Omen II 1,235 Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 8 hours ago, Joe Brausam said: So what I wonder is this - with Ross conducting the LSO, do we think it’s possible Williams was originally intended to record this himself in London while on tour in Europe? I doubt it Joe, only because the video was obviously recorded several months ago in the summer. Many of the musicians are wearing shorts (and some are even barefoot!), so I guess that John Williams must have written this music several months ago. We had a very hot summer in London but late October is not really shorts weather in the UK, unless you are in Newcastle. Cerebral Cortex and rpvee 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datameister 2,044 Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 Regarding TPM, I don't believe an alternate main title was ever recorded. No idea if one was ever written, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocodile 8,017 Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 54 minutes ago, Omen II said: I doubt it Joe, only because the video was obviously recorded several months ago in the summer. Many of the musicians are wearing shorts (and some are even barefoot!), so I guess that John Williams must have written this music several months ago. We had a very hot summer in London but late October is not really shorts weather in the UK, unless you are in Newcastle. Perhaps it was the music that made them strip? Karol Smeltington 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omen II 1,235 Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 47 minutes ago, crocodile said: Perhaps it was the music that made them strip? Karol Yes, sources tell me that Williams marked the score ‘sine vestibus’. He is always pushing the envelope. SteveMc and crocodile 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bespin 8,483 Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Illustrious Jerry 3,356 Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 4 hours ago, mstrox said: Wednesday: Entertainment Weekly is excited to premiere John Williams’ brand new score for Eggo’s exciting new Star Wars frozen waffles: “Syrup of the Fates!” "Wa-ffles! Waffles-yea! Wa-ffles!! Syrup too!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasey Kockroach 2,344 Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 So we get the LSO performing theme park music, but heaven forbid anyone use them for actual Star Wars movies nowadays? Heck, J. Powell went to London for Solo (not THE London orchestra, but A London orchestra anyhow)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 907 Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 Scheduling. The scoring sessions for episodes 7 and 8 took place over many months. It just wasn’t possible even if Williams was willing to spend numerous months in London and make repeated trips there. Docteur Qui 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docteur Qui 1,544 Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 Yes exactly, that's the price of a Williams score these days. He likes to take his time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taikomochi 1,136 Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 Especially with these latter two Star Wars films he's scored and presumably IX as well, they must be some of the most demanding films in Hollywood in terms of requiring rewrites and revisions to the score. The recording schedules have to be sprawling by nature crumbs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karelm 2,913 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 3 hours ago, Docteur Qui said: Yes exactly, that's the price of a Williams score these days. He likes to take his time. Nonsense. He is fast but film makers demand revisions to match their latest edit based on someone's opinion. Do modern filmmakers know how to storyboard anymore or do they skip it since they'll "create" the film while editing in post? Once 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docteur Qui 1,544 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 3 minutes ago, karelm said: Nonsense. He is fast but film makers demand revisions to match their latest edit based on someone's opinion. Not nonsense. If he wanted to he could choose to score the film closer to a final edit, but he simply doesn't want to work like that any more. That's why he turned down the last Potter film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balahkay 627 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Well, he’s not going to have as much time for IX since they’re still filming. He may not even starting writing until February or March and it’s likely he’ll write 2+ hours of music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crumbs 14,317 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 I think even TFA didn't start recording until June then went through to October. He still ended up with 3 hours of music because JJ kept changing the edit and his mind. It seems they had lots of tonal changes throughout post on TFA, so Williams' revisions weren't just strictly timing changes/loops. Didn't he say he wrote like 7 versions of Rey Meets BB8? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post David Story 57 Posted November 19, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 19, 2018 The Galaxy Edge music seems very Star Warsian - the rhythm, melody, harmony, and orchestration are all in the familiar style. A bit more 21st century than ANH. Yet that could be because he's portraying a theme park experience, and the simpler textures are better suited for families running around than enhancing on screen drama. The main theme is pretty catchy, especially the 8 note motif that recurs. John Williams probably spent a few days on this cue, it's not a character theme that has to be very specific. But there's lots of room for variations. Maybe the general lite adventure quality makes it reminiscent of other scores. I love the performance from the LSO, they're in fine form. Brilliant tone and ensemble play. At least that's what I hear crumbs, TownerFan and Balahkay 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crumbs 14,317 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Yeah and it's interesting Williams had no issues sending Ross over to conduct them to do it at Abbey Road, rather than insist on conducting it himself in LA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manakin Skywalker 4,894 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Ross is basically John's assistant at this point. "Bill Baby, would you mind refilling this cup of coffee for me? The would be delightful." Ollie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brundlefly 2,385 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 On 11/17/2018 at 6:17 PM, Thor said: Interesting. There is nothing thematically/melodically memorable with the cue, but I like the slightly "cleaner" sound of it, which makes it closer to the prequel music than the last two scores in the saga. Yes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TownerFan 4,983 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 IMHO, it's a lovely Star Wars miniature that sits comfortably well within the now very large repertoire of Star Wars music by JW. It sounds certainly closer to the 21st century-style of JW writing, but I love how he still is able to capture the outer space adventure/militaristic feeling of the original trilogy (the juicy string harmonies segment at 0:48-1:04 reminded me of the "Alliance Assembly" stuff from Return of the Jedi). Mattris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tannhauser 101 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 It's pretty banal to my ears, for JW. All the way through I kept thinking - this sounds like some nobody trying to write in a vague John Williams style, there's no way this is actually written by Williams. But it seems I was wrong! I found the Adventures of Han theme pretty boring as well. It feels like with these little one-off assignments, Williams doesn't feel much interest or involvement and knocks something together in an afternoon. Certainly these sort of pieces display nothing of the technical brilliance of his recent music for the Last Jedi and the BFG. Gurkensalat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post mstrox 6,651 Posted November 19, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 19, 2018 I wish they had given us the chance to debate whether this was written by Williams for 20 pages. igger6, Bayesian, Smeltington and 5 others 2 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TownerFan 4,983 Posted November 19, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 19, 2018 IMHO, "The Adventures of Han" is more engaging and fun than this one, there's a thicker counterpoint and a more solid structure like a proper concert arrangement, but it's written with a different purpose, i.e. a character theme. This is more like scenery music to depict an environment and evoke a sense of "starwars-ian" grandeur. Obi, Not Mr. Big, Will and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,795 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 45 minutes ago, mstrox said: I wish they had given us the chance to debate whether this was written by Williams for 20 pages. The horror Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 I'd like to hear this music as written. I didn't notice the super obvious edit at :48 or so the first time I listened to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post looohhk 27 Posted November 19, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 19, 2018 On 11/17/2018 at 12:42 PM, Holko said: It's a bit like Gordy Haab's Battlefront - gets across the atmosphere but doesn't dig deeper into memorable melodies or have too much heart. Don't want to get off-topic here, but very certain this statement on Haab's work on Battlefront I and II is untrue. He has some excellent memorable melodies/themes/motives that appear in, and continue through, both titles (alongside top notch orchestration on both scores - mixing suffers sometimes though), and the music to the BFT II campaign, generally cutscenes, had some great heart to it, as the story allows, if you've gone through it. Will, justaguy, aj_vader and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balahkay 627 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 8 hours ago, crumbs said: I think even TFA didn't start recording until June then went through to October. He still ended up with 3 hours of music because JJ kept changing the edit and his mind. It seems they had lots of tonal changes throughout post on TFA, so Williams' revisions weren't just strictly timing changes/loops. Didn't he say he wrote like 7 versions of Rey Meets BB8? I vaguely remember that now. I guess he'll have at least three months to write going by the TFA schedule. Since Abrams is helming the project, I wouldn't be surprised if they recorded 3 hours of music again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datameister 2,044 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 6 hours ago, crumbs said: Yeah and it's interesting Williams had no issues sending Ross over to conduct them to do it at Abbey Road, rather than insist on conducting it himself in LA. I'm now remembering that there's precedent - if I'm not mistaken, Ross had already done two other Star Wars recordings with the LSO for the parks. Most recently, there was the score to Hyperspace Mountain, and before that was some background music for Star Tours in Tokyo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balahkay 627 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 1 hour ago, Disco Stu said: I'd like to hear this music as written. I didn't notice the super obvious edit at :48 or so the first time I listened to it. I didn't notice it my first couple of listens either but now I can't help but hear it and it's pretty glaring now. I would love to hear what Williams is really building up to before the edit, if anything. All in all, I really like this piece and it seems like it will suit the theme park quite well. It got stuck in my head after the 4th listen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt C 454 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 10 hours ago, Balahkay said: Well, he’s not going to have as much time for IX since they’re still filming. He may not even starting writing until February or March and it’s likely he’ll write 2+ hours of music. Episode IX doesn't wrap until February unless Abrams finishes a month or two early. I'm sure with the post-production schedule, they're going for staggered L.A. sessions again throughout summer and fall 2019. I'd be surprised if Abrams and Williams want to record in London. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TownerFan 4,983 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 JW will certainly record IX at Sony in LA, no doubt about it (It's likely music for the parks is being recorded in London to avoid high re-use fees). I think he will start writing as soon as he gets some footage like he did for TFA, where he wrote and also recorded "temp versions" of the main thematic material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Falstaft 2,132 Posted November 19, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 19, 2018 A few musings: *This isn't as detached from the rest of the Star Wars thematic lexicon as it might first sound. There's a clear allusion to the Rebel Fanfare at 0:48, and some strong echoes of the March of the Resistance at 1:30. *I get a really strong Bruckner-vibe from this, of all people. Not a compositional connection often i spot so directly in Williams. The string octaves in descending perfect intervals at 1:35 sound straight out of the Te Deum (or pretty much any one of the 9 symphonies). Add to that the massed but very open orchestration, and the phyrgian disposition of the theme (unusual for Star Wars), and the horn writing -- all Bruckner hallmarks. Who knows if this is intentional, or even a matter of influence per se, but hard to unhear if you're an unapologetic Brucknerian like me. *I gotta say, I'm little surprised by the tepid reaction here, of all places. It seems perfectly of a piece with the overall Star Wars sound, no more or less generic than anything else he's written for the series. This is another in a line of wonderful unexpected gifts from our favorite octegenarian maestro, and I feel confident it will grow on everyone, especially once we hear it in its entirety--not this weirdly incomplete, edited version. crumbs, TownerFan, Balahkay and 2 others 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasey Kockroach 2,344 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 2 hours ago, TownerFan said: JW will certainly record IX at Sony in LA, no doubt about it (It's likely music for the parks is being recorded in London to avoid high re-use fees). I think he will start writing as soon as he gets some footage like he did for TFA, where he wrote and also recorded "temp versions" of the main thematic material. He'll probably write a piano demo, then send it to William Ross to arrange, orchestrate and conduct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artguy360 1,843 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 I would add that this sounds like a purposefully condensed excerpt of a longer piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Parker 3,040 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 25 minutes ago, Falstaft said: especially once we hear it in its entirety- Trust me, I would gladly take the opportunity to revise my opinion. Holko 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post aviazn 273 Posted November 19, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 19, 2018 11 minutes ago, Falstaft said: It seems perfectly of a piece with the overall Star Wars sound, no more or less generic than anything else he's written for the series. I think it’s some of the things you mentioned that make it seem more “generic”—the orchestration being not particularly dense and the lack of a lot of harmonic motion in the main theme, especially, gave me a first impression that it sounded like someone else’s take on Star Wars music. In that sense, it’s more within the realm of what many other film composers would be capable of producing if asked to deliver Star Warsian music. If I’m being honest, if you played the first 15 seconds for me and told me that it was a generic demo track from an aspiring film composer’s personal website, I’d have believed you. Nevertheless, I agree with everyone who’s said this is an unexpected treat, and how lucky we are to be getting new and revisited JW Star Wars music at such a rate. Holko, crumbs and Kasey Kockroach 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 3 minutes ago, aviazn said: If I’m being honest, if you played the first 15 seconds for me and told me that it was a generic demo track from an aspiring film composer’s personal website, I’d have believed you. too real Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post mrbellamy 6,287 Posted November 19, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 19, 2018 That is pretty much what it reminds me of. There are some real cliches of library media music in this. I'm always down to hear a more fully developed piece of course, but I can't compare this to "Adventures of Han." That is so much more quintessentially Williams as one-off Star Wars exercises go. But I appreciate these random pieces. It's like getting a phone call from my grandpa or something. aviazn, DarthDementous and Not Mr. Big 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Illustrious Jerry 3,356 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Well if there's more music on the way, would we expect an official release? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datameister 2,044 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 44 minutes ago, The Illustrious Jerry said: Well if there's more music on the way, would we expect an official release? Hard to say. When Cars Land opened in 2012, Disney put out an album of some music that was recorded or licensed for that area. But there's also plenty of great music from the parks that remains unreleased. I'm gonna guess we'll get at least one or two cues or edited suites...eventually...but I couldn't say beyond that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manakin Skywalker 4,894 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 We'll just have to wait 20~ years for an elderly Mike Matessino to locate them somewhere is Japan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Penna 3,692 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 You'd think that Disney would want to release anything they can by JW for the SW universe, as part of reclaiming their investment. I mean for SW fans and JW fans combined, is there anything too obscure? 3 hours ago, aviazn said: If I’m being honest, if you played the first 15 seconds for me and told me that it was a generic demo track from an aspiring film composer’s personal website, I’d have believed you. Yep. And can't we just be 'honest' all the time? If that involves shattering the illusion that JW never composes pap... so be it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balahkay 627 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 This piece is hardly dreck, though. It's actually quite good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Mark 3,631 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 52 minutes ago, Richard Penna said: Yep. And can't we just be 'honest' all the time? If that involves shattering the illusion that JW never composes pap... so be it. nah if this was by some random composer I'd still think it's pretty good That passage between 1.10 and 1.30. That's pure Williams and sounds better than the March of the Resistance IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Penna 3,692 Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Agreed - this piece is still pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post MrJosh 892 Posted November 20, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 20, 2018 1 hour ago, Richard Penna said: You'd think that Disney would want to release anything they can by JW for the SW universe, as part of reclaiming their investment. I'm sure they will. They just wanted to start things off right, by releasing the OSTs first completely rebuilt and with rushed/sloppy editing. Mattris, The Illustrious Jerry and crumbs 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt C 454 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 3 hours ago, Datameister said: Hard to say. When Cars Land opened in 2012, Disney put out an album of some music that was recorded or licensed for that area. But there's also plenty of great music from the parks that remains unreleased. I'm gonna guess we'll get at least one or two cues or edited suites...eventually...but I couldn't say beyond that. I would buy a pressed CD of Williams' Galaxy Edge album. I mean, Disney is milking Williams for every little bit of music while he's still able... why make it a digital-only release? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datameister 2,044 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 As would I...although a digital-only release would still be better than no release at all, which is what a lot of theme park music gets. But for whatever reason, Disney doesn't seem to be in any rush to get stuff out there. I think it's now been five years since the latest iteration of the basic Disneyland Resort soundtrack album, and I'm certainly ready for a new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Mark 3,631 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 of course I'd buy the c.d. too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Falstaft 2,132 Posted November 21, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 21, 2018 For the curious...: Pretty perfect example of @Ludwig's "clause" formal archetype, right? Cerebral Cortex, Ludwig and TownerFan 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ludwig 1,120 Posted November 22, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 22, 2018 22 hours ago, Falstaft said: For the curious...: Pretty perfect example of @Ludwig's "clause" formal archetype, right? Yes, probably a clause of the "developing" form, which is A+A2+A3+whatever at the end. I think it's also possible to hear this as a "developing" period, or A+A2+A(')+whatever at the end, meaning that it's possible to hear the third phrase as a (slightly varied) reiteration of the first. The difference between these two would be whether one hears that third phrase as a further variation of the first phrase (i.e., it is more different from the first phrase than similar to it) or more as a repetition of it with the variation not mattering so much. This kind of ambiguity, where the third phrase of a theme has both strong similarities to and differences from the first phrase, is actually rather rare in Williams. But one other one that comes to mind is the love theme from Far and Away: And actually another one is the opening theme of Cantina Band from ANH, which would have the same breakdown as the above (and the new Galaxy's Edge theme). Interpretations as a developing clause or a developing period are both credible to me in these situations. (And as @filmmusic notes in his chapter on Williams based on his dissertation, where he analyzed all of Williams' themes post-1974, the period is Williams' most favoured theme structure overall, so one might see these themes more as periods with loads of variation, at least from a compositional point of view.) But in the end, what really matters IMO is that these themes all include a heavy dose of variation, which is very unusual in the Western art-music and classical Hollwood canons that are strong influences in Williams' work. In other words, it really seems that Williams has taken his influences and transformed them, I would guess through his experience as a jazz musician (where improvisation and variation are central), into something much more his own. Thanks for bringing it up, @Falstaft! P.S. Anyone else hear echoes of Solo in the Galaxy's Edge theme? Falstaft, crumbs, Cerebral Cortex and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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