John McClane 1 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 Well, the title itself says everything: which is, in your opinion, the best version of the main theme of SW?I have the 1997's special edition of the Trilogy, the EP1 OST, the Ultimate Edition of EP1 and the EP2 OST.My favourite is the first, the "Main Title/Rebel Blockade Runner" track from EP4 - A New Hope. It sounds better than the newest one to me.That's a easy question.Now I wanna know where do you go when you wanna listen to your favourite rendition of the main theme. Like I said in the other thread, for example, if I wanna listen to my favourite rendition of the Raiders March, I go inside "The German Sub/To the Nazi hideout" track from Raiders of the Lost Ark.TJ - Who is Italian, and for a strange reason, doesn't like to talk about Euro 2004. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,335 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 Star Wars, Main Theme, double LP version . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McClane 1 Posted June 26, 2004 Author Share Posted June 26, 2004 do you mean EP4 - A new hope? Isn't the same version from the Special Edition of 1997? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker 5 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 do you mean EP4 - A new hope? Isn't the same version from the Special Edition of 1997?When the double LP came out, there was no "EP4 - A New Hope". It was just plain Star Wars. Some of us still think it should be that way. Okay, maybe it's just me.Anyway, as far as performance goes, the original recording for Star Wars is my favorite, and while I can appreciate Alex's preference for the LP, the edit into the "End Titles" on the original release is not very well done at all.Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,335 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 Maybe, but I was referring to the LP's opener . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker 5 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 Maybe, but I was referring to the LP's opener .The opening track on the LP is a combination of the Main Title and the End Titles.Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,335 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 I don't care about the edit, it's THE version . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 The version on the Gerhardt recording of Star wars/Close Encounters.Blows ANY Williams version out of the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker 5 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 I don't care about the edit, it's THE version .I made a better version, with a cleaner edit.Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Crichton 4 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 I've never heard any recordings of the main title other than those in the film. Here's how I would rank them, main title only, not the music that comes right after:Prequel (wish they had kept up with tradition and recorded it again for AOTC though)ANHROJESB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry B 50 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 As far as the films go, I like the performance of the Main Theme from Star Wars best. It seems to have a much more explosive opening. My favorite rendition of it anywhere is in Shadows of the Empire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,795 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 When the double LP came out, there was no "EP4 - A New Hope". It was just plain Star Wars. Some of us still think it should be that way. Okay, maybe it's just me.You are not alone, selected few still prefer that tile.I'm not among them My fav version is the ANH-SW one with blockade runner and all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,949 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 the original version, the one before all the A new hope shitty title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QMM 4 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 the disco version from RL3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marian Schedenig 8,193 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 The opening track on the LP is a combination of the Main Title and the End Titles.Oh? You mean the same way Gerhardt actually conducted it for his recording?I don't have a favourite performance, but I like the orchestration of the original recording, with the timpani counterpoint after the B section.Favourite use of the theme is too tough right now, I'll have to think about that for some time (and then I probably won't come up with a conclusion ).Marian - who rarely plays the SW albums these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker 5 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 the disco version from RL3That's the Meco recording.The opening track on the LP is a combination of the Main Title and the End Titles.Oh? You mean the same way Gerhardt actually conducted it for his recording?Yes, the concert version that everyone performs and opens the original Star Wars album was in fact two separate pieces of music edited together.Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marian Schedenig 8,193 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 I'm under the impression that "the concert version that anyone performs" has the ROTJ credits ending? At least both the main and end title tracks on the Skywalker Symphony album do, Gerhardt's MT ends with the SW credits end.Marian - who has yet to hear the Kojian and Mehta recordings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector J. Guzman 1 Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 The John Williams recording with the Boston Pops is the best recording of it, definitvly. It blows the other ones away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock 11 Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 I agree with Hector (thoguh it's been a while since I've heard the Gerhardt one). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker 5 Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 I'm under the impression that "the concert version that anyone performs" has the ROTJ credits ending?The "ROTJ credits" ending you mention was actually written for the concert suite version of "The Throne Room and End Title". Both Gerhardt and Mehta play the ending on that cue. They play the original "End Titles" ending on the "Main Theme" performance. Kojian also plays the original version of the "Main Title".Obviously Williams has revised it. I think the first recorded performance with the revised ending grafted onto the "Main Title" was Williams' own 1980 recording with the Boston Pops for the "Pops in Space" album.Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrScratch 294 Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 When the double LP came out, there was no "EP4 - A New Hope". It was just plain Star Wars. Some of us still think it should be that way. Okay, maybe it's just me.There can't be a Star Wars thread without Neil mentioning this. As far as the openings, like the first minute and a half or so... I have always loved the ESB version its so fast and fierce. ANH, sorry- I mean Star Wars is an extremely close second. Gerhardt's ESB Main Title is a great re-recording also.Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HPFAN_2 0 Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 I like the one on the Greatest Hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker 5 Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 When the double LP came out, there was no "EP4 - A New Hope". It was just plain Star Wars. Some of us still think it should be that way. Okay, maybe it's just me.There can't be a Star Wars thread without Neil mentioning this. I was responding to the comment, "do you mean EP4 - A new hope? Isn't the same version from the Special Edition of 1997?", which was made after Alex said his favorite version was, "Star Wars, Main Theme, double LP version".And please, don't forget Joes, "the original version, the one before all the A new hope shitty title."Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrScratch 294 Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 And please, don't forget Joes, "the original version, the one before all the A new hope shitty title."Yeah but Joe is always talking about poop! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marian Schedenig 8,193 Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 The "ROTJ credits" ending you mention was actually written for the concert suite version of "The Throne Room and End Title".That's what I assumed, since Gerhardt (and I think Mehta as well?) recorded it soon after the release of the SW score.Both Gerhardt and Mehta play the ending on that cue. They play the original "End Titles" ending on the "Main Theme" performance.Ok. (Of Gerhardt I knew, of Mehta I do now )Kojian also plays the original version of the "Main Title".And this slightly confuses me...but I assume you mean he does the same as Gerhardt and Mehta?Marian - also noting that the concert version of the Main Title doesn't have the timpani counterpoint I mentioned above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,795 Posted June 28, 2004 Share Posted June 28, 2004 I was responding to the comment, "do you mean EP4 - A new hope? Isn't the same version from the Special Edition of 1997?", which was made after Alex said his favorite version was, "Star Wars, Main Theme, double LP version".And please, don't forget Joes, "the original version, the one before all the A new hope shitty title."NeilYeah, you both are made of the same **** I left to your to every member and their imagination what to translate those asterisks with. 4 letters words only!Luke, who tought wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trumpeteer 302 Posted June 28, 2004 Share Posted June 28, 2004 The opening title of "Star Wars" is awesome. I always listen to the five takes on track 12 on the 1997 CD as a build-up to listening to the film version. Second would be from "The Empire Strikes Back." Third would be the rendition during "Chasm Crossfire" in "Star Wars."Other versions are far behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeekUYoda 0 Posted June 28, 2004 Share Posted June 28, 2004 Even given the initial way-sharpness (and it's sharp! the rest of the orchestra seems to come down about half a step) of the lead trumpet's first note in the ANH SE, it's still my favorite. When I just want to hear it as Luke's Theme, I go to the statement from ANH's "The Moisture Farm." Simple, sweet, and played by a horn in my favorite key (D-flat major).BTW, is the opening of that due to an editing or archival problem or because that's just the way he played it?SeekUYoda, who thinks of it as A New Hope because she didn't see the film until 1993. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry B 50 Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 I love the rendition of the Main Theme in "Chasm Crossfire." It pretty much epitomizes the whole film. In The Empire Strikes Back, the Main Theme never seems to stick around for long, though the B Theme is curiously prominent in the opening track. In Return of the Jedi, you'll notice the Main Theme plays as Luke is turning himself in to Vader, then disappears until the very last moment of tension in the film: Luke's escape from the Death Star. GREAT use of leitmotif there. In The Phantom Menace the Main Theme is fleeting, and in Attack of the Clones...ugh.Impromptu summary of the Main Theme. Huh.No, wait, I have something of substance to say! Did anyone else notice the subtle use of the B Theme in "Anakin Is Free"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trumpeteer 302 Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 I did. But I didn't think Williams was referring to that theme. But he might have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 At what point in the track, precise minute and seconds please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,364 Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 I also cast my vote for "Chasm Crossfire". My favorite cue of that film's score as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry B 50 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 At what point in the track, precise minute and seconds please?1:29-1:40.It's not the B Theme note-for-note, but there are strong similarities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 48 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 Am I the only one who thinks that "return of the Jedi ending" everyone's talking about is crap! I hate that we get two bars from the Throne Room theme thrown in completely at random. It would be one thing if the throne room music were played earlier in the score, but as it is it just seems extremely cut-and-pasted into the score at random. If it was some strange attempt to tie Jedi together with the original movie, then surely the main theme does that already! It's the most annoying moment in the Jedi score for me, except perhaps for the cringe-worthy "triumph" theme we get in the sail-barge fight and Death Star explosion. What bugs me about the throne room fragment is that it replaces two measures that were fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 We hear it because that ending was actually written in 1977 for the concert suite of Star Wars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 48 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 That I could understand. I presume in the suite we get a proper rendition of the Throne Room music before the end credit suite. That would make sense as the fragment at the end would be a reference to something we've already heard. It makes absolutely no sense at all to have such a tiny fragment in a score that doesn't even include the Throne Room music!Would Beethoven have stuck in two measures of his 5th symphony in the end of the 7th? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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