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STAR WARS: Symphony for a Saga

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With the completion of REVENGE OF THE SITH and its soundtrack release, we are very close to having a complete collection of all the music scored for the films. Hopefully that will happen in the next few years with expanded releases of the last two films and a revised expanded score for Episode I.

To tie everyone over...I have undertaken the challenge of combining the existing scores into a one single compilation entitled: STAR WARS: Symphony for a Saga. This collection is a musical journey captured on a two disc album. Through a total of 150 edits and 50 individual tracks, this collection tells the tale of Anakin's fall, his redemption by his children, and the galaxy's fight against the shroud of the Dark Side. Each film is condensed into a suite ranging from 18 - 30 minutes. Tracks are blended together in an effort to give it a concert feel from the opening fanfare to the finale...yielding an incredible listening experience.

Reactions have been wonderful at other forums (KMC Forums & JWFAN.NET), and with the recent completion of the OT disc...I thought I'd share it with everyone here.

For a limited time only, this two disc album is available for download, here: http://musicofstarwars.tripod.com.

Please post your feedback on the board after you listen, or even during if you like!

Thanks...
  • Todd

STAR WARS: Symphony for a Saga

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A full compilation would be great for a live concert... I think John Williams should do a world tour with the London Symphonic Orchestra performing themes from Star Wars,
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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Why so many cuts. The first CD is only 56 minutes long. I'm sure you culd hav added more music in there, seriously. Does it not flow well or something. The second CD is more filed out. I would recomment editing the Prequel one's again unless you can explain this good.

EDIT on a side note tho, they are very well done IMO. They flow just fine, my above cooment was oly a gripe about length

You should consider doing this for the LOTR soundtracks. That would be orgasmic to me. I love those soundtracks but if someone that's good at editing music can make a good flowing one disc version of the best music from those, I would most likely die. Unless you know someone that has.

Hey look, a bear!

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The prequel disc is shorter because there is more unreleased music. TPM is especially short because I cut all thematic reference to gungans and omitted some of the action cues that have been reused ad nauseam like "Anakin Defeats Sebulba"...I hate that cue.

Secondly...I was trying to only use thematic references sparingly. For example I used Duel of the Fates once in TPM instead of echoing it over and over again. This was a lot harder to do in the OT because themes are echoed OVER and OVER.

Ultimately...the OT has more memorable cues and certainly more (and better) concert suites. Leia's Theme, Imperial March, Yoda's Theme, Parade of the Ewoks, Luke and Leia's theme, and the Forest battle are presented uncut and make up the bulk of the time difference. Across the Stars is basically split in two with a little bit missing from the middle, I think...Duel of the Fates was trimmed because I find the stop/start nature of that concert suite annoying as all get out. Battle of the Heroes is only missing the very beginning because the edit worked so nicely with "Enter Lord Vader". Anakin's theme is also presented uncut.

If I had the same quality and quantity of concert suites...the PT disc would be longer. I wanted to add the Flag Parade...but couldn't find the right place for it...and it seemed to detract from the story.

The prequel disc will be re-edited when full scores are available for each.

As far as flow...I don't think you've listened to it yet...right?

The PT disc is much better than the OT because the scores were so much harder to edit because Williams was working with a locked film and transitions were hard to get around, whereas the PT films were given a much more open-ended feeling that allowed me to cut more effectively.

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As for LOTR...that's a good idea...but the score certainly doesn't speak to me as much.

  • Todd

STAR WARS: Symphony for a Saga

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Wow. This sounds f'n amazing. (By that I don't mean "sounds like it will be", I mean I've listened to it and it sounds amazing.) I've now decided that, while I definitely won't throw them out or anything, I will no longer be listening to my old soundtracks - this the best compilation of SW music I've ever heard, and while not everything's here - not everything needs to be, right? Once again, excellent job.
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Sounds like a cool project. I'll probably add them to my Star Wars MP3 disc project consisting of the leaked RotS OST, and most of the stuff Riktar put in his awesome torrents. I may have enough for two discs now. ^_^


Made for IE Forum's Episode III theme month - May 2005.

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Wow! This is great! What a cool idea. I can understand that there's less material to work with (and less memorable material) for the prequels - it would be great to hear a revised version once 2CD complete scores appear for all 3 prequels. I'm hoping we see them next year or in 2007 for the 30th anniversary. But anyway, this is a really well-edited piece of work- the OT disc that is.

The YSI links for the PT disc have all expired, you probably know that, but I was just wondering if there was any other way of obtaining those tracks. Has someone torrented this, or is there another repository, maybe? I'd really like to see how well you've managed them.

Great work!

To contact me outside the forum, for trades and such my email address is my OT.com username @gmail.com

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There is no way those links were all used up. Someone removed them on purpose. Can someone give me a hosting option?

If people are downloading...and that is a hell of a lot of people in the last five hours...I would really appreciate hearing something on the board as far as feedback goes.

EDIT: New links are now up! If anyone has a solution for perm hosting...please let me know.
  • Todd

STAR WARS: Symphony for a Saga

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Well, I got a chance to listen to the whole of the PT. I've got to say, once again, what an amazing job you've done. AOTC seems to have a lot of repetition, but didn't the original soundtrack? So that's not your fault. However, the transition to "Anakin's Dark Deeds" and later to "The Immolation Scene" (I know none of these are the names of your tracks, just going by the ROTS ST) have somewhat clunky transitions, but once the actual transition has been made you almost forget about that completely. I didn't have time to listen to much of the OT, but today I'll be doing that. Once again, excellent job!
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Hmm, your back cover seems to be corrupted/missing, anyone got a mirror?
"I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings."
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I had no problem with it. I like the back a lot. I've never seen that art before.


Made for IE Forum's Episode III theme month - May 2005.

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DUDE!

You've done something I've wanted to do for so long now! And you've done it exactly as I imagined it! You're absolutely right when you say "the circle is now complete". We finally have Revenge of the Sith, the missing piece of the puzzle. I absolutely love what you've done! The editing choices you made were incredible, 100% on target with the Skywalker storyline. I know the time and talent it takes to put something of this quality together, and you've done a magnificent job. Thank you SO much for this incredible piece of art you've created. By the way, regardless of what others have said, I like the Prequel disc the best... I'll be enjoying this work for many, many years to come.

Once again... BRAVO on this project! It's complete and total perfection.

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Thanks for the glowing compliments.

I like the prequel disc too...but I think its because we are unattached to the music, meaning we don't think of individual scenes when we listen to it and we can let our imagination run wild. That is what makes the PT disc so enjoyable, no matter how long it is.

Thanks a lot!
  • Todd

STAR WARS: Symphony for a Saga

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I just got through listening to the prequel disc, and I must say I was skeptical at first, but this is a really great project.

Definitely one of the best fan edits that I have "seen" in a while.

(BTW, I'm still having trouble with the back cover, can someone up it to Imageshack? I'd much appreciate it.)
"I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings."
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Having now listened to the OT half, I'd have to say the following for constructive criticism:

1) Shorten up the OT disc. Definitely. ESPECIALLY Leia's theme, as that is hardly in the movies, or at least not as recognizable as other themes, yet it's about 4 minutes long (in other words, too long). Other things could be trimmed quite a bit, too. I agree with you in that since the PT soundtrack isn't as instantly recognizable, it's easier to play with and not get your head chopped of because, God forbid, you don't have the complete Imperial March! (Also, I'd shorten the March up a bit as well).

2) Make the PT disc end with less of a finality. While it works in the sense that its the end of a first act of a two-act play, if you listen to them all at once its as if it's over and then - whoops! - another hour and 20 minutes is left. I'd make it transition into Leia's Theme more, then split the discs. You could always have an artificial dissolve for people who would burn this onto 2 CDs rather than listen to it continuously on the ocmputer.

3) Smooth up some of the rougher transitions.

And that's about all I can think of for the time being. Other than that, excellent project!
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Personally...the concert version of Leia's theme is my favorite...so its there to stay. Leia's theme is all over ANH...and I think she is the pivital character since it is her "messege" that puts thing into action...thats why her theme comes first.

Secondly on the end of the PT...there is no easy way to end that Force cue with music from ROTS...but I also view the bits at the end as uplifting and the creation of the rebellion. Perhaps I'll be able to find a way to do that (Which is what I wanted originally) sometime in the future.

I'm also planning to expand the PT disc when full scores are available in 2006 (which gets a maybe from Senior Rick at C3).

If anything, I may consider combining the Ewok Parade and The Forest Battle somehow.

As far as rough transitions, which ones are you referring to. What I consider rough may not be what other people consider rough.

Someone on another board gave me crap for cutting up and re-ordering the Battle of Yavin track, which is funny because it feels more like a concert variation.

I agree that there are some rough transitions in both discs that still need some attention.
  • Todd

STAR WARS: Symphony for a Saga

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Still a great listen and a lot of hard work went into it I can tell! Thank you very much for making them available!
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Does anyone have a copy of the OT mp3's they would care to e-mail me? The links on the site don't seem to be working anymore.

Help a brother out.

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I can download it, but it comes up as a weird type of file that my computer can't open. I didn't have this problem with the Prequel disc. Maybe I'm just an idiot?