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"Flying" cues


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This thread is meant for discussing the orchestration of elevation and weightlessness. Especially John Williams but also other composers have special techniques to express elevation by instrumentation e.g. leaving out the bass parts (except bass pizzicati), by fast violin or celesta runs, woodwind tremolos, broad melodies.

Please complete below list of pieces you associate with flying or elevation, reflected in orchestration. Try to stick to 'instrumentation of flight from the flying perspective' (e.g. Flight to Neverland), which is often differently orchestrated than 'instrumentation of flight from a ground spectator's perspective' (e.g. The Arrival of Tink, or Change of Season). Try to avoid (action-orientated) cues which are more related to flight of planes, aircrafts and other machines (e.g. The Flying Car, The Asteroid Field), since these cues are most of the time differently orchestrated than 'human elevation'. Here are some:

- John Williams: Flight to Neverland (1995 BPO arrangement)

- John Williams: Love Theme from Superman

- John Williams: The Flying Theme from E.T.

- John Williams: Journey to the Island (although here it might be argued, it's more about flight of a helicopter).

- John Williams: Buckbeak's Flight from Prisoner of Azkaban

- John Williams: Hedwig's Theme from Sorcerer's Stone (there are actually two 'flying themes' there, one is Hedwig's Theme from the beginning of the cue, and then there is the theme from Mr. Longbottom Flies in the middle of the cue)

- Jerry Goldsmith: Flying Ballet from Supergirl

- Jerry Goldsmith: The Flying Bumper Car from Superman

- Jerry Goldsmith: Soaring Over California from Disney's California Adventure

- James Horner: Flying from Once Upon A Forest

- James Horner: Final Credits from The Rocketeer

- James Newton Howard: The Egg Travels from Dinosaur

- James Newton Howard: Flying from Peter Pan (suits in this list, but it's not such a great cue IMO)

- David Arnold: Dusting the Wrong Field from Independence Day (it's a plane, but it's really nicely orchestrated)

- David Arnold: Mastadge Drag from Stargate

- Klaus Doldinger: Bastion's Happy Flight from Neverending Story

- Ilan Eshkeri: Flying Vessel from Stardust

- Maurice Ravel: The Fairy Garden from Mother Goose

- Richard Wagner: Feuerzauber from Walküre

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Wow, that's... very particular.

It is, but it intrigues me...not to say it obsesses me ;)

Btw you might list also classical music that you think reflects the feeling of elevation by instrumentation, although the cue wasn't meant as such (an example can be Richard Wagner's Feurzauber from The Walküre).

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I'm actually not fond of the feeling of flying. I've grown to hate taking airplanes. As such, music fitted to flying doesn't do much for me.

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Never one to pass by a chance to use my iTune's search feature:

Flying, from Peter Pan by James Newton Howard

Buckbeak's Flight, from PoA by John Williams

Bastion's Happy Flight, from Neverending Story by Klaus Doldinger

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Jerry Goldsmith: The Flying Bumper Car from Superman

Er...so paralell universe cues also can make the list? ;)

Will the secret weapons over normandy main theme fit you requieremts?

It is not an action cue per se.

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Never one to pass by a chance to use my iTune's search feature:

Flying, from Peter Pan by James Newton Howard

Buckbeak's Flight, from PoA by John Williams

Bastion's Happy Flight, from Neverending Story by Klaus Doldinger

The latter one is really nice (though a little bit 80-ies ;)), thanks.

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Any more, maybe from Disney movies? I am not very familiar with those.

"You Can Fly" from Peter Pan

"A Whole New World" from Aladdin (ok, this is a cheat)

"When I See an Elephant Fly" from Dumbo

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Any more, maybe from Disney movies? I am not very familiar with those.

"You Can Fly" from Peter Pan

"A Whole New World" from Aladdin (ok, this is a cheat)

"When I See an Elephant Fly" from Dumbo

I mean more symphonic music. See original post.

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So either mute the lyrics using a karaoke filter, or check the albums to those movies for possible instrumental re-orchestrations of the songs sans lyrics.

I don't honestly give much care about older Disney scores, just the newer Menken ones. There aren't many Disney scores I'd want to listen to outside of the movie, aside from Fantasia and Sleeping Beauty, which don't count because they're re-recorded classical music. Maybe just Robin Hood and The Jungle Book.

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