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Does ~8:00 and then again at ~8:45 and on, but most especially at ~9:15 on in "The Train" (Horner, The Legend of Zorro) sound like music for the Resistance in Star Wars: The Force Awakens? For me, I now hear those strings at ~1:00 in "Scherzo for X-Wings" as castanets!

For anyone not aware, there was a lot of conjecture surrounding unused TFA music featured in one of the film's making-of documentaries. The music above is an example of such music, which several posters attributed as a possible Jedi Steps alternate. I decided to test how the music would play over that scene and where it might fit. This was the best result I could create but it's pure guesswork, so just use the video as a reference for the music itself. What's interesting for me (and someone with a stronger musical knowledge might be able to confirm my theory) is that the horns playing in counterpoint to the strings from 0:11-0:15 appear to be playing a fragment of the Jedi Steps theme! It actually sounds like a prototype of the theme before Williams refined the idea into the final film version. The use of mysterious strings at 0:03 are also carried across to the final version of the cue here:

Hey everyone! Check out my new video, A Peek Behind the Curtain - The Making of Kylo Ren's Theme Overdub It shows how I make my recordings. Hope you enjoy it! Please check out my website and subscribe to my youtube channel!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtG6mBPNa2o James Nova Trombone - Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Brass Area Coordinator and Adjunct Trombone Faculty - Duquesne University Brass Coach - Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestras jimnova.com

Now that we had time to watch/listen to TLJ many times.... What's your opinion now? Both are very good, but I'd say TFA for score (Rey's Theme!), and TLJ for movie.

I've been listening to the TFA score for about two years now, which is enough time for me to absorb it properly and I've had just about every kind of emotion towards this score in that time: sometimes I hate it, sometimes I love it, and sometimes I'm just not really interested. I've gotten to the point where I absolutely love it concretely now and it's mostly because I've had a lot of epiphanies about how it squares up against previous Star Wars entries. At first glance it seems lacking. The orchestrations are fairly simple overall compared to previous entries, so initially it comes across as somewhat "vanilla" and very basic. The strings/horns take front and center even MORE than they did before, with a lot of Williams' typical decorative bells and flutes not quite as present especially during action sequences. The "mickey mouse" is almost completely gone here so to speak, which initially came off as very self-conscious. It's almost as if he's somewhat stripped away a lot of what I love about his music, yet, still gave me something absolutely solid to the core. This is why I was disappointed initially but couldn't really admit it to myself. But... I couldn't stop listening Rey's theme. Rey's theme brings it all the way home. It reminds me the most of Across the Stars, not so much the melody but his placement of the theme throughout the film. It's almost used like "musical wallpaper" to give the entire picture a single theme to remember, rather than previous entries' "bottomless mug" approach. The way he scores Rey's scenes reminds me the most of how he scored E.T.'s scenes; delicate bells complimented by warm, rising strings that feel more like a hug than anything else. Curious and naive, yet also intelligent. But still, Rey's theme wasn't enough to solve the biggest puzzle in my head: why does the orchestration in this score feel so stripped down? Where are my twenty new themes like TPM? Is JW getting lazy? Was it on purpose? Wait... That's when it hit me like a brick: BACK TO BASICS. The whole approach that Kennedy and Abrams had for TFA was all about going back to it's roots; finding the essentials of Star Wars and building off of that. Well that's EXACTLY what JW did with this score. He stripped all the fat and cut a Star Wars score right to it's core giving us the basic building blocks of a AAA film score. The orchestration speaks for itself in my opinion, and perfectly reflects the spirit of the film. I can't wait to see if JW slowly builds onto the TFA score with TLJ, adding elements of the older trilogies here and there so that by the end of the trilogy everything feels well rounded. It's as if JW is reinventing himself for this trilogy by going back to his roots yet bringing us a somewhat fresh approach without feeling too derivative (the film itself is already a little too derivative, which explains why he didn't go full "Star Wars" with this one yet) I really can't put my finger on it, and might need all of my fellow JW fans to take another look at this for me, but I swear that the bouncing flute at the beginning of Rey's theme is a variation of the Imperial March. It could be a coincidence, as it usually is.... but maybe it's not. Mods: If you need to put this in the TFA thread I totally understand.

There's been discussion of this piece scattered in various threads, and I figured it was prime time it got its own thread to increase visibility of this piece Here are two performances of it on Youtube, anyone know of any others?

Inside look at the making of the score! EDIT: Who made my post its own thread? Not complaining, we just have so many TFA threads already. Okay then. haha

Anyone know where I can find Force Awakens violin Sheet music? I have been looking everyone where for its, thanks!

This may look like just another Lego Star Wars game, but since it is only focusing on TFA, there's a small chance it could contain new music!! Before you guys say "fake!" keep in mind that this was leaked from the YouTube ads, and also briefly appeared on the Xbox Live Marketplace before it was taken down after about 10 minutes.

I've really been wanting to learn this on piano but it's not been officially released . . . does anyone have it?

One that stands out in my mind and haven't seen mentioned is the build-up to the arrival of Kylo Ren. For the first time in the saga, stormtroopers are shown to be the formidable fighting force we've been always been told they are. The moment I'm talking about really starts once the wave of stormtroopers starts taking significant causalities, and Finn recoils from the horror around him. In one of the film's most memorable images, a blooded hand from a dying comrade slides down Finn's helmet, At this point the score climbs to a fever pitch as out of the blackened clouds, Kylo Ren's shuttle raises its wings to land. Williams's motif with its triplet fanfares and cyclic string runs suggesting a man-monster, cutting through the fear in his troops. While technically none of this new (stylistically you could say it points to Nixon, The Patriot and RotS), dramatically this is dead on. Beyond badass.

Well, there is a thread for the March of the Resistance, so I thought it was time for one devoted to the other action concert track, the Scherzo for X-Wings. The first time I heard it, I was underwhelmed. I liked the use of Luke's fanfare but found the connective tissue uninspired. I now think it may be the best track on the album (which I think is excellent). The connecting aspects are just brilliant--they are engaging on their own but not so flashy as to take away from the variations of Luke's fanfare taking place throughout the track. In terms of SW pieces, it is not as good as the other scherzo (the peerless Tie Fighter Attack from ANH), but damn if it doesn't leave its mark.

Congratulations! Best original score The Hateful Eight - Ennio Morricone Sicario - Johann Johannsson Star Wars: The Force Awakens - John Williams Carol - Carter Burwell Bridge of Spies - Thomas Newman Full list of nominees http://oscar.go.com/nominees

Hey guys, I found this on Star Wars reddit but the video was summarily taken down by Disney so I've uploaded it on my dropbox. Its basically a 10 minute long video showing Before and After of compositing and CGI addition but it features many clips from the movie with full uninterrupted audio. I don't know if its possible to rip some parts that haven't been released but at least we can listen. I believe one of the members talked about a timpani roll that he really liked during the Falcon crashing through the trees on Starkiller Base? That's a clip in here but I'm not sure exactly when that musical part plays. Even though there was quite a lot of CGI in the end oh my god is it absolutely breathtaking. I love the X-Wing fighting scenes because there's these wonderful dynamic shots like a go-pro has been attached to the side of the X-wing haha. Without further audieu, enjoy! https://www.dropbox.com/s/tj1p2csteojemtx/VFX%20Before%20and%20After%20in%20Star%20Wars%20The%20Force%20Awakens.mp4?dl=0

is it just me or...

To me 'Bombing Run' sounds a lot like the ending of ANH to me, appropriate considering the circumstances but it also features a return of the Minor 'strained' scoring that gives the feeling the Resistance are the underdogs as the Rebels were. I was wondering if the more musically in tune could point out similarities between these two tracks because I'm sure there's something there that lets me say with full confidence that I wouldn't even blink if 'Bombing Run' was put into ANH. Here's the two tracks for reference: 1. Bombing Run - Force Awakens 2. Battle of Yavin - A New Hope

http://awards.bafta.org/award/2016/film? Here's the nominees: The Hateful Eight - Ennio Morricone Bridge of Spies - Thomas Newman The Revenant - Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carsten Nicolai Star Wars: The Force Awakens - John Williams Sicario - Jóhann Jóhannsson

my oboe cover of Rey's Theme

Have you guys seen what this app Ditty is letting everyone do with Star Wars songs? I've attached an example. I'm shocked they have the Star Wars songs in the app. I've understand Mr. Williams to be very particular about how his songs get used. Assuming he approved this, it's pretty cool he's up for people making up lyrics to all these famous Star Wars songs. Search Ditty in the app store to find the app....it's free and worth checking out. What do you think of my video? IMG_7021.mp4

I haven't had any crazy theories for a while, so here we go. ...I'm listening to the Scavenger, and the rhythmic piano section of Rey's theme (starts at 1:03) sounds eerily similar to the Emperor's Theme. Sort of like Anakin's Theme was a bright and cheery version of Darth Vader's theme? Is the Skywalker gone bad, and the Palpatine gone good this time? Is this why Luke gives Rey the death stare at the end?!

Did you guys see this new interview with John Williams about The Force Awakens? http://www.bmi.com/special/john_williams

I wanted to share this: While browsing JWPepper I came across this! http://www.jwpepper.com/Star-Wars---The-Force-Awakens-%28Suite-for-Orchestra%29/10564985.item#.VnqHOcuIZFs The prices seem to check out in relation to all the other SE Star Wars Suites and no arranger is mentioned. However, when I went to the Hal Leonard site I saw nothing about this anywhere. But could this me a suite to TFA is coming soon? Also, JW has this listed as well. http://www.jwpepper.com/Family-Portrait/5970966.item#.VnqJQ8uIZFs

https://youtu.be/2gCbnwavkKc?t=76 At 1:16 I was waiting for this cue the whole film, but never got it : ( I think its beautiful and seems to have been part of the Teaser #2, where the same bass note is kept as a pedal and the chords keep rising.

Is it better than The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and/or Revenge of the Sith? As much as I love the score to The Force Awakens (and yes, it's a grower), I don't think it's better than any of the 3 prequel scores. At most, it's on the same level as ROTS (the weakest of the prequel scores, IMO). The 3 prequel scores, though not necessarily the movies, are instant classics. Not sure yet that TFA actually has that sort of longevity and impact. TFA, in my opinion, lacks strong set pieces like "Duel of the Fates," "Across the Stars," and "Battle of the Heroes" as well as standout action pieces, like "Star Wars and the Revenge of the Sith," "Zam the Assassin and the Chase Through Coruscant," and "The Droid Invasion." What do you think? My ranking (at this time): 1. The Phantom Menace 2. Attack of the Clones 3. Revenge of the Sith 4. The Force Awakens

I read on some insiders post on Conrad Popes facebook comments that a 2CD Expanded set is confirmed and exepected in 1st qtr 2016. The source claimed as an insider news. Ofcourse, I cant confirm its authenticity, BUT Given the enourmous success of the movie and rumblings of yet another Oscar nomination, I suspect this may be true.Lets wait and see. This isnt stingy business values like Lucasfilm anymore..lol