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The non-Williams score that sounds most like a John Williams score


Sandor
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So which score sounds most like John Williams, but was written by another composer..?

Just wondering.

As a child I was convinced Young Sherlock Holmes was scored by Williams, only later to find out it was not. It wouldn't fool like that me if I had heard it for the first time now though.

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I've heard that Coronado by Ralf Wienrich is very Williams-ish, but I haven't checked it out yet

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CLASH OF THE TITANS...you guessed it, the 1981 version.

COCOON; clearly a JAMES HORNER SCOREtm, but when i first heard it, i guessed Williams.

LOST IN SPACE (Broughton) sounds very Williams-y without being clearly identifiable as second-rate copy

SKY CAPTAIN is clearly identifiable, i still think it catches certain manierisms of JW with worrisome perfection

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Does not sound like John Williams to me.

A bit of Williams in Pops mode with a heavy dash of Rozsa. There is some very SCHERZO FOR MC AND ORCHESTRA-like writing in it, though. It was a garish tv actioner by one of those commercial german stations - i guess somebody was fired because they normally only use Hansi Z. as template.

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I've heard that Coronado by Ralf Wienrich is very Williams-ish, but I haven't checked it out yet

For you to decide:

The opening is nothing but a Star Wars rip-off! :up:

If ya gonna steal, steal from the best!

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There have been many composers who have managed to create good Williams pastiche (McNeely, Debney etc.), but no one -- and I mean no one! -- has done it as well as Mike Verta, IMO. I was totally blown away by some of his Williams "tribute" compositions. Not a pebble of originality, of course, but an amazing gift of catching another's composer's voice. Check out mikeverta.com for music samples!

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Deep Blue by George Fenton. It's probably no where close, but I can hear many of his qualities in it.

I've heard people say that Conan the Barbarian was very Williamesque. I beg to differ. It's closer to Goldsmith than anything.

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Goldsmith? In what way?

I don't know really. It just sounds like something Goldsmith could have done around that era. From Legend, Capricorn One, The Wind and the Lion, TMP, etc.

However, I hate threads like this as Williams, Goldsmith, Poledouris, etc are the giants. They all have a unique voice when at a time that voice was allowed to shine and take center stage.

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I've heard that Coronado by Ralf Wienrich is very Williams-ish, but I haven't checked it out yet

For you to decide:

More Silvestri like with some Rozsa mannierism.

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I'm sure Conrad Pope is quite capable of doing that too. ;)

Karol

It is said The Train sequence from Legend of Zorro is soudning much like Williams, while it is indeed gohst-composed by Conrad Pope. Generally Pope's own scores have a distinctly different sound than Williams.

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Deep Blue by George Fenton. It's probably no where close, but I can hear many of his qualities in it.

I've heard people say that Conan the Barbarian was very Williamesque. I beg to differ. It's closer to Goldsmith than anything.

Ehh, I think it's more Rózsa :P

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I mean John Williams -like in "spirit" and the ways the themes are interwoven and reminiscent orchestrations(none of them can "fool" me they could have been written by JW as Roald says)

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow(Ed Shearmur)

Super 8(Michael Giacchino)

Medal of Honor(Michael Giacchino)

Secret Weapons over Normandy(Michael Giacchino)

BattleStar Galactica,Saga of a Star World (Stu Philips)

Shadow of the Empire (Joel McNeely)

The Force Unleashed (Mark Grisky)

Taken(Laura Karpman)

Kick Ass(some portions of it, Henry Jackman)

Masters of the Universe(Bill Conti)

Young Sherlock Holmes(Bruce Broughton)

The Black Hole(John Barry)

Stargate (David Arnold)

Poltergeist(Jerry Goldsmith)

Kick the Can portion of Twilight Zone the Movie (Jerry Goldsmith)

Clash of the Titans(Laurence Rosenthal)

If you want to go in the plagiarism/rip-off territory:

Flipper(Joel Mc Neely)

Indiana Jones and Phantom Train of Doom(Joel Mc Neely)

No.

Parts of it sound like E.T. Lucy's Theme is dangerously close to the Flying Theme, but different enough to let it pass

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Goldsmith? In what way?

I don't know really. It just sounds like something Goldsmith could have done around that era. From Legend, Capricorn One, The Wind and the Lion, TMP, etc.

However, I hate threads like this as Williams, Goldsmith, Poledouris, etc are the giants. They all have a unique voice when at a time that voice was allowed to shine and take center stage.

Well Anvil Of Crom certainly sounds like it was temp tracked with Capricorn One.

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Goldsmith? In what way?

I don't know really. It just sounds like something Goldsmith could have done around that era. From Legend, Capricorn One, The Wind and the Lion, TMP, etc.

However, I hate threads like this as Williams, Goldsmith, Poledouris, etc are the giants. They all have a unique voice when at a time that voice was allowed to shine and take center stage.

Well Anvil Of Crom certainly sounds like it was temp tracked with Capricorn One.

Indeed

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Deep Blue by George Fenton. It's probably no where close, but I can hear many of his qualities in it.

I've heard people say that Conan the Barbarian was very Williamesque. I beg to differ. It's closer to Goldsmith than anything.

Ehh, I think it's more Rózsa :P

I don't think it sounds like any of them. It sounds like QUINTESSENTIAL BASIL POLEDOURIS!

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I can't really of anything by James Horner that sounds Williamesque

Portions of the Train cue from Zorro, as mentioned above.

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Deep Blue by George Fenton. It's probably no where close, but I can hear many of his qualities in it.

I've heard people say that Conan the Barbarian was very Williamesque. I beg to differ. It's closer to Goldsmith than anything.

Ehh, I think it's more Rózsa :P

I don't think it sounds like any of them. It sounds like QUINTESSENTIAL BASIL POLEDOURIS!

Hoorah!

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I can't really of anything by James Horner that sounds Williamesque

The previous Universal logo.

Return to Oz is one for me. It's very much in that style of JW symphonic score.

Train sequence from Legend of Zorro is soudning much like Williams, while it is indeed gohst-composed by Conrad Pope

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Speaking of Universal Logos, Goldsmith's sounds a little like Williams.

Some of Ron Jone's work on Family Guy sounds like Williams.

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The first time I watched FOTR, it occurred to me that the music sounded vaguely Williams-like at times. I didn't hear anything that made me go, "Oh, that's definitely him," but still.

I haven't heard much Williams-inspired material that genuinely sounds like he could have written it, but you can certainly find bits of older music that Williams seems to have been inspired from. I'm thinking especially outside of film music - Stravinsky, Vaughan Williams, Holst, Sibelius, Elgar, etc. There are moments that feel like Williams clearly listened to them, studied them, and filtered them through his own musical voice, eventually contributing to the way his music sounded.

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Return to Oz is one for me. It's very much in that style of JW symphonic score.

That's probably because Herb Spencer did some orchestrations on it. That score is really so great.

There are several composers who stabbed at doing Williams' impressions, sometimes good and sometimes bad. John Debney and Joel McNeely have both done some good Williams-like writing, but more often than not they fell into carbon-copy territory.

I agree Broughton is probably the one who really came close to Williams without actually copying him. The end credits of Young Sherlock Holmes is a good example.

I haven't heard much Williams-inspired material that genuinely sounds like he could have written it, but you can certainly find bits of older music that Williams seems to have been inspired from. I'm thinking especially outside of film music - Stravinsky, Vaughan Williams, Holst, Sibelius, Elgar, etc. There are moments that feel like Williams clearly listened to them, studied them, and filtered them through his own musical voice, eventually contributing to the way his music sounded.

I agree but that's a whole another thread :)

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Star Wars rip-off? In what way?

I think he was referring to the fact that the opening of the Coronado cue is similar to the brass fanfare that concludes the end credits of ESB (one tone higher in pitch). It sounds quite similar also to me. But it's a really short passage.

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Star Wars rip-off? In what way?

I think he was referring to the fact that the opening of the Coronado cue is similar to the brass fanfare that concludes the end credits of ESB (one tone higher in pitch). It sounds quite similar also to me. But it's a really short passage.

No, I'm talking about the main theme. You might remember the very intro of the Star Wars theme, it starts off quite powerfully as the strings hit a high note (Bb, the root) along with cymbals and the brass make a rhythm motive in triplets. Now listen to Coronado, the same thing. Another key (Gb), a harp run before the first bar but the same idea and the same effect. At least that's how it sounds in my ears.

Kalli

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