Popular Post Falstaft 2,132 Posted September 14, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted September 14, 2020 I've been putting off starting another of these TROS track appreciation threads, because honestly talking Star Wars feels so exhausting lately. But I happened to listen the cue "Farewell" this morning and was again reminded how superb this piece is, probably the emotional heart of the soundtrack as a whole and a grand musical payoff for so many things Williams was doing in the Sequel Scores. In a way, the power of this cue has a lot to do with the fact that Williams was forced to communicate through music what the screenplay was unable (IMHO) to accomplish: make for a convincing romantic catharsis for the underwritten Rey & Ben relationship, and convey suitable sense of galaxy-wide triumph against the ill-defined First Order. In that respect, I find it similar to some of the best stuff he did for the PT, like "The Dinner Scene," "It Can't Be," and "Lament," where the music massively picks up the slack where the writing & acting falls short. It's a really dense track, with too much to delve into in one post, but here are a few observations: The austere rendition of Rey's theme for her momentary death is exquisite, and by using the comparatively rare ending first (and only?) heard in TFA's 1M7, does a great job tying the beginning and ending of the trilogy together w/r/t her leitmotif. The music that accompanies Kylo Ren dragging himself out of the pit, with those overlapping statements of his motif over a D pedal, is almost Gabriel Yared-like in its dissonant but tonal longing. Delicious stuff. Rey's resurrection is accompanied by what I imagine many Reylos were long hoping for -- a sort of synthesis of her and Kylo Ren's themes. Notice the way melodic semitones, the markers of Ren/Ben's leitmotif, seem to push through all over the place. There's a particularly subtle way in which Ren's former 5-#4 gets turned into b6-5 and then later inverted to 5-b6 which probably deserves more study. The way this surge of musical emotion end prematurely on an unresolved chord calls to mind the other most notable time Williams did this in Star Wars, and prepares nicely the kiss music that follows on its heels. Here's the notation from the (terrific) piano album: Everything following Ben's death, from the tiny bit of string-section mourning Rey is allowed for Ben to the Bb-major choral hymn that concludes the track is such vintage Williams musical exultation that I dare say the whole ST was worth it if just for this sonic reward. And while simple in its emotional effect, the music is again anything if simplistic -- there's even more cool motivic transformations happening with that 5-b6 motif, which flowers into part of the Victory Theme proper. Plus what I suspect is a reconfiguration of the March of the Resistance at 4:14 that I haven't seen anyone else remark on (or maybe I'm just hearing things, wouldn't be the first time!). I'd love to hear all your thoughts, and see what else is going on in this track that I'm surely missing. Muad'Dib, Smaug The Iron, Taikomochi and 16 others 18 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabulin 3,513 Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 The beginning of this track sounds very LOTR to me. I like the certified 100% seriousness of the choice of a Mahlerian Victory Theme variation for the kiss scene. It's my second favourite heavy music for the kiss scene in the last film of a multi-billion dollar franchise after the inappropriately sultry chromatic figure Desplat did when Ron and Hermione kissed in the last Potter film. On a non-compositional side, it's a yet another track that shows how loud the harps were mixed in this score... which is a cool thing, but sadly to do that in a concert one would need a battery of harps like in Beneath the 12-Mile Reef. BrotherSound and Falstaft 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BrotherSound 2,242 Posted September 14, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted September 14, 2020 Ah, I was wondering when you'd get around to this one, probably my favorite cue of the entire score! 50 minutes ago, Falstaft said: The music that accompanies Kylo Ren dragging himself out of the pit, with those overlapping statements of his motif over a D pedal, is almost Gabriel Yared-like in its dissonant but tonal longing. Delicious stuff. Significantly, this is the only time in the score we hear the standard Kylo Ren motif, immediately followed by the "redeemed" variant (with an added passing tone): I'd never really thought of JW much in connection with Bruckner before @Falstaft brought in up in connection to The Last Jedi, but I'd swear I hear some slight influence from the Adagio (the third and final movement) of Bruckner's ninth symphony here, specifically the way a shattering dissonance is immediately followed by a complete change of character to softer, beatific music featuring the woodwinds: crlbrg, Ludwig, Joni Wiljami and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Mr. Big 4,639 Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 I love the emotional strings after the horn chorale; when Ben's ghost disappears Arpy and Falstaft 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Mark 3,631 Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 I think they nailed the epicness of it in this video montage. Too bad it's so subdued in the film Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Arpy 4,145 Posted September 15, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted September 15, 2020 4 hours ago, Not Mr. Big said: I love the emotional strings after the horn chorale; when Ben's ghost disappears I love that horn chorale more, but that goes for the others in the film - especially when Ben throws his Saber into the sea. Where else in a modern score do you hear brass writing like that! Fabulin, Bofur01, crlbrg and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Taikomochi 1,136 Posted September 15, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted September 15, 2020 2 hours ago, King Mark said: I think they nailed the epicness of it in this video montage. Too bad it's so subdued in the film I have always wished the Victory theme had been used in the marketing. Something like this would have made an incredible final trailer crumbs, Will, BrotherSound and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Mark 3,631 Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 yep Will and Falstaft 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Arpy 4,145 Posted September 15, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted September 15, 2020 Seeing (and hearing) that masterpiece alongside Joker made me remember why the Academy is a joke. Joni Wiljami, Remco, Fabulin and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post SilverTrumpet 638 Posted September 15, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted September 15, 2020 The scene itself made me sick, and then a couple months later I found myself coming back to this track on the soundtrack A LOT. There's this complicated mix of emotions going on here. Pain, discomfort, hopelessness, hope, relief, romance and beauty. It's all woven together so well and makes you feel what the scene is supposed to make you feel, but again, like everything in this movie, doesn't bother to make you feel on your own. Really, between Attack of the Clones and The Rise of Skywalker, it's amazing that Williams was able to pinpoint the emotions that were SUPPOSED to be present in the movie but weren't at all. Then, to be able to communicate that via music to the world. Wow. ChrisAfonso, crumbs, Remco and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falstaft 2,132 Posted September 15, 2020 Author Share Posted September 15, 2020 41 minutes ago, SilverTrumpet said: ...it's amazing that Williams was able to pinpoint the emotions that were SUPPOSED to be present in the movie but weren't at all. Then, to be able to communicate that via music to the world. Wow. Sometimes, I think the worse the movie, the better the score. And the converse is true: otherwise humdrum or unremarkable film music in a well-regarded movie can get a pass, and even absorb some of its critical esteem. I'm sure we can all think of plenty of examples of both. Good film music suits the film. Great film music elevates it. Truly masterful film music transcends it. crlbrg and Will 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Parker 3,040 Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 5 hours ago, Falstaft said: Good film music suits the film. Great film music elevates it. Truly masterful film music transcends it. Is that always a matter of one being directly better than the last, though? Isn't it entirely possible for great music to be written for a film that isn't very simpatico with the images? Lalo Schifrin is one of my favorite composers, but I find that a lot of his scores are almost ridiculous in how they play out in context, with some notable exceptions...in that regard, I don't consider him a very good film composer. So the music "transcends" the films in that it's very well written and very satisfying to listen to on its own, but within the films themselves, it's almost a disservice. What would you call that? Unless there's a way to interpret what you're saying that I'm not considering? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falstaft 2,132 Posted September 15, 2020 Author Share Posted September 15, 2020 1 hour ago, Nick Parker said: Is that always a matter of one being directly better than the last, though? Isn't it entirely possible for great music to be written for a film that isn't very simpatico with the images? Lalo Schifrin is one of my favorite composers, but I find that a lot of his scores are almost ridiculous in how they play out in context, with some notable exceptions...in that regard, I don't consider him a very good film composer. So the music "transcends" the films in that it's very well written and very satisfying to listen to on its own, but within the films themselves, it's almost a disservice. What would you call that? Unless there's a way to interpret what you're saying that I'm not considering? Hmm, you've put more thought into your response than I did in my little platitude! There certainly is film music that is great on its own, but not so much in context of the film its meant to accompany. I struggle to think of any scores from Williams that fit this category, though maybe a few cues here and there -- "Plowing" from Warhorse, maybe, a spectacular piece of music which is rather overblown in the scene it accompanies. Possibly quite a few entries in this book would also qualify. Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post King Mark 3,631 Posted September 17, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted September 17, 2020 Speakling of Plowing, i wish Williams had incorporated that epic climax into the War Horse concert suite .Imagine the Vienna orchestra playing that! Will, Falstaft and Joni Wiljami 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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