Jump to content

THE ADVENTURES OF HAN - 2018 John Williams theme for Solo: A Star Wars Story


Obi

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, igger6 said:

Might this have something to do with their both being co-nominated for the Grammy for “Mine Mission”? I always thought that L3/robot revolt theme was in Williams’ wheelhouse...

 

I think that might be for Han’s Theme, actually... JP has said that he wrote all the other themes

 

People definitely seem to be going a bit overboard with this

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember that Hyperspace cue was one of the first film clips, before we knew the theme or anything, and I said the same thing on here at the time that either that was a crib from the Han theme or Powell was a genius impersonator. I think this is still very much a Powell score but it definitely makes sense now that some of the more subtly familiar touches to the Han theme are turning out to be pure JW lol.

 

I had also just been happily going along thinking that the Han statement in the Dryden walk cue was a very canny job by Powell. Hearing it in the theater I was like “Man that sounds just like him” 

 

(Also I just noticed their initials are JP and JW...Jurassic Park and Jurassic World. Why.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, mrbellamy said:

I remember that Hyperspace cue was one of the first film clips, before we knew the theme or anything, and I said the same thing on here at the time that either that was a crib from the Han theme or Powell was a genius impersonator. I think this is still very much a Powell score but it definitely makes sense now that some of the more subtly familiar touches to the Han theme are turning out to be pure JW lol.

 

The ascending harp building to the big fanfare is pure Williams. That said, Powell's one of the few Hollywood composers who happily write such instruments into their scores.

 

Then the stunning trumpet fanfare in counterpoint, after the first bars of the Han melody, wow! Such joyous adventure scoring I haven't heard from Williams in a long time (assuming he wrote it).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, mrbellamy said:

Those trumpet calls in that and “Flying with Chewie” as well always remind me of the Force Theme in “Farewell and the Trip”

 

Fantastic catch! It's identical to the way he jumps between the Force Theme on horns in counterpoint with trumpet flourishes:

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Again, to quote John Williams himself on this matter:

 

Quote

 

Williams revealed his involvement in “Solo: A Star Wars Story” during in an interview with Variety about his current “Star Wars” opus, “The Last Jedi.” “The present plan is that I’m writing a theme for Han Solo, and John Powell is going to write the score, which he’ll do brilliantly,” Williams says.

 

Powell was announced as the primary composer for “Solo” back in July. “His assignment is something I’m very happy about,” Williams adds. “What I will do is offer this to John, and to [director] Ron Howard, and if all parties are happy with it, then I will be happy. … John [Powell] will complete the score. He will write all the rest of the themes and all of the other material, which I’m going to be very anxious to hear.”

 

 

As for the demos Williams wrote I bet they are just various variations on his theme. There are a lot of small bits here and there that sound like him. Like this, for example:

 

 

Or this:

 

 

Or this (not sure about 4:04-4:12 bit though):

 

 

Perhaps...this?

 

 

And definitely this:

 

 

Karol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Definitely not the bit in Testing Allegiances .The one in Dice and Roll 100%, and the one in Reminiscence Therapy probably..it sounds like the concert version

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would die to hear the original demos since recorded all of them with a full symphony orchestra. Just imagine how cool would it be to have that as an extra on the expanded set. :)

 

Karol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Meet Han is one of my favorite tracks on the OST. Although you can hear many Powell-isms in it, the low brass and introduction of Han's theme seem very JW. Interesting to think that JW might have written an intro to a SW movie that didn't begin with the classic fanfare.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, crumbs said:

Arguably, if not for what happened on Rogue One, Williams wouldn't have gotten involved with Solo in the first place.

 

I'm not so sure. I think Williams involvement has much to do with Ron Howard and all the schedule problems due to him replacing Lord and Miller. I could imagine Howard approaching Williams an asking him for some music while asking for his approval for Powell. Maybe if Edwards had approached Williams for Rogue One he would have considered composing something... But Lucasfilm was more confident with their movies in 2016 than in 2018...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, DrTenma said:

 

I'm not so sure. I think Williams involvement has much to do with Ron Howard and all the schedule problems due to him replacing Lord and Miller. I could imagine Howard approaching Williams an asking him for some music while asking for his approval for Powell. Maybe if Edwards had approached Williams for Rogue One he would have considered composing something... But Lucasfilm was more confident with their movies in 2016 than in 2018...

 

I'm pretty certain both Williams and Powell were attached before Ron Howard got involved. Powell was told that Williams would be involved when he was asked to score the film.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/4/2020 at 5:48 AM, crumbs said:

Arguably, if not for what happened on Rogue One, Williams wouldn't have gotten involved with Solo in the first place.

 

What happened? You mean the composer change?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, SilverTrumpet said:

What happened? You mean the composer change?

 

According to some rumours that have been circulating, Williams hated the Rogue One score and what Giachinno had done with his themes. So, he demanded more involvement on Solo just to keep track of the quality of the score.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The game of Telephone that would be involved with that rumor making it to us has me pretty skeptical.  Williams could have expressed unhappiness simply with the situation of the last minute composer change and by the time it made it through 10 levels of people it became "Williams hates Giacchino!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, crumbs said:

I'm pretty certain both Williams and Powell were attached before Ron Howard got involved. Powell was told that Williams would be involved when he was asked to score the film.

 

I can't be bothered to find it right now but there was definitely an interview where John Powell specified that he met with Lord and Miller first and that Williams was definitely in from that early on, and then he said he was as confused as anybody by the production upheaval and didn't know whether or not he'd still have the job. Then he met with Ron Howard and they were good to go.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

 

According to some rumours that have been circulating, Williams hated the Rogue One score and what Giachinno had done with his themes. So, he demanded more involvement on Solo just to keep track of the quality of the score.


The discussion in this thread is pretty great and goes on for several pages. To me, listening to RO, it’s not hard for me to fathom the possibility that JW disliked how his themes were presented. 
 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Giacchino didn't use Williams themes more or less badly than any other composer who had to use his themes. There's some bad renditions of Williams themes in Harry Potter 4-8

 

i wonder what Williams thinks of Jurassic world

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If there's any truth to the rumor, he may just feel an entirely different kind of loyalty and defensiveness about Star Wars. It looms largest in his legend.

 

But it is interesting when we get these hints about how he may set conditions with people using his music. I love that interview with the Swiss Army Man directors revealing that they received a letter from his reps saying they could use Jurassic Park as long as the movie wasn't NC-17.

 

 

I don't know what they meant by he never licenses his music, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, mrbellamy said:

I love that interview with the Swiss Army Man directors revealing that they received a letter from his reps saying they could use Jurassic Park as long as the movie wasn't NC-17.


That’s some sad news for the creators of JurASSic Park!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, King Mark said:

He also didn't like Shadows of the Empire according to an old interview

Yeah supposedly he was so upset that when the prequels came Williams involvement was no a sure thing.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Luke Skywalker said:

Yeah supposedly he was so upset that when the prequels came Williams involvement was no a sure thing.....

 

It's understandable if he wasn't asked, IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, King Mark said:

He also didn't like Shadows of the Empire according to an old interview

 

I thought that case was more that they didn't ask him because they were convinced he wouldn't be interested in such a thing, and he was offended that they'd think that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Weird to think he might have actually taken that project on, had he been asked. Wonder what a Shadows of the Empire score by John Williams would have sounded like?

 

Either way, McNeely did a brilliant job. The score fits right alongside the original 3.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it was more the courtesy of asking than that he would have actually done it. He seems like he really wants to check in on anything Star Wars music, since it's his baby.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Probably, though he did have lots of spare time on his hands during that period (he only did 3 film scores between Schindler's List and 1997). New Star Wars music might have been an attractive prospect after 13 years.

 

But he certainly should've been extended the courtesy of being asked to do it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/5/2020 at 11:22 AM, crumbs said:

I'm pretty certain both Williams and Powell were attached before Ron Howard got involved. Powell was told that Williams would be involved when he was asked to score the film.

 

Oh... If that was the case the "I don't like Rogue One score" makes much more sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/4/2020 at 7:27 PM, crumbs said:

 

The ascending harp building to the big fanfare is pure Williams. That said, Powell's one of the few Hollywood composers who happily write such instruments into their scores.

 

Then the stunning trumpet fanfare in counterpoint, after the first bars of the Han melody, wow! Such joyous adventure scoring I haven't heard from Williams in a long time (assuming he wrote it).

 

On 5/4/2020 at 7:42 PM, mrbellamy said:

Those trumpet calls in that and “Flying with Chewie” as well always remind me of the Force Theme in “Farewell and the Trip”

 

To me, those trumpet lines in the hyperspace cue always sounded too…busy, for lack of a better word, to be Williams. Seemed more like Powell to me—especially the second one, and the way it modulates. But the more pared down version from the Flying with Chewie cue that @crocodile posted sounds more like Williams to me—maybe the hyperspace version was Powell's variation on it.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree about the drums, much as I love this score.  If someone could have tied off whatever neurons lead Powell to do that, I think the score would have sounded more uniformly Star Wars.  But I'm so thrilled with it overall that it's hard to stay mad about it. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Erik Woods said:

 

Go back and listen to "This is Berk"  Powell's been writing these kind of cues for 10 years!

 

-Erik-

PS - The drums are awesome in this score. That's what makes it a perfect Williams/Powell hybrid score!

I don't know.  At no point does This Is Berk sound like a 100% accurate recreation of obscure, specific Williamsisms.  

 

Agreed about the drums though, the complaints are fanboy purist nonsense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Firstly - lets start to refer to the "drums" as percussion. Secondly, I don't think the score needed the added "21st century soundtrack" sounding percussion. Powell is not a disinteresting composer - not one of the greatest either though, but the score really could stand on its own without cheapening it with this modern take on Star Wars. The reason why it sounds so fabulous when Williams uses percussion like that (think the opening chase of Attack of the Clones, or maybe Chrome Dome?) is because he uses this soundscape so scarcely. His music is good enough to stand on its own without Hans Zimmer in the background, and I don't think the majority of the Solo score needed them either.

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.