Jump to content

Favorite short musical moments in Williams scores?


Balahkay

Recommended Posts

To me, the first time I heard it, I automatically thought of the Imperial March... But I never thought of the Jedi Steps! I love it even more now! Because it kind of makes the link clearer between the Jedi Steps and The Imperial March... Father and son. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Specifically, I don’t hear the melody of Jedi Steps, but that rhythm heard early in the march portion of The Spark is too similar to the woodwind rhythm of Jedi Steps for me not to make the connection. I don’t think it is an actual statement of the theme, but I do think it is a deliberate textural reference meant to bring the ideas together.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From The Last Jedi, I really like that little motif that appears in Holdo's Resolve. It starts at 1:34 and goes until 1:46. The first part reminds me of Revenge of the Sith and I love that score.

 

From Revenge of the Sith, this little moment always gives me goosebumps. Well, the whole track, but this segment in articular is just perfect. Starts at 1:00 and ends at 1:11

 

From the Indiana Jones trilogy there is also a lot of little moments but specially these two, when Indy gets the Sankara stones in Temple of Doom, and when he is at the last trial in Last Crusade

 

 

 

And there are a lot more, but this are the ones coming to my mind at the moment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The whole track is great, but 1:11-1:18:

 

 

Love the trumpet offbeat hits. Also the mallet color (glockenspiel?) on the triplets at 1:12. That seems to be a color he grew fond of using during the SW prequel years, especially.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't really get into a lot of the TLJ parts people post, maybe because the score seems overall flat and blended like too many ideas at once.

 

Here are some more moments I love from Williams:

 

The whole minute of 2:30 - 3:30 is filled to the brim with brilliant moments, even subtle bass movements

 

1:41 - 2:12 This theme is one of his greats, for sure. Almost as good as the stuff in my last post

 

The piano accompaniment at 0:54 is just breathtaking, right at 1:10 :'(

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/18/2018 at 7:00 PM, Will said:

How frickin' epic is this?! 

 

 

Amazing how he makes it sound so "epic" with just one repeated phrase (and no choir, at least at first). 

 

Hmm.. I suppose the "orchestration" is quite powerful. Can't really say it sticks out creatively or catchily, personally-speaking. The composition is pretty simple, but that's just me. I don't see the talented craft.

 

When I think of epic, I think of something vibrant, adventurous, and talentedly written. One example is the start of End Credits Jurassic Park or the escape from The Journey Begins Homeward Bound or the chants from Stone Language. I think the Jurassic Park example is the most epic moment I've ever heard in music, because the single-octave trumpets are blaring a melody for the ages over this monstrous echo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

The first minute and a half or so of "Ben Gardner's Boat" from Jaws has got to be some of the most deliciously eerie music Williams has ever composed. Great stuff.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Holko said:

 

Sitting in the cinema a day before the official premiere, I was a bit nervous what I should expect, whether it was going to be any good... 1:36-1:40 was all I needed to immediately start grinning , relax, and immerse myself fully in the ride.

Love it too! What about that insane Kylo Ren/First Order blast as the ships come in? That's sick.

 

On ‎2018‎-‎01‎-‎19 at 9:45 AM, idril said:

I would pair it up with this passage from 'The Spark' (2:16 to the end) as moments that make me appreciate TLJ's score more than others when at first I had thought it was one of the weaker SW soundtracks:

 

 

 

 

On ‎2018‎-‎01‎-‎21 at 2:58 PM, Knight of Ren said:

From The Last Jedi, I really like that little motif that appears in Holdo's Resolve. It starts at 1:34 and goes until 1:46. The first part reminds me of Revenge of the Sith and I love that score.

 

From Revenge of the Sith, this little moment always gives me goosebumps. Well, the whole track, but this segment in articular is just perfect. Starts at 1:00 and ends at 1:11

 

Can't agree more. I really like the ending of The Forest Battle from RotJ and the beginning of Chrome Dome from TLJ!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not going to bother posting anymore YouTube links on this page because it's already a disaster. I'm certainly not going to post tracks from TLJ. You should know the parts I'm talking about anyway.

 

The similar-ish climactic music from the ending of "Rescuing Sarah" and the beginning of "Tranquilizer Dart". So badass.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Although I'm not a very big fan of The Rebellion is Reborn, the final ending thrust is fantastic. The warm statement of Rose's theme into the final rush of music makes for one of the better endings of a JW concert arrangement in recent scores.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Johnny also joined the game of subversions for a bit here:

 

For the first three notes, you think it's going to be yet another Force Theme statement, but it's actually MotR in a lovely slow rendition!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Although it’s not a film score, I need to mention a moment in the Olympic Fanfare that is pure ear candy to me. It’s about two-thirds of the way through, when the theme is reprised for the last time. First we get a few bars of a lovely percussive rhythm (2:55-3:01). Then we get a full-throated, wonderfully harmonized statement of the melody (with driving snare) followed by the brassy fanfare motif (3:02-3:11). The candy is in the harmony — after the first 4 notes of the melody, you’re on tenterhooks waiting for a tonic resolution (it’s something involving cadences, I think). That resolution comes at the end of the next 7-8 notes of the melody, which also kicks off the fanfare motif. The whole thing is ever so delicious, and I don’t know why, except that it has something to do with how JW harmonizes these cadences specifically for this final reprise of the melody. I’m not a musicologist, so anyone feel free to jump in and explain why this piece works so well.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those delicious, if very brief, brass chords at 3:29...

 

 

On 3/22/2018 at 12:25 PM, Scintillating_CA said:

Although it’s not a film score, I need to mention a moment in the Olympic Fanfare that is pure ear candy to me. It’s about two-thirds of the way through, when the theme is reprised for the last time. First we get a few bars of a lovely percussive rhythm (2:55-3:01). Then we get a full-throated, wonderfully harmonized statement of the melody (with driving snare) followed by the brassy fanfare motif (3:02-3:11). The candy is in the harmony — after the first 4 notes of the melody, you’re on tenterhooks waiting for a tonic resolution (it’s something involving cadences, I think). That resolution comes at the end of the next 7-8 notes of the melody, which also kicks off the fanfare motif. The whole thing is ever so delicious, and I don’t know why, except that it has something to do with how JW harmonizes these cadences specifically for this final reprise of the melody. I’m not a musicologist, so anyone feel free to jump in and explain why this piece works so well.

 

Oh, definitely, that was the first Williams piece I ever fell in love with! That ending always blew me away too. I don't really know much about music theory either, but I definitely agree that there's something about the harmony there that is truly perfect. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

The amazing music that scores Luke and Vader's final duel, here at 4:50 or so, is hall of fame level JW short musical moment.

 

And equal to how effective the music is is my surprise at JW creating a whole new melody for this pivotal moment. Question for those more familiar with JW's overall catalog than myself, when else has JW pulled out a brand new melody to score a pivotal, climatic moment in a film like he does here? I suppose one recent example is Jedi Steps where we are treated to a fairly extended brand new motif to end (or nearly end) the film and of course it's super effective. When else has JW pulled this trick?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know there is a lot of frustration with Williams quoting the earlier films in the new trilogy, but that's a melody I would love to hear again in some form, not that that is realistic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.