Thanks a lot Mark!!

Hi Xavi,

Great question! There seems to be only one version of the concert score for this piece. I’ve listened to the original recording many times and in four different masterings – the original OST (YouTube), the Rhino release (2000), the FSM Blue Box (2007), and the La-La Land release (2019). The trumpets are there in this recording, they’re just hard to hear in those places, either due to the way the microphones were placed or the way the recording was mixed. You can just barely make out the buzzy, brassy sound of the trumpets. But only just!

So why this different arrangements? Why they do not stick to the original. I can not imaging making such changes to classical music in an orchestra setting.

Here is a link where you can see, John Williams conducting, and with a different arrangement for those two places.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl2JtQ4qNzw
(1.35 and 4:17 in this video)

Or maybe I am wrong and they both play identical and its just a recording quality? Please be kind to comment, thanks!

Hi Craig. Wonderful bit of trivia about Maurice Murphy and his distinctive heroic sound! The trumpet, and Murphy’s sound in particular, is such a central part of Williams’ scores from those decades. I quite like the way Williams’ writing for trumpets in these scores subtly differentiates among different kinds of heroism. In Superman, the doubling of trumpets in octaves gives an impression of super-strength; in Star Wars, the high unison trumpets more generally suggest super-human ability; and in the Raiders March, there are again unison trumpets but now in a lower register, suggesting a more Earth-bound hero prone to adventure. Such great scores in so many ways!

And don’t worry about the “late” comment. I’m glad to hear about these things at any time at all!

5 years late, but I thoroughly enjoyed this break down. I work in the film industry as a Set Lighting Tech in Los Angeles, but have been a life long lover of cinema, and in particular, the rich orchestral themes of John Williams which have inspired me also as a trumpet player. Thought I’d offer a little trivia you may find interesting.

Williams preferred the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) during this time for their impeccable sight-reading skill, and also for the legendary principal trumpet, Maurice Murphy. His sound is unmistakable, and sadly unmatched. Williams referred to his playing as “The voice of a hero”. Much acknowledgment to Eric Tomlinson also, Williams’ sound engineer of the time, for the way he recorded the brass.

Murphy was respected world wide, and can also be heard on the first six Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Batman, Stargate, and many of the Harry Potter Films, just to name a few. Sadly he passed away in 2010, much too early. We are all so lucky the way things went in those magical years when all those movies were being made, and so many talented artists became a part of history.

Hi David. Thanks for your kind words. The concert version of the Superman March calls for 33 parts. Listing these in traditional order, they are 3/2/3/2 for winds, 4/4/3/1 for brass, 4 for percussion, 1 harp, 1 piano, and 5 string parts.