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


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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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13 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

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

 

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!

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  • 4 weeks later...

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.

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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

 

37 BOTH1 new!.png

 

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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!

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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:

image.png

Old:

New:

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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

 

37 BOTH1 new!.png

 

 

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?

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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.

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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. 

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