Favourite Doctor Who Musical Moments

[DarthDementous 1,275]

Hey guys,

 

I enjoyed following the Doctor Who Thread on here but it seems that's pretty much gone inactive. There wasn't as much talk about the music of the show which in my opinion Murray Gold is just as essential as John Williams is to Star Wars (Alexandre Desplat may prove me wrong though), especially every single piece from Heaven Sent which was just gorgeous. There's no restrictions on seasons, you can even post things from Old Who. Unreleased music is also accepted, small snippets or entire tracks can be posted interchangeably. Only rule is posting a video or sound file to accompany what you're saying just for sheer convenience.

 

I'll start by sharing two from the most recent season:

 

1. Doctor Who 'Face the Raven' - Let Me Be Brave

Here's the really serene melancholic harp section that stands out in the piece. I really adore the main melody though, reminds me of the 'Last Christmas' track and 'Owen's Theme' from Torchwood. 

 

2. Heaven Sent - How Did I Survive?

Honestly I'd put every single moment of music from this episode if I could but I chose this one because I find myself humming it every now and then. I don't listen to much Beethoven but it sounds to be very much in his style, very nice and classical (fits the setting of the old castle) with the great energy that Doctor Who music normally has.

 

I really enjoy the John Williams musical moments thread so I thought it'd be neat to try it for Doctor Who, looking forward to hearing what you guys come up with.

[nightscape94 966]

I'm not being very original here, but Rose's theme is probably my favorite musical idea from Nu-Who.  Specially the brassy climax version from the reunion episode (The Stolen Earth).  I couldn't find that version isolated, so here's the "concert" arrangement.

 

 

[DarthDementous 1,275]

5 hours ago, nightscape94 said:

I'm not being very original here, but Rose's theme is probably my favorite musical idea from Nu-Who.  Specially the brassy climax version from the reunion episode (The Stolen Earth).  I couldn't find that version isolated, so here's the "concert" arrangement.

 

 

interesting, I never really thought about what my favourite theme of the series is but Rose is certainly memorable. really fits the character, very wistful and melancholic. my favourite companion theme though is probably amy's theme.

 

EDIT: found the brassy rendition, I think its from the Doomsday theme though:

 

very lovely rendition.

[Sweeping Strings 2,698]

I think Matt Smith lucked out with this, which for me is easily the most memorable 'Doctor's theme' since the show returned - 

https://youtu.be/K7VmOZ4Ppj8

 

And the original and most recent versions of that wonderful main theme - 
 

https://youtu.be/SX4d1INtQKE

[Marian Schedenig 9,387]

7 hours ago, DarthDementous said:

interesting, I never really thought about what my favourite theme of the series is but Rose is certainly memorable. really fits the character, very wistful and melancholic. my favourite companion theme though is probably amy's theme.

 

Martha and Clara for me:

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said:

I think Matt Smith lucked out with this, which for me is easily the most memorable 'Doctor's theme' since the show returned -

 

 

Certainly, though Tenant also had a pretty good theme already. I've grown to like Capaldi's, but it's more simple, Media Ventures styled and certainly not as interesting or exciting as the two earlier incarnations. (Capaldi's Doctor also has the by far best looking title sequence, but an annoyingly overproduced and un-swashbuckling rendition of the theme).

 

Speaking of swashbuckling, one of my favourite set pieces is this one:

 

Sounds more piratey than the actual pirate episode that came later.

 

 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,488]

Marian, Media Ventures was a LONG time ago. It's more Brian Tyler/Marvel superhero in nature IMO.

[Richard P 4,375]

9 hours ago, DarthDementous said:

EDIT: found the brassy rendition, I think its from the Doomsday theme though:

 

very lovely rendition.

 

A glaring omission from the OST release.

[Marian Schedenig 9,387]

8 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Marian, Media Ventures was a LONG time ago. It's more Brian Tyler/Marvel superhero in nature IMO.

 

Perhaps. I don't even know those, and I don't have much interest in changing that. But it still originates from the MV sound, I'd say.

 

In general I didn't find much of interest in the music for Capaldi's first season, but Gold seemed more inspired again in the recent one.

[DarthDementous 1,275]

2 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Perhaps. I don't even know those, and I don't have much interest in changing that. But it still originates from the MV sound, I'd say.

 

In general I didn't find much of interest in the music for Capaldi's first season, but Gold seemed more inspired again in the recent one.

I feel the exact same way. I felt like he was trying to tap into the past a bit too much to the point some of the soundtracks sounded like it came from BBC radiophonics. I like Capaldi's theme as much as Matt Smith's theme but I agree that there's something about the orchestration that rubs me the wrong way. Sounds very Hans Zimmer and not at all like the lush orchestra you usually get with Murray Gold themes. I do like this rendition though because it has the rock aesthetic that some of the old tracks used to have:

 

Martha's theme worked very well in the series along with the 'Doctor Forever' motif:

It certainly was unique sounding if not a bit grating at the high sections.

 

Does anyone know of any examples of 12's theme scored in a more traditional orchestral way? Maybe something they remember from an episode in Series 9?

[DarthDementous 1,275]

oh wow, how did I forget this track - it's absolutely beautiful! this plays during Hell Bent when the Doctor reveals how long he spent in the Confession Dial:

it has the aesthetic of the music in Heaven Sent and maybe a bit of Doomsday in there, very beautiful subtle piece of music.

[Disco Stu 15,504]

Surprised no one's brought up the Long Song. So I will! A highlight of season 7 for sure.

 

 

[Jay 40,305]

On 3/27/2016 at 9:53 PM, DarthDementous said:

in my opinion Murray Gold is just as essential as John Williams is to Star Wars

 

This is a bold statement!

[Marian Schedenig 9,387]

2 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Surprised no one's brought up the Long Song. So I will! A highlight of season 7 for sure.

 

 

 

The songs usually are highlights, and The Rings of Akhaten made particular good use of them. It was hardly one of the best episodes, but it drew some of the show's most powerful moments from the combination of storytelling and music/song.

 

 

And it has one of my favourite action cues:

 

 

[Loert 2,786]

 

[DarthDementous 1,275]

5 hours ago, Jay said:

 

This is a bold statement!

A statement I'm willing to stand by! Most of my favourite moments in Doctor Who heavily correlate with the music.

 

3 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

The songs usually are highlights, and The Rings of Akhaten made particular good use of them. It was hardly one of the best episodes, but it drew some of the show's most powerful moments from the combination of storytelling and music/song.

 

 

 

The bold brassy end section of that piece is lovely.

[Richard P 4,375]

'The Long Song' is an amazing piece. Unfortunately I remember not making head or tail of what was going on in the episode itself.

 

That and 'Song of Freedom' demonstrates how good Gold is at writing melodies like that.

[mstrox 6,991]

I didn't care much at all for "Rings," but somehow the ending still had me welling up.  This is the power of The Long Song.  It is my jam.  My immediate thought when I saw the thread title.

[Brónach 1,307]

It's chock full of gorgeous little things.

 

Like the melody that opens this: 

 

Or River's backwards motifs and diverse unreleased variations, which slowly becomes a new melody.

 

I think I'm most aware of the narrative flow of the music in the Matt Smith years, due to the more detailed releases.

 

Gold is extremely good at emotional manipulation and writing lines that grow and grow.

[Marian Schedenig 9,387]

6 hours ago, Brónach said:

 

Gold is extremely good at emotional manipulation and writing lines that grow and grow.

 

And, like the show itself, at sometimes playing things straight and sometimes wallowing in clichés, but always with class.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,488]

Yes!

[Richard P 4,375]

8 hours ago, Brónach said:

I think I'm most aware of the narrative flow of the music in the Matt Smith years, due to the more detailed releases.

 

Narrative flow is a bonus I guess, but the longer releases also have more forgettable music that has to be programmed out.

 

The series 8 set is the first multi-disc release that I kept without cutting out any cues. I think there's a lot of disposable material particularly in series 6.

[DarthDementous 1,275]

I love that Sad Man in a Box motif, re-occurs in Series 8 and Series 9 feeling very appropriate. always makes me think of the weariness of a time-lord, similar in orchestration to the Doctor's theme from Series 1-4.

 

I don't know if I'm the only one but it feels like the aesthetic of the music changed from Series 4 to Series 5 and then even more in Series 8. not quite sure if I think its for the better, I definitely prefer the sound of the music in Series 1-4 and thought a lot of the melodies more memorable. that being said, Heaven Sent's music is different yet still absolutely gorgeous so maybe sometimes it isn't a bad thing. still wish we'd get another piece like 'All the Strange Strange Creatures' or 'This is Gallifrey'.

[Pieter Boelen 840]

Does anyone know all the CD tracks that contain the action music from "All the Strange, Strange Creatures"?

That one is such tremendous fun and I want to make sure I don't miss any variations of it.

 

The complete amount of Doctor Who music officially available is rather.... daunting.

[DarthDementous 1,275]

On 3/31/2016 at 5:06 AM, Pieter_Boelen said:

Does anyone know all the CD tracks that contain the action music from "All the Strange, Strange Creatures"?

That one is such tremendous fun and I want to make sure I don't miss any variations of it.

 

The complete amount of Doctor Who music officially available is rather.... daunting.

you'll be disappointed to know that there's only about four occurrences of it that's been officially released (tonnes of unreleased cues though, it was played a lot during the show)

 

Series 3 - All the Strange Strange Creatures

 

 

Series 3 - YANA (Excerpt)

 

Series 4 - The Final Days

 

Series 4 - A Pressing Need to Save the World (appears in some capacity around 1:30)

 

and as a bonus here's when it was played at the Doctor Who Proms

 

 

[Sweeping Strings 2,698]

On the main Who thread having gone quiet, I'd say that'll likely be the case until news emerges regarding this year's Christmas special and the filming of next year's series begins.

[DarthDementous 1,275]

36 minutes ago, Sweeping Strings said:

On the main Who thread having gone quiet, I'd say that'll likely be the case until news emerges regarding this year's Christmas special and the filming of next year's series begins.

true, maybe this can serve as the intermediary between news by being more musically focused.

[Richard P 4,375]

I'd expect a series 9 CD release in the interim. The series 8 release came out in May 2015, so I could see it happening in the next few months.

[Pieter Boelen 840]

4 hours ago, DarthDementous said:

you'll be disappointed to know that there's only about four occurrences of it that's been officially released (tonnes of unreleased cues though, it was played a lot during the show)

Brilliant, thanks for the response! Indeed four appearances isn't all that much, but I'll take what I can!

 

If I recall, there was also a section that seemed quite similar to it in "Voyage of the Damned Suite".

Or was I imagining that?

[DarthDementous 1,275]

11 hours ago, Pieter_Boelen said:

Brilliant, thanks for the response! Indeed four appearances isn't all that much, but I'll take what I can!

 

If I recall, there was also a section that seemed quite similar to it in "Voyage of the Damned Suite".

Or was I imagining that?

 

I'm listening to the suite now but other than a few passing resemblances to ATSSC I don't think it makes an appearance. maybe you're getting mixed up with the Doctor Forever theme which features heavily.

 

on another note, here's a very lovely morose piece that I almost forgot about:

 

[pete 1,025]

Slightly off-topic, but this thread seems the most fitting place to post an article about a recent non-Who project:
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/murray-gold-channels-his-inner-child-with-snow-white-score-1-4003272

[DarthDementous 1,275]

1 hour ago, pete said:

Slightly off-topic, but this thread seems the most fitting place to post an article about a recent non-Who project:
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/murray-gold-channels-his-inner-child-with-snow-white-score-1-4003272

not at all, I'd like to think this is the general 'Murray Gold' thread. it'll be interesting to hear a different outlet for his new style of scoring.

[Naïve Old Fart 10,795]

The ultimate Doctor Who musical moment?

 

Either the Derbyshire, or Howell arrangements, in 5.1. Whack that sucker up to 11, and....dum-de-dum, dum-de-dum, dum-de-dum, dum-de-dum, etc.

 

Also, Vale 10 is just great. When DT says "I don't want to go"...oh, wow!

[Pieter Boelen 840]

On 3-4-2016 at 4:34 AM, DarthDementous said:

I'm listening to the suite now but other than a few passing resemblances to ATSSC I don't think it makes an appearance.

It is indeed a passing resemblance that I am referring to; it seems the rhythm is there, even if not the whole obvious melody.

But I like to think that part is still deliberately inspired by ATSSC.

[Bofur01 247]

I loved the first 20 seconds or so of this as well... That theme, whether you call it the doctor's theme or whatever, gave me more than a few chills.

 

 

[DarthDementous 1,275]

4 hours ago, Bofur01 said:

I loved the first 20 seconds or so of this as well... That theme, whether you call it the doctor's theme or whatever, gave me more than a few chills.

 

 

yeah I got major chills when I first heard it in the episode, first time in ages we'd had anything remotely resembling that theme since the 50th Anniversary. what I found was really interesting is that you hear the tail end of the Doctor's theme at the start of this Series 8 track:

 

 

compare that to this:

 

 

EDIT: its a little disheartening to compare the old stuff to the new, there was just something so much more vibrant and ethereal in Series 1-4