Behave, John Williams!
Mail Bag Concoction Assembled by Lukas Kendall
Oh man... we've printed some letters or editorials in the past that
have gotten a lot of letters but this one really opened the floodgates.
See Josh
Gizelt's letter from May 1st "indicting" John Williams on
the following two counts of soundtrack high treason: producing incomplete
soundtrack albums, and producing soundtracks out of chronological order.
Apparently Williams' status as pretty much the best-ever film composer
(and most beloved) did not sway the soundtrack collector jury....
From: Philip Justin <stimya77@yahoo.com>
This letter is in response to the letter about the Phantom Menace
score.
Star Wars. Fisrt of all, here's a multi generational series of film
which are certain to go down in history, like no other story of its kind.
But a major factor of Star Wars is the collaboration between George Lucas's
imagination and John Williams' scores. In many ways the scores made Star
Wars what they are; the many themes and dark marches accurately portraying
the action and emotion. Contradictions in plot, emotions, action, and momentum
are portrayed with lines of melody and counterpoint to such an extent,
that you cannot help but to relate the scores to symphonic music, examples
such an Wagner or Richard Strauss or Mahler. John Williams took an incredible
"modern romanticist" approach with Star Wars, and be certain
it will be famous hundreds of years from now. He is a master of his field.
A giant of his time. There's not many like him, or as prolific.
The Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition full length scores released
in 1997 to me is one of the greatest musical contributions in history to
the public. After all, these scores changed film scoring as we know it.
A lot of people who are hard core fans of John Williams waited a long time
to hear those unreleased cues and excerpts. To hear those 3 Special Edition
double CD's is like listening to a Wagnerian opera. A modern symphony,
for that matter. The music speaks for itself. You could take all the words
away and still know the story.
Which brings me the point: why the botch jobs??? A score such as
Phantom Menace is the next step in the musical story of Star Wars. Actually,
it is the FIRST step, considering its role as a musical work. I don't understand
why the scores get torn apart and re-arranged the way they do. The writer
of last weeks letter is right about what he says. Why under-rate the fans???
Can't the record labels see that these scores and many others deserve their
entirety?? I concur with the writer that the labels would have no problem
selling a full length edition of Phantom Menace. There are too many musical
cues not provided on the album(the scene where Qui-Gon is trying to convince
the queen to leave the planet and the ensuing escape has one of the best
musical cues, as is the jedi aboard the trade ship and ensuing battle),
and the album's order compared to the actual score is ok at best.The sequences
blend good on the soundtrack(another form of Williams' genius) but in chronological
order the compositions have a lot more power and dynamics.What's the point
in hacking something that is musically perfect? Would a person enjoy listening
to Beethvoven's 9th symphony with half the parts missing and the other
half out of order? Or any great masterpiece, for that matter? For keep
in mind, these scores ARE exactly that.
So, in sum, the score deserves much better, John Williams deserves
much better, and the fans deserve much better. I waited a long time for
some Star Wars trilogy cues. Two decades. That's scary.I don't want to
think it would be that long to hear Phantom in its entirety. John Williams
deserves all his famous scores in full length format, and the public deserves
them too.
From: "stefan cosman" <s.cosman@quicknet.nl>
I agree with the Josh Gizelt's comment on the release of the TPM
soundtrack. I live in the Netherlands, one of the last countries in Europr
that released the film, as a result of this, i owned the soundtrack some
2 months before first seeing the film.
I had virtualy memorized the score and when the "main title"
rolled over the screen expected to hear the big Naboo fanfare from the
fist track, only to discover that the music went a completely different
way. The rest of the film, dito, each time a track would start it would
develop very differently from the soundtrack.
It distracted me from the film more the once. (of course the film
itself has it 's number of distrurbing edits, "Duel of the Fates"chopped.)seemed
to have been chopped up with a chainsaw. Let's face it, the Sony release
is a mess.
I hope we dont have to wat for the 20th anniversary special edition
release (with extra special effects, and outtakes, including the scene
where Qui-Gon DOESN'T save Jar Jar in the beginning of the film.) to get
a proper soundtrack release.
From: "David Krause" <theemperor@freewwweb.com>
I'm responding to the letter about the non-chronological nature
of John Williams' score releases. As much as I LOVE the music John Williams
creates, I have to say that the version available to his fans regardless
of the medium have generally left me disappointed. The Phantom Menace was
the biggest disappointment of them all. I have yet to compare the movie
with the score album without finding a few if not many cues that I would
have preferred be included rather than the frequent "concert arrangements"
and mismatched cues. I have often wondered how a man with such talent fails
to recognize the true gems of his works. While I will continue to avidly
purchase his score recordings, it is my hope that one day he will see his
work through his fans eyes and save the concert arrangements for the concert
halls.
From: Ben Smith <Benjamin.Smith@Colorado.EDU>
It's good to hear someone else (Josh Gizelt?) say what I've been
complaining about for a long time: John Williams's scores need better presentation.
Although this problem was particularly obvious in TPM (probably the biggest
reason it wasn't nominated for an Oscar), but it also showed up in his
lovely score for Angela's Ashes. Though the narration is quite effective
in the film, it doesn't compliment the score itself, at least for me. Fortunately
you can find it w/out narration on Decca, but most stores only carry the
Sony Classical version. That's two great scores in a row SC has botched.
Anyway, as a JW fan, I'm just trying to say that we deserve better CD presentations
of these scores.
From: Arthur Lintgen <ablintgen@home.com>
Let's be serious. JW is a superior musician AND arranger who hardly
needs us to tell him how to arrange a cd album. Most of the complaints
I read are either directed toward lack of completeness or lack of chronologic
arrangement of cues as they appear in the film. Lack of completeness is
NOT his decision. It is a marketing decision by the releasing company.
No matter what the film or score is, it is obvious that a single cd will
sell more copies than a 2 cd album. Therefore Sony et al prefer single
cds. Concerning rearranging the tracks in terms of continuity, film music
is by its very nature notoriously episodic, and except in a case of someone
like Korngold, rarely through composed with contiguous key and harmonic
relationships that insure musical continuity. Give JW some credit instead
of saying disparagingly that he is rearranging his scores for lay people
who by implication don't know enough to care. Williams is trying to achieve
a better longterm listening experience separated from the film for music
lovers in general. He views cds as a musical or listening experience, not
a souvenir or memento of the film to be reproduced exactly as in the film.
In most cases his system works. I think the problem with TPM is more that
it is not one of his greatest scores than the selection of the music. The
Duel of the Fates cue in its entirety is also a rearrangement, as is E.T.
and Me, etc., etc.
Having said that, I do have two problems with Williams cds. The
habit of repeating the main theme or themes at the beginning and end is
redundant and unnecessary. It also pads the playing time of the cd when
other omitted music could be included instead. The American Angela's Ashes
cd is simply not a good listening experience with the dialogue (even though
the dialogue is done extremely well). The British Decca cd without the
dialogue is quite a stunning listening experience and should be heard by
every JW and film music lover, and is easily available now through the
usual sources. Let's hope that the inclusion of dialogue is an isolated
event.
From: Hiphats@aol.com
As a fan of John Williams, I too am a bit miffed at the way Williams
puts together his soundtracks. There is no doubt that the Williams reissues
("Superman", "Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition", and
"Raiders Of The Lost Ark") represent classic scores as they were
meant to be heard and enjoyed. But albums "butchered and resequenced
out of order" may be alright for Wiilliams' own tastes to make it
more enjoyable, but to me they only distract from the experience of listening
to a classic score outside of the film.
I would much rather hear a "Jurassic Park" (or even "Episode
One") soundtrack in its proper order, otherwise (on a subliminal level
anyway) movie scores are not given the ultimate justice on disc. And the
beauty and majestic might of the score is destroyed.
From: Dave Doan
To the Webmaster and fellow John Williams fans: In regards to the
letter about John Williams and the Phantom Menace, I think its bull.....I
can understand why fans would be disappointed by the album and its sequential
order, but come on, its one score out of about 80 that was a little dissapointing....You
look at other film scores, not just ones written by John Williams, they
are also put on the album out of order...I agree that this is done because
it makes the listening of the album more enjoyable. It should be like this....Who
wants to be listening to a piece on an album than all of a sudden have
it jump into another piece...As a long time John Williams fan I dont buy
his music expecting it to be in sequential order, i buy it to listen to
and enjoy..For all i care the music could have the end credits at the beginning,
it makes no difference to me....I think the writer of the article only
has little following behind him, because when you look at the whole picture,
the majority of John Williams fans don't care about the order the music
is in, just if it sounds good and has that "Williams" sound........
From: Dumesnilm@aol.com
From: Jigawatts121@aol.com
I totally agree with Josh. The first John Williams soundtracks I
got were the three Star Wars Special Editions in 1997 and Raiders of the
Lost Ark. I think they are the best soundtracks ever made. But when I got
The Last Crusade and the Phantom Menace last year, I was really disappointed
with the amount of music left out and the order of the tracks. As fans
we should let him know they [his soundtracks] all should be released in
their entirety so everyone can hear them in their full grandeur otherwise
they cannot be fully appreciated.
From: Jeremy Friesen <rejemy@inworldvr.com>
I wholeheartedly agree with Josh Gizelt in today's column on filmscoremonthly.com.
I don't demand that all scores be complete scores - but I do REALLY wish
they'd all be in film order. Don't give me the line about how "the
score might not sound very good when listened to in chronological order..."
Huh? That's the way it's in the movie - if the score is bad in the order
it was supposed to go in, I'd say that's the composer's fault. Fortunatly,
most scores I've listened to sound fine when played in chronological order
- you can see in your head the story progressing along with the music.
Tension is built, relieved, there are introductions, conclusions, fanfairfs,
and it all makes sense, because it happens in the order it's supposed to
happen in.
So in conclusion - Williams, take better care of your album releases
and pretty pretty please give us the scores in cronological order!
From: Jackie Holstein <stanleykubrick70@mindspring.com>
I agree that the score should be placed in chronological order.
No matter who the composer may be. I know everyone here will agree that
just because a cue is short doesn't mean it should not be included on the
CD so the listener can hear it. Some times those cues are just as nice
as a much longer one. Case in point look at the running times for most
of the cues in PSYCHO. They are short but very important. If i listen to
a score album I want to hear a complete album of music so to speak not
just a few tracks.
To be honest I gave away my CD for Phantom Menace due to the fact
I thought William's score was not up to par with what the originals had
given the listener. Yet the film was junk as well. I don't mean to bash
Williams, I like his scores a lot. So much I can still remember being in
high school art class and we listened to the score for Schindler's List
EVERYDAY ! It shocked me cause I owned the CD myself but kids were enjoying
very much that a few of them ran out and bought the CD for themselves.
If John Williams is bored he needs to give the public a SCORE CD for JAWS.
I realize this may be a hard thing to do but the LD set had the score isolated
so I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard to accomplish.
From: Randall Derchan <DSPY007@aol.com>
I think there are more pressing issues than Phantom Menace. I think
we should forget the Phantom Menace altogether and move on. Admittedly,
it was the highlight in the film and worked much better than the cd does,
but, given time there will be another release and by then we can complain
about the the 4th Indiana Jones soundtrack not giving all the material.
From: Steve Erickson <Steve.Erickson@veritas.com>
Josh makes some valid points; I think that there should be two versions
of the soundtrack for buyers: one like we already have, and one for people
like Josh (I also wouldn't mind having the complete accurate recording).
People must understand, however, that the composer of a soundtrack doesn't
always have the final say on what goes on the album (or the movie). There
are record company executives, music editors, producers, etc. that can
determine what actually goes on a released sound recording. John Williams
does not cater to the desires of those who don't care; he caters to the
desires of those for whom he works for. That's why his musical scores are
so derivative - listen to Wagner, Brahms, and Strauss, you'll hear striking
similarities. Also, the choral music in Phantom Menace is very much like
Carl Orff's "O Fortuna" (Carmina Burana). But, I digress. The
bottom line is that John Williams does what his employers ask him to do.
From: Andy G <andrew.goldsbrough@magdalen.oxford.ac.uk>
I agree with Josh when he says that John Williams' scores tend to
be better served on album by a chronological representation. This is sometimes
far from the case but with Williams, the way he approaches a film score
often involves a linear development of themes and material and a chronological
presentation usually has as much musical (and more dramatic) cohesion as
any other arrangement.
'The Phantom Menace' CD is a music lovers' nightmare as well as
a collectors. Without the duplication of Anakin's Theme, the Duel of the
Fates and the Arrival at Naboo/Coruscant (like John Williams cares!) there
is about 10mins of CD space. If this had been used for some action music
- Charging the Blast Doors, the Encounter in the Desert, Anakin Destroying
the Federation Battleship - I probably wouldn't be so disappointed with
the album.
I'd also like The Sith Spacecraft to continue into the Arrival of
Darth Maul music as the man in black lands on Tatooine. You know how some
soundtrack fans play a game occasionally - what theme could represent themselves
musically? Well, the controlled dissonance, the splashy ethnic percussion,
the whispered Sanskrit... it's perfect for me!
It is certain that Sony will make more money from only issuing a
single CD of (selected) highlights. And Lucasfilm(TM) will do the same
because they can now issue a complete album at a later date. Releasing
an unquestionably definitive version of the soundtrack at the time of the
movie would have been a bad marketing move. A full version will come out
eventually. Keep your hopes up. It only took 20 years last time!
I am curious about the financial aspect of the LP release. How smaller
market is that aimed at? Will it pay its way? Do you need to pay the fees
for the music again if it is released in a different medium?
And guess what? This is only around HALF of the letters we received.
So stay tuned tomorrow for the rest... plus MY opinion after the carnage
is over.
And as always, send YOUR opinion if you have yet to do so:
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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