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ACROSS THE STARS - Williams / Mutter collaboration album


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_Damn_, this new arrangement can go _hard_ in some of the orchestral passages!

 

Love the way the various sections from the original collide against each other like crashing tidal waves in this version, so powerful. Peters out for a while, though, curious to hear how I'll think about it on repeated listens.

Boy do I want to hear Williams' reflections on Dracula and Cinderella Liberty in this way, now.

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Just now, Nick Parker said:

Actually, the thick intro reminds me of some of the transitional music in Revenge of the Sith. 

It reminds me a bit of the intro to his arrangement of Irina's theme.

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14 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

Actually, the thick intro reminds me of some of the transitional music in Revenge of the Sith. 

 

That part is a bit reminiscent of Anakin's Theme.

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Listening to it more, the new darkness JW expresses in this arrangement reminds me of the new version of Han and Leia's theme. It sounds like JW stripped away all the sweeping romance of the original Love Theme and replaces it with more conflict and tragedy.

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2 hours ago, artguy360 said:

Listening to it more, the new darkness JW expresses in this arrangement reminds me of the new version of Han and Leia's theme. It sounds like JW stripped away all the sweeping romance of the original Love Theme and replaces it with more conflict and tragedy.

Conflict, tragedy? Gimme more!

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The theme is one of my favourite love themes of all time, and I think this new version does it justice. I, too, prefer the 'cleaner' original recording, but you gotta dig those cadenzas. As others have said earlier, "operatic" and "Schindler's List-ian" are good keywords here.

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I love the way Williams nearly always reworks his arrangements so that they are not just the concert suite with the solo instrumentation just added on top or switched from the original solo instrument but he re-examines his music and finds way to really work the new soloist into the piece, just like he does here.

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I love this! Will there be an official release? It’s so haunting and tragic. Give me more! 

 

I’d love to see JW revisit some of his prequel material, especially if this is what we can expect. Moar!

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18 minutes ago, Pawel P. said:

You can fin the whole concert here

https://youtu.be/lT9g9-5Gioc

 

Thank you!

 

WOW!  It was fantastic to see Markings performed (instead of just hearing it).  This piece is holding up for me 1+ year later, a great addition to Williams' oeuvre.  Dark, introspective, mercurial.  And of course a great showcase of Mutter's virtuosity!

 

 

This "Across the Stars" arrangement is a stunner!   A more complex, mature approach to the material.  It's not quite the all-timer that the new "Han Solo and the Princess" is but it's fantastic to hear him revisit prequel music.

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1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:

 

Thank you!

 

WOW!  It was fantastic to see Markings performed (instead of just hearing it).  This piece is holding up for me 1+ year later, a great addition to Williams' oeuvre.  Dark, introspective, mercurial.  And of course a great showcase of Mutter's virtuosity!

 

 

This "Across the Stars" arrangement is a stunner!   A more complex, mature approach to the material.  It's not quite the all-timer that the new "Han Solo and the Princess" is but it's fantastic to hear him revisit prequel music.

Well I have to agree, Disco Stu. Stunning playing and the music of course is excellent. Williams was in good company here. :) 

 

Oh and Schindler's List as an encore. Not bad.

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Just now, crumbs said:

Fucking hell, can JW please keep going and revisit all his former concert suites and revise them? 

 

Han Solo and the Princess, I Am The Pan, now this. It's just endlessly fascinating hearing Williams revisit older works with modern sensibilities. And, interestingly, very rarely do these revisions not add a layer of sadness and melancholy to proceedings.

Marion's theme is pretty romantic without being too melancholic.

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I knew I forgot one! I'm not too familiar with that revision but from memory it's less melancholic a revision. Great pickup.

 

There really should be a master list of concert suites JW has revised because it usually indicates he wasn't fully satisfied with his first attempt.

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Meh. That was disappointing. While it's always nice to hear Williams revisiting old material and finding new contexts for it, new variations and flashy cadenzas aside, this arrangement isn't particularly interesting. Seems kind of neutered, or rather, dare I say, workman-like. It's certainly no "Hans Solo and the Princess"...

 

Markings....now that's a real gem! Beautifully rendered here too.

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26 minutes ago, crumbs said:

I knew I forgot one! I'm not too familiar with that revision but from memory it's less melancholic a revision. Great pickup.

 

There really should be a master list of concert suites JW has revised because it usually indicates he wasn't fully satisfied with his first attempt.

I don't think these revisions always mean that Williams wasn't exactly satisfied but rather occasions when he can dust off his older works and revisit them with different ears, often decades after he first penned them. In Marion's Theme's case there wasn't a proper concert arrangement so when Spielberg suggested that he expand upon the original it was like completing original score with a proper fully fleshed out love/heroine theme.

 

But it has to be said that many of these later revisions seem to have a  ruminative edge to them which often manifests in a darker hue than the originals.

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It is kind of a mystery why he did that new arrangement of Han Solo & The Princess.  It wasn't a commission as far as I'm aware.  It just seemed to appear, suddenly.

 

My theory is that Fisher's death inspired him to revisit it, but that's probably too romantic of me.

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38 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

My theory is that Fisher's death inspired him to revisit it, but that's probably too romantic of me.

 

That's what I always assumed.

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35 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

It is kind of a mystery why he did that new arrangement of Han Solo & The Princess.  It wasn't a commission as far as I'm aware.  It just seemed to appear, suddenly.

 

My theory is that he did it so the old one could be retired.

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Nah, it's the original end credits for TLJ.

 

1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

I'm still convinced Williams didn't like the original Han Solo And The Princess concert arrangement. He's never performed it.

 

Perhaps he just couldn't find the score?

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Maybe it's my ear blockage going away, but for some reason that live performance video sounds more alive than what I presume is the same performance linked by @Falafel.

 

 

Love the part around 2:15 in @Falafel's link; that string countermelody AI style was always my favorite part in the original, and it's great hearing Williams reinterpret that specific faucet/trademark of his early 2000s period  in such a portentous, crashing way.

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It's interesting that he chose that theme rather than Leia's theme for a revision if Fisher's death was the catalyst for him doing it. Just my opinion.

 

I would've thought he'd revise Princess Leia's theme if that were the case.

 

It's fitting either way, as it perfectly accentuates the tragic outcome of the relationship that theme represents. 

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35 minutes ago, crumbs said:

It's interesting that he chose that theme rather than Leia's theme for a revision if Fisher's death was the catalyst for him doing it. Just my opinion.

 

I would've thought he'd revise Princess Leia's theme if that were the case.

 

It's fitting either way, as it perfectly accentuates the tragic outcome of the relationship that theme represents. 

Most likely Williams was satisfied with Leia's theme but felt that Han Solo and the Princess love theme needed revision or refinement and took this chance to pen a new albeit more sadness tinged version of it and probably to some extent in memory of Carrie.

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20 hours ago, crumbs said:

And, interestingly, very rarely do these revisions not add a layer of sadness and melancholy to proceedings.

 

Well, Across the Stars always had a shade of melancholy.

 

Its certainly much more melancholic than the Han/Leia one. that that theme got a melacholic shade in Williams most recent itiration of it, stems from him knowing how it ends (per the sequel trilogy).

 

1 hour ago, crumbs said:

I would've thought he'd revise Princess Leia's theme if that were the case.

 

The love theme is very much attached to Leia's theme: it "grows" out of it. Besides, he already had a suite of Leia's theme. The original suite of the love theme was really just a film cue.

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