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

[Jurassic Shark 16,276]

Of course, if Powell had gotten credited at all.

[Bofur01 249]

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

[mrbellamy 8,009]

Overboard? On JWFan? Never.

[crumbs 15,927]

I'll eat my hat if Williams didn't write this:

 

jurassicjello · Return to the Village

 

If it's Powell, his skill at replicating the warmth of Williams' style without being an obvious pastiche is more masterful than I thought. This sounds like a hybrid of War Horse and The Phantom Menace.

 

I can imagine Williams being attracted to this scene because it's reminiscent of the Lucas SW endings. No dialogue, music takes center stage, an opportunity for the main theme to shine. Plus, one of the last appearances of his theme in the score (barring Dice and Roll, which he also wrote).

 

In fact, the French horn and woodwind sections of that cue have seemingly been adapted into this earlier cue (albeit with a brief Powell theme in the middle):

 

jurassicjello · Falcon To Hyperspace

 

On 5/3/2020 at 5:18 PM, Luke Skywalker said:

it would have been wonderful that Williams had wanted to do so much input in rogue one too.

 

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

[mrbellamy 8,009]

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.)

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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).

[mrbellamy 8,009]

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

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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:

 

 

[King Mark 3,912]

JW didn't take his full credit for CoS either. So it's possible he did a bit more on Solo and we don't know about it (but not to the extent of CoS where he ended up doing everything) .We're discovering "hints" as time goes by.
 

The themes for Mine Mission (that sounds like the Jurassic Park jeep ride theme), the love theme(lando's closet)  and Chewy's theme (especially in Reminescence therapy) all sound like Williams wrote at least a sketch for them. All the Powell fans will say no, but I can't remember any themes he wrote that were this good and so close to JW's style in other scores he did . The RCP-ified  Han's theme in track 2 and 3 with the drums is more Powell's style

[Rachael Foley 9,835]

Chewie is definitely a Powell theme.

[Disco Stu 15,517]

Just now, Fal J. M. Skywalker said:

Chewie is definitely a Powell theme.

 

If KM likes it, it's Williams

[crocodile 9,590]

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

[King Mark 3,912]

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

[crocodile 9,590]

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

[Alex 3,055]

I wish we could have got a recording of The Adventures of Han with the London orchestra and mix. 

[Bofur01 249]

The one in Flying with Chewie is so similar to the one in Hyperspace, they might both be adapted from the same JW sketch?

 

8 hours ago, King Mark said:

The themes for Mine Mission (that sounds like the Jurassic Park jeep ride theme), the love theme(lando's closet)  and Chewy's theme (especially in Reminescence therapy) all sound like Williams wrote at least a sketch for them. All the Powell fans will say no, but I can't remember any themes he wrote that were this good and so close to JW's style in other scores he did . The RCP-ified  Han's theme in track 2 and 3 with the drums is more Powell's style

 

the only reason you say this is because those JP theme statements don’t have RcP dRuMs, right? They really do sound classic Powell, cf. all the HTTYDs, and also Powell’s Instagram post where he said specifically that he wrote them...

[artguy360 2,175]

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.

[DrTenma 117]

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...

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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.

[SilverTrumpet 652]

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?

[Edmilson 12,031]

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.

[King Mark 3,912]

yeah, but it's rumors , any basis that they might be true?

[Disco Stu 15,517]

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!"

[mrbellamy 8,009]

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.

[MikeH 805]

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. 
 

 

 

[Edmilson 12,031]

Williams: "Let's hear the Star Wars score that this guy Matthew Jatchinno made"

*puts on the Rogue One OST*

Williams:

 

 

[King Mark 3,912]

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

[mrbellamy 8,009]

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.

[King Mark 3,912]

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

[MikeH 805]

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!

[Luke Skywalker 2,352]

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.....

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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.

[SilverTrumpet 652]

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.

[crumbs 15,927]

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.

[SilverTrumpet 652]

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.

[crumbs 15,927]

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.

[DrTenma 117]

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.

[aviazn 279]

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.

 

 

 

[hornist 1,242]

God I hate those drums. 

[King Mark 3,912]

yeah the drums cheapen part of this score

[Jurassic Shark 16,276]

Agreed.

[igger6 1,042]

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.

[Erik Woods 838]

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

I'll eat my hat if Williams didn't write this:

 

jurassicjello · Return to the Village

 

If it's Powell, his skill at replicating the warmth of Williams' style without being an obvious pastiche is more masterful than I thought. This sounds like a hybrid of War Horse and The Phantom Menace.

 

 

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!

[Not Mr. Big 4,949]

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.

[Nick Parker 3,049]

The drums are good. The only issue I have with them is that sometimes the way they're mixed buries some other elements.

[hornist 1,242]

Yes. When you're not very interesting composer put there fucking loud drums that will cover everything. Lesson one. 

[Nick Parker 3,049]

How's Book Thief, Pasi?

[hornist 1,242]

One of the greatest. 

 

I just went mad when accused to be a fanboy if one doesn't like generic drums. 

[tmarps 218]

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.

[Jurassic Shark 16,276]

13 minutes ago, tmarps said:

Firstly - lets start to refer to the "drums" as percussion.

 

Oh, how decadent.