Discrepancies in Phantom Menace study scores

[Leon Willett]

Hi everyone.

I got the Phantom Menace study score last week, which includes The Flag Parade, Anakin\'s Theme, The Adventures of Jar-jar, and Duel of the Fates.

Well, unless I\'m terribly mistaken there are a number of discrepancies (dare I breathe the word \"mistakes\"?!) in the dots on the page. One example (there are more!) is that the very first chord of anakin\'s theme: it\'s supported by a low E in the basses (possibly celli there too) on the CD. But the sheet music has them silent.

Also, I would swear its a glock outlining some of the appogiaturas in the woodwind in \"the flag parade\", not a celeste as appears in the published version.

Worst still is that the website (http://www..com/books/) would have you believe the score includes \"Jar-jar\'s introduction\". (part of the reason I bought the score) It doesn\'t. Instead you get a kind of medley of the various Jar-jar themes called \"The adventures of Jar-jar\", which is ***not*** on the CD. So far, I have found that the first 40-or-so bars of the score correspond to the opening of track seven on the CD, and there are parts of \"Jar-jar\'s introduction\" (the end, I think) which are in the medley ***somewhere***, although the log-drum parts are missing.

Sorry, but it bothers me there be discrepancies like this. Peter Alexander, do you publish these scores? Could you shed some light? Why include \"The adventures of Jar-jar\" and not \"Jar-jar\'s introduction\"?

PS: I would give my left arm for the score to chase through coruscant. Anybody need a left arm? Oh. Ok, well 75 dollars.

[PeterRoos]

Welcome to the ComDsp (club of mildly disturbed score purchasers)! images/icons/wink.gif

Exactly my findings.

Peter

[Haydn]

These scores are concert versions of the pieces used in the movies. John Williams arranged them as such. These are the versions that your local symphony will use if they perform these pieces. These are not study scores of the actual pieces used in the movies or in the CD soundtracks. Most of the pieces are quite close to the original but some have bits and pieces from a few pieces mixed in.

Duel of the Fates is one good example - the version on the originally released soundtrack CD is nothing like what\'s in the movie. It is a concert version arrangement. In the movie, Duel of the Fates is broken up as the scenes change. This would not translate well to a concert as it would sound disjointed. This is why John Williams has arranged concert versions of his pieces.

To bad you can\'t purchase the whole score as it would be fun to follow along with the CD\'s.

[shawn]

Originally posted by Haydn:
To bad you can\'t purchase the whole score as it would be fun to follow along with the CD\'s.<font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">Yes, it certainly would. Or if they insist on releasing only the concert versions, it would be nice if they included a CD of the concert versions with the study scores. It sure would help with the learnin\' if you could hear what you\'re readin\'.

-Shawn

[peter269]

Ryan and I get about the same information on Hal Leonard\'s John Williams Signature Edition Scores: nothing.

We ourselves only know after getting the scores, looking at them and trying to match them to the soundtrack CD exactly what you have since these are today, and have always been promoted, as concert works.

Many times, the scores are the end credits, other times, they\'re arranged pieces (like Three Pieces from Home Alone). In the case of Dual of the Fates, it appears to be right on the money with soundtrack version (which isn\'t broken up), as is Anakim\'s theme.

Regarding naming the piece, well, it\'s a concert piece, so it needs an appropriate name.