If John Williams were to suddenly die

I wouldn't wanna sit through a silent SW movie.

You gotta have music no matter what composer is doing it.

 

The music of Star Wars is what originally inspired me to take music lessons, both piano and trumpet. My aunt was my music teacher and when recital time came around every year, she knew that I would be playing some selection from Star Wars. John Williams was probably one of my earliest role models. I can honestly say I would not be as big of a SW fan as I am today without his emotional contributions to the films. Very few people can successfully tell a story through music. Just pop in any of his soundtracks. You can almost view the entire movie in your mind.

The only way to go if John Williams was unable to score the last 2 films would be to use his unmatchable existing scores. I think most of them are there already in some form or another.

 

Chaplin scored his own films. Maybe ol George could do it. ?

 

Joel McNeely


I hope i spelled his name right. I thought he did a great job on the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack (not for the game or the book, just for fun i guess!). I dont know why they made a soundtrack for it or why I bought it, but I know that its really good and fits in great with John Williams work.

 

Probably Zimmer or Silvestri. Horner is too sentimental. He'd be playing love themes while ships were being blown up.

 

I think Joel McNeely has about the best resume tape around - his "Shadows of the Empire" score. Also, after just hearing Don Davis's score for "Jurassic Park III", he has proven himself very capable of adapting Williams' music and incorporating it into his own, while retaining that distinctive John Williams sound. Zimmer, Horner, Goldsmith, and Silvestri are all talented, but when you hear one of their scores, you know it's THEIR score. They all have a unique sound to them. It's the same with Williams. The composer who scored a "Star Wars" film would have to apporximate Williams sound. I don't believe those other composers could do it, but McNeely and Davis have proven they can.

 

That's a sad thought.... They should start to think about cloning Williams...
Seriously, i'd say McNeely. He did a really great job on SOTE.

 

Well,Star Wars wouldn't work without Williams,but if you're interested I've composed some Attack of the Clones themes,including a new sith theme and a love theme for Anakin and Amidala etc...check them out at.
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/233/neil_lawrence_gregory.html

 

Has any elsr other than me listened to the Jurassic Park III score by Don Davis (who was recommened by JW)? It intergrates the Jurassic Park themes with new themes of his own very well and it is very Willims-esque.

Just my opinion...

 

If they had to pick someone else, which I hope they never have to, It would be J. K. Rowling. Yeah, that's right, the author of the Harry Potter books! (Insert evil laughter here)

 

up

 

did my saying something bring back all these old threads that have to do with new ones????

 

Darren Rogers...

He does good work with New age stuff. He'd have to bust his butt, But he has some really good star wars sounding type music.

AND he's a good friend of mine.

 

Well, the unfortunate thing about the real world, is that death does happen. John Williams is what? 70 years old or something like that? He could die of a heart attack as soon as I finish writing this for all we know.

It woudl definitely be hard decision for George Lucas. I remember how he said in that 60 MINUTES interview 2 years ago, how even though he (George Lucas) is a control freak when it comes to StarWars, that the music of StarWars is the one thing he has little to no control over. Not even Spielberg has any control over what John Williams composes, aside from the general 'setting the tunes' mode.

If JW were to pass away, would LUcas try to assert more control over the next composer, no matter who he is?

 

Goldsmith

 

Randy Edelman. He's best-known for doing the soundtrack to Gettysburg and I think he's brilliant. But John Williams will not die before the movies are finished, even if I have to perform Ashk-Ente (any Terry Pratchettites out there?).

 

To quote Palpatine from TPM; "Let's be realistic."

Guys, if Williams dies, there wont be composed any new star wars music, IMO. All Lucas would do would be to hire a great conducter, not a composer to conduct the music Williams composed.


Anyway, Williams wont die...he's a healthy old man.

 

My vote goes to Joel McNeely. Second choice: Don Davis, after the masterful job he did on Jurassic Park III.

 

up

 

There are a couple of approaches here. In Superman II, Williams was not used, but his original score from the first film was arranged by another composer, and they did a pretty good job. Obviously, some of this would have to hold true for SW, because you're NOT going to start the movie with a different theme.

But...if another composer were to add their own music (thematic or textural) throughout the film, who do you think would be appropriate? The only one that comes to mind for me is John Barry. Although his orchestration is voiced quite differently than Williams, he has shown a great instinct for melodic mood and thematic adherence (Daces With Wolves), as well as setting and location (James Bond Movies, King Kong, Out of Africa).

James Horner has done some nice adventure film work (Rocketeer, Star Trek, Braveheart), but I don't quite hear as much depth in his classical composition as either Barry or Williams.

 

Mayhap Howard Shore would be a choice. LotR is nothing like SW, but I like it.

 

I think Hans Zimmer and the music from Gladiator was great. Also Robert Smith, I love Inferno from Dante's divine comedy. I would definetley not prefer them over John, but if it was to happen...