The Ballroom scene: another one of Williams' most beautiful melodies

[Cumulonimbus 22]

Just an addition to the Garrison Family Theme - thread down below. The Ballroom scene from the Witches of Eastwick: it's hidden on the album and non-existent in the movie. But absolutely gorgeous. 

 

From 2:50 (video starts from there). 

 

[Loert 2,510]

Reminds me of those scenes near the end of every kid's fantasy movie where the protagonists are outside and it's snowing and the camera is slowly pulling away into the sky through the clouds before fading to black.  

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

You get no argument, from me.

THE SEDUCTION OF SUKI, AND THE BALLROOM SCENE is one of all-time top-five JW cues. 

[Brundlefly 2,385]

41 minutes ago, Richard said:

You get no argument, from me.

THE SEDUCTION OF SUKI, AND THE BALLROOM SCENE is one of all-time top-five JW cues. 

 

And the other four?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

Oh, yeah...right. In chronological order:

THE TOWERING INFERNO MAIN TITLE (the single most important, and influential, piece of music that I have ever heard),

LIGHTSHOW,

TURNING BACK THE WORLD,

GLORIA.

[Thor 7,478]

Interesting choices, Richard. Different from what mine would have been, sure, but kudos for unusual choices. They're all good.

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

What Is Your Wish? is almost certainly Williams' best cue.  Several others from that score are close behind as contenders.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

Many titles make go allover wobbly, but these five simply put my emotions into orbit. I'm not able to explain my rationale for liking them (except for TTI), they just...move me.

I'm sure every JWfaner has his/her own favourites; these are mine. I know they at not "tent-pole" tracks, they are simply the result of listening to JW music for over forty years.

[Will 2,215]

2 hours ago, Richard said:

I'm not able to explain my rationale for liking them (except for TTI), they just...move me.

 

Yep. That's how it always seems to be with music. 

 

That's why often resort to hyperbolic hyperventilation over many cues -- e.g. "Wow, this is AMAZING!! As good as any piece of music I've ever heard!" 

 

It feels like normal, plain language doesn't do it justice. 

[thx99 1,740]

I much prefer the "Balloon Sequence" from the Boston Pops' Salute to Hollywood CD, over the "Ballroom Sequence"...

 

 

[Amer 2,080]

1 hour ago, thx99 said:

I much prefer the "Balloon Sequence" from the Boston Pops' Salute to Hollywood CD, over the "Ballroom Sequence"...

 

 

I need to get this cd !

 

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

They made the right choice rejecting this in favor of some opera piece.

[artguy360 1,843]

Really lovely piece. I like the soaring violins.

[Incanus 5,713]

It is a really gorgeous setpiece with great dramatic sweep and I think it is a shame it was replaced by Nessun Dorma in the film, although the ending half with the witches "flying motif" can still be heard in the movie.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

4 hours ago, Rose Dawson said:

They made the right choice rejecting this in favor of some opera piece.

 

Huh?! You are joking, right? 

[igger6 894]

@Richard, I'd be curious to hear that rationale for TTI.  It was a much later discovery in my JW career, so I have fewer associations with it than with many of the others.  What makes it your #1?

 

For what it's worth, I'd go as follows (unranked):

The Asteroid Field - TESB

Fawkes the Phoenix - HPCOS (the way the concert suite's tempo and key mirror the narrative of a phoenix is English teacher catnip; this is track one of the Yo-Yo Ma Plays John Williams Music You Actually Want to Hear album, which I'm executive-producing in my imagination)

The Land Race - F&A

Prologue - Hook (adventure personified forever)

Destiny...Cannelloni...and the Tale of Viktor Navorski - The Terminal (at least today, because it came up on iTunes recently, it's JW's most underrated love theme, and I'm miffed we didn't get a new recording of just that theme on the upcoming Spielberg album)

 

I like this game, even if it really needs its own thread, and even if we play it every six months.

 

[Ludwig 1,120]

This is one of my top cues as well. As usual, Williams enlists several musical techniques in the service of painting a very clear emotional expression. The combination of techniques in the theme is, to my knowledge, rather unique, which is partly why it stands out for me. These techniques include:

 

- a slowly wandering chord progression - one that starts clearly "on the ground" but quickly (and imperceptibly) migrates into very remote territory

- a melody based largely on consonance and broken chords in a major key - this gives the theme a kind of "pure" or "virtuous" quality

- a slowly rising contour to the melody - an obvious point that lends the music a "heavenly" quality, especially given the very high register of the violins

- a subtle bass line that moves only by steps or small skips - provides a kind of "rationality" to the "irrational" chord progressions; it reminds me of the famous "magic sleep" passage from Wagner's Die Walküre, where Brünnhilde is being put into her magical slumber by her father Wotan and the same sort of technique can be heard:

 

 

All this is to say that, for the music of the Ballroom Scene, Williams blends these techniques together to create a theme that sounds like someone falling under an emotional "spell" that leads them into something (apparently) pure and heavenly, and even though the way they got there was rather strange, it sounds as though it makes some sort of sense (as though in a dream, where the irrational is made rational). It's not the techniques per se that distinguish this cue, but their seamless blend which directs us very clearly to this kind of emotional expression. Such a brilliant cue - can't believe it wasn't used!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

15 hours ago, igger6 said:

@Richard, I'd be curious to hear that rationale for TTI.  It was a much later discovery in my JW career, so I have fewer associations with it than with many of the others.  What makes it your #1?

 

 

The reason I like this so much is simple: in 1975, I toddled along to my local cinema, to see TTI, when it went "wide", in the UK.

The  Main Title was (obviously) the first piece of music heard. I liked it, and, soon after, obtained the LP. The rest, as they say...

Ps, it's not my #1 cue.

[Pat_S 69]

I put this together quickly for anyone who hasn't tried it themselves. 

I do wonder what that 1:30 of black screen originally contained - does anyone have any idea?

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Wonderful! I did try doing this myself a long time ago, until then I'd never realised how much had been cut out of the edit. No wonder the cue was replaced (though knowing Williams he could've re-written it in a cinch and preserved this phenomenal theme).

 

I have no clue what could've been in the original. Looking at it now it's hard to imagine another 90 seconds of more of the same footage, and the mood shift feels like something more significant was originally there. The music shifts to a distinctly magical, dreamlike state at 1:34. A dream sequence perhaps?

[GerateWohl 4,343]

8 hours ago, Pat_S said:

I put this together quickly for anyone who hasn't tried it themselves. 

I do wonder what that 1:30 of black screen originally contained - does anyone have any idea?

Great work. And I hate to say it, because this is one of the loveliest pieces Williams has ever written, but the scene works better with the Puccini.

 

 

[Pat_S 69]

2 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

I have no clue what could've been in the original. Looking at it now it's hard to imagine another 90 seconds of more of the same footage, and the mood shift feels like something more significant was originally there. The music shifts to a distinctly magical, dreamlike state at 1:34. A dream sequence perhaps?

I thought something similar - the shift in music suggests some kind of shift, and the scene would have been incredibly monotonous if it continued any longer like this. I think all of the shots fit together quite well too - so having the movie transport us out of the ballroom somehow would make sense. I think this is a nice idea. 

 

27 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

Great work. And I hate to say it, because this is one of the loveliest pieces Williams has ever written, but the scene works better with the Puccini.

Thanks! Why do you think so? I don't think I could conclude that without seeing the full sequence with Williams' music intact. 

 

If only we had the sketches for this so we could get some idea of what Williams originally intended. 

I also found the ending a bit strange - what did Williams intend for the little quote of the Witches theme to go over? Seems unlike him to put an important melodic idea over dialogue in this particular instance - the movie cuts it out. There must have been an extra shot there or something.

[GerateWohl 4,343]

44 minutes ago, Pat_S said:

Thanks! Why do you think so?

I think, it was a good decision to cut out the one and a half minute of black screen. Would have distracted the flow of the scene too much.

 

No, seriously. I am sure the scene would have been edited completely different for sure. With Williams' music the zoom to the stereo system makes no sense for example. But it appears too cheesy for me with Williams music. 

 

[Pat_S 69]

Just now, GerateWohl said:

I think, it was a good decision to cut out the one and a half minute of black screen. Would have distracted the flow of the scene too much.

 

No, seriously. I am sure the scene would have been edited completely different for sure. With Williams' music the zoom to the stereo system makes no sense for example. But it appears too cheesy for me with Williams music. 

 

That's a good point - that shot does seem to indicate that Miller intended for the music to feel more diegetic. I must say it doesn't bother me very much.