John Williams to be in “If These Walls Could Sing” Abbey Road Disney+ Documentary, December 16th

[rpvee 681]

Trailer here!

 

 

[enderdrag64 475]

If this is anything like that ILM documentary it should be very cool. Hopefully there's lots of previously unseen recording sessions footage in it

[JohnnyD 1,167]

AWESOME! I can’t wait to see this documentary when it comes out on Disney Plus.

[p0llux 379]

Now this is content!

[michael_grig 450]

Damn, at 1:24 I got chills, very excited!

Is this a series with individual episodes or a film?

[Jay 33,670]

It's an 86 minute documentary movie

[GerateWohl 3,303]

I haven't even finished "Get Back" yet.

[Tom 4,000]

JW/Star Wars resurrects big orchestral scoring and Abbey Road.  

[Tallguy 2,166]

13 hours ago, Tom said:

JW/Star Wars resurrects big orchestral scoring and Abbey Road.  

 

What SW scores were at Abbey Road again?

[Manakin Skywalker 4,375]

On 19/11/2022 at 9:11 PM, Tallguy said:

What SW scores were at Abbey Road again?

 

1,2,3,6, Solo, (video games: Kinect, 1313, Battlefront 1-2, Fallen Order), Galaxy's Edge. It is unknown if TESB had some sessions there, but the general consensus is that there was not.

[Brando 1,373]

Saw this trailer the other day, looks super cool. Also hoping they unearthed never before seen recording session footage.

[Datameister 1,850]

9 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

 

1,2,3,6, Solo, (video games: Kinect, 1313, Battlefront 1-2, Fallen Order). TESB had a few sessions there.

 

I've seen conflicting accounts of whether any of ESB happened at Abbey Road, surprisingly. I honestly don't know who to believe. But anyway, let's add Galaxy's Edge to the list.

[Luke Skywalker 1,622]

And star wars 1977 wasnt at abey road ?

[Jay 33,670]

Star Wars was recorded at Anvil. 

[Manakin Skywalker 4,375]

7 hours ago, Datameister said:

I've seen conflicting accounts of whether any of ESB happened at Abbey Road, surprisingly.

 

I originally wrote something similar in my post but removed it. I keep seeing reports of it having been partially recorded at Abbey, yet I can't seem to find any actual evidence of that being the case.

[Presto 4,243]

I don't think any cue in ESB really sounds like Abbey Road, at least as heard in Raiders and Jedi.

[Manakin Skywalker 4,375]

Right, that's another thing is that the entire score sounds consistent. I can't point to a single cue and say "that sounds like it was recorded somewhere else".

[QuartalHarmony 323]

13 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

I keep seeing reports of it having been partially recorded at Abbey, yet I can't seem to find any actual evidence of that being the case

 

Doesn't George Lucas say as much in the liner notes to the 1990 Sony Skywalker Symphony disc?

[Ricard 2,088]

1 hour ago, QuartalHarmony said:

 

Doesn't George Lucas say as much in the liner notes to the 1990 Sony Skywalker Symphony disc?

 

He does.

[Manakin Skywalker 4,375]

I think he might be mistaken, accidentally saying Abbey Road instead of Anvil considering they had recorded at Abbey Road so much since ROTJ. There's a decent amount of TESB session footage and all of it is at Anvil.

 

We all know George is, uh, not great at historical accuracy regarding his projects. 

[Datameister 1,850]

There are even contradictory statements in Abbey Road's web presence.

 

https://www.abbeyroad.com/news/the-history-of-film-recording-at-abbey-road-studios-as-told-by-abbey-roads-mirek-stiles-part-two-2744

 

https://www.abbeyroad.com/studio-one

 

So I really don't know what to make of it all. The only thing that's consistent across accounts is that at least most of the score was recorded at Anvil.

[QuartalHarmony 323]

Well, if that uncertainty doesn't persuade Disney to immediately commission MM to produce a proper re-release of all the OT scores with definitive information about where and when everything was recorded, I don't know what will.

 

So there.

 

Mark

[Chen G. 3,346]

13 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

We all know George is, uh, not great at historical accuracy regarding his projects. 

 

That.

 

George, for instance, denies that his original intention was to use preexisting classical pieces, but Williams had consistently attested since 1976 that this was the direction: he was originally hired to do the Cantina source cues!

[JohnnyD 1,167]

Just watched the documentary on Disney+. Very well-made and insightful. The Maestro is featured quite a bit in it, with a generous length of the documentary featuring his reflecting on recording at Abbey Road and featuring quite a bit of recording session footage. There is even a previously unheard alternate version of Battle of the Heroes featured. Highly recommended, and quite a nice Christmas gift to have this documentary. Loved it. There is a nice little moment during the credits between the Maestro and Ringo Starr, which made me smile and laugh.

[Manakin Skywalker 4,375]

The section with the early BotH version is quite short, but I didn't imagine it would be that different! Very interesting, I hope we can hear the full recording some day!

[Presto 4,243]

Timestamp??

[Manakin Skywalker 4,375]

Here's the audio for anyone curious:

 

BotH_Alt.flac

[Presto 4,243]

Alternate or just without seperately recorded choir?

[Manakin Skywalker 4,375]

33 minutes ago, Clockwork Angel said:

Alternate or just without seperately recorded choir?

 

Alternate, the orchestration is very different.

[artguy360 1,776]

3 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

Here's the audio for anyone curious:

 

BotH_Alt.flac 4.06 MB · 13 downloads

Any chance you could repost this as an MP3?

[michael_grig 450]

Anyone else can't find this on their Disney+ page? Is it only released in USA or UK?

[crocodile 7,542]

I am in the UK and couldn't find it.

 

Karol

[crumbs 13,540]

That sounds very cool! Did we know BOTH had an alternate intro? 

 

For some reason I thought ROTS was a score with next to no alternates. 

[GlastoEls 496]

11 minutes ago, crocodile said:

I am in the UK and couldn't find it.

 

Karol

 

6 Jan. 

[Holko 8,621]

In many interviews and docus and featurettes I remember John being in, he seemed somewhat reserved, professional and measured and well-spoken. But lately he's Johnny again, he's just fun! He appears in docus such as this and Fiddler, he remembers how he had fun and he has fun looking back at his legacy and sharing it. I love it.

[Tallguy 2,166]

BOTH = Battle of the Hoth?

[Chewy 2,126]

Burning of the Homestead?

[Falstaft 1,998]

14 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

Here's the audio for anyone curious:

 

BotH_Alt.flac 4.06 MB · 19 downloads

 

Remarkable! Who knew. The reedy instrumentation really lends it a different affect. And structurally, it puts a new spin on the theme -- perhaps the most "four-square" AABA form it's ever been in. Kind of like that unused statement of Kylo Ren's theme in TFA 2m17 that is in a traditional fourfold structure. What say you, @Ludwig? 

 

 

[Not Mr. Big 4,481]

1 hour ago, Tallguy said:

BOTH = Battle of the Hoth?

 

1 hour ago, Chewy said:

Burning of the Homestead?

Both

[Bespin 7,566]

No one ask the walls to sing, we wish they could paint themselves.

[Jay 33,670]

Wow, didn't expect to be hearing a random ROTS alternate I never new existed before, today!  I assume the sheet music matched the usual recording so we never had a clue this might exist?

 

Thanks for ripping and sharing the excerpt, @Manakin Skywalker!

[ragoz350 439]

In fact, the sheet score matches this recording from the documentary. So, the case is this:

First, JW wrote the cue for the movie (6M9 Revenge of the Sith), where he also wrote the optional ending "for C.D.," which is just a long note after the last chord.

Then it seems that JW thought that wasn't enough and wrote a new intro and ending for this cue and called it the "D.V.D. Version". He added a slight variations of the BotH theme in the intro, and, as we understand it, this version was recorded. Then JW decided to abandon these variations and changed the orchestration. This may have been a separate insert, but we don't have the sheets of it, AFAIK.

[BrotherSound 2,078]

16 minutes ago, ragoz350 said:

Then it seems that JW thought that wasn't enough and wrote a new intro and ending for this cue and called it the "D.V.D. Version". He added a slight variations of the BotH theme in the intro, and, as we understand it, this version was recorded. Then JW decided to abandon these variations and changed the orchestration. This may have been a separate insert, but we don't have the sheets of it, AFAIK.

I hadn’t noticed it before, but 6M9 DVD Version is actually labeled as “v1” in the full score, but not on the first page:

 

So, presumably the intro as heard on the album comes from a “v2” that’s not in the leaked score or sketches.

[ragoz350 439]

Btw, it's interesting that both versions of intro used partly old variant of theme.

JW first used one version of the theme, and then did Revisions of individual bars in cues 6M4, 6M7 and 6M9 to correct the middle notes of that theme. Initially it appeared that the second and fourth bars of the theme were the same, which made it sound less convincing. 

Here they are:

Old:

New:

[Falstaft 1,998]

Another awesome detail I never picked up on until today: JW sneaks in the ostinato motif from Duel of the Fates! Listen extremely closely to the viola part at 0:14.

 

[Manakin Skywalker 4,375]

12 hours ago, artguy360 said:

Any chance you could repost this as an MP3?

 

Actually, I will, so that people can also listen to it without having to download it...

 

 

 

So, now do we think that this is a full excerpt? Or is it multiple sections of a longer recording stitched together for the documentary? I don't think I hear any obvious edit points, but can't quite tell.

[Ludwig 1,098]

7 hours ago, Falstaft said:

Remarkable! Who knew. The reedy instrumentation really lends it a different affect. And structurally, it puts a new spin on the theme -- perhaps the most "four-square" AABA form it's ever been in. Kind of like that unused statement of Kylo Ren's theme in TFA 2m17 that is in a traditional fourfold structure. What say you, @Ludwig? 

 

 

 

In this form, it's a lot like the "ancestral" theme from Far and Away, which has the very same kind of large AABA form, where B is a variation of A, and funnily enough, that theme has very similar pitches and melodic shape as well, and is even in the same key of D minor:

 

 

Coincidence?

[Presto 4,243]

1 hour ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

 

Actually, I will, so that people can also listen to it without having to download it...

 

 

 

So, now do we think that this is a full excerpt? Or is it multiple sections of a longer recording stitched together for the documentary? I don't think I hear any obvious edit points, but can't quite tell.

I feel like I can hear some edits

0:12

Maaaybe 0:36

Ending is either an edit, or just JW stopping the take.

[Tom 4,000]

I know it is not, but it sounds like the second half of a piece for a trailer for ROTS.  

[crumbs 13,540]

3 minutes ago, Tom said:

I know it is not, but it sounds like the second half of a piece for a trailer for ROTS.  

 

I kinda thought that too. Reminds me of the Harry Potter commercial cues he recoded.