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Johnny's Best Counterpoint Moments


Loert

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Post/discuss your favourite moments from JW's scores that specifically showcase his contrapuntal abilities (i.e. two or more melodies playing on top of each other).

 

I'll start: the violins playing against the horns/woodwind in Hook's "Flight to Neverland":

 

(1:55 - 2:08)

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1 hour ago, BloodBoal said:

 

 

That was the track I was missing most on the OST.

 

Two of my favourites are the drawn out counterpoint in the extended Throne Room, and the brass stuff during the final repetition in Summon the Heroes.

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2 hours ago, Thor said:

Are fugues part of this (wherein one line is put on top of another)? If so, Williams is a master at fugues, so plenty to choose from.

 

He hasn't written many outright fugues.  More so fugato passages that emulate fugal expositions.  

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my favourite ones, not so much as 2 themes sounding simultaneously, but as general counterpoint writing are:

 

1) the Stored Memories choral piece (A.I.)

2) Arlington (JFK)

from 2.55'' and on

 

 

3) Epilogue (The Fury)

from 1.10'' and on

 

 

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This is a great topic for a thread.  I've always loved the Harry Potter overture for its counterpoint and how JW overlaps themes like he does here starting at 8:30 and after the modulation at 9:11 (excuse that this is a high school orchestra as accomplished as they are):

 

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12 hours ago, SF1_freeze said:

30-1:25

Padmes funeral immediately comes to mind. Best moment of the ROTS score and unreleased!

Here is performance of this piece by Simone Pedroni. For select few with the link, because it's "not public" for reasons unknown.

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There's a bit towards the end of 1941's "The Sentries" where Williams places strings and horns on top of each other, but what I like about it especially is how he leads into it; initially it's just one melody in the strings, but a few bars in he creates a temporary 'loop' during which he mixes in the horns in parallel, before they break off to play a separate (and kinda schmaltzy :D) line. It's one of my favourite bits in the score:

 

http://picosong.com/79Bu/

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I love the contrapuntal bit with the trumpets in the cue On His Own from The Rare Breed, at about 12:45 here:

 

 

The scene accompanies Jimmy Stewart's ultimately successful search for a Hereford bull which has survived a harsh winter against the odds.

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12 hours ago, zaddini said:

Here is performance of this piece by Simone Pedroni. For select few with the link, because it's "not public" for reasons unknown.

 

What you posted is sadly not this unreleased piece. It's a rearrangement of parts of the Padmes Funeral piece but it employs a full choir and misses at least one Imperial march counterpoint appearance and lacks the subtelty of the film piece. It's more a continuation of the "standard" funeral theme arrangement coming from TPM and playing during the Birth of Darth Vader in ROTS.

 

In the film for Padmes Funeral the funeral theme is sung only by a women choir supported with subtle instrumentation and then the counterpoint with the Force Theme and the Imperial March starts and it gets purely instrumental.

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3 hours ago, aviazn said:

The stretto from March of the Resistance. For illustrative purposes, I'll link this piano cover, with a tip of the hat to the OP. ;)

 

Oh you. :blush2:

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The March from 1941. I love how multiple melodic lines are integrated throughout this piece. In the first half of the piece, we are introduced to the main march theme (let's call it "A"), and then we get a quote middle interlude section that introduced the jaunty woodwind flourish ("B") and a brassy horn line ("C"). Once all three parts have been established, Williams plays around with different combinations. At 2:56, A is combined with B, and then at 3:27, A is combined with both B and C, and then at 3:47, A and C are combined to lead into the finale. Earlier in the piece, foreshadowing of the counterpoint method is made when B and C are overlapped from 2:33 to 2:37.

 

 

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8 minutes ago, Richard said:

There's a bit in THE BATTLE OF HOTH where these agonising strings play over Ben's Theme. It's when someone says "Begin retreat, fall back, fall back".

Heartbreaking.

 

 

I have a sneaking suspicion a similar cue will appear in TLJ.

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Can't believe this gem is unreleased. :(

 

I know Bouzereau did his best with the expansions, but was it that hard to stitch Return to the Village with the complete End Credits? It was 25 seconds of unreleased music, no one would've noticed!

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1 minute ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Then why bother?

 

By no-one, obvz I mean those union meanies trying to claim usage fees.

 

I remember reading around the time that licensing was charged roughly per 15 minutes of unreleased music, explaining why the unreleased music from TOD & TLC was in 15 minute increments.

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6 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Can't believe this gem hasn't been mentioned. Criminally unreleased, too. :(

 

I know Bouzereau did his best with the expansions, but was it that hard to stitch Return to the Village with the complete End Credits? It was 25 seconds of unreleased music, no one would've noticed!

 

Not Mr Big alluded to it in a previous post:

 

On 2017-6-2 at 5:55 PM, Not Mr. Big said:

The end credits of Temple of Doom.  

 

And let's not forget the horns from 6:02, too!

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