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John Williams' new HAN SOLO AND THE PRINCESS arrangement (Debuted 2018)


Jay

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Definitely would love to have an official recording of this.  The Han and Leia theme has always been one of my favorites from the Star Wars films, and I always wished Williams had done a concert arrangement.  So very cool to finally hear something like this!

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49 minutes ago, Oswin Pond said:

(I don't like he one that wasn't made by Williams),

for the 100th time, the first one was made by Williams, it clearly says so on the Gerhardt c.d. liner notes

 

what the fuck is wrong with everyone saying that?

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Really ? I thought he only helped a bit.

He composed and conducted the whole thing ? What was the contribution from Gerhardt then ? :huh: (Haha sorry didn't find any better smiley)
And no need to swear ! It's a love thread about a beautiful new arrangement :wub:

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Gerheart conducted it, that is all

 

and that arrangement is on 2 other c.d.'s so it shouldn't be only associated with the Gerheart c.d.

 

Depending on what c.d. you have you might think  Roy Budd or Nic Raine arranged it then

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except the you tube video is not conducted by williams, and that's what everyone wants to hear now . I can tell the you tube video is probably very inferior to a williams conducted one

 

and i'm sure someone recorded it at San diego and didn't post it on You tube

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59 minutes ago, King Mark said:

except the you tube video is not conducted by williams, and that's what everyone wants to hear now . I can tell the you tube video is probably very inferior to a williams conducted one

 

Yeah probably ! I really hope we'll get a proper recording soon, but I must say this current recording is much better than I thought

 

 

Quote

and i'm sure someone recorded it at San diego and didn't post it on You tube

 

Rebel scum

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4 hours ago, Oswin Pond said:

Really ? I thought he only helped a bit.

He composed and conducted the whole thing ? What was the contribution from Gerhardt then ? :huh: (Haha sorry didn't find any better smiley)
And no need to swear ! It's a love thread about a beautiful new arrangement :wub:

 

 

As King Mark has replied, there is absolutely no doubt that Han Solo and the Princess (old version) was composed by John Williams. The following post includes a list of all the concert cues from the Star Wars saga (except those included only in "Star Wars: A Musical Journey") that were undoubtedly written by John Williams:

 

 

 

Since the Han Solo & Princess issue comes out very often, what about placing a list like that in some place that can be clearly seen by everyone?

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On 2/6/2018 at 1:33 AM, Bespin said:

 

Don't know, the ending, where it's usually end or lead to the Star Wars main theme.

 

I watched the video only once, I'll never watch it again.

 

I'll try to forget this version and pretend it doesn't exist. :)

 

Hopefully you'll soon have to include it in your discography. ;)

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17 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

It's used right before the end credits in TESB, to reflect that Han Solo is missing.

 

Or rather, to reflect that the princess is missing him...

 

Musically, its just a variation on the princess' own theme. Its music that relates to her.

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You're right, I was just making a point.

 

But it is very closely knit to her theme, nonetheless. The first statement after the opening scene just about "grows" out of Leia's theme.

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Both of them (and Marion's theme, too) have the same opening, and than they go their separate ways, but still within the same style.

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5 hours ago, Chen G. said:

 

Or rather, to reflect that the princess is missing him...

 

Musically, its just a variation on the princess' own theme. Its music that relates to her.

 

This debate will never end, but let's at least avoid over-analysis.

 

The following piece opens with the same interval (a major sixth) and the melody also has several similarities to the melody of "Han Solo and the Princess" (more than Leia's Theme): 

 

 

But of course nobody (?) would claim that JW took this as a model. The fact that Han & Princess and Leia's Theme open with the same interval does not mean that one is a variation of the other! Of course they are also in the same style, but it's because it's the same movie (and the characters, of course, are related). I surely see more differences than similarities between the two themes, musically.

 

 

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Its very clear that, in Williams body of work from the period, the major sixth and the general style of these melodies was associated by Williams with female characters, not with space smugglers...

 

Its not Leia's theme, but it certainly "grew" out of it. That's also what happens in the score itself.

 

All this "Han's theme" nonesense really needs to stop. Its a fan theory, intended to ease the minds of those who take issue with the fact that Williams didn't grace Han Solo with a theme. His decision to write one for "Solo" should have been the nail in the coffin of this theory, but alas it refuses to die. I would also point to the timing of this new arrangement coinciding with Fisher's last portrayal of the character as further proof that there is no Han's theme in the Williams' scores.

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Yes, but a lot of people try to attribute the theme specifically for Han Solo, where in fact it only applies to him as far as the love story is involved, and not as a specific character theme.

 

I especially liked Adams phrasing of this claim: "I sort of mantain that this theme represents Han more than Leia, but at the very least its loosely related to the romance between the two characters.":lol:

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I really don't understand the debate since the romantic musical character of this theme hasn't even anything remotely to do with Han's character.

Remember in ESB, he replied with "I know" to Leia's "I Love you".

He didn't even say "Me too", or "I love you too".

he's not the romantic type.

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26 minutes ago, Fal said:

Well, Marion isn't as delicate as her theme suggests.

 

But its still feminine music.

 

Unless Han Solo is transgender, there's no reason for him to merit a clearly feminine tune.

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On 2/16/2018 at 4:59 PM, pete said:

 

Not necessarily. He might have written the new arrangement afterwards in December or in January.

That's true, I guess what I meant is the end credits version would have been recorded.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...
3 minutes ago, leeallen01 said:

I love the sound of breath when an Orchestra plays. The breathing of the flute at the end just makes it feel raw and real.

 

Then you should check out Kleiber's concert performance of Beethoven's 7th symphony with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, when the flute enters in the 1st movement. Sublime! The volume is this recording is quite low, so remember to crank it up!

 

 

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On 2/13/2018 at 12:15 PM, The Illustrious Jerry said:

I always thought Han's theme was coinciding with the Falcon theme, ya know, the one that plays when they go into hyperspace, and they escape, and Rey and Finn see it on Jakku. Isn't it also tied with that gizmotronic EDM in the Han Solo movie trailer. I don't know why everyone was tripping when JW signed on to do the theme for Solo and everyone was wondering what Solo's theme was or if it's was new. What is confusing though is that why couldn't Powell just use the theme and say that it was based off original themes by JW, like Giachino did for Rogue One. These have always been my impressions.

On 2/13/2018 at 12:22 PM, Chen G. said:

Its not Han's theme; and that motif isn't the Millennium Falcon theme, either!

 

The other motif is the Rebel Fanfare. Its the motif of the rebel alliance. But Williams isn't very strict in the application of this motif, so it often ended up being used as a generally "triumphant" piece of music, and coincided with the Falcon entering and escaping the Death Star as just that - triumphant music that prefigures and eventually celebrates our heroes escape of the Death Star. Its used along those lines in the sequel trilogy thus far, because the resistance has its own melodic identification.

On 2/14/2018 at 12:31 PM, The Illustrious Jerry said:

Han Solo and Leia together have that theme. Han is more associated with the Falcon than he is associated with Leia. It just makes more sense to me. Besides, Han Solo and the Princess was only really in Empire and slightly in TFA. But in both of those movies it was played when they were together. Han alone, mostly in the Falcon, has the theme I mentioned earlier. Also, why would that theme be in the Solo trailer. Solo didn't care about the Rebels, and it seemed he was more preoccupied with the Imperials and then with himself.

On 2/13/2018 at 12:33 PM, mstrox said:

I agree with Jerry

 

I think after Solo we can now agree that the Rebel fanfare has certainly become greatly associated with the Falcon as of late, so much so it makes it it's theme/motif in these new movies (even the old sometimes). With Solo not having any relation to the Rebellion and it's use being so consistent in Solo, I think I was right in all this.

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The Rebel Fanfare was definitely re-imagined by Williams as a Millennium Falcon motif in the sequel trilogy. But its inappropriate to retrofitt that association upon earlier films in the series.

 

The same happened with Ben's theme (becoming the theme of The Force), Luke's themes (becoming the "Star Wars" themes), Leia's theme (which began as a Leia and Luke love theme), Duel of the Fates (which was originally specifically for the duel with Darth Maul and became a general theme for climactic duels), as well as various none-recurring pieces that Williams went on to reprise (Throne Room, the Funeral piece, the Curoscant fanfare, TIE-Fighter attack) - so its certainly par for the course in Williams body of work.

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Duel of the Fates was NOT for the duel with Darth Maul only @Chen G., it was for the entire TPM finale. hence why we hear it  for the destruction of the Droid Control ship (and the unused statements for the attack on the Theed hangar and throne room).

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