E.T. The Extra Terrestrial

[Carlos Alanis]

La Música de ET
Como en todas las peliculas dirigidas por Steven Spielberg hasta la fecha (excepto el color purpura) John Williams compuso la partitura músical para ET, dándole al compositor con más nominaciones en la historia su cuarto Oscar (Fiddler on the Roof, Jaws, Star Wars).
La música de ET no es tan Estruendosa ni Epica como Star Wars, sino más íntima, personal. Tiene pocos momentos en que la Orquesta se desboca frenéticamente, momentos clave. Mas de 8 temas (major themes) distintos plagan el soundtrack, haciendo de este uno de los scores mas ricos, prolificos y diversos de Williams, a la altura de Hook, Superman, Star Wars y Harry Potter
2 Cosas quiero hacer notar, para no alargarme mucho (como suelo hacerlo ).
Para la presentacion de la pelicula en 2002, en su 20 aniversario, la orquesta interpretó en vivo, conducida por el mismo Williams, durante la proyección de la película. La cinta contaba con solo las voces y efectos de sonido, sin la musica. Pueden ver este documental en el DVD (supongo que tambien en el BD). Y en el DVD viene una pista de sonido con este score, tocado en vivo. Esta idea de Spielberg me pareció un excelente homenaje tanto a Williams como a la importancia de su composición para esta película.
Durante la última secuencia de la película (escape, persecucion, vuelo y despedida), Williams no podía hacer que encajara la musica con la acción de la película, de tal manera que Spielberg le dijo: toca la musica sin ver la película. Y así lo grabaron. Spielberg regresó al cuarto de edición y reedito la cinta para que cuadrara con la música ya grabada. Esa es la importancia que Spielberg le da a la integridad, métrica y cadencia de la música.
Si a alguien le interesa un estudio más profundo de este excelente score le recomiendo este link:

http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/et.html

Si alguien no necesita un estudio de la música, y solo quiere escucharla y disfrutar de un mágico momento, de esos de los que la vida esta hecha, consigan este score, no se van a arrepentir. Yo lo he disfrutado ya por 30 años, y cada vez que lo escucho vuelvo a vivir las emociones de cuando la ví. De los mas de 230 soundtracks que tengo, este es, si no el mejor, de los mejores 5.

Si les da flojera leer el link, les anexo unos extractos:

Buy it... on any of the album releases if you seek one of the most popular scores in the history of Hollywood, not to mention one among the best of John Williams' career.

Avoid it... if not even the most magical compositions from the height of Williams' career are of any interest to your sour tastes.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial: (John Williams) Little introduction needs to be made for this, Steven Spielberg's most beloved family film. While a handful of adults may get caught up in the religious allegories involved in Melissa Mathison's screenplay for E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, the story is nevertheless the kind of hopeful view of alien civilization and has entranced children for years. Stereotypes about suburban lifestyles of the 1980's, as well as deeply rooted fears about the intentions of the government, play well with adults, too, making E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial one of the greatest blockbuster successes ever to overwhelm the box office........
Also at the height of his phenomenal career in 1982 was John Williams, whose journeys in the franchises of Star Wars and Indiana Jones were causing such a monumental response from audiences at the time that the composer's output of the era is still often considered the guideline for the redemptive success of the Bronze Age of film music. Despite all of Williams' triumphs in the plethora of great franchise scores that resulted from this period in his career, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial remains perhaps the most magical in a singular sense. The score finally earned the composer his fourth Academy Award after several of his best nominated scores during the previous four years were upset by inferior competition. The famous themes of E.T. became the new staple of Williams' concert tours, serving as a comfortable, "feel good" sound from the era. Indeed, E.T. is one of those films and scores that will always hold a special place in the hearts of those who experienced it firsthand in 1982, for it evoked the perfect emotional response for what audiences craved as "Hollywood movie magic."

Spielberg Quotes:
I've always felt that John Williams was my musical rewrite artist. He comes in, sees my movie, rewrites the whole thing musically, and makes it much better than I did. He can take a moment and just uplift it. He can take a tear that's just forming in your eye and he can cause it to drip.

In our ten year and six picture association, John Williams has been an immeasurable creative force in all of my movies. This should be obvious to anyone who realized that John was the voice of Jaws, the soul of the mothership from Close Encounters of the Third Kind and the furious heartbeat from which Raiders of the Lost Ark flowed. John's score to the movie E.T. is unlike any of his others. It is soothing and benign. It is scary and suspenseful and, toward the climax, downright operatic. For me, this is John Williams' best work for the movies. John Williams is E.T."