REPORT: John Williams Has Begun Scoring The Force Awakens at Sony
By Elaine Tveit
According to Scoring Sessions on Twitter, John Williams has begun scoring The Force Awakens at Sony.
John Williams has started scoring STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS at Sony. Still hoping to get coverage later in the year!
— ScoringSessions.com (@scoringsessions) June 1, 2015
Williams working on the soundtrack at this particular time makes sense, as it was officially announced a few months ago that Williams would be recording the score for Episode VII in June. Jason Ward of Making Star Wars backs up Scoring Sessions’s claim that Williams is scoring now a bit by saying that he heard in May that Williams would be recording some of the new soundtrack in the following month.
Back in March, StarWars.com said that Williams was already hard at work composing; “score” basically means “compose,” so the “scoring” that he is doing now could just be the tweaking of the soundtrack that’s necessary before he begins the actual recording process later in the month.
The scores for all of the six previous Star Wars films were recorded at Abbey Road in London with the London Symphony Orchestra. For The Force Awakens, Williams is working with members of a freelance orchestra. Of the change, Williams said:
"I’ve had the privilege of working with the very best musicians in both the U.K. and the U.S. The London Symphony Orchestra has consistently performed with great artistry on all six of the prior films in the Star Wars saga, and I will be forever grateful for their commitment and dedication. Equally, it has been my honor to have worked with my brilliant colleagues in Los Angeles, and always appreciate the invaluable contribution they’ve made to my scores and to those of other composers."
The 83-year-old composer lives in the United States, and it may have been due to his age and a few minor health issues that he traded recording in picturesque London for recording in the country where he resides.
With such masterpieces as the soundtracks for first six Star Wars films, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, and so, so many more, John Williams has more than proved himself to be one of the greatest (perhaps the greatest) composers living. I am very much looking forward to hear what new, and soon-to-be-legendary themes he creates for the sequel trilogy. And, once again, I am reminded that The Force Awakens premiere date is not too far away!
Image from gamekyo.com