The Rise of Skywalker New John Williams interview about “The Rise of Skywalker”

[rpvee 805]

Some great stuff in here! For one, his energy and enthusiasm are remarkable. He also crushes on Daisy again, and even on Billy Dee Williams a little bit! haha

[Disco Stu 15,495]

He's going on about Daisy and TFA again! 

[igger6 894]

"[Lando] talks about giving his love to Leia in the film...it's delicious."

 

 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

On Rey's Theme in TROS:

 

Quote

"With Rey's Theme, I can treat it in the orchestra so that it's in a more 'grown-up' way...so you will hear it but it's not quite as simply presented and [not] quite as immediately accessible, as you hear it now in more complex kind of settings.  Something for people to notice or not notice, but a lot of fun!"

 

[Timo Martikainen 127]

Thanks for the interview video! Same Youtube account posted a video which actually has small clips of Williams at the recording sessions:

(before 6:33 there's material which could include some spoilers)

 

 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

2 minutes ago, Timo Martikainen said:

Thanks for the interview video! Same Youtube account posted a video which actually has small clips of Williams at the recording sessions:

(before 6:33 there's material which could include some spoilers)

 

 

 

Anyone recognize off-hand if that bit is on the FYC?

[Cerebral Cortex 3,357]

Yes! Been waiting for this kind of stuff! Great finds, guys. Love seeing how focused Williams is while conducting and how joyful Abrams seems to be with Williams. 

[bollemanneke 3,337]

Wait, Murphy played a top C? Isn't that supposed to be a B-flat? And God, he's so energetic! And ooh, Lando returns! I love not knowing these things.

[BrotherSound 2,242]

2 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Wait, Murphy played a top C? Isn't that supposed to be a B-flat? And God, he's so energetic!

 

It would have been written as a high C for B-flat trumpet, which sounds as a concert B-flat.

[Damien F 1,742]

If I am as sharp and energetic when I am 87 as Williams is here, I'll be very happy.

[Jay 37,281]

Thanks for that, I enjoyed watching!

[Fabulin 3,510]

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[Manakin Skywalker 4,889]

Given his age and all he's gone through the last couple years, it's incredible he's still doing what he loves to do. Most people his age would be in a nursing home, and he's still rocking it as always.

[Jay 37,281]

Wow just watched the Williams conducting portion of the b-roll video!  Side note: Did the audio only come out of the left channel for anyone else?

 

Anyways, I never get tired of watching Williams conduct.  I wish these little bits all went on for longer.

 

And someone needs to figure out what JW and JJ are saying to each other in that one bit

[Smaug The Iron 510]

5 minutes ago, Jay said:

Side note: Did the audio only come out of the left channel for anyone else?

Me too

[mrbellamy 6,272]

Yup

[Kühni 485]

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[Arpy 4,145]

To me it looked like JJ was fangirling about a particular moment and Williams rubbed his shoulder out of gratitude. 'Thanks, baby.'

[Loert 2,510]

After listening to some "FYC album" from a dodgy website I really needed to see this, thanks!

[Remco 685]

 

 

JJ gushing about JW at 2:21.

[Tydirium 1,166]

6 hours ago, Timo Martikainen said:

Thanks for the interview video! Same Youtube account posted a video which actually has small clips of Williams at the recording sessions:

(before 6:33 there's material which could include some spoilers)

 

 

 

Seems like NEW THEME #2 is getting a lot more play in this score than the FYC would have us believe.

[_deleted_ 203]

I hope NEW THEME #2 is a part of a larger concert piece 

[SilverTrumpet 638]

Where is NEW THEME #2 most prominently played on the FYC?

[mrbellamy 6,272]

We Go Together and To Kimiji/Kijimi whatever it is

 

This commercial has another hint of it, going into Throne Room (end credits? or just an edit)

 

 

[Gurkensalat 336]

8 hours ago, Arpy said:

To me it looked like JJ was fangirling about a particular moment and Williams rubbed his shoulder out of gratitude. 'Thanks, baby.'

 

In the middle of this conversation I believe J.J. answers „Doesn’t matter“ to something JW says to him before. Thats all I can make out.

9 hours ago, First TROS March Accolyte said:

You can see the dedication and energy, but also his struggle, while conducting in 7:01. My hero

 

Some of this music might seem like "just an underscore", but I look at it more like at complex, aleatoric modern classical music---only this time done by Williams. Respect.

 

I think he just doesn’t like having the earphones on. He seems much more relaxed when he is conducting freely. 

 

And I agree to the assessment of the score, as I now just came around to listen to the FYC. We will never get another Imperial March or HEdwigs Theme from hem, but the motivic intricacies I heard are stunning. 

[King Mark 3,624]

Looks like we may have Lando's Theme

10 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

 

Anyone recognize off-hand if that bit is on the FYC?

 no

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Williams sounds really old in that interview.

 

The sound clips in the second video don't sound like anything from the FYC. It's too good.

[King Mark 3,624]

maybe it's a concert piece , but more likely unreleased music

[Gurkensalat 336]

8 minutes ago, King Mark said:

maybe it's a concert piece , but more likely unreleased music

 

Ever the Optimist!

[Luke Skywalker 1,792]

I see a realist...

[Fabulin 3,510]

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[mrbellamy 6,272]

He's outlived a lot of people younger than him who worked on the first movie. It's really no joke.

[Damien F 1,742]

I've said before that the odds of an 87 year old scoring one of the biggest movies of the year are really very low. There are just so many mental and physical ailments that would prevent an 87 year old from continuing to work, including the fact that he is about 10 years older than the average life expectancy.  John Barry and Jerry Goldsmith both died in their 70s. We really are very lucky John is still with us and available to conclude the Skywalker saga that he helped start over 40 years ago.

[Fabulin 3,510]

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[Jay 37,281]

10 hours ago, SilverTrumpet said:

Where is NEW THEME #2 most prominently played on the FYC?

 

Read the bottom of the main post here. 

[Ricard 2,242]

43 minutes ago, First TROS March Accolyte said:

I took a look at my charts, and before 2000, few, if any composers of note worked even leisurely at this age.

But now:

87 is the new 77, and 77 is the new 67.

67 is the new 57.

57 is the new 47.

47 is the new 37.

37 is the new 27.

27 is the new 17.

17 is the new 7.

 

I've just finished translating a medical textbook, and I've got to say: bless the generations of heroes that led to our modern medicine.

 

Beyond medicine there's the internal believe that anything is possible

[Disco Stu 15,495]

It's why I say that even if you think these new scores pale in comparison to previous glories, you must admit it's astounding he's writing music this vibrant and compelling at his age.  There is very little precedent for it.  For most, even if they had physical health their minds would simply not be up to the task.

[Jay 37,281]

That's a good point I hadn't even thought about, that he's not just in great physical shape for his age, but astonishing mental shape

[Bespin 8,475]

"I know you just finished composing YOUR LAST STAR WARS score, you must be SOOOO SAD it is over now!!!"

 

 

[Taikomochi 1,136]

Interviewer: “How does it feel to finish this series?”

 

Williams: “I'm tired of this film series, these people. I'm tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives.”

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

2 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

It's why I say that even if you think these new scores pale in comparison to previous glories, you must admit it's astounding he's writing music this vibrant and compelling at his age.  There is very little precedent for it.  For most, even if they had physical health their minds would simply not be up to the task.

 

You're plastering a narrative onto this that isn't true. Most creative endeavors don't wane with age unless there is some underlying pathology. Old people only get better. 

 

Productivity declines with age, but quality of output typically doesn't, if anything it improves. 

[Score 770]

1 hour ago, Taikomochi said:

Interviewer: “How does it feel to finish this series?”

 

After completing his epoch-defining magnum opus, I heard he's switching to compose rap. He has already written this piece for Daisy Ridley:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx2jIjv5g-M 

[Fabulin 3,510]

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[Alex 2,833]

And to think, when it was announced that Thomas Newman was going to score Bridge of Spies, we started writing his obituary.

[Manakin Skywalker 4,889]

The music at 7:02 is from the middle and end of "Approaching the Throne" (without the choir overlay). That would indicate that the portion in between that was edited in, and not actually part of that cue.

[Cerebral Cortex 3,357]

7 hours ago, Damien F said:

I've said before that the odds of an 87 year old scoring one of the biggest movies of the year are really very low. There are just so many mental and physical ailments that would prevent an 87 year old from continuing to work, including the fact that he is about 10 years older than the average life expectancy.  John Barry and Jerry Goldsmith both died in their 70s. We really are very lucky John is still with us and available to conclude the Skywalker saga that he helped start over 40 years ago.

 

Couldn't agree more. I'm not usually one to encourage dwelling too heavily on what could have been, but in this case I really think it's worthwhile to entertain those "What If?" scenarios just so we can fully appreciate what (as other users have aptly called them) a gift these scores are, not just for having received them but for having received them in the way that we did. 

So first, there was the very unfortunate, grim, but ultimately quite possible reality that Williams either wasn't physically or mentally able to do these scores or, even worse, had passed away years before these films were even made. Abrams directs the first installment to the new trilogy and his longtime collaborator, Michael Giacchino, does the score instead. The films are made and we are left longing to hear what Williams could have done with these new films. Unfortunately, we'll never know. We sit listening to the new scores wondering what Williams could have done with a theme for Rey, or what sound Williams would have gone for for a character like Kylo. 

 

But that didn't happen! Williams remains as mentally and physically fit as ever. However, he decides he doesn't have any interest in scoring Episode VII or agrees only to write a couple themes to kickstart the new trilogy. "I don't want to steal the spotlight from this new generation of talents," Williams politely declines. "I'm too old for that scene. They need someone younger, more energetic, more talented than myself." 

Nope! Williams decides to score the whole film. But maybe he only scores Episode VII and then passes the baton to a new voice to finish the trilogy? Or, even worse, maybe something happens to Williams that makes him unable to finish the trilogy? 

Yeah, no. Williams, nearing the age of 88, persists, alive and healthy in both body and mind, and closes out yet another Star Wars trilogy.  But maybe the result is severely lacking? Williams scored all 3 films, sure, but nowhere did he manage to even once capture the spirit of the earlier entries, not once did he wow with vibrant new thematic statements or invoke that classic Star Wars-ian feel of old that he used to be able to pull off oh so well? The scores lack an energy, lack imagination. They stand as proof that Williams should have hung up the baton years ago; that the idea to hand-off the job of scoring these 200 million dollar films to a man soon to be pushing 90 was a mistake seriously lacking in judgement. Where is that Williams spark, that magic? 

But maybe that doesn't happen either? Maybe, just maybe, Williams does do all three scores? And maybe, while arguments can be made as to the overall quality of them compared to the other 6, the scores stand as proof that Williams, and only Williams, could have delivered on that trademark Star Wars sound for these films, while standing as a continued testament to his talented musical capabilities and cementing his status even further as a legendary figure in the pages of musical history. Maybe Williams actually was able to pull it off, in a way that only Williams could? Maybe we're left wondering how we could have gotten so lucky? 

In all the possible scenarios of what could have happened, the one that seems most unlikely to me is that last one. And, holy fuck, that's the one we got. 

[crumbs 14,296]

Lovely post @Cerebral Cortex.

 

BTW, your countdown to the final score is slightly out... it's only 2 days/10 hours/40 minutes away, not 2 days/11 hours/10 mins.

[Cerebral Cortex 3,357]

37 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Lovely post @Cerebral Cortex.

 

BTW, your countdown to the final score is slightly out... it's only 2 days/10 hours/40 minutes away, not 2 days/11 hours/10 mins.

 

Thanks for that! Should be fixed now. 

[crumbs 14,296]

Indeed it is!

[Ricard 2,242]

Where's Cerebral Cortex's countdown?