A perfect moment in “The Departure” from ‘E.T.’

[Archive Collection 218]

I was re-watching ‘E.T.’ recently, and this passage in the score really struck me. There’s something overwhelmingly beautiful in Williams’ string writing... It might be my favourite section from the score, and I just felt like sharing it with everyone else on JWFan!

 

If I had to analyse why this music is so effective, I’d point to the loosely scale-based harmonic movement which underpins the melody. Williams does a very similar thing later on in the cue, right when E.T.’s ship is about to take off. It creates a momentous feeling of anticipation and building which adds to the emotional gravity of the scene. The melody has a wonderful longing feeling to it, with it's large intervallic leaps and subtle dissonance alongside the harmonic accompaniment.

 

What makes it most effective is the way it underscores the characters’ emotional states. It perfectly captures the mixture of feelings that the characters and audiene are experiencing: joy, sorrow, relief, heartbreak, anticipation.

 

I don't know if there are any other contemporary composers who can achieve something so powerful in their writing.

 

[TownerFan 5,098]

It's one of the most heart-tugging moments in the history of cinema. The music accompanies E.T. telling Elliot "come" and him answering "stay", which is the moment in which the tears have to flow and the story reaches its emotional peak. E.T. is such a masterpiece in how it builds tension and then releases it in the most profound and musically satisfactory way. It's a prime example of Williams looking at the film and writing music that express his sincere emotional reaction, like us audience.

[GerateWohl 4,987]

E.T. is the only movie where I actually thought once looking at it "This movie is like a ballet" like every action in every scene moving to and driven by the music.

[Loert 2,630]

The subtle changes in tempo are what really makes it.

[Andy 5,110]

Oh without a doubt, it's a career achievement.  And I love that it leads to the emotional insert suggested by Spielberg ("ouch")

 

I think, Craig Safan was inspired for a similar departure scene for Last Starfighter. The ascending intervals for a spaceship farewell.  Not as lovely or emotional, but similar.

 

 

[Disco Stu 15,501]

It's the greatest synthesis of images, story, and music yet created.  (ET's finale, not Last Starfighter)

[Datameister 2,254]

I've been studying this cue lately*, and when I saw your thread title, my gut reaction was, "But all the moments are perfect in this one!" But yes, that motif is used exclusively in this cue, and it blows my socks off every time. @Loert, I agree that the way he plays with the tempo in this particular moment really seals the deal.

 

* One thing that's struck me: While the harmonic language has all of JW's trademark jazzy complexities, the orchestration is so lean and efficient. Simple, even. It's as if the flow of musical ideas was so exquisite that it just didn't need much adornment.

[Ludwig 1,158]

I think when we feel that Williams reaches a kind of perfection with a scene or theme, then it always seems to be a great example of his talent for aligning many musical parameters toward similar or compatible sorts of expressions. In other words, it is the melody's aching leaps and steps, it is the gorgeous harmony, it is the warm scoring, the sturdy bass pedal point, the simple major scale, the yearning countermelody, and so on. It would be hard enough to come up with a great solution in just one of these parameters, but when they all coordinate? Perfection indeed!

 

This is golden-age Williams at his finest and it never ceases to boggle my mind how simple it sounds but how complex it can be to unpack.

[SilverTrumpet 642]

I can't even count the number of times I've listened to this cue, and every single time that passage makes my body tense up because of how emotionally manipulative (in a good way) it is. Every time. 

[Naïve Old Fart 10,339]

It's "Adventures On Earth".

Get. It. Right.

[Bellosh 3,894]

1 hour ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

It's "Adventures On Earth".

Get. It. Right.

 

This is both "without revealing your age" and "you know when you're a film score fan" topics wrapped up into one

[blondheim 1,160]

The OST track is Adventure and the concert suite is Adventures.

[Datameister 2,254]

11 minutes ago, Bellosh said:

 

This is both "without revealing your age" and "you know when you're a film score fan" topics wrapped up into one

 

And sarcasm, right? Because I'm sure @Naïve Old Fart knows that "Adventures on Earth" is a published Signature Edition score for study and performance, while the singular "Adventure on Earth" is the OST track title. And that one is rendered inferior by the presence of the brass sweetener at 12:40.

 

EDIT: Beat me there, @blondheim.

[Disco Stu 15,501]

Hey now, I love the brass sweetener

[Loert 2,630]

3 hours ago, SilverTrumpet said:

I can't even count the number of times I've listened to this cue, and every single time that passage makes my body tense up because of how emotionally manipulative (in a good way) it is. Every time. 

 

Wait until you listen to the Tristan und Isolde prelude :p

[Datameister 2,254]

5 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Hey now, I love the brass sweetener

 

Your brain is lying to you

[Disco Stu 15,501]

I take my ET departure like I take my iced tea.... sweetened  

[Holko 10,158]

2 minutes ago, Datameister said:

 

Your brain is lying to you

How did they ever think it was a good idea?

[Tallguy 4,267]

Explain the horn sweetener to me, please?

[Jay 39,241]

The "I'll be right here" moment around 12:40 into the track has a horn overlay on the OST album (and LLL Disc 2 Alternate) that is not used in the film (and therefore not in the LLL main program) 

[Tallguy 4,267]

Ah. Things like this make me want to hand in my Williams card. 

 

I can hear an argument for or against. Interesting that he included it on the LP but not on the concert arrangement. (At least not on Spielberg / Williams.) 

[karelm 3,015]

14 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

E.T. is the only movie where I actually thought once looking at it "This movie is like a ballet" like every action in every scene moving to and driven by the music.

 

I thought the very same about the last 15 minutes of CEOTK.  The music does 90% of the story telling with characters just looking in awe and it is a far more complex set of emotions that film's ending conveys.  Mystery + hope + fear + reunions + longing + joy + wonder + etc.  I've also heard this very same passage of E.T. pointed out by musicians about what they dislike most about Spielberg + JW.  I personally love it very much partially because I was a lonely young kid in the audience when I first saw and heard this film, Elliots age, and the film and score were incredibly moving and any time I hear it, I revisit my childhood.  It hits all the nostalgia checkboxes like Spielberg and JW do so well.  

 

I remember before E.T. was released, they really teased this up as a sequel to CEOTK of sorts.  CEOTK had a page in magazines just showing a road with a light at the end which was incredibly mysterious.  E.T. teased...first he scared us with Jaws, then entertained us...

 

 

[Jay 39,241]

12 hours ago, Tallguy said:

Interesting that he included it on the LP but not on the concert arrangement. (At least not on Spielberg / Williams.) 

 

To be fair, he didn't necessarily choose to include it on the LP, at least not initially.  The sheet music leak provides strong evidence that the Adventures On Earth concert version was scheduled to be recorded on the album recording day, so he very likely originally intended that to be on the album, probably along with another film cue or two to bring the album's run time up to 40 minutes. Who knows why that didn't happen - maybe Williams wasn't happy with the performance? Maybe they ran out of time? - but instead, they literally dubbed the music off the movie stem to make the concluding OST track. After the dub, Spielberg chose not to put thr brass overlay in the final mix of the film after all, but that's why that track exactly matches the final film edit in every other way, including the Steven's Fix insert, exactly. 

 

And yes, his concert version have always match his original intentions in terms of not using the Steven's Fix insert or the unused brass overlay. 

[MikeH 769]

On 19/9/2022 at 7:44 AM, Disco Stu said:

It's the greatest synthesis of images, story, and music yet created.  (ET's finale, not Last Starfighter)

Definitely.  E.T. has to be the greatest film score ever written, no question. It’s absolutely lightning in a bottle. Anytime I watch and listen I just throw my hands up and say, “nope, can’t get any better than this.” 

[MikeH 769]

There was a thread on this video earlier in the summer but incase anyone missed it: