. Williams omits a few folk song styled decorative notes here and there in the melody to transform the theme into a hymn styled variation, the string setting reverent and solemn with deep benevolent warmth, the gentle strains of the melody drawing the film to a calm resolution as the screen slowly fades to black. 27. End Credits (OST track 17, 2;47-end) This cue draws together all the themes of the score into a long tone poem styled piece, meditation on all that has gone before on the soundtrack, a stunning and emotional finale. A regal deep brass choir with woodwind accompaniment repeats With Malice Toward None full of calm solemnity, slow and dignified in their progressions from which the People’s House Theme begins in the flutes and surges quickly up into a triumphant full ensemble statement of the melody that slowly fades into a solo trumpet stating the opening 4-note motto of the theme. The American Process Theme on its emblematic woodwinds, clarinet and flute, appears and soon leaps into glowing and courageous string rendition that is followed by a heraldic trumpet solo interlude, showing again the skills of Christopher Martin, his voice sounding like a lonely bugle over a field of battle. From this grows the Freedom’s Call Theme in the high strings with the rhythmic low string accompaniment marches forth, the theme perhaps statelier in its progression here than ever before. The solo trumpet returns singing With Malice Toward None in serene, warm and clear tones over piano chords, a stunning moment of Americana before the piano continues alone performing an innocent and down to earth variation on the American Process Theme, flute appearing to ghost the theme and in the final reassuring chords the music seems to fade into silence accompanied by a swaying string figure but Williams gives the last word to the Loss and Remembrance Theme, its somber and sorrowful notes bidding farewell to the listener in bittersweet thoughtful tones. -Mikko Ojala-
  10. Apologies if we had one of these before, the search function is still not right, so you can merge if you wish. In any case... http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=29282'>ROBOPOCALYPSE!!! I hope someone makes it, cause that's a great title.
  11. I am happy to announce the latest collaboration between the London Symphony Orchestra, the European FilmPhilharmonic Institute and conductor Frank Strobel: "Tribute to Steven Spielberg" December 10, 2017 @ Philharmonie de Paris, France London Symphony Orchestra Frank Strobel, conductor Repertoire to include excerpts from BACK TO THE FUTURE by Alan Silvestri BRIDGE OF SPIES by Thomas Newman INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE by John Williams JAWS by John Williams JURASSIC PARK III by Don Davis POLTERGEIST by Jerry Goldsmith SUPER 8 by Michael Giacchino THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN by John Williams THE BFG by John Williams and other works https://philharmoniedeparis.fr/en/activity/concert-avec-images/17859-hommage-steven-spielberg
  12. A while ago, when I was reading the new Nemesis news on ST.com, I read where John Logan (the writer for Nem.) was going to pen a script for Spielberg to shoot about the life of Abraham Lincoln. I haven't heard anymore developments on this, but I wondered if anyone else had heard this too?
  13. I'm not sure if you guys know it yet, but it seems like Jurassic Park IV has been put by the wayside (for the 100th time) and Universal Pictures has decided to re-release the first film in digital 3D. The re-release will hit theaters July 19, 2013 (Universal has moved the Tom Cruise-starrer Oblivion to April 26 from its original July 19 spot). http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=jurassicpark3d.htm I know my dad will be happy to see this in theaters again...
  14. I don't know who's aware of NIGHT SKIES and who's not. I imagine most of you are, as you're all Williams fans, which eventually traces back to Spielberg in some way, shape or form. Anyway, here's some info on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Skies In short, it was apparently going to be E.T. minus the Reeses-eating, doe-eyed alien and kids who were jumped up on Pepsi Cola. Well, related to this, Rick Baker, the badass SFX artist, recently posted an image of the NIGHT SKIES alien on his Twitter page. Here it is: https://twitter.com/TheRickBaker/status/469494395813638146/photo/1 Shame this film never came about. I really enjoy Williams's score for E.T., but can only imagine what he would have come up with for a darker version of the film.
  15. Dreamworks will be releasing Amistad on Blu-ray in the US on May 6. It's up for preorder on Amazon.com.
  16. http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=7943 Universal announces Jaws on Blu-Ray, august 2012
  17. http://www.hometheat...ry-blu-ray-book The extra contents will feature Warner at War, a 2008 documentary narrated by Steven Spielberg and with original music by John Williams (according to IMDb).
  18. Lincoln is an interesting film. It's not a biopic about his life, it is not a character study, it’s not an epic production with a huge scope. Other than the strange ending in the film, it's a story that can be both simple and very complicated that takes place in the last few week of January of 1865. The United States of America have been in a civil war for the past 4 years; many southern states have seceded from the union and formed a Confederacy. The southern economy at the time relied on the slave labor of african slaves, who were not treated as people but as property and could be bought and sold. The Emancipation Proclamation order by President Abraham Lincoln 2 years prior has made any slaves from the Confederate states free, but now a proposed 13th amendment to the Constitution would make owning slaves illegal forever. The amendment had passed Senate approval the year before, and the film leads up to January 31st, 1865, when the House of Representatives will vote to pass it or not, the last step needed to enact it. Lincoln and his cabinet assume all the Republican Representatives will vote for it, and they determine that 20 democratic votes will be enough to get it to pass. The movie alternates between scenes of various associates visiting various democrats trying to sway their vote, while also giving insight into the life of Lincoln and his family and life in the White House at the time. Lincoln and his wife Mary have already lost two children, with the memory of their recently deceased second son Willie still haunting them both deeply, especially Mary. Mary cannot stand to lose another son, so when their oldest son Bob comes home from college in Boston talking about how he wants to enlist and fight for his country, this creates tension in the household and further motivation for Lincoln to end the civil war as soon as possible. The scenes of Lincoln with his family are usually hard to watch, with Lincoln failing to connect with Bob at all, and Mary going through various stages of grief, stubbornness, and . It is Tad, the Lincoln’s youngest son that Lincoln gets along with best. It is clear that Lincoln wants to make sure Tad gets the attention he needs while he is still a young boy and that Lincoln has high hopes for him. Bob’s character is underwritten and it felt like there could have been scenes dropped to the cutting room floor that would help flesh out his character and make the few scenes he had have more impact. The scenes involving various associates of Lincoln and his cabinet trying to sway Democratic Representatives into voting for the bill varied from funny and charming to kind of unsettling, as sometimes the “good guys” seemed to cross the line to ensure the vote. Some of these scenes were also redundant and more scenes showing the brutality of the war would really have helped raise the stakes and make the tough decision LIncoln must make between doing whatever it takes to ensure the amendment passes, and potentially ending the war when a delegation from the confederacy arrives to talk peace. Lincoln is told more than once that the amendment passes will ensure the war will rage on for an untold period of time longer, while canceling the amendment will lead to the Confederacy stopping the fight and being willing to rejoin the union. The tension in the film revolves around if Lincoln will chose one path or the other, or find a way to do both. What worked in the film: -The set & costume design, Its quite remarkable how well the film transports you to 1865, especially in light of the recent thread we had about how Spielberg themes had fallen into a routine in their look. This one's different, you are totally submersed. - The cinematography. Some great cinematic images such as cigar smoke slowly blowiing through the frame, light coming in the windows, etc. The few outdoor scenes put you right there as well. - The actors. I had NO IDEA there were SO MANY actors I knew in this film. I dunno if I recognized so many faces just because I watch a ton of movies and tv shows, or if Spielberg really got the best actors to be in the film. But scene after scene you will keep recognizing people, and they all nail their roles. - Daniel Day Lewis. It was a pleasure watching his performance in every scene he was in, especially when Lincoln would tell his stories, usually to the chagrin of those around. What didn't work: -The slow pace came as quite a surprise to me. Perhaps I can blame myself for anticipating a typical Spielberg film, but really when it started out slow I figured it was building to something early on, but when that same pace persisted throughout, I quickly realized this was it. It's a film of people talking to each other and that's about it. - I didn't feel the film succeeded fully in showing the states of what would happen if the bill didn't pass and the war didn't end. I thought the idea that Lincoln wanted the war to end so his son wouldn't be killed in battle was a brilliant one, but that went nowhere (more on that next). What would have helped was showing more scenes of the civil war and how brutal it was, but other than the opening battle we never saw anything! It was fine to talk about how many people were dying, but this is a movie, and something needed to be shown. The wheelbarrow of arms was not enough, and the film was really hurt by not showing the port battle that happened in the middle of the film. - Back to Lincoln's son, as I said they set up a great motivation for Lincoln where he didn't want to lose another son, especially with all the scenes with Mary Lincoln about it.... but then he just gets an assignment working for Grant and it's not a big deal at all. Not a compelling end to that plot thread. - It was really off-putting to see the "good guys" being the ones doing shady political things. I mean, I'm not saying you ever route for the opposers of the Thirteenth Amendment, but they are shown as just being men of their beliefs while the "good guys" are shown bribing and talking people into getting what they want throughout. I guess that was kind of the point, and that the bill was bigger than any man or policies, but it was uncomfortable at times to watch. - I don't quite get what the message of the film was. It didn't really say anything about Lincoln, other than in these 2 weeks it was really important to him to pass this bill. I felt like a lot of threads are left dangling and unresolved. I think this was intentional, as it makes his death all the more shocking I suppose, but I don't think their plan succeeded and I just felt the ending was rushed and horribly executed. Honestly I'd see it again, to take in the atmosphere, the acting, the score one more time. But now I am left feeling like with so many films that the script is the film's weakest point and made the film overall not recommendable. However many opinions can be changed in a second viewing and I actually hope to give the film one soon. I feel like right now I'm exactly split between recommending it or not. To all Spielberg and Williams fans you absolutely should see it - you never know when you're seeing the last film made by either Legend, and even their failures have enough in them to recommend.
  19. Saw this today on twitter and am posting the info for all JWFans in the Atlanta area: Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 8:00 p.m.: Academy Award-winning composer John Williams and Academy Award-winning director and producer Steven Spielberg will join the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for “An Evening with John Williams, Steven Spielberg and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.” Mr. Williams will guest conduct the Orchestra in a selection of his most popular original film compositions while movie clips are shown on a giant screen and Mr. Spielberg will host the concert. The proceeds from this performance will benefit the Orchestra and its education and community engagement programs. Link: http://www.atlantasy... - FINAL 4.ashx
  20. Spielberg's long-time associate producer Kathleen Kennedy has been named co-chair of LucasFilm as successor of George Lucas: http://www.deadline.com/2012/06/lucasfilms-names-kathleen-kennedy-as-co-chair/ Interesting.
  21. Max. 4 possibilities people. For me, that would be: The Adventures of Tintin Escape from the Karaboudjan The Captain's Counsel The Clash of the Cranes
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.