Quartet Announces: HEIDI/ JANE EYRE (2CD)(John Williams) Remastered and Expanded

[Sandor 797]

Ordered.

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

6 hours ago, Bryant Burnette said:

19 hours ago, Mr. Hooper said:

 

Fantastic compilation album by the way.

Expand  

 

I didn't know this existed, but plan to get a copy now!

 

[Tallguy 3,398]

9 hours ago, Mr. Hooper said:

Seems to go well together.

 

So not just me.

[rough cut 1,714]

On 8/12/2023 at 11:41 AM, Amer said:

 

Revised, Remastered and Slightly Expanded Scores

Slightly expanded 😂😂😂😂

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Still gon’ double-double dip though. 

[Thor 7,508]

17 hours ago, Tallguy said:

Wasn't Jane Eyre on a list in FSM (the actual print magazine) of Scores You Must Own To Call Yourself a John Williams Fan? Back when the only way to get it was to pay hundreds of dollars aftermarket? (This was before Ebay. Dammit, I'm old now.)

 

Yes, it was. Which was very frustrating for me in the 90s. I did end up having to suffice with a CD-R, with a crappy cardboard type xerox of the artwork, until it was finally reissued on Silva in the early 2000s, I think, and I could finally purchase a proper, legit release. It's the only one I still have and will continue to have, but I'm open to changing the digital file version with this new one in my iTunes.

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

I've been collecting John Williams music since 1994, although for the first years my only sources of information were what CDs I could find in local stores and whatever the liner notes revealed. But I've been online since 1997, been a member of film music message boards since then (FSM first, then MM.com, then JWFan), and was a subscriber to the FSM magazine for a few years around that time. Jane Eyre has always been listed as one of the must-have Williams scores, and rightfully so.

[Edmilson 7,466]

1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

MM.com

mikematessino.com? 

[Marc 768]

Ahh the horn parts in Heidi ❤️

[Thor 7,508]

2 hours ago, Edmilson said:

mikematessino.com? 

 

Ah, you're so young.

 

I fondly remember us emigrating from FSM to Peter Kelly's MM (moviemusic.com), for a period of time, when the FSM board went down around the millennium turnover. Good times.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

3 minutes ago, Thor said:

the FSM board went down around the millennium turnover. Good times.

 

When @bruce marshall joined?

[Thor 7,508]

Cheeky. I can't remember if Bruce was part of the pre-millennium FSM or not.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

3 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

I've been collecting John Williams music since 1994, although for the first years my only sources of information were what CDs I could find in local stores and whatever the liner notes revealed. But I've been online since 1997, been a member of film music message boards since then (FSM first, then MM.com, then JWFan), and was a subscriber to the FSM magazine for a few years around that time. Jane Eyre has always been listed as one of the must-have Williams scores, and rightfully so.

You are so young!

[Slitherjump 6]

On 08/12/2023 at 3:57 AM, bollemanneke said:

My goodness. Mike is unstoppable! Can't wait to hear what he did with Jane Eyre. Here's hoping he managed to get rid of that distortion.

Unfortunately the distortion is still there and very noticeable to some people and there is so much Mike can do to fix this issue. It was briefly discussed here.

 

Basil Wrathbone:
 

The clip still exhibits the unfortunate outburst of distortion (overload?) in "To Thornfield" that is on previous releases. Maybe there's a very small improvement, but it's still distracting, particularly with headphones.
But... I notice the newly-released alternative "bonus" version of that track does NOT have that burst of distortion. Was it not possible to work some additional Matessino magic and adjust/stitch-in the corresponding small section from the clean alternative version, to replace that bit in the main program that was distorted?


MM:

I addressed as much as I could but it is baked in to the album master.

I'm still getting this set regardless tho I'm sure he made improvements in other ways

 

[Mr. Hooper 1,792]

37 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

You are so young!

We want your life force @Marian Schedenig!

  

[bollemanneke 3,349]

How on earth did it get baked into the albu master? Why would anyone do that?

[1977 1,743]

I do wish someone like Mike would rescue Jane Eyre (the film) from whatever domain it is in. I have a dodgy DVD bought from Amazon some time back and the picture and sound are truly awful 😞

[Slitherjump 6]

35 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

How on earth did it get baked into the albu master? Why would anyone do that?

I think I know what they're talking about but I'm not sure of the terminology for this or very familiar with the subject so correct me if I'm completely wrong on any of this to those that are more familiar with the process. Sometimes older masters can't be read because the tape is stuck with itself and it can't be used at all, so the solution I've heard they used for music elements is putting the tape in an oven to loosen it. It seems to work pretty well most of the time but unless we're taking Mike too literally here, it seems the distortion was a defect originated from baking the tape. This technique doesn't always make the tapes better tho with little to no detractors, I've heard in the FSM forums that Vertigo's music tapes were put through that same process and as a result the tape disintegrated because of how sensitive it was but I have never been able to found the source behind that claim so I'm not sure if it's legit. Again if we misinterpreted what Mike said and it was just a figure of speech and it has nothing to do with that process then it's probably the result of tape being 50 years old and in probably less then ideal storage conditions. 

[Holko 9,526]

16 minutes ago, Slitherjump said:

but unless we're taking Mike too literally here

Yeah I think this is the case, "baked in" is commonly used to mean something is inherently already present in the source and not really removable.

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

1 minute ago, Holko said:

Yeah I think this is the case, "baked in" is commonly used to mean something is inherently already present in the source and not really removable.

 

That's how i read it as well. Yes, they do bake older tapes for restoration in some cases, but in this case it probably just means "it's an integral part of the original master and has always been."

[Holko 9,526]

The 3-track recording itself possibly didn't have the problem, because then they could have picked the alternate take over it or done an edit to utilise it, it was probably introduced in the stereo downmix process - but since we don't have the 3-track original, we're stuck with the distorted album take and now the non-distorted alternate take.

 

There are all kinds of stupid layers to this stuff - like for example IIRC Eiger Sanction's album master had extra reverb and stuff added for the CD releases, but that reverb wasn't baked into the original recording tapes or even the original master tape they used for the vinyl, just the old digital masters, so Mike could go back to the tapes and bring us the proper music before it was altered.

[Slitherjump 6]

15 minutes ago, Holko said:

Yeah I think this is the case, "baked in" is commonly used to mean something is inherently already present in the source and not really removable.

Oh I haven't heard of that expression before my bad

[Mr. Hooper 1,792]

2 minutes ago, Slitherjump said:

Oh I haven't heard of that expression before my bad

But thanks for teaching some of us about this process of putting tape in an oven. Interesting, even if it sounds like a bad idea. lol

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

7 minutes ago, Mr. Hooper said:

But thanks for teaching some of us about this process of putting tape in an oven. Interesting, even if it sounds like a bad idea. lol

 

I do it all the time with scratchy CDs.

[Tom 4,661]

22 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I do it all the time with scratchy CDs.

So, they are baked from scratch?   

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

Just add water. 

[Jay 37,369]

Stay tuned for a special podcast episode with Mike Matessino and John Takis discussing this fantastic new release on The Legacy of John Williams 🎙

 

https://www.facebook.com/thelegacyofjohnwilliams/posts/pfbid0XDsYchncJ3qb6i3vwewfWkmUxN1Nw6pL82yCHWZqH5fsrvyWgPe8Fjj5k34B1ecTl

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

2 hours ago, Mr. Hooper said:

But thanks for teaching some of us about this process of putting tape in an oven. Interesting, even if it sounds like a bad idea. lol

 

They even do it with circuit boards…

[King Mark 3,631]

I dunno I'm not too hyped for this release. Seems like there's a new version of Jane Eyre every few years. i might grab it later combined with something else if SAE has it

[Bespin 8,483]

I watched the movie Jane Air today (I don't know why, I always pronunciated eeere in my head). The version on Tubi is absolutely horrible, by the way. I hope there's a better-restored version available elsewhere because what I saw today was terrible.

 

Regarding the music, John Williams really steals the show once again. In other words, if you remove the music, there's nothing much left!

 

At two points in the movie, Jane plays the piano, performing her own theme. It's quite convenient and also demonstrates her good taste! Unfortunately she don't seems to know any other piece, like the theme from Checkmate or Fitzwilly. I was disappointed! 

[Tom 4,661]

the movie is bland to painful (then, again, I never found the source all that gripping either).  I have always thought of this movie as the one where Williams really comes into his own.  This isn't just good film music, this is damn good music as such.  

 

This CD is a must have, given the people involved.  Plus the Heidi/Superbowl angle is beautiful.  There is something deeply satisfying to me about Williams's perfect pastoral music scoring the anger the so many people.  

[Mr. Hooper 1,792]

19 minutes ago, Bespin said:

I watched the movie Jane Air today

 

 

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

6 hours ago, Bespin said:

I watched the movie Jane Air today (I don't know why, I always pronunciated eeere in my head). The version on Tubi is absolutely horrible, by the way. I hope there's a better-restored version available elsewhere because what I saw today was terrible.

 

Regarding the music, John Williams really steals the show once again. In other words, if you remove the music, there's nothing much left!

 

At two points in the movie, Jane plays the piano, performing her own theme. It's quite convenient and also demonstrates her good taste! Unfortunately she don't seems to know any other piece, like the theme from Checkmate or Fitzwilly. I was disappointed! 

They cut the bit where she plays the theme to Land of the Giants. Shame. 

[Gurkensalat 340]

I have both Heidi and Jane Eyre on the former official releases, so I think I will abstain from this, although it is a nice set. I still hope that some day the tapes of the actual film score will resurface, prompting another more expanded release. 

[Edmilson 7,466]

People familiar with the Jane Eyre movie and score, what are the highlights among the missing music on those 7 reels that may not exist anymore? Are there "essential" cues that weren't released because they couldn't be found?

[1977 1,743]

It's been decades since I watched Jane Eyre (on VHS no less) so I don't remember much about the music in film, but I can't imagine there is too much missing from the OST. 

 

1 hour ago, Gurkensalat said:

I have both Heidi and Jane Eyre on the former official releases, so I think I will abstain from this, although it is a nice set. I still hope that some day the tapes of the actual film score will resurface, prompting another more expanded release. 

 

I'm considering the same approach TBH, purely for economic reasons. If this release hangs around for a while I may pick it up, but there are other priorities for me right now (such as MacArthur).

[Stark 316]

I don’t own either score, so I’m considering if I should get the set or if the future might bring a better set of one or both…

[Gurkensalat 340]

If you don't own them, I strongly recommend to buy this set. It is very uncertain, if something better will surface in the future. 

[Holko 9,526]

Yes, by this point Mike and Friends looked probably through everything possible and the only hope is his neighbor throwing them in the trash à la Bride of Frankenstein, or reels randomly being found sitting uncatalogued on shelves where they shouldn't be and nobody knows about them, like Dracula just chilling at Varese for a decade, or the new JE material released here. Or AI cleanup of the film audio. Or complete rerecordings.

[JW collector 47]

On 08/12/2023 at 7:13 PM, Mr. Hooper said:

 

Fantastic compilation album by the way.

 

Yes...  

remember when i saw this at a reccord store....    

 

  I had the JANE  EYRE  suite  ( Boston Pops Orch.  CD ) 

 

... But I  went total  when i saw and heard THE  REIVERS  track.....    wished there was more from it.....

[GerateWohl 4,370]

3 hours ago, Holko said:

Yes, by this point Mike and Friends looked probably through everything possible and the only hope is his neighbor throwing them in the trash à la Bride of Frankenstein, or reels randomly being found sitting uncatalogued on shelves where they shouldn't be and nobody knows about them, like Dracula just chilling at Varese for a decade, or the new JE material released here. Or AI cleanup of the film audio. Or complete rerecordings.

Jane Eyre as such a fan favourite would really deserve a proper and complete re-recording. 

Maybe someday...

 

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

On 10/12/2023 at 8:35 AM, Edmilson said:

People familiar with the Jane Eyre movie and score, what are the highlights among the missing music on those 7 reels that may not exist anymore? Are there "essential" cues that weren't released because they couldn't be found?

 

Yes, absolutely. Similarly to E.T. only half of the album is made up of actual film cues, so you can rightfully conclude that a great deal of the score (probably the majority of it; I'd have to calculate) is unreleased. I remember highlighting at least one major cue in the film in my discussion with @Trumpeteer on his podcast The Baton over 4.5 years ago!

https://thebatonpodcast.podbean.com/e/episode-25-jane-eyre/

 

Check out that episode and you'll hear it, and maybe one or two unreleased cues ripped from the film.

 

On 10/12/2023 at 8:46 AM, JTWfan77 said:

It's been decades since I watched Jane Eyre (on VHS no less) so I don't remember much about the music in film, but I can't imagine there is too much missing from the OST. 

 

Imagine it because there definitely is (although a few great cues are expanded upon in special album arrangements, like "Restoration"). I'll dig around because when I worked on my research for that episode of The Baton, I did a breakdown of the score.

 

Yavar

[QuartalHarmony 543]

Ordered. Was in two minds about it, but I work with a couple of very nice Spaniards who are going home for Christmas and were happy for me to buy them this and The Long Goodbye as Christmas presents. If it turns out they don’t like film music, they’ll bring them back in January when we go back to work. Or something like that.

 

Mark

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

Ok, I dug through old email drafts and found the following fragmentary work. That is, I came up with timestamps for every cue based on watching the film, but at least on the version I was able to find (again this was almost half a decade ago) I didn’t have a title or description for every cue. But for those who find the breakdown useful, here’s what I can share based on watching the film:

 

Pieces recorded for the album only which do not appear in the film: Love Theme from Jane Eyre (track 1, concert arrangement), To Thornfield (track 4, unused action scherzo), Festivity at Thornfield (track 5, unused original party source music), Meeting (track 7, chamber arrangement of love theme), Restoration (track 10, album/concert arrangement of music for St. John)

 

0:03-4:14 1. Main Title (Overture) 4:12

(album recording track 2, 3:58)

Album recording seems more tightly performed at times; film recording has an ugly edit at 2:51.

First half minute introduces the mysterious long-lined (over 20 notes!) Rochester theme on harpsichord (most prominent in the album action cue To Thornfield), followed by an even more mysterious and ominous theme for the mystery of Thornfield itself led by a 7 note motif 29 sec in (25 of album recording), as the title “Jane Eyre” appears onscreen.

At 1:04 (0:58 of album) a strident related motif grows out of this. Pay attention to how much Williams is doing with counterpoint here.

At 1:35 (1:28 of album) the love theme is introduced, sounds as if it were something of a love child between a couple of themes in Nino Rita’s beloved score for Franco Zefirelli’s Romeo and Juliet a couple years before

Around 2:11 (2:06 of album) love theme transitions to a bridge melody

At 2:30 (2:26 of album) the strident 1:04-1:35 material returns. Ugly edit/cut at 2:51, equivalent to 2:47-2:52 on album, right before return of 7 note mysterious Thornfield motif, and then back to a more subdued version of strident motif, and back to the Thornfield motif again as the cue winds down.

 

6:28-9:04 2. Deceitful

“Let’s see who it is...” begins cue

 

9:56-10:54 3. Lowood

(album recording track 3, 2:28)

Film cue initially mixed so low you can barely tell it's there, and the cue cuts off abruptly just before a minute in.

A new mysterious theme is introduced here, more subtle than any of the themes introduced in the Main Title.

 

12:44-14:37 4. Relics of Satan

Hair forcibly cut, punished

 

17:57-19:04 5. Forever and Ever

Childhood friend's death, and passing of time.

 

20:14-21:01 6. Thornfield

Thornfield theme (2nd theme from Main Title) given further development as Jane approaches the manor.

 

24:44-25:27 7. Laughter

Mysterious (almost horror) music with the Thornfield theme developed over threatening strings.

 

27:23-29:55 8. The Meeting

First different development of main theme; good candidate to mention in podcast

 

33:16-33:56 9. Jane Plays

The love theme played in-scene on solo piano by Jane.

 

35:06-36:03 10. Good Night

Further development of the main theme for Jane, and then the mysterious Thornfield theme.

 

41:39-42:14 11. Good Night

Threatening development of the Thornfield theme.

 

44:11-44:36 12. The Fire

Another horror cue with the Thornfield theme.

 

46:17-47:42 13. Do Me Good

Brief Thornfield mystery, then first proper appearance of the love theme on harpsichord, and then strings.

 

48:29-50:02 14. Flowers

Love theme on woodwind, gets more intense near end.

 

51:14-53:29 First Dance

53:39-53:52 Second Dance

56:14-57:18 Youth's the Season Made for Joys (song from The Beggar's Opera)

57:30-58:41 Piano Source

 

59:54-62:21 15. Mason's Arrival

63:11-66:10 16. She Bit Me

68:58-71:08 17.

72:26-73:30 18. The Veil

74:30-75:50 19. 

76:05-79:15 20. 

82:50-85:09 21. She Still Lives

85:45-88:17 22. Jane Leaves

 

89:23-91:06 23. St. John

Shorter film cue used as basis for album "Restoration"; brief interlude for Jane/Rochester love theme as Jane remembers.

 

92:51-94:18 24. I Accept

Second shorter film cue with St. John's theme, this time with a brief interlude with the mysterious Thornfield motive as her letter is returned, transitioning immediately afterwards to another in-film solo piano performance by Jane of her love theme with Rochester.

 

99:37-100:59 25. God Alone

101:15-102:37 26. The Tragedy

 

102:37-107:58 27. Reunion (End Title)

Longer version of album cue (which starts at 103:16 and still seems to run shorter on album).

 

—

 

I’ll bet Williams also wrote and originally recorded some music that got dialed out of the film.

 

Yavar

[Steve 593]

14 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

Jane Eyre as such a fan favourite would really deserve a proper and complete re-recording. 

Maybe someday...

 

Unfortunately the sheet music is lost.

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

20 minutes ago, Steve said:

Unfortunately the sheet music is lost.

Fortunately people like Leigh Phillips can reconstruct scores entirely by ear listening to the mixed film audio when necessary (see: The Salamander).

 

Yavar

[Steve 593]

8 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Fortunately people like Leigh Phillips can reconstruct scores entirely by ear listening to the mixed film audio when necessary (see: The Salamander).

 

Yavar

Yes that's possible, but a lot of work I would think.

 

I like how Williams reconstructed parts of it and created the suite. It's nice that he added brass to the arrangements. 

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

35 minutes ago, Steve said:

Yes that's possible, but a lot of work I would think.

Leigh relishes that kind of work. He’s told me on the Goldsmith General Electric Theater project that he actually most enjoys the challenge of reconstructing certain scores entirely by ear. Having the written music almost makes it too easy for him!

 

Yavar

[Incanus 5,715]

8 hours ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Fortunately people like Leigh Phillips can reconstruct scores entirely by ear listening to the mixed film audio when necessary (see: The Salamander).

 

Yavar

Shame that the original scores were destroyed but a reconstructed re-recording would be fantastic. I think e.g. the re-recording of Nino Rota's Romeo and Juliet and Goldsmith's QBVII and The Salamander are great examples of this.

[crocodile 8,017]

I would too welcome a new recording.

 

And we all know the original tape would miraculously turn up as soon as the sessions are finished.

 

Karol

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

45 minutes ago, crocodile said:

I would too welcome a new recording.

 

And we all know the original tape would miraculously turn up as soon as the sessions are finished.

 

In this case I would consider it a win all around. I really wish a Tadlow complete rerecording of The Ten Commandments had happened before the Intrada set, for example.

 

Yavar