Jurassic Park: "T-Rex Rescue and Finale" - John Williams (Score Reduction and Analysis)

I watched Jurassic Park for the first time a few months ago.. and the score has already jumped up to be in my top 5 favourites. This cue is one of the score's many highlights, for the intense finale sequence.
David has given me lots of help behind the scenes and has much better analyses on his channel, so please check him out if you haven't already: / bigdaddydave
Some links that I mentioned in the analysis:
Composer Toolbox on "The Diminished Scale": • Scale Spotlight: The D...
Clash of Lightsabers: • "The Clash of Lightsab...
The Baton Podcast: thebatonpodcast.podbean.com/ (To be honest, it's not the greatest podcast if you're looking for detailed musical analysis, but it does give a great overview of Williams' career)
The quote at the beginning of the video is from this article: www.jw-collection.de/misc/inte...
PDF Link for your perusal: mega.nz/folder/UCpC2aqY#Nj9zl...
Corrections:
- Descending scale at bar 22 of the first cue (mimicking head turn) is derived from the diminished scale, not G minor (I clearly missed the Db)
- Chord at bar 121 of the first cue is B(addb2), not #5 (don't know what I was thinking there!).
Thanks so much for watching!
I own nothing. :)
#johnwilliams #jurassicpark

[@GeorgeStreicherMusic]

FINALLY someone went through the trouble of condensing this monster of a cue. Thank you!

[@patricksuiter]

Thanks for watching! I’m hoping to redo it eventually since I’ve gotten much better.

[@sammywestenberger9303]

You’re welcome 😇

[@kupo150]

@@patricksuiter Thanks so much! I would love to see the breakdown where the parts don't jump around so much vertically and it's easy to lose track of where they are when they aren't in a consistent spot on the screen. Still such a valuable channel and effort for a fellow composer who loves to see how JW does his magic!

[@Mike-uv2px]

I totally agree that Williams' original music for the arrival of the T-Rex is better. Watching the movie now, the sudden arrival of the Journey theme seems out of place and has a cut-and-paste feel to it (since that's literally how it was inserted!). I've watched other reviews of this scene, where they didn't seem to even notice that this was changed in post, and put it down to an intentional compositional choice by Williams. The actual cue, which acknowledges that the T-Rex isn't a hero, is an much better indicator of Williams' genius.

[@patricksuiter]

Great point there, I think the edit is very noticeable from a musician's ear (because of a jarring introduction of lydian tonality) especially if you're listening carefully to the music, but may slip by otherwise. Williams adopts a similar tone for Ludlow's death in The Lost World, and Spielberg replaced that music too, and I think that change is even worse - seems like Spielberg wants us to find glee in punishing Ludlow. It is clear that Williams and Spielberg in the Jurassic Park movies have different ideas about where the tension should be sustained, Williams clearly thinks that we can't celebrate the hero's escape until they have driven off, and in The Lost World, until the T-Rex is shot with the dart. I think things like this could probably be avoided if Spielberg was more involved in the recording sessions - he was off filming Schindler's List/Amistad of course.

[@sammywestenberger9303]

T-Rex 🦖: Enough!

[@johnmcallistermusic]

So I sat on the front row to watch this in theaters (when I was 8). This is the only part I remember... being absolutely terrified. It's amazing to go back and look at just how much the MUSIC made it so freakin' scary.

[@trevorjensen2706]

I noticed another Mickey Mousing moment from Mr. Williams. At 7:22, the Horn line (mm. 109) mimics the Dr. Ellie Sattler character! The synch points, and Mr. Williams very busy ways of telling a story, is just so rare in films today.

[@patricksuiter]

Nice catch! You’re absolutely right. It would be risky writing like this, since small edits to the film can throw all these sync points off. Luckily, Spielberg and Williams work together so well. I can think of a few other cues that include so much mickey mousing like the Nightclub Brawl in Temple of Doom, or the opening of the Last Crusade.

[@trevorjensen2706]

@@patricksuiter, exactly right, and working with film editor Michael Kahn, the three knew how to work with each other to make the best films.

[@sammywestenberger9303]

Raptor #1: What The?

[@CJCalvertMusic]

Fantastic work Patrick, thank you so much for sharing!!

[@patricksuiter]

Thank you for watching and your kind comment :)

[@sammywestenberger9303]

You’re welcome

[@matthewdoebler6278]

So interesting. I am a huge of John Williams, but ever since I saw the movie back in 1993 and countless times since, my reaction to the moment when T-Rex comes in and we hear the Island Fanfare has always been, “wow, too ‘on the nose’, J.W.!” I was surprised by this choice, and it always felt off, although I could never figure out why. It was only sometime in the past decade that I learned about the Spielberg substitution, and it validated what I had been feeling. I understand why Spielberg did what he did, but I do think Williams’ original version is more organic. Spielberg was responsible for having Alan Silvestri incorporate more of the “main theme” into his BTTF score. It is clearly evident when you compare the early and final versions in the expanded soundtrack. It is a major improvement, without a doubt. Rather than cutting and pasting the Island Fanfare from “Journey To The Island”, if J.W. had been able to rescore this particular section and incorporate the main theme while still acknowledging the chaos and danger, it would have been far more effective. As it stands, the sudden tone shift to “heroic” is jarring.

[@patricksuiter]

Would have really liked to see JW incorporate the island fanfare while staying true to the original score. I think if Spielberg was more involved in the recording sessions this may have been possible.

[@sammywestenberger9303]

Tyrannosaurus Rex 🦖 : Stop 🛑

[@trevorjensen2706]

I can imagine just how much hell this was for the poor Trumpet players. Sure, they had fun, but, they must have been worn out by the multiple takes!

[@patricksuiter]

For sure! I'm sure Williams wrote those parts knowing that he had musicians in the LA Studio that were capable to play it. From what I understand Williams was very economical during recording sessions, only getting brass to play when absolutely necessary to conserve their energy. That being said, I don't think this would have been an easy cue for any of the players! Those woodwind parts are insane!

[@patricksuiter]

Williams definitely pushes each instrument to their limits in his action writing..

[@KrystofDreamJourney]

@@patricksuiter He does. Being virtuoso pianist himself, he expects everyone in A-rated studio orchestra to be a virtuoso instrumentalist himself or herself, capable of encompassing any linear or vertical difficulties. Strings, woodwinds, keys, harps must be incredibly versatile to perform impeccably fast runs, often based on symmetrical scales and structures, chromatically twists etc. without clear tonal centers to “anchor with”. Our Philharmonics orchestra performed with John Williams conducting, we also did several full films live synchronized to the picture. It’s HARD every time. No matter how much you practice, you constantly must keep those pieces fresh and ready to play. Believe me : everyone practiced hard their parts for several hours a day at home for a week before the concert. I did celesta and keys...

[@patricksuiter]

@@KrystofDreamJourney Wow! That must have been incredible. I play flute/piano but I'm definitely nowhere near good enough to play any of Williams more complicated cues. I find analysing them more enjoyable anyway :D

[@KrystofDreamJourney]

@@patricksuiter Yes, some of the parts are really difficult from pianistic standpoint of view. One really needs to practice those, sometimes for few days, like preparing for a recital ! It’s like practicing Prokofiev or Bartók, not any easier. Sometimes you have several bars of rest, and suddenly a rapid structure up and down the piano coming out of nowhere as a color or filler. Those are the hardest. Pieces that everyone knows (the tonal ones, themes etc.) are fairly easy. The hardest are cues that nobody knows, the action or suspense… Same thing with Jerry Goldsmith - some of his scores are also incredibly hard…

[@KrystofDreamJourney]

Patrick, as I said before - amazing analysis of this horrendously difficult piece to understand. There’s something I learned long time ago while studying Stravinsky and Bartók (JW writes in that manner almost all his action cues) : “compound analysis of the musical material’s vertical sonority”. What it teaches you is to either analyze (or compose yourself) entire passages out of notes belonging to the same scale. There are two possibilities : either use one of the Messiaen’s modi, or construct your own scale and stick with it. Already in bar 1 JW constructs a cluster entirely based on Messiaen 2nd modi, right ? I tend to use rather this definition (Messiaen’s 2nd modi) than popular “octatonic” term. Why ? For clarity. Because there are tons of octatonic scales, NOT only half-step, whole-step. Right ? That cluster is based on M2 (Messiaen’s 2nd modi) C,Eb,F#,A. He also based his upward run on Hungarian C minor, as you properly noticed 😊 JW loves Hungarian minor !!! His cue “Dennis steals the embryos “ is entirely based on Hungarian minor sonorities. Already in bars 3-4 he marries Carnivores motif in low register in ww/tuba and low strings (all being derived from M2 E,G,Bb,Db) with Carnivores motif in middle register (vlns, fl). And than in bars 5-6 he switches to M2 C,Eb,F#,A in upper ww/synth 1, while in low register piano he just uses chromatic run with pitches G,Gb,F,E,D# belonging to both M2s. I call it : “organized chaos” ! 😊 In bars 7-12 he uses just one M2 C,Eb,F#,A including the sonority you had problems with classifying. Look at bar 12-13. That sonority (I wouldn’t call it a chord, I will explain why) comes entirely as a result of that Messiaen 2 modi. Williams purposely avoids any thirds stuck upon each other directly. He rather picks the notes of Messiaen’s scale and assigns them at different registers in vertical spectrum, across the score with various colors. Jerry Goldsmith used that exactly same technique in numerous of his scores ! Both JW and JG had the same teacher back in the late 1949s, early 1950s when they got their thorough education. The gist was to pick the musical source material, practice it inside and out for weeks and weeks at a time, construct various sonorities vertically and in linear fashion (strings and woodwinds runs) and compose entire passages especially suited to tension building, action, scare, frightening etc. When you establish the core of the passage with certain scale (supported with long pedal tones as well) you can start inserting chromatic runs, that won’t collide with that material because of the register gap. Thus ww runs are in high register, usually at least an octave higher than the rest of material. I hope that explains a bit :-) Gee... I could go for days... 😅

[@patricksuiter]

There's so much to talk about when it comes to Williams - thanks for sharing. I must admit I'm a fairly inexperienced music theorist so I'm learning a lot from working on these videos, there's just so much to unpack.

[@TB1M1]

JW uses a lot of the same techniques again and again, poly chords, in this cue it's quite stratified more like what Goldsmith would write. The wood winds are scales pretty much the whole cue or shrieks. the four note motif keeps returning again and again. That said it is choreographed so perfectly to the visuals. For some reason the motif reminds me of Withches of eastwick!

[@sammywestenberger9303]

T-Rex 🦖: Halt!

[@sammywestenberger9303]

Alan: Hold On!

[@timcuttingmusic9326]

Great job! I’m so glad you shared this. I’ve been looking for this particular part of the score for years now. Can I ask where you got the score??

[@olihayne3724]

Brilliant score reduction! And what amazing writing!

[@patricksuiter]

Thanks so much, you are very kind :)

[@sammywestenberger9303]

My Pleasure

[@bordeauxcolor]

Great work! For me, the best soundtrack of him is Jurassic Park.

[@patricksuiter]

Thanks! It’s certainly up there for me! it’s extremely effective, iconic and very creative.

[@sammywestenberger9303]

You’re welcome

[@theallroundgamerk9248]

Amazing work!!!!

[@patricksuiter]

thanks marcus

[@sammywestenberger9303]

Marcus: you’re welcome

[@KrystofDreamJourney]

Patrick, great work with analysis. Hands down ! J.P. is one of my favorite Williams scores (along with Close Encounters..., Towering Inferno etc.). Brilliant writing. One of the best in action genre, tension building (and sustaining it for long periods of time, which can be challenging to keep tension up and avoid monotony). John Williams writes rhythm structures at first (I would guess), than after pulsation has been developed, hit points met, he employs any thematic motifs first as single notes (during conceptualization and compositional process), later to be filled with ww runs, brass punctuation dissonant "chords". John Williams is a brilliant pianist, and great improviser (very much like in mainstream jazz), so he can freely improvise while watching a film. He often employs parallelisms, as you noticed (i.e. planing), usually triads of any sorts (including augmented ones, often "dissonanced" by inclusion of other foreign intervals, and moving entire structure in upward or downward runs etc.). I used to have Roland Juno 2 synth, where you could record any up-to-6-voices chord (or any combination of 6 notes across the keyboard) and by playing a single note hear the entire sytrcture moving as you play ! It was absolutely fascinating !! You could hear in real time any structures (otherwise impossible to play on the piano keyboard in real time by yourself) in fast runs... You could check "how would such and such structure sound, when moving rapidly in chromatical or melodical motion", as an arrangement for ww, strings or brass. Williams employs this technique VERY often. As of replacing the section from bar 100 with J.P. theme (Island Fanfare) - I always felt that it was one of the "cheesiest" decisions ever. I was always wondering "Why ?". Perhaps Spielberg wanted to give audiences a litte bit of a "relief", but it clearly wasn't Williams decision. He would never do that. His writing provides tension to the end of the scene when T-Rex is "consuming" his attackers (as it should). So, it was done in pure commercial "Hollywood-ish" ways, but IMHO it was counterproductive to otherwise brilliant movie !!

[@patricksuiter]

Hi, Thanks very much for your comment! Williams is a true genius! I’m glad you agree about the music replacement. One thing i didn’t mention was that what makes the journey to the island music so meaningful is that we won’t hear such joyful, energetic and enthusiastic music again until the end credits, when we’re leaving the island again. The thematic associations of the island fanfare just make no sense in that context.

[@KrystofDreamJourney]

@@patricksuiter The end credits… that’s when everyone leaves the theater without even reading anything. Like all those people who made a piece of true art didn’t even matter… I read credits to the end, listen to the music etc. People pass me by, leave, laughing, talking… Beautiful music comes out of the speakers and nobody cares… People take everything for granted. Perhaps for that reason replacing those bars was good (but only for that single reason).

[@patricksuiter]

@@KrystofDreamJourney That's a good point

[@sammywestenberger9303]

You’re welcome

[@TB1M1]

A lot of this is quite pianistic. YOu can reduce most all of it to about 3 or 4 lines of notation.

[@taylorhenrique7512]

PERFEITO

[@sammywestenberger9303]

Lex: Help!

[@taylorhenrique7512]

Magnífico

[@trevorjensen2706]

Patrick, I just noticed something from Mr. Williams. ONE beat before measure 111 is a synch point to the T-Rex attempting to bit the raptor that just climbed on top of her. 7:25 shows that climbing scale, right before the cut to the exterior shot of the characters running out the door, down the stairs, and into the Jeep.

[@patricksuiter]

Nice catch! So many great sync points in this cue.

[@trevorjensen2706]

@@patricksuiter, I just shake my head. Mr. Williams does it so seamlessly it's very easy to miss! P.S. I hope you can do an analysis for War of The Worlds, PARTICULARLY "The "Attack On The Car," as heard here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZS4hqiefdefZ6s or of course, The Ferry Scene (so frightening).

[@patricksuiter]

@@trevorjensen2706 I'd love to! I love that score and I think it's quite underrated. I don't have access to a copy of the score at the moment but if I ever do, I'd love to analyse it. I've got some other frightening cue analyses from Williams planned soon, I'm currently working on the Shower Scene from Schindler's List and it should be out within a week :)

[@trevorjensen2706]

@@patricksuiter, sir, you are amazing. Also wondering if you can do an analysis on the Hook cue, "The Lost Boys Chase." The flutist said this was one of her most complicated cues she'd ever seen in the many film scores she performed!

[@patricksuiter]

@@trevorjensen2706 sure! my copy has quite a few pages missing but i’ll see what i can do. Hook has some insane woodwind parts, see the arrival of tink cue i posted for a prime example :P

[@musicfreak21]

One word Sheesh

[@MrRbjunior83]

Dear Patrick, How can I buy a pdf of your reduction, for personal use and educational purposes only? Respect

[@patricksuiter]

Hi! Thanks for your interest. You can just find them here, I'm not currently looking to sell anything: mega.nz/folder/UCpC2aqY#Nj9zlZgnSBPKwSmJiNfIlw

[@MrRbjunior83]

@@patricksuiter Thank you a lot!!!! ❤️

[@patricksuiter]

@@MrRbjunior83 thanks for your support!

[@sammywestenberger9303]

You’re welcome

[@trevorjensen2706]

Sir...THANK YOU. I am getting a Masters degree in film scoring. You, sir, are awesome. Is there a way we can print this?

[@patricksuiter]

Hi Trevor, thank you!! That means a lot to know that you may find it useful! I am more than happy to send you through a pdf of the analysis, shoot me an email at [e-mail] and i’ll send it through!

[@trevorjensen2706]

@@patricksuiter, THANK YOU, SIR!

[@trevorjensen2706]

@@patricksuiter, I am sending you an email right now. Also, I can share an analysis I did of Independence Day.

[@patricksuiter]

@@trevorjensen2706 I’ve just seen your email and i’ll send it through later today when i’m free :)

[@sammywestenberger9303]

You’re welcome

[@user-kz8jl7mt3m]

Patrick, can we contact somewhere?