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And the award for the most pointless conversation of the week goes to.............................those discussing if James Newton Howard is good or not.

Next on the agenda is; "Was John Williams that guy who did those Star Wars Films?" and of course "Does Alexandre Desplat have French roots?"

Those like E.T. who dismiss JNH after his dalliances with Zimmer are being unfair. If you've lost interest in his recent work, fine, but the guy delivers what the director and producers want for their films. They want a certain sound, he gives it to them.

It's not like he's incapable of delivering great work, it's just they don't ask him for melody anymore.

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At the symposium, answering an audience question, JNH conceded that Hollywood scoring is less melodious than it used to be, and that this is somewhat regrettable - basically what each and every guest of the past few years has said, from David Newman to James Horner.

He also stated that he considers a strong theme important and that he initially approaches every score he does from a song writer's point of view and encourages others to do the same: Start out with a well developed theme in song format (e.g. A-B-A) and only move on to writing the actual score once you have that.

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He also stated that he considers a strong theme important and that he initially approaches every score he does from a song writer's point of view and encourages others to do the same: Start out with a well developed theme in song format (e.g. A-B-A) and only move on to writing the actual score once you have that.

He seems to abandon that approach in 80% of his recent scores so it seems not very sound strategy. Not even MALEFICENT got to the B-part (though i love the motif he cooked up there even if it's a repurposed HIDALGO).

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The Symposium was wonderful. In all the interviews I've seen of him and the times I've met him before, I never knew he was that funny. He was regularly cracking jokes and saying things like "ahh, every one wants to hear about The Dark Knignt." Like he was sick of it. Definitely not afraid to speak his mind and show his charming sense of humour.

The concert was stunning. They opened JNH's half of the concert with Flow Like Water from Airbender. And they went on to perform Signs, Maleficent, Blood Diamond with full African group and singers. The Village and Defiance was with a solo violinist and solo cellist. They did a suite of many pieces like a compilation suite, including Hidalgo, Wyatt Earp, King Kong, Dinosaur, Atlantis, Peter Pan, and Lady in the Water. So they covered his Shyamalan stuff thoroughly. Though Unbreakable was missed unfortunately. They performed Hanging Tree from Hunger Games, as well as a couple of songs from Prince of Tides and One Fine Day, and a piece from Pretty Woman. And of course a suite from The Dark Knight. It was special indeed. They even did a tribute to Horner with his speech from 2013 and some clips of him as the pianist played Titanic. Hard not to cry in that moment. And it was all the more special by JNH taking to the stage and being unable to speak because of everyone on their feet with a roaring cheer and applause. He couldn't hold it together and was crying, with Keith Lockhart handing him a cloth to wipe his tears away. He was very moved and thankful.

Now tonight is the second concert where he will receive the Max Steiner Award for Excellence.

That sounds like it was a tremendously fun concert! :)

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I really regret not going there this year. And Ghent, for that matter. But there are other priorities at the moment. Hopefully, things will look bit brighter next year.

Karol

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I really regret not going there this year. And Ghent, for that matter. But there are other priorities at the moment. Hopefully, things will look bit brighter next year.

Karol

Yeah, I understand what you mean. I had the fortune to see JNH in Ghent two years ago, and I got my interview with him, so this Vienna thing would have been more a 'bonus'. Alas, I -- too -- have to make other priorities. The programme looks fantastic, though -- the only thing really missing is WATERWORLD (my favourite JNH) and the gorgeous SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS. Seems like they focussed mostly on his post-2000 material, and I happen to prefer his late 80s-late 90s stuff.

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He seems to abandon that approach in 80% of his recent scores so it seems not very sound strategy. Not even MALEFICENT got to the B-part (though i love the motif he cooked up there even if it's a repurposed HIDALGO).

To be honest, I'm not sure if he necessarily meant that the song structure composition will always end up in the film. Perhaps it's sometimes just a vehicle for writing the themes in the first place. Or perhaps he finds it harder to incorporate them in most of today's theme-lesser scores.

I really regret not going there this year. And Ghent, for that matter. But there are other priorities at the moment. Hopefully, things will look bit brighter next year.

It's bound to be a Zimmer event one of these years, which means that the programme will be a mixed bag for me. I'm still hoping for a Doyle year, though. We'll see who comes next.

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  • 1 month later...

Also, they just opened a new recording hall in Vienna and spent the last few days doing some test recordings with Conrad Pope and Dennis Sands. Both were impressed, calling it one of the best recording halls in Europe, on the same level as Abbey Road. And apparently the orchestra was up to shape, too. They see a realistic chance that Vienna will become a major location for Hollywood recordings over the next few years.

I just hope I can find out how to get in through a side door if that happens.

Pope posted one of the test recordings on SoundCloud yesterday. It was "The Adventures of Mutt", which sounds very well done for a first-time film orchestra.

https://soundcloud.com/conradpopemusic/indiana-jones-swashbuckler-the-adventures-of-mutt-vienna-synchron-orchestra?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=facebook

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 months later...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01DYWQL6W/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1460230116&sr=1-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=huntsman+winters+war&dpPl=1&dpID=61YPLy%2BLSfL&ref=plSrch

 

The 30 second samples from The Huntsman: Winter's War. There's some potentially beautiful melodies heard in fragments throughout the samples. There's also some lovely choral moments. I can hear a couple of returning ideas and themes from Snow White and the Huntsman; the thunderous descending action motif, as well as Charlize Theron's Revenna theme. Looking forward to the whole thing.

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2 hours ago, Matt C said:

James Newton Howard to score 'Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them'

 

Guess Desplat and Hooper were unavailable...

We've been talking about that for days now in the Fantastic Beasts thread.

 

Neither you nor @Koray Savas knew about this until now?

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I meant?  You're wrong, it wasn't me who posted it!

 

Here you go if you want to read the JWFan reactions to the news.

 

http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/23541-fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-jk-rowling-david-yates-james-newton-howard/&do=findComment&comment=1238166

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9 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

Its very easy news to miss, ignore Jason. He's obliged to read every thread and assumed everyone else does the same.

 

If I were moderator, I'd read only the threads I'm interested in. Occasionally I'd randomly ban 2 or 3 people to keep members on their toes.

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2 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

If I were Moderator I would do the same. Random bannings, deletion of posts simply because I can and any objections would be dealt with!

 

 

We should start our own forum. It would be better than this god forsaken place! 

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37 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

Its very easy news to miss, ignore Jason. He's obliged to read every thread and assumed everyone else does the same.

 

Given this unfortunate mishap, I think that from now on we should post a news item in every possible relevant thread as well as creating a new thread and tag every member in order to ensure everyone sees it at the same time!

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21 hours ago, Stefancos said:

If I were Moderator I would do the same. Random bannings, deletion of posts simply because I can and any objections would be dealt with!

 

 

 

Just like the way you run your Facebook page, with an iron fist!

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JNH's new interview with Jon Burlingame is up - http://www.bmi.com/special/james_newton_howard

 

And it's been announced that he's receiving the BMI Icon Award as well next month - http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7326618/bmi-film-television-awards-to-honor-composer-james-newton-howard

 

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JNH doing that Harry Potter spin-off might be a good thing. But that largely depends on whether it's the good JNH doing it... or the bad one.

 

Karol

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...

The announcement that James Newton Howard will be writing the music for Fantastic Beasts has got me quite excited.

It has a been a long time since a composer whose work I generally like has been involved in the Harry Potter franchise!

 

So far my favourite scores of his are Atlantis - The Lost Empire, Dinosaur, Hidalgo, King Kong, Maleficent and Waterworld.

What other fun adventurous ones am I missing out on though? And specifically what tracks are your favourites?

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