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On the latest episode of UnderScore, we sat down with Alan Snelling, assistant engineer to Eric Tomlinson on Star Wars (as well as Raiders, Superman and the rest of the original trilogy), who shared some wonderful recollections of the historic first recording of the Main Title. The remainder of the episode is a near hour-long musical exploration into the composition, orchestration and storytelling power of that infamous minute and a half of music. Enjoy! [This is the second episode in a six-part series on the score]

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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

Hi there, I've made a cover of the original Jurassic Park main theme. Check out my video cover here on YouTube: I figured you guys on this forum would like it. I'm a big fan of John Williams and have been making music for 20 years. This one isn't my best production or cover, but it was a real challenge for me because I only re-made it by ear. If you liked, feel free to like, share or subscribe to my Youtube channel! You can follow me here as well: YouTube : youtube.com/channel/UCbWkDWdiuItkSzWhNHajAKw Website : romainpennes.com SoundCloud : soundcloud.com/romain-pennes Twitter : twitter.com/RomainPennes Instagram : instagram.com/romain_pennes Thank you guys and have a great day!

Hi everyone, i try to made little video about being thankful for John´s amazing work. Thanks to your JW.com, it has been my home page for many years And this is how John Williams changed my life: ______________________ My childhood wasn´t good and I was feeling verry lonely. There was some unreasonable agression i had to experience from others. Also parents divorced verry badly and i had some serious depressions when i was about 12 years old. It may sound oversensitive, but this is really how it was. During the day i had to live my life, but in the night, before i fell a sleep. I was listening to John Williams music and i felt like - this is my true friend. His music was my best friend in that time. That music gived me feeling that someone likes me. Without this "musical friendship" i think i might not be here anymore. I was 13 and i started to play and write music. It was my childhood dream to become composer one day like he is. I was studying music a lot, 6 years conservatory in Prague, than i got to Berklee, but as i was accepted, i realised that - the music i would love to compose, my brain simply cant do that well. Before this realization i was feeling verry sad, anxious and jelaous. Because i was studying so, so hard and so many years. I couldn't understund why- if i am studying so hard - why the God or whatever there is or isnt, why it won't allow me to do it. I wrote some pieces for orchestra and one of them was this piece inspired by John´s music (this is the piece i called Autumn letter - because it was in Autumn i sent a written letter to John Williams about my story and (that my dream is to meet him one day) But once i realised that in real world of movie music everything must be completed so fast, i realised, that the time come. Time to give up on my dreams. I simply wasn´t that good, that i could work in industry. My brain was wired differently and i couldnt handle all stress and being creative under stress. I had to decide. And i left music completely. For 2 years i was just "man without dream" i felt useless in the world. I didnt know what to do. But than.. a miracle happened. Answer for my letter came and one lovely family behind ocean helped me to make it happen. It was possible for me to meet John Williams and to talk with him personally in his room. The first thing he sayed to me with verry sweet voice and present look in his eyes was: "Ou.. ou.. you came all that long way across the ocean JUST because of me? " He looked surprised and i realised how really humble this man must be. When he invited me to enter, he turned his hands up like there is nothing he has to hide. We talked about music and questions i had since i was young. He was so open to me. Finally in the end, his friend tooked a picture of us. That foto you can see in this video - and since that time, the light came into my life. I knew this moment was really gift for me from "universe" or whatever we call it. And i finally understud, that there exist people with so much talent that its not possible to try to be like them. Not to compete with them, but to accept it and start to enjoy everything they do as a gift to humanity. I came back to home and since that time i forget on being composer. I started to learn to paint with oil and its so funny. All that time, it seems i am better at Art as just a hobby, than to write music. My life is so happy now and i can really enjoy other people's art. In the end i realised every little thing was part of my life puzzle. When i was feeling so down, suicidal child, there came his music to me and it gived me „hope“. And once i was strong enough and i was somehow "prepaired" to face the thruth. The thruth appeared and i accepted it. I began to be 100 procent honest with my life and give more space for others than before in my hearth. This was the gift, that John Williams gaved me that day. That day i wont ever forgot. The day of sunrise of my true soul and the sun set of the "past". John Williams has really some higher spirit. Some healing power for us all. He is our life teacher. Today i love my parents, my friends, i love the world. Thank you! Thank you so much my friends

I think it's great!

Thought you guys would like this:

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

Thanks to @Falstaft (hiatus til TROS) we now have the complete cue list: End Credit Rose's Turn End Credit Part 3 Rev End Credit Part 4 Opening 0m1 Tossing the Sabre 0m1 Insert Rey Looks Back 0m1 Rev Tossing the Sabre 0m2 Thought Connection 0m2A The Cave Scene 0m2A Insert Place to Place 0m3 Learning the Force 0m3 Insert Learning the Force 0m4 Rey + Luke 0m5 Fathiers 0m5 Fathiers (with fixes) 0m6 Fathiers Charge! 0m7 Crashing the Party 0m8 Saying Goodbye to Fathier 1m2 Finn Wakes Up 1m2A [No Title] 1m2A fix Son of Starry Night 1m3 Welcome Poe and Hux 1m3 Insert David and Goliath 1m4 He's Insane 1m5 Resistance Force 1m6 We Can Do This 1m6 Insert Theme In 1m7 Fighter Down 1m8 We Lose Girl Ace 1m9 Revisiting Snoke 2m10 We Need Your Help 2m12 We Need A New Base 2m13 Prep for Battle 2m14 Leia Saved! 2m14 fix Leia Saved! 2m16 Luke's Breakfast 2m17 Old Books 2m18 Admiral Holdo 2m18A Holdo's Secret Plan 2m19 Rose Catches Finn 3m20 Luke in the Falcon 3m20 Insert Watch The Language 3m20 Insert 2 [No Title] 3m21 Rose Appears 3m22 Fun with Rose and Finn 3m22 Rev [No Title] 3m24 [No Title] 3m25 Sun Shot 3m28 Rey Awakens 3m29 Lady Officer and Poe Conspire 4m30 The Connection 4m31A Worst People in the Universe 4m31B Party Music 4m31B (add) More Party Music 4m31C R.T. Shore 4m32 Rose's Fathiers 4m32 Insert Finding the Code Breaker 4m32 Insert 2 [No Title] 4m33 Rey's Training 4m33 Rey's Practise 4m33 Rev Rey's Training 4m36 Luke and Rey 4m37 Place in the World 4m37 Insert Six Hours Left 4m38 Codebreaker…Thief 5m43 Saving Leia 5m44 Encounter Before the Dream 5m45 Mirror Scene 5m46 You're Not Alone 5m46 Insert You're Not Alone 5m46 Insert 2 Touch 5m47 Young Ren Is Awakened 5m48 Yoda Appears 5m48 Insert [No Title] 6m50 Not Enough 6m51 Traitor! 6m52 Eavesdropping 6m52A Mutiny 6m55 I'll Help You 6m56 Working Switches 6m56 Insert Dread 6m57 Ladies Parting 7m60 Come Closer, Child 7m61 Poe Wakes Up 7m63 Big Fights 7m63 Big Fights 7m64 Finn, Rose and Hux 7m65 Fighting Together 7m66 Join Me 7m67 Holdo's Resolve 7m67A Important Scene 7m67A Insert [No Title] 7m68 Rose and Finn Escape 7m68 After the Big Explosion 7m68A Finn Fights Phasma 7m69 Rose and Finn Escape 7m69 Insert Chrome Dome 8m70 Hux and Ren 8m71 What 'cha Got? 8m73 Troops and Plains 8m74 Mechanical Trouble 8m75 Here They Come, Again 8m76 To The Target 8m76 To The Target (w/ Insert) 8m77 Finn's Attempted Sacrifice 8m78 The Kiss 9m80 Luke & Leia Together 9m81 Rescuing Luke 9m82 Follow Him 9m85 Finale Part I 9m85 Alt Insert [No Title] 9m85 Insert [No Title] 9m85 Insert [No Title] 9m85 Insert 2 9M85 Finale Part I 9m85A Rey Looks 9m85A Luke Looks 9m85B Between Luke and the March 9m85C Island to March 9m86 Old Friends 9m87 Finale, Pt. III 9m90 End Credit Part 2 Original cue list discovered online:

Just curious, as I only have it on CD-R myself.

An Evening with John Williams in Concert London Symphony Orchestra Conductor: John Williams Friday 26 October, Auditorium 7:30pm £21-£90 Source

As a comment to the below Youtube video, a user wrote: I was so confused about John Williams' overly accomplished life until I realized that film composer John Williams and classical guitarist John Williams are in fact two different people. The trouble that understanding could have saved me in my undergrad...

I think he should run for president. In Norway.

This new arrangement debuted Wednesday, January 31st in San Diego, conducted by Williams himself, as an encore. You can read @KingPin's description of it, here. The new arrangment was just played again, last night in Glasgow, Scotland, and that performance is on Youtube! What do you think?

http://variety.com/2018/film/news/mark-hamill-on-star-wars-music-composer-john-williams-1202659494/ John Burlingame did another write up on John Williams and this time talked to STAR WARS actor Mark Hamill. What was supposed to be a five minute chat ended up in much longer interview that it warranted a new spin off article to what Jon did yesterday. After reading this I sent this message to Jon Burlingame: 'He is the entire cast ' What a great and humble way of (showing) respect to our Maestro: Williams. I'm so moved. And it appears that the same quote left Jon Burlingame in quite an awe. He responded back to me: "I was so taken with these thoughts that I felt I simply had to write a separate story. The plan had only been to get him on the phone for five minutes to confirm what I had heard about his admiration for the Maestro. But boy, that last quote sealed it for me"

Like this post if you want JW to do a cameo for SW Ep. IX. EDIT: By popular demand, here's the real petition. Spread the good word! EDIT: We've just passed 1200 signatures!

Mine: The Whomping Williams

So today I decided to do something I’ve never done. I put my Home Alone 25th Aniversary CD in my Xbox One and noticed the music App grove recognized the artist I’m guess and cycles through these two photos. Anybody know now why this is? It can’t because the CD is available for digital purchase...

My guess, The Fathiers was temptracked with TOD music, probably the Nightclub Fight. The second part of The Fathiers sounds extremely TOD.

http://buysoundtrax.stores.yahoo.net/hyorsobydond.html SRP: $17.95 HYPERSPACE is a limited edition release of 1000 units. FIRST 50 Copies will be autographed by composer Don Davis LISTEN TO A SOUND CLIP FROM the score for HYPERSPACE https://tinyurl.com/ybzl7437 Dragon’s Domain Records, distributed through buysoundtrax.com, presents the long out-of-print orchestral score to HYPERSPACE, composed by Don Davis. One of the first feature length STAR WARS parodies, HYPERSPACE came out in 1984. Known in England as GREMLOIDS and as GREMLORDS in France and Germany, HYPERSPACE was writer/director Todd Durham’s second and last film as director, working with ambitiously cost-conscious low-budget producer Earl Owensby. The movie was released in September 1984, but it wasn’t until 1988 that the film received a wider release on home video. Starring comedians Chris Elliott and Paula Poundstone and filmed in North Carolina, HYPERSPACE imitates STAR WARS in context and execution from its opening text crawl into infinity to its inscrutable helmeted monarch of menace, Lord Buckethead (played by Robert Bloodworth, but voiced by Barry Cooper). Lord Buckethead is hot on the trail of vital radio transmissions stolen from the corrupt Galactic Alliance by members of an allied resistance force. Buckethead intends to get them back, aided by diminutive, Jawa-robed minions known as gremloids. However, unbeknownst to him, he has made a serious navigational error, and rather than reaching his intended destination he lands instead upon the Earth, where he and his gremloid faction march into the closest small town and proceed with their mission. A purposefully STAR WARS-esque orchestral score was provided by newly-minted composer Don Davis, in his first feature film score. Performed by a live, 56-piece orchestra, Davis’s music provided the film with its missing gravitas; and it made enough of an impression among Hollywood film music folk that it led to a lasting and respectful career scoring films and television, including TV’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and SEAQUEST DSV and blockbuster films like THE MATRIX series and JURASSIC PARK III. “Obviously the movie was a parody of STAR WARS, so the only approach to music I could logically take was similarly a parody of John Williams’s work,” said Davis in an exclusive new interview for the album notes. “I got as close to STAR WARS as I could get without it being STAR WARS.” Davis provided the right kind of feeling to the music which gave the score a suitably grandiose dynamic and aided in the film’s parodist nature. The composer’s approach to supporting the film’s inherent humor was based on “not writing funny music,” but scoring the movie with absolute seriousness, thereby allowing the parody to exist within the film and among its characters in a world where even the most farcical of circumstances are treated with genuine integrity. “The concept of playing it straight, as if the show were not a comedy, was what we wanted to do with our movie,” said Davis. “We treated it as if it really was STAR WARS and everything was completely serious.” The film came and went without much ado or remembrance, but the music was noticed and that gave Davis an auspicious debut in this, his first opportunity to make the jump into… HYPERSPACE. The score was first released on an 11-track CD in 1993, paired with another Davis score. This expanded reissue from Dragon’s Domain Records includes eight previously-unreleased tracks. HYPERSPACE is a limited edition release of 1000 units and can be ordered at www.buysoundtrax.com. The first 50 units sold through the Buy Soundtrax website will include a booklet autographed by the composer. Ships the week of January 3rd. 01 HYPERSPACE Main Title/Pin Head 2:22 02 Meet The Mutants/Real Live Munchkins/ Dad’s Gland/ Basement Snoids 4:23 03 Alien Enzyme 2:00 04 Buckethead’s Promenade 2:01 05 Swamp Dog/Mister Ugly/ March of the Carrot People/Wild Bill Schwartz/Avoid the Droid/My Favorite Mutant 5:11 06 One Step Forward 0:56 07 Tree Trek 1:21 08 Old MacDonald Had a Farm Dirge 2:26 09 Neurotic Karen/Mutants in Bondage/Terminate The Princess/Zapping Aliens 2:01 10 Ship Witch/Life in Gland Land/Laser Trail 3:04 11 Just Browsing/After the Brain Drain 4:55 12 Max’s Coronary/Let’s Zap Ed/See You Laser 1:09 13 There She Is 0:45 14 Ding Dong Daddy 1:16 15 Max Incognito/Humanoids From Pacoima 4:27 16 Rugburn/Boiled Snoids 1:49 17 Imbeciles From Uranus 1:06 18 Droid McNoid/Buckethead’s Remorse 4:00 19 HYPERSPACE End Credits 3:24 Total Time: 48:31

Pittsburgh Symphony Trombonist Releases Star Wars Album James Nova, trombonist in the Pittsburgh Symphony orchestra, has released a new album for trombone choir, A Fall from Light to Dark. Through the chosen moments of John Williams’ masterful scores, this album musically chronicles the rise and descent of Anakin Skywalker as he transforms into Darth Vader. Jim has had a lifelong love of John Williams’ film scores since his Dad took him and his brother to see The Empire Strikes Back in the theater. Throughout his career he has performed and recorded with John Williams on several occasions, with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the Boston Pops as well as the Utah Symphony. In 2012, Jim was preparing for another season with the Pittsburgh Symphony and thought a fun way to get into shape would be to overdub (or “Novadub”) one of his John Williams trombone choir transcriptions. He chose his transcription of the Superman March as his first effort. He posted it on SoundCloud. Fast forward to now and his SoundCloud page has passed 600,000 listens! He decided it was time to make an actual commercial album and set out learning the art of mixing and mastering, which brings him to this project: A Fall from Light to Dark. Some of you may think, “trombone choir?” Trombone choir is a rich and varied color ensemble capable of powerful, crushing, devastating and also tender, introspective, delicate moments. This album demonstrates the power of John Williams’ scores and how they translate so well to this medium. All transcriptions, playing, recording, editing, mixing and mastering by James Nova. To hear some clips and learn more about Jim, visit jimnova.com

I was thinking about the famous "I'm flying" scene from Titanic and, in particular, the precise moment where the music reaches its emotional climax. On paper, you might expect the score to swell at the moment Jack and Rose kiss, but it actually reaches its emotional peak a few seconds later when Rose reaches up her hand to hold Jack's head closer. The moment becomes a lot more sensual and somehow more romantic as a result. I realise this is just intelligent, intuitive film scoring, but the timing of these things always fascinates me. (2:09) Another example off the top of my head is the final scene in Home Alone when Kevin and Old Man Marley share their moment through the window. One could score it so the music swells when Marley raises his hand in greeting, but Williams holds it for that little moment longer until Kevin returns the gesture, when both characters have completed their arcs with regards to each other. This video below actually has the alternate “O Holy Night” version of the cue too, and you can see the emotional journey is exactly the same in both pieces of music. (00:47) I’m curious to know if you can think of any other examples like this. Moments where the music could reach an emotional peak at one moment, but actually climaxes at another for a stronger emotional impact.

Where do you rank John Williams' music for "The Last Jedi" among his previous scores for the 'Star Wars' films?

The Last Jedi opened in the USA tonight, and in addition to the standard 7:00 pm showings, there was also a 6:00 pm showing that including free snacks, some swag, and exclusive visual content before the main film. Many thought the visual content would be a look at Solo: A Star Wars Story, so you can imagine my surprise when, after a spoken introduction recording by Rian Johnson, we were treated to a 5-or-so minute long tribute to Williams, and a look at his work on The Last Jedi. There weren’t any specific new things to me - it was mainly people praising Williams, and Williams talking about his process (still using paper and all). There was a shot of him and Daisy Ridley hugging, which was cute with Williams’ little crush in mind. There was also a beautiful statement of Leia’s Theme (EDIT: was Luke and Leia’s theme, got mixed up in the excitement of the moment haha!). Williams did touch on the topic of Episode IX right at the end. He said he hasn’t thought about it yet, but that he hopes his time with the Saga isn’t over. Hopefully this gets officially posted online, or is included in the Blu-Ray!