The Force Awakens 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' SCORE speculation

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

I actually hope he brings back that brief archaic Sith music from the Palpatine/Anakin scene in ROTS.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh yeah, that one!

I agree. It would be cool to have it represent archaic and ancient Sith lore.

I hope there's room left for some new stuff..

That too.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I'm sure Disney want to distance themselves as much as possible from the embarrassing mistake that was the Prequels and have instructed JW to not reconstitute any themes from those movies.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Unless people in the industry are deluded into thinking the prequels are good and have judged their box office earnings to mean that audiences want more of that.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Box office is not an indication of quality. Surely studio heads know this

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Are you kidding? All the top brass think about is the bottom line.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

The war is over! Lord Iger promised us peace! We only want--

[JoeinAR 1,949]

How will the Star Wars theme play after when you wish upon a star?

[Wojo 2,453]

If your heart is in your dreams, no request is too extreme

When you wish upon a Star Wars! Nothing but Star Wars!

Gimme those Star Wars.. don't let them end! Ah..

Star Wars! If they should bar wars.. please let these Star Wars stay-ay!

[Uni 306]

I for one hope Abrams will call for a more heavily thematic approch for these score, not only in the action sequences but otherwise as well. Williams has such a giant playbook of themes to draw upon now, especially in the post original trilogy universe. I am guessing that he will be focused on writing new material as it seems to be his usual method as he wants very keenly not to be seen as just recycling old material but will probably judiciously use the old themes to establish us back into this galaxy. I also dearly hope he has been given a chance to rework the older themes and motifs so that the score is not just littered with note-for-note quotes of old material from previous films (which tended to happen in RotS).

All depends on the nature of the storytelling and the general stylistic approach of the movie. Williams will surely draw upon some of the earlier thematic material (maybe even for just a quote), there's no question about it, but I expect a fairly new original score, with new themes establishing the main ground on which Williams will build the score. As for the action music, it very much depends on how much cluttered and dense the whole sound track will be, but I'm fairly sure it'll be however more in the vein of the prequels' action music than the original films'.

This comes closest to my own speculation. I think it's fair to believe part of the problem with the prequel scores (and they're still very good scores, so don't take this as a dig against them) is that Williams had to work with that material. He had to create some sense of drama out of something that lacked drama altogether. He had to find a way to auditorialize (cool new word!) movies made of shots that had so much dense activity going on at once that they were completely annoying. How would any of us respond to that kind of challenge, even if we had his skills?

I think the new trilogy, on the other hand, will be better paced, have more character material to work with, and follow a better narrative flow—all of which will lend themselves to a better, more logical scoring process. We'll hear some old-theme cameos, I'm sure, but there'll be plenty of new stuff on the table as well.

Ahem, Droid Motif.

Actually, I think that's the name of one of the Imperial admirals. . . .

Please, a little seriousness guys, those verbal sparring between members becomes very annoying.

[Faleel 5,346]

You mean Motti?

[Henry B 50]

You know, the opening string bit reminds me of the ending of the alternate Binary Sunset.

The opening is actually the very same chord that ends "Binary Sunset" - and it's the film version, not the alternate, that it matches. Same key and everything!

[Quintus 5,399]

Where you been Henry?

[Balahkay 627]

You know, the opening string bit reminds me of the ending of the alternate Binary Sunset.

The opening is actually the very same chord that ends "Binary Sunset" - and it's the film version, not the alternate, that it matches. Same key and everything!

Can you tell if it's the actual track or is it a new recording?

Edit: Never mind. It's a new recording.

[Henry B 50]

Where you been Henry?

Too consumed by Facebook to do the forum thing as well. #firstworldproblems

[Faleel 5,346]

You know, the opening string bit reminds me of the ending of the alternate Binary Sunset.

The opening is actually the very same chord that ends "Binary Sunset" - and it's the film version, not the alternate, that it matches. Same key and everything!

It matches the alternate too then.

[Henry B 50]

I get that the alternate ends in a similar way, but to me the orchestration sounds more similar to the film version. Maybe I'm wrong and it's just a difference of acoustics.

[King Mark 3,631]

In the meantime, we can watch this old video of the TESB scoring sessions to see a true master at work

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-john-williams-creates-the-score-for-star-wars-episode-vi-return-of-the-jedi-in-vintage-22-minute-featurette-20141215

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

It's a classic!

[King Mark 3,631]

I wonder if he'd have the same opinion about his film music now (like the constraints) . He rarely did concerts back then

[Faleel 5,346]

Trailer music:

[King Mark 3,631]

nice job

Still sounds nothing like the Sarlak pit music

[Cerebral Cortex 3,357]

Man. It is such a great feeling to be able to say we'll be getting another John Williams Star Wars score this year.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

This year? But 2015's next year!

[Balahkay 627]

The more I listen to the teaser music, the more I love it.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

This is no time to argue about time! We don't have the time!

[Cerebral Cortex 3,357]

They say time is the fire in which we burn; right now I'm running out of time.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Now if you'll excuse me Captain, I have an appointment with eternity, and I don't want to be late.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

It's like a predator. It's stalking you.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

You know, Counselor. Recently, I've become very much aware that there are fewer Williams scores ahead than there are behind. But I took comfort from the fact that...the Star Wars would go on.

[King Mark 3,631]

Untitled Cold War Thriller also goes on

[Balahkay 627]

Untitled Cold War Thriller also goes on

Isn't it called St. James Place or is that a working title? Also, has Williams been confirmed, yet?

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Who else would do it? Beary McCrear?

[Balahkay 627]

Maybe Quincy Jones.

[King Mark 3,631]

Since Williams maybe in his last few years of film scoring, Spielberg should at least pick more grandiose projects now instead of this cold war crap that doesn't led itself to music too well. He rejected so many projects that had far more Williams potential before settling for the least interesting possibility

So we get another Munich that most of us have barely listened to and is never talked about

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

Perhaps John Williams will score it using Russian choir in the vein of The Hunt for the Red October.

[King Mark 3,631]

Yeah, but in general sense : Political Thriller= Boring serious score. That applies to most composers

I mean how often do you have the urge to play Pelican Brief or Patriot Games by James Horner (apparently never in my case since I don't even have them in itunes)

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

I personally really like the non-thumping cues from Munich.

[Ricard 2,245]

Trailer music:

I assume you don't want the video to be shared outside the forums, since you didn't use a regular youtube link. Am I wrong?

[Uni 306]

Since Williams maybe in his last few years of film scoring, Spielberg should at least pick more grandiose projects now instead of this cold war crap that doesn't led itself to music too well. He rejected so many projects that had far more Williams potential before settling for the least interesting possibility

Is it just possible that Spielberg chose a movie he wanted to do? That, despite their friendship, he doesn't just select films for JW? That he has more in mind than just the music?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

That would be rather selfish, would it not?

We'll never get Indy 5 this way.

[Balahkay 627]

There's still The BFG in 2016, which will be a fantasy film.

[Faleel 5,346]

Trailer music:

I assume you don't want the video to be shared outside the forums, since you didn't use a regular youtube link. Am I wrong?

Nah, I used that host because my Youtube account was closed.

You guys can share the video if you want.

I like Nixon.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I like Ike!

[Cerebral Cortex 3,357]

Said right before Indiana Jones is shot by a group of Russian soldiers.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Completely out of character line, delivered horribly by Harrison Ford.

[Datameister 2,041]

^ A phrase which could be used to describe virtually everything he says in TOD.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Stop! Look...just...stand against the wall, will ya?

[Faleel 5,346]

^ A phrase which could be used to describe virtually everything he says in TOD.

It's a prequel! He isn't that character yet!

[Datameister 2,041]

Stop! Look...just...stand against the wall, will ya?

Of course, there's an exception to every rule.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Willie... we are going... TO DIE!