Intrada Soundtrack Forum

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I-love-Goldsmith, yes-I-do...
I-love-Ber-nard-Herr-mann-too! EVERYBODY SING!!!

I have to admit that many of Williams' concert arrangements often subtract the elements that I like best from the cues or themes that formed the basis for the piece. For example, the film cue "The Asteroid Field" has one of the most authoritative arrangments of the Imperial March, but this is eliminated in the concert version, as is the delicate quote of the Han and Leia love theme that defuses the wound-up tension of the rest of the piece. Don't get me wrong, I love those pizzicatto strings and brass flourishes, but there are other elements that make the original track so memorable.

On the other hand, I really like a lot of the album recordings he made, such as the ones for Jaws, Dracula, The Fury and E.T.. But usually he is presenting these works as scores, while his concert arrangements turn them into something different entirely. That's why I feel that those over-inflated finales he grafts onto those pieces are so often ill-fitting... the recording of "The Shark Cage Fugue" that appears on that Sony recording is a perfect example. The piece of music in the film is not leading to a grandiose finale, and so it makes for an odd listen when it suddenly comes out of nowhere.

Hey Swashie!
It looks as though it's just and me on the board at the moment!
I TOTALLY agree about "The Shark Cage Fugue"... even the TITLE is nauseating! That title is really pompous and arrogant... at least in My opinion! I hope people don't think I'm slamming Williams, because I LOVE this man and his music.

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I-love-Goldsmith, yes-I-do...
I-love-Ber-nard-Herr-mann-too! EVERYBODY SING!!!

I love Williams' music as well. But while he is one of my all-time favorite composers, he is one of my least favorite soundtrack album producers (when it's not a complete re-recording). Obviously, it's just a matter of taste - Elliot Goldenthal does something very similar with his scores, but I think his album presentations of his scores are very satisfying, while Williams' cut and paste jobs often strike me as being very fragmented.