Lights, Camera... Music! Six Decades of John Williams -- Keith Lockhart conducted CD of rarities

[Pieter Boelen 740]

12 hours ago, KingPin said:

 

Its not the Signature Edition version, although it is still arranged by Williams. Williams has conducted this version himself on a few rare occasions (including a Tanglewood concert I attended years ago). It basically cuts and pastes the following from the original soundtrack:

 

A) Track 17 (Reprise) 0:00 to 5:26, with the entire first violin section playing the opening melody instead of a solo violin

B) Track 17 (Reprise) 6:33 to 7:21, minus the third repetition of the piccolo/fife melody from 7:00 to 7:10

C) Track 4 (The Colonial Cause) 1:25 to 3:01

D) Non-soundtrack material written for ending of concert version

I'm really looking forward to hearing that now!

[curlytoot 97]

Digital release pushed back 2 days to May 19. Should have figured; albums don't usually drop on Wednesdays.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Aside from Karen Allen being the host, looks like a pretty awesome program!

[mrbellamy 6,270]

On 4/12/2017 at 1:11 PM, azahid said:

The cd release date is confirmed as May 10th.

 

 

On 4/18/2017 at 3:40 AM, mrbellamy said:

June 9 now?

 

On 5/8/2017 at 7:45 PM, Ricard said:

It should be noted, however, that the "general" release date has been postponed to June 23

 

 

On 5/9/2017 at 2:04 AM, curlytoot said:

Preview clips are up at iTunes!!! And it supposedly releases on May 17!

1

 

31 minutes ago, curlytoot said:

Digital release pushed back 2 days to May 19. 

 

[DominicCobb 194]

On May 9, 2017 at 3:49 AM, Thor said:

 

Well, ideally I would of course leave off the 'standards' here, but if I'm not mistaken this is the first time the FORCE AWAKENS suite material has been released? If so, that deserves it.

 

From what I understand the unreleased TFA suite material is just the full "Jedi Steps" and the "Finale" ending variation, right? Is there anything in "Rey's Theme," "March of the Resistance," "Scherzo for X-Wings," and the "Finale" (otherwise) that isn't already covered by the OST?

 

EDIT: Or wait just realized maybe I'm dumb and you're just talking about the fact that the five TFA tracks make up the overall TFA suite (rather than there being material not included on the OST).

[mrbellamy 6,270]

"Finale" also has the extended Poe's theme statement.

[curlytoot 97]

Weird: the Towering Inferno track has been removed from the iTunes preorder page...?

 

EDIT: Nevermind.

[Incanus 5,713]

This is the cue for JWFan to panic.

[curlytoot 97]

Just refreshed and it's back up. Thank God.

[Faleel 5,326]

The ending celeste of Rey's Theme sounds slightly different on the live recording I heard.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,488]

I've just looked at the track listing for this cd:

6:14 for THE TOWERING INFERNO?

7:23 for E.T.?

What could warrant an extra 1:14 for TTI?

[Matt S. 492]

On ‎5‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 9:04 AM, Richard said:

I've just looked at the track listing for this cd:

6:14 for THE TOWERING INFERNO?

7:23 for E.T.?

What could warrant an extra 1:14 for TTI?

 

On ‎4‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 9:14 PM, Matt S. said:

Intermission now.... Towering Inferno was a blast; they played the full main title, and at the ending fade out they transitioned to part of the end title to give it a more rousing conclusion.  

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,488]

Thanks for that, Matt. I look forward to purchasing this.

[zoltan_902 141]

13 hours to go.

[bollemanneke 3,334]

Huh? Isn't this coming out on Friday, tomorrow?

[Incanus 5,713]

Digital release was originally slated for the 17th but it seems to have been moved to the 19th of May.

[bollemanneke 3,334]

So that's Friday. In my galaxy, Friday will be there in 14 hours...

[rough cut 1,714]

It's a shame I'm unable to buy this release digitally in lossless format - same as with Williams/Spielberg Collab. Part 3. That means I have to wait a couple of weeks extra for the disc to arrive before I can chime in on the discussion.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Really?   You would refuse to even sample it on a streaming service?  Audio purity zealot!

[bollemanneke 3,334]

I am SO happy I haven't jumped on the lossless bandwagon. MP3 it is here.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Yeah 256+ sample rate MP3 sounds fantastic to my ears.  Lossless not worth the surcharge.

[bollemanneke 3,334]

128 even sounds fantastic to my ears. I've repeatedly done comparisons but the minute difference I notice in 1% of the cases just isn't worth the extra space.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Yeah, people like to look at waveform comparisons and imagine they can hear major differences.

 

Triggering audiophiles is a favorite pastime of mine 

[rough cut 1,714]

I'm sure people defended the old black/white TV as well when colour came around. 

[Faleel 5,326]

3 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

128 even sounds fantastic to my ears. I've repeatedly done comparisons but the minute difference I notice in 1% of the cases just isn't worth the extra space.

Have you done any blind listening tests?

 

 

Oh wait.....

[curlytoot 97]

It's available for download on the BPO's website.

 

https://www.bso.org/brands/pops/shop/six-decades-of-john-williams.aspx

[Bespin 8,472]

128 kbps mp3 is perhaps enough for modern music, but it can't handle orchestral music, particularly the winds and the trumpets.

 

If this is a live recording it's even worse.

 

I guess the album will be on Spotify tomorrow? In Canada the physical CD will only be available  in early june I think.

[publicist 4,643]

 

[Amer 2,078]

Sound quality is average? Early feedback from first listen posted at FSM.

[Bespin 8,472]

I will listen to the album on Spotify this morning yeah!

 

Also, US Air Force - Journeys album was released today.

 

That's a nice way to start a week-end!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Even I, an audio heathen who doesn't usually notice or care about such things, notice that the mikes seem to have picked up a lot of background noise. Like staticky, I mean.

[Bespin 8,472]

I had no expectations for this album, so I discovered it with no particular idea in mind...  I'm not a fan of Lockhart's albums, but let's give a chance to the runner....        

 

Surprise....Oh wow! Three times wow! 

 

What a great produced album! Congratulations to Keith Lockhart, this album is truly great! This will surely be the best selling album of all his career. The album is ALL good, but the gem is really Stargazers: just wow!      

 

This album is truly a great companion to the 3 Spielberg/Williams albums. Add the 1990 Star Wars Trilogy CD, recorded digitally by Williams, to this set and we have a perfect starting kit for any future fan, almost a best-of!

 

I really can't wait for a volume 2! 

[bollemanneke 3,334]

Can't wait to check this out then. I do find it unfortunate that the Boston Pops never performs Harry Potter or Far and Away on any official album.

[Jay 37,249]

Listening now!

 

https://open.spotify.com/album/7EgRKm3uO0CbW4TqlI2Rzf

[curlytoot 97]

I'd say this is without a doubt my favorite JW compilation album yet. Just about every selection was already a favorite of mine; no real "misses" on this one. Sound quality is pretty good; it's great to finally hear cues like "Night Journeys" recorded with such clarity.

[Jay 37,249]

I've listened up through Night Journeys so far and this is really good!  The early stuff is extra nice because you don't hear it as frequently, and Night Journeys was really really good!

Now onto Stargazers!

[Incanus 5,713]

I am a more than halfway through and the album has been pretty great thusfar.  

[crumbs 14,287]

Jedi Steps concert version sounds fantastic! What a deliciously dark and moody track at this stage of Williams' career. I hope he expands upon these ideas in TLJ; it's very reminiscent of Dracula.

[igger6 894]

This is spectacular!  I know nothing about sound quality, but it sounds fantabulous to me.

[Jay 37,249]

Wow, Stargazers is wonderful, I wasn't expecting it to be 7 1/2 minutes!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

The sound being a little iffy is most noticeable during quiet sections like the beginning of "The Jedi Steps."  It's a fantastic album but it's undeniable that it would have been even better as a real studio recording.  Just sucks that wasn't viable for them.

[bollemanneke 3,334]

Nearly finished listening. Nice album, but the very early scores didn't really appeal to me. Sound mix is excellent, loving the woodwinds in the Star Wars suite and Stargazers! But still don't like the Jedi Steps, I think it's a relatively dull concert arrangement and the idea worked much better in the film version. I don't like the transition from that to the sudden triumphant finale, the Force theme needs to be there... Hope he'll do more albums like this, I want Double Trouble on a Boston Pops CD.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The Towering Inferno sounds like a TV theme. Maybe its the rather distant and muted recording?

[curlytoot 97]

I don't understand the complaints about the sound...? For instance, it's better than pretty much anything we've heard from Giacchino in awhile.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I'm not complaining about the sound. Its very natural. Like a live concert performance. The Towering Inferno sounds smaller than the OST version though.

 

 

Hey! The TFA music sounds good!

[curlytoot 97]

Never would have guessed just a year and a half ago that we'd already be getting a professional rerecording of TFA music this soon!!!

[Bespin 8,472]

1 hour ago, bollemanneke said:

(...) But still don't like the Jedi Steps, I think it's a relatively dull concert arrangement and the idea worked much better in the film version. I don't like the transition from that to the sudden triumphant finale, the Force theme needs to be there... (...)

 

I prefer the movie version too. Separating the finale like that is for me very "old fashionned", it reminds me some 80's re-recordings!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yes!

[Jay 37,249]

The middle of the album is really great!  Devil's Dance and the Patriot suite are full of pep and the Sleepers and Sabrina music is really nice.  It's a shame we just got Viktor's Tale on the Spielberg collaboration, as either CD would have benefitted from swapping to something else, but what can you do? 

 

Onto TFA now!

[Stempel 136]

Wow! It is a fantastic album!