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Favorite short musical moments in Williams scores?


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On 12/17/2017 at 12:06 AM, Supaflyryguy said:

This is probably my favorite bit of Star Wars music from 5:02-5:35:

 

 

 

 

OMG OMG YES!!! This part gives me goosebumps like no other things on earth!!!

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On 12/16/2017 at 9:06 PM, Supaflyryguy said:

This is probably my favorite bit of Star Wars music from 5:02-5:35:

 

It is a uniquely melodramatic and emotional moment in SW music history, especially with the use of male voice that was so specific to ROTJ. I don't think JW would return to this highly melodramatic style of emotional, climatic-moment music until ROTS. 

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22 hours ago, someonefun124 said:

3:20 to 3:30... Love this.

 

 

 

That entire piece is begging to be cut into bits, and shared in this thread.  I think it's one of Williams' best action compositions.

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On 17.12.2017 at 6:06 AM, Supaflyryguy said:

This is probably my favorite bit of Star Wars music from 5:02-5:35:

 

 

I love this too, but I've always found the choir a bit disappointing. It should have been been bigger or mixed louder, or possibly both.

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2 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I love this too, but I've always found the choir a bit disappointing. It should have been been bigger or mixed louder, or possibly both.

It was plenty loud in theaters! Also, the use of male voice there is reflective of how male choir is used in the score. It's not like in the prequels with full blown choir writing, this was within the context of choir being used for the Emperor's Theme, a kind of low, monotonous texture.

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22 minutes ago, artguy360 said:

It was plenty loud in theaters! Also, the use of male voice there is reflective of how male choir is used in the score. It's not like in the prequels with full blown choir writing, this was within the context of choir being used for the Emperor's Theme, a kind of low, monotonous texture.

 

I'm only referring to the cue as presented on the SE CD.

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11 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I'm only referring to the cue as presented on the SE CD.

I'd like it to be louder too but it is a singular use of male voice in the entire SW oeuvre that I find fascinating.

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From A.I. Wearing Perfume, from 2:18 onward:

 

The heartbreakingly emotional and almost hypnotic piano melody... I swear to God, every time I listen to this passage, I feel like crying. It's that powerful.

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On 12/25/2017 at 5:22 PM, Josh500 said:

From A.I. Wearing Perfume, from 2:18 onward:

 

The heartbreakingly emotional and almost hypnotic piano melody... I swear to God, every time I listen to this passage, I feel like crying. It's that powerful.

Is there a video here that's just not loading for me?

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3 hours ago, Luka said:

 

 

Omg this part (2:57) always gives me goosebumps! 

Those lower strings (3:02-03)!!!!!!!!!! :wub:

This is how you pay off a brand new theme in an awesome way. Brilliant moment. A new, sad, wistful theme played almost solo for most of the scord turns into a full orchestral blowout. 

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Dug out my copy of the LLL Jurassic Park Collection -reminded of a favourite short moment, well shortish, about 2.20 to 2.35 in Visitor in San Diego -that rendition of the JP Theme. All frantic and urgent.

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4 hours ago, Luka said:

Speaking of JP, I always loved the part at 3:29 so much! When the cello make an ascension… just wow.

 

Yes, very subtle, isn't he? :wink:

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0:00 to 0:30 of The Fathiers

 

I realize that I am very late to the party as far as voicing praise for this track, especially the section cited above, but praise it I will! It's forceful, it's masterful, and it's probably my favorite start to a Williams action cue in over 20 years. There's a youthful exuberance on display here characteristic of a composer more than half Williams' age. This kind of writing was something that I felt Williams had long left by the wayside (see: most of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). I love how the rhythm and brisk pace of the first couple seconds very much evoke the sound of a horse galloping against an old cobblestone road which, whether intentional or not, coincides perfectly with the imagery of the escaping Fathiers in the film. 

 

This is Williams having fun. And when Williams is having fun, I'm having fun. I think I like this guy. 

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Although I enjoy the orchestral brightness of The Falthiers, the whole cue loses its identity after the first 30 seconds or so and that lively repeating phrase gives way to more formless action music with some of Rose's theme mixed in. 

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53 minutes ago, artguy360 said:

Although I enjoy the orchestral brightness of The Falthiers, the whole cue loses its identity after the first 30 seconds or so and that lively repeating phrase gives way to more formless action music with some of Rose's theme mixed in. 

Basically yes, but to such a small degree that it is still one of his most sublime action writing in many years. Listen to it a few times more and it will be rewarded.

 

1 hour ago, Cerebral Cortex said:

This is Williams having fun. And when Williams is having fun, I'm having fun.

It is really outstanding how obvious this is! The first time I listened to this I repeatedly had to laugh and immediately think "Johnny, you are having a lot of fun right now, he?"

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^ The Falthiers is a track I can appreciate and enjoy for its colors and general liveliness but that's pretty much it. I doubt I will enjoy it any more or less in the future than I do now. I prefer the more careful build up and ebb and flow of TFA's FYC Follow Me and The Falcon, for example, a track which has a similar liveliness but more consistency and a clearer identity. That track hits the same spots as The Falthiers but better. 

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1:05-1:13

 

 

This is one of those odd little things that made an impression on me as a kid. The moment it scores in the film is fairly innocuous (Ron encouraging Harry to get on the broom and catch the key) and yet he gives it this weird, distressed color.

 

 

Wonder what he's playing off of there, exactly. Maybe Harry's doubt or Ron's impatience, or just the aesthetic of the kids in closeup in the dark. I like the uneasy effect, though. Small example of him bringing out the gently spooky nature of those stories and not necessarily playing the obvious dramatic note.

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I repeat 10 s moments up the wazoo! My most repeated music segment of all time I think is [1] + [2], and have been repeating the first 30 s of This Land from The Lion King a lot today.

 

As far as John Williams, I remember repeating this countless times when it came out. The bright and airy classicism of it fascinated me, and how it sounded slightly flat:

The horn melody (+ little flutes.) Reminds me of something that would be out of Homeward Bound or a country-themed orchestra, yet has much more European elegance and structure.

 

 

This is not part of the score, but man, the 10 s of piano... Classic Williams:

 

 

 

    
        On 7/27/2015 at 11:46 AM, The Psycho Pianist said:     
    
        

            I've always loved the string line from 1:54-2:15 on this track from Philosopher's Stone. So much so that one day I had to transcribe it. ;)
            
            6I7bcFT.png
            
                      

        

           https://www.youtube.com/embed/gYmoTdrcrNk         

    

    Wow yes, such a brilliant melody. That's probably my favorite version of it.

Is that the part when Hedwig is flying over Hogwarts?

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