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*ALERT*
Movies on the Radio presents the exclusive broadcast premiere of John Williams's score for the forthcoming Steven Spielberg film “War Horse." The film, which will open on Christmas Day, tells the inspiring story of a brave young man and his bond with an extraordinary horse, set during—and on the frontlines of—World War I. The film is based on the same book that inspired the current Broadway show "War Horse."
The ongoing collaboration of Steven Spielberg and John Williams is one of the most prestigious and successful director-composer collaborations in cinema. Their movies include "Jaws," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "E.T.: The Extraterrestrial," the "Indiana Jones" series, "Jurassic Park," "Schindler’s List" and many other classics. John Williams has won five Academy Awards, and has been nominated 41 times. His music has been wowing movie audiences since the 1960s.
In addition to the premiere of “War Horse,” host David Garland presents highlights from the other new Spielberg/Williams film, “The Adventures of Tintin” (which opens in Europe on Oct. 22, and in the US on Dec. 21), plus familiar music from previous Spielberg/Williams collaborations.
UPDATE: Listen to this five-minute preview:
http://www.wqxr.org/#/programs/movies/2011/oct/22/
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So, I guess I knew to expect an accordion to turn up somewhere in the new "Tintin" score.
That "War Horse" sure is sounding more and more like the score of the year, from the sixteen minutes we were permitted to hear on "Movies on the Radio."
Thanks for the heads-up, rbrisbane_1984!
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First impressions.
Old style Williams.
The english countryside music reminds me of FAR AND AWAY.
Sigh. After earlier remarks in the War Horse thread I was hoping for something truly English-sounding. 
And I wouldn't consider FAR AND AWAY old-style Williams. Rather, it's latter-day solid-but-mediocre Williams.
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First impressions.
Old style Williams.
The english countryside music reminds me of FAR AND AWAY.
Sigh. After earlier remarks in the War Horse thread I was hoping for something truly English-sounding.
And I wouldn't consider FAR AND AWAY old-style Williams. Rather, it's latter-day solid-but-mediocre Williams.
Again, we must have listened to a different score...What's wrong with you? This sounds tremendous.
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If John Williams doesn't win the Oscar this year, there is seriously something wrong with those people.
Totally agree!!
Although, I'm afraid the Oscar Winners of the past years, show that definitely there's something wrong!
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And I wouldn't consider FAR AND AWAY old-style Williams. Rather, it's latter-day solid-but-mediocre Williams.
Again, we must have listened to a different score...What's wrong with you? This sounds tremendous.
I was referring to FAR AND AWAY, which is routine and barely inspired, auto-piloted at the usual high technical level.
I wasn't referring to War Horse, as I haven't heard it yet (a situation that is going to change within a few minutes though, as someone at JWFAN has uploaded the radio broadcast.
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Just listening to the three WAR HORSE cues from the broadcast now. First piece (Seeding, and Horse vs Car) definitely harks back to The Reivers. Plus some English-style light music. The second one (No Man's Land) begins with a modernistic suspense cue, leading into a dynamic action piece, Williams-style, halfway through. The final cue is 8 minutes long (The Homecoming), with a folksy beginning. A short lyrical phase is obviously inspired (though not lifted from!) by Ralph Vaughan Williams (Pastoral Symphony), then follows an Americana theme again, apparently the main motif. The closing bars are very close to a lyrical motif in The River.
Overall, a weird mix of American and English music, but quite appealing.
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Just listening to the three WAR HORSE cues from the broadcast now. First piece (Seeding, and Horse vs Car) definitely harks back to The Reivers. Plus some English-style light music. The second one (No Man's Land) begins with a modernistic suspense cue, leading into a dynamic action piece, Williams-style, halfway through. The final cue is 8 minutes long (The Homecoming), with a folksy beginning. A short lyrical phase is obviously inspired (though not lifted from!) by Ralph Vaughan Williams (Pastoral Symphony), then follows an Americana theme again, apparently the main motif. The closing bars are very close to a lyrical motif in The River.
Overall, a weird mix of American and English music, but quite appealing.
Okay, sorry about that remark before but still...how you can call Far and Away routine or barely inspired is beyond me. But that's just me.
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These clips didn't do much for me. I mean, it's nice Williams writing but this feels more by the numbers than Tintin which did inspire. Of course I'll buy this because I'm a Williams completist but unlike Tintin which sounds like Williams using his full range, this upon first listen seems more conservative and has that "hear it before" quality to it. Then again, I never actually cared for any of the music from The War Horse, even the trailer music.
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Tintin also has a "deja vu" feeling from track 1 all the way through - it's more varied because it's a cartoon action-adventure score. The actual level is the same.
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Guys..come on. It's like David Garland said himself on his broadcast...Williams did not reinvent the wheel with this music. Honestly, I think people expected the second coming with these 2 new Williams scores. I think they both sound really excellent, not new...but excellent nonetheless.
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And I don't know how one can call them brilliant. 
If both WAR HORSE and TINTIN get nominated, it would lessen Williams's chances. But the Academy has voted ant-symphonic in recent years anyway, with a generation of actors (who are by far largest group of voters) not attuned to classical music but to pop and hip-hop instead.
From what I've heard of these two scores I certainly wouldn't argue with either of them winning the Oscar, but it's not gonna happen.
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But the Academy has voted ant-symphonic in recent years, with a generation of actors (who are by far largest group of voters) not attuned to classical music but pop and hip-hop instead.
Oh, do you think that's the reason for last years' oscar winners?
I hadn't thought of that!!
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Yeah. On discussion boards today, it's safer to spell it out.
BTZ: Clearly, you are an objective observer: "Film Composer, Musicologist and Ph.D candidate of the University of Athens, Greece with focus on the musicological analysis of John Williams' film music composing style." 
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