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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Music of ''Star Wars''}} |
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[[File:John Williams tux.jpg|thumb| |
[[File:John Williams tux.jpg|thumb|[[John Williams]], composer of the music of all nine ''Skywalker Saga'' films]] |
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The music of [[Star Wars|the ''Star Wars'' franchise]] is composed and produced in conjunction with the development of [[Star Wars|the feature films, television series, and other merchandise]] within the [[epic film|epic]] [[space opera]] [[multimedia franchise]] created by [[George Lucas]]. The music for the primary feature films (which serves as the basis for the rest of the related media) was written by [[John Williams]]. Williams' work on the series included the scores of nine feature films, a suite and several cues of thematic material for Solo and the theme music for the Galaxy's Edge Theme Park. These count among the most widely known and popular contributions to modern [[film music]], and utilize a symphony orchestra and features an assortment of about fifty recurring musical themes to represent characters and other plot elements: one of the largest caches of themes in the history of film music. |
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The music for all seven ''Star Wars'' feature films, from 1977 to 2015, was written by composer [[John Williams]] and performed by the [[London Symphony Orchestra]]. This encompasses both the original and prequel trilogies. In July 2013, [[Lucasfilm]] President Kathleen Kennedy announced at Star Wars Celebration Europe that Williams would be returning once more to score ''[[Star Wars: The Force Awakens]]''.<ref>{{cite web|website=www.starwars.com|accessdate=2015-01-30}}</ref> Williams' scores for the two existing trilogies count among the most widely known and popular contributions to modern [[film music]]. |
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Released between 1977 and 2019, the music for the primary feature films was, in the case of the first two trilogies, performed by the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] and, in select passages, by the [[London Voices]] chorus. The sequel trilogy was largely conducted by Williams and [[William Ross (composer)|William Ross]], and performed by the [[Hollywood Studio Symphony|Hollywood Freelance Studio Symphony]] and (in a few passages) by the [[Los Angeles Master Chorale]]. |
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Additionally, music for a spinoff was written by Kevin Kiner, and further music has been composed for ''Star Wars'' video games and works in other media. The 2016 spinoff film ''[[Rogue One: A Star Wars Story]]'' will be scored by [[Alexandre Desplat]] the first major ''Star Wars'' film not to use Williams. |
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Additional composers have since contributed music to other movies and media within the ''Star Wars'' universe''.'' The music for several animated and live-action television series spin-offs has been written by [[Kevin Kiner]], [[Ludwig Göransson]], [[Natalie Holt]], [[Nicholas Britell]], and [[Ryan Shore]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.starwars.com/news/5-highlights-from-star-wars-forces-of-destiny-the-padawan-path|title=5 Highlights from Star Wars Forces of Destiny: "The Padawan Path" {{!}} StarWars.com|date=2017-07-06|work=StarWars.com|access-date=2017-08-23|language=en-US|archive-date=January 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120204008/https://www.starwars.com/news/5-highlights-from-star-wars-forces-of-destiny-the-padawan-path|url-status=live}}</ref> Music for the spin-off films, other television programs, and video games, as well as the trailers of the various installments, were created by various other composers, with this material occasionally revisiting some of Williams' principal themes (and, with one spin-off film, with Williams actually writing a new theme for the composer to use). |
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The scores utilize an eclectic variety of musical styles, many culled from the Late [[Romantic music|Romantic]] idiom of [[Richard Strauss]] and his contemporaries that itself was incorporated into the [[Cinema of the United States|Golden Age Hollywood]] scores of [[Erich Korngold]] and [[Max Steiner]]. While several obvious nods to [[Gustav Holst]], [[William Walton]] and [[Igor Stravinsky]] exist in the score to ''[[Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope|Episode IV]]'', Williams relied less and less on [[European classical music|classical]] references in the latter five scores, incorporating more strains of [[modernism (music)|modernist]] orchestral writing with each progressive score. The reasons for Williams' tapping of a familiar Romantic idiom are known to involve Lucas' desire to ground the otherwise strange and fantastic setting in well-known, audience-accessible music. Indeed, Lucas maintains that much of the trilogy's success relies not on advanced visual effects, but on the simple, direct emotional appeal of its plot, characters and, importantly, music. {{Citation needed|date=December 2014}} |
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The scores are primarily performed by a symphony orchestra of varying size joined, in several sections, by a choir of varying size.{{efn|Williams generally uses the choir for texture, as humming or wordless voices. Several sections rely on repeated syllables in Sanskrit, as is the case of Duel of the Fates or Snoke's theme. |
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''Star Wars'' often is credited as heralding the beginning of a revival of grand symphonic scores in the late 1970s. One technique in particular is an influence: Williams's revival of a technique called ''[[leitmotif]]'', which is most famously associated with the operas of [[Richard Wagner]] and, in film scores, with Steiner. A leitmotif is a phrase or melodic cell that signifies a character, place, plot element, mood, idea, relationship or other specific part of the film. It is commonly used in modern film scoring as a device for mentally anchoring certain parts of a film to the soundtrack. Of chief importance for a leitmotif is that it must be strong enough for a listener to latch onto while being flexible enough to undergo variation and development. |
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While the syllables are drawn from (loosely) translated texts such as Cad Goddeu or the writing of Kipling, Williams typically arranges them by ear and without heed to their meaning, so the choral text remains repetitive and meaningless. |
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A series of concerts which featured ''Star Wars'' music, ''[[Star Wars: In Concert]]'', took place in 2009 and 2010. First performed in [[London]], it went on to tour across the [[United States]] and [[Canada]], last playing at London, Ontario, Canada on July 25, 2010. |
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In other instances, the choir repeats a short albeit coherent sentence, such as with the Funeral theme or Anakin's Dark Deeds. |
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==Composed for the prequel trilogy== |
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}} They each make extensive use of the ''[[leitmotif]]'', or a series of musical themes that represents the various characters, objects and events in the films. Throughout all of the franchise, which consists of a total of over 18 hours of music,{{efn|Including all the alternate takes of the recording, Williams has recorded about 21 hours of music for the series, although much of it remains unreleased.}} Williams has written approximately sixty or seventy themes, in one of the largest, richest collection of themes in the history of film music. |
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==Overview== |
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=== First appearance in ''The Phantom Menace'' === |
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===Films=== |
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* ''Anakin's Theme'' (Episodes I, II and III). An ostensibly innocent theme that contains seeds of the Imperial March. Its outwardly warm melody belies the harmonic instability of a number of passages and deeply rooted motivic similarities with Vader's mature theme. The concert arrangement makes the fate of this leitmotif more explicit, ending with a number of subtle renditions of phrases from the theme it foreshadows. Development is limited almost exclusively to Episode I, with a small handful of renditions in Episode II and a single, tortured rendition in Episode III. |
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{| class="wikitable" style=" #aaa solid; font-size:100%;" |
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* ''Shmi's Theme'' (Episodes I, II, and III). Introduced on Tattooine, Shmi's theme starts as a loving if pained motif. The theme is most prominent when Shmi tells Anakin "Don't Look Back" just before he walks away to begin his life as a Jedi. The theme continues into Episode II as a tortured motif as Anakin worries about her then goes to her aid. It then turns tender as she dies in his arms; and finally tragic as he carries her body back to the Homestead. Her theme makes one final tortured rendition in Episode III as the weight of everything Anakin has done comes crashing down on him on Mustafar; tears in his eyes. |
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! Year |
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* ''Droid Invasion Theme'' (Episodes I, II and III). Alternatively the Trade Federation March, it is played various times in Episode I as the droid armies of the Trade Federation attack Naboo. In Episode II, it is used to represent the Clones, who will become the Empire's soldiers of choice. It is also played in Episode III during the [[Battle of Kashyyyk]]. The music is also used for a while during the Battle of Geonosis in Episode II |
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! Title |
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* ''[[Duel of the Fates]]'' (Episodes I, II and III). Composed from two minor mode ostinati and choral interjections originally heard in ''The Empire Strikes Back'',{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}} this theme is used to represent the clash between the Light Side and the Dark Side. The symphonic arrangement is a full development of these three ideas. The text is derived from an archaic Celtic poem "[[Cad Goddeu]]" (Battle of the Trees) translated into Sanskrit. In English, the text reads: "Under the tongue root a fight most dread, and another raging behind, in the head." Played during the climactic lightsaber battle between Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi Wan Kenobi and the menacing Sith Lord Darth Maul in Episode I—incidentally, the theme was developed substantially in music that did not make the final cut of the film. In Episode II, it is played when Anakin goes off to search for his mother, implying an internal struggle between good and evil. In Episode III, it is tracked to accompany Yoda's duel with Emperor Palpatine, the clash between the most powerful users of the Light and Dark sides of the Force, respectively. |
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! Composer |
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* ''Funeral Theme'' (Episode I and III). Another setting of poetry in Sanskrit. Heard briefly during Qui Gon's funeral in Episode I, and developed in Episode III. In that film, accompanies the death of Padmé and the "rebirth" of [[Darth Vader]] in his suit, as well as without a choir in Padmé's funeral procession and during the shot of the skeletal Death Star, where it is subsumed by the [[Galactic Empire (Star Wars)|Imperial]] March. A small portion of the Force theme is also incorporated into the funeral theme, perhaps meaning that a person has become one with the Force, such as Qui-Gon or Amidala. |
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! Conductor |
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! Orchestrator/Arranger |
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! Orchestra |
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!Choir |
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|- |
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! colspan="7" style="background-color:#c5cdf3;" | Saga films |
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|- |
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| 1977 |
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| ''[[Star Wars (soundtrack)|Star Wars]]'' |
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| rowspan="9" | [[John Williams]] |
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| rowspan="6" | John Williams |
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| rowspan="3" | [[Herbert W. Spencer]] |
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| rowspan="6" | [[London Symphony Orchestra]] |
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| |
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|- |
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| 1980 |
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| ''[[The Empire Strikes Back (soundtrack)|The Empire Strikes Back]]'' |
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|[[London Voices]] (women) |
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|- |
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| 1983 |
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| ''[[Return of the Jedi (soundtrack)|Return of the Jedi]]'' |
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|London Voices (men{{efn|Women were used for the special edition rescoring.}}) |
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|- |
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| 1999 |
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| ''[[Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (soundtrack)|The Phantom Menace]]'' |
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| [[Conrad Pope]]<br />John Neufeld |
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|London Voices (SATB) |
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New London Children's Choir |
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|- |
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| 2002 |
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| ''[[Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (soundtrack)|Attack of the Clones]]'' |
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| rowspan="2" | Conrad Pope<br />Eddie Karam |
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|London Voices (SATB) |
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Boy choir (synth) |
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|- |
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| 2005 |
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| ''[[Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (soundtrack)|Revenge of the Sith]]'' |
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|London Voices (SATB) |
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Boy choir (synth) |
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|- |
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| 2015 |
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| ''[[Star Wars: The Force Awakens (soundtrack)|The Force Awakens]]'' |
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| John Williams<br />[[William Ross (composer)|William Ross]]<br />[[Gustavo Dudamel]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/arts/music/dudamel-conducts-some-music-for-new-star-wars-film.html|title=Dudamel Conducts Some Music for New 'Star Wars' Film|date=December 15, 2015|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 2, 2017|archive-date=July 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723000910/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/arts/music/dudamel-conducts-some-music-for-new-star-wars-film.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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| rowspan="3" | John Williams<br />William Ross |
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| rowspan="3" | [[Hollywood Studio Symphony|Hollywood Freelance Studio Symphony]]{{efn|This orchestra consists of a group of individually contracted freelanced musicians, rather than being an organised orchestra that plays regularly as a group.}} |
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|[[Sound Effects Choir|Hollywood Film Chorale]] (bass) |
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|- |
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|2017 |
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|''[[Star Wars: The Last Jedi (soundtrack)|The Last Jedi]]'' |
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| rowspan="1" | John Williams<br />William Ross |
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| rowspan="2" | [[Los Angeles Master Chorale]] (SATB, bass) |
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|- |
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|2019 |
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|''[[Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (soundtrack)|The Rise of Skywalker]]'' |
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| rowspan="1" | John Williams |
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|- |
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! colspan="7" style="background-color:#c5f3c6;" | Anthology films |
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|- |
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|1978 |
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|''[[Star Wars Holiday Special|The Star Wars Holiday Special]]'' |
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|[[Ian Fraser (composer)|Ian Fraser]]<br />John Williams (Original Themes) |
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|Ian Fraser |
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| |
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| |
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| |
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|- |
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|1984 |
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|''[[Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure]]'' |
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| rowspan="2" |[[Peter Bernstein (composer)|Peter Bernstein]]<br />John Williams (Original Themes) |
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| rowspan="2" |Peter Bernstein |
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| |
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| |
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| |
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|- |
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|1985 |
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|''[[Ewoks: The Battle for Endor]]'' |
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| |
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| |
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| |
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|- |
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| 2016 |
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| ''[[Rogue One (soundtrack)|Rogue One]]'' |
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| [[Michael Giacchino]]<br />John Williams (Original Themes) |
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| Tim Simonec |
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| William Ross<br />Tim Simonec<br />Brad Dechter<br />Jeff Kryka<br />Chris Tilton<br />Herbert W. Spencer<ref name="ReferenceD">according to the closing credit roll</ref> |
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| [[Hollywood Studio Symphony|Hollywood Freelance Studio Symphony]] |
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| Los Angeles Master Chorale |
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|- |
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| 2018 |
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| ''[[Solo: A Star Wars Story (soundtrack)|Solo]]'' |
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| [[John Powell (film composer)|John Powell]]<br />John Williams (Han Solo Theme, Original Themes) |
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|[[Gavin Greenaway]] |
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|(additional music and arrangements) |
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Batu Sener<br />Anthony Willis<br />[[Paul Mounsey]] |
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| [[The London Session Orchestra]]<br />Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles (Han Solo Theme) |
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===First appearance in ''Attack of the Clones''=== |
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| |
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|- |
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! colspan="7" style="background-color:#c5f3c6;" | Animated films |
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|- |
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| 2008 |
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| ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars (soundtrack)|The Clone Wars]]'' |
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| [[Kevin Kiner]]<br />John Williams (Original Themes) |
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| Kevin Kiner<br />Nic Raine |
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| Kevin Kiner<br />Nic Raine<br />[[Takeshi Furukawa]] |
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| [[City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra]] |
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| |
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|} |
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=== Television === |
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* ''Across the Stars'' (Episodes II and III). This broadly romantic theme is associated with the forbidden and ill-fated love between Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala. The title is probably a reference to [[Romeo and Juliet]], a story of similarly "star-crossed" love. It is gentle but with an undercurrent of sadness and uncertainty. It is written in the key of D minor, but changes keys several times throughout its duration. Arguments have been put forward that in its melodic and rhythmic structure, the theme bears resemblance to Luke and Leia's themes from the original trilogy, though such features as prominent triplets speak more to common ideas throughout Williams scores (note resemblance to themes from ''[[Hook (film)|Hook]]'' and ''[[Nixon (film)|Nixon]]'', for example). |
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==== Animation series ==== |
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===First appearance in ''Revenge of the Sith''=== |
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[[Kevin Kiner]] composed the score to the film ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)|Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]'' (2008), the predecessor to the [[Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)|animated TV series of the same name]]. Both properties loosely use some of the original themes and music by [[John Williams]]. Kiner's own material for the film includes a theme for Anakin Skywalker's Padawan learner, [[Ahsoka Tano]], as well as a theme for Jabba the Hutt's uncle Ziro. Kiner went on to score the TV series' entire seven seasons, which concluded in 2020. A soundtrack album for the first six seasons was released in 2014 by [[Walt Disney Records]] and three soundtrack albums for the final season were released in 2020.<ref>{{cite web|title='Star Wars: The Clone Wars' TV Series Soundtrack Announced|url=http://filmmusicreporter.com/2014/11/04/star-wars-the-clone-wars-tv-series-soundtrack-announced/|website=Film Music Reporter|access-date=December 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223205023/http://filmmusicreporter.com/2014/11/04/star-wars-the-clone-wars-tv-series-soundtrack-announced/|archive-date=December 23, 2015|date=November 4, 2014}}</ref> |
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Kiner continued his work with the franchise for the animated series ''[[Star Wars Rebels]]'' (2014–2018), which also incorporates Williams' themes.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kevin Kiner to Score 'Star Wars Rebels'|url=http://filmmusicreporter.com/2014/04/21/kevin-kiner-to-score-star-wars-rebels/|website=Film Music Reporter|access-date=December 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223203927/http://filmmusicreporter.com/2014/04/21/kevin-kiner-to-score-star-wars-rebels/|archive-date=December 23, 2015|date=April 21, 2014}}</ref> He had later made the score for ''[[Star Wars: The Bad Batch]]'' (2021–2024) and ''[[Star Wars: Tales]]'' (2022–), spin-offs of ''The Clone Wars''. |
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* ''[[Battle of the Heroes]] theme'' (Episode III). The theme for the climatic duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan. A counterpart to Duel of the Fates, but where that piece emphasizes action and danger, Battle of the Heroes is more broadly epic and contains significantly more tragic feeling. (see article) |
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* ''[[General Grievous]] theme'' (Episode III). Plodding, triple-time theme that occurs with the introduction of General Grievous, is given a more extended treatment during his arrival on [[List of Star Wars planets (T-V)#Utapau|Utapau]], and is heard at the beginning of the lightsaber fight with Obi-Wan. Usually played on [[trombones]] or [[French horn|horns]]. |
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[[James L. Venable]] and Paul Dinletir composed the music of [[Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003 TV series)|''Star Wars: Clone Wars'']] (2003–2005) 2D animated series, [[Ryan Shore]] serves as the composer for [[Star Wars Forces of Destiny|''Star Wars: Forces of Destiny'']] (2017–2018) and ''[[Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures]]'' (2018–2020), and [[Michael Tavera]] composes the score to ''[[Star Wars Resistance]]'' (2018–2020). |
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===''Dies Irae''=== |
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While the [[plainchant]] setting of ''[[Dies Irae#Musical settings|Dies Irae]]'' is not the only melody drawn from or inspired by the canon of Western art music, it is the only one that serves a recurring, leitmotivic function. Like many composers before him, Williams uses ''Dies Irae'' to evoke a sense of impending doom or tribulation. The four signature notes first appear in the score to ''[[Star Wars]]'', notably at the end of the scene in which Luke finds his aunt and uncle dead. It was originally introduced in the "Binary Sunset" scene, but Williams was asked to rewrite the cue, and in doing so removed the references to ''Dies Irae''. Williams reprised the motive for ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'' in an eight-note (but altered) form to foreshadow the suffering Anakin Skywalker would bring to the galaxy in the scene in which he admits that he murdered the [[Tusken Raiders]]. It also appears in ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]'' during several climactic scenes. |
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[[Matthew Margeson]] produced the soundtrack for ''[[Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures]]'' in 2023.<ref name="Margeson">{{Cite web |last=<!-- filmmusicreporter --> |date=July 20, 2022 |title=Matthew Margeson to Score Disney Junior's 'Young Jedi Adventures' |url=http://filmmusicreporter.com/2022/07/20/matthew-margeson-to-score-disney-juniors-young-jedi-adventures/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720213302/http://filmmusicreporter.com/2022/07/20/matthew-margeson-to-score-disney-juniors-young-jedi-adventures/ |archive-date=July 20, 2022 |access-date=July 30, 2022 |website=Film Music Reporter}}</ref> |
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==Composed for the original trilogy== |
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{| class="wikitable" style=" #aaa solid; font-size:100%;" |
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===First appearance in ''A New Hope''=== |
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! Year |
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! Title |
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! Composer |
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! Additional composers |
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|- |
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|2003–2005 |
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|''[[Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003 TV series)|Star Wars: Clone Wars: Seasons 1-3]]'' |
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|[[James L. Venable]]<br />Paul Dinletir |
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| |
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|- |
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| 2008–2014 |
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| ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)|Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Seasons 1-6]]'' |
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| rowspan="5" | [[Kevin Kiner]] |
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| [[Takeshi Furukawa]]<br />David G. Russell<br />Matthew St. Laurent<br />Reuven Herman<br />Russ Howard III |
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|- |
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| 2014–2015 |
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| ''[[Star Wars Rebels|Star Wars Rebels: Season 1]]'' |
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| rowspan="4" | Matthew St. Laurent<br />Jared Forman<br />David G. Russell<br />Sean Kiner<br />Julian Cisneros<br />Reuven Herman |
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|- |
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|2015–2016 |
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|[[Star Wars Rebels|''Star Wars Rebels: Season 2'']] |
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|- |
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|2016–2017 |
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|[[Star Wars Rebels|''Star Wars Rebels: Season 3'']] |
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|- |
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| rowspan="2" |2017–2018 |
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|[[Star Wars Rebels|''Star Wars Rebels: Season 4'']] |
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|- |
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|''[[Star Wars Forces of Destiny|Star Wars: Forces of Destiny: Seasons 1-2]]'' |
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| rowspan="2" |[[Ryan Shore]] |
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| |
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|- |
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| rowspan="2" |2018–2020 |
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|''[[List of Star Wars television series|Star Wars: Galaxy of Adventures: Seasons 1-2]]'' |
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|- |
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|''[[Star Wars Resistance|Star Wars Resistance: Seasons 1-2]]'' |
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|[[Michael Tavera]] |
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|- |
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| rowspan="3" |2020 |
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|[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)|''Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Season 7 (Episodes 1-4)'']] |
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| rowspan="8" |Kevin Kiner |
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| |
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|- |
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|[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)|''Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Season 7 (Episodes 5-8)'']] |
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| |
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|- |
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|[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)|''Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Season 7 (Episodes 9-12)'']] |
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| |
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|- |
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| rowspan="2" |2021 |
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|''[[Star Wars: The Bad Batch|Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Season 1 (Episodes 1-8)]]'' |
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| |
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|- |
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|[[Star Wars: The Bad Batch|''Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Season 1 (Episodes 9-16)'']] |
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| |
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|- |
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|2022 |
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|''[[Tales of the Jedi (TV series)|Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi]]'' |
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| |
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|- |
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| rowspan="3" |2023 |
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|[[Star Wars: The Bad Batch|''Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Season 2 (Episodes 1-8)'']] |
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| |
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|- |
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|''[[Star Wars: The Bad Batch|Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Season 2 (Episodes 9-16)]]'' |
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| |
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|- |
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|[[Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures|''Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures: Season 1'']] |
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|[[Matthew Margeson]] |
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| |
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|- |
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| rowspan="3" |2024 |
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|''[[Star Wars: The Bad Batch|Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Season 3 (Episodes 1-8)]]'' |
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| rowspan="3" |Kevin Kiner |
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| |
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|- |
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|''[[Star Wars: The Bad Batch|Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Season 3 (Episodes 9-15)]]'' |
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| |
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|- |
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|[[Star Wars: Tales|''Star Wars: Tales of the Empire'']] |
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| |
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|- |
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|} |
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===== ''Star Wars: Visions'' ===== |
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{{Listen MIDI |type=music |
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Various composers worked on the animated anthology series ''[[Star Wars: Visions]].'' |
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|title=Overture |description= The main ''Star Wars'' theme, first "'hard'" [[theme (music)|theme]]<ref name="Larsen">Larsen, Peter, and Irons, John (2007). ''Film Music'', p.168. ISBN 9781861893413.</ref> |filename=StarWarsMainThemeSnippet.mid |
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{| class="wikitable" |
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|title2=Overture |description2= Second "'soft'" theme<ref name="Larsen"/> |filename2=Star Wars main theme second subject.mid |
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!Year |
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!Title |
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!Composer(s) |
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|- |
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| rowspan="9" |2021 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 1 (The Duel)]]'' |
|||
|[[Keiji Inai]] |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 1 (Tatooine Rhapsody)]]'' |
|||
|Yoshiaki Dewa |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 1 (The Twins)]]'' |
|||
|[[Michiru Ōshima|Michiru Oshima]] |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 1 (The Village Bride)]]'' |
|||
|[[Kevin Penkin]] |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 1 (The Ninth Jedi)]]'' |
|||
|Nobuko Toda<br />Kazuma Jinnouchi |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 1 (T0-B1)]]'' |
|||
|A-Bee<br />Keiichiro Shibuya |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 1 (The Elder)]]'' |
|||
|[[Michiru Ōshima|Michiru Oshima]] |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 1 (Lop & Ocho)]]'' |
|||
|Yoshiaki Dewa |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 1 (Akakiri)]]'' |
|||
|U-Zhaan |
|||
|- |
|||
| rowspan="9" |2023 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 2 (Sith)]]'' |
|||
|Dan Levy |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 2 (Screecher's Reach)]]'' |
|||
|Leo Pearson |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 2 (In the Stars)]]'' |
|||
|Andrés Walker<br />Patricio Portius |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 2 (I Am Your Mother)]]'' |
|||
|Jean-Marc Petsas |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 2 (Journey to the Dark Head)]]'' |
|||
|Jang Young Gyu<br />Lee Byung-Hoon |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 2 (The Spy Dancer)]]'' |
|||
|[[Olivier Deriviere]] |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 2 (The Bandits of Golak)]]'' |
|||
|[[Sneha Khanwalkar]] |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 2 (The Pit)]]'' |
|||
|[[Daniel Lopatin]] |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Visions|Star Wars: Visions: Season 2 (Aau's Song)]]'' |
|||
|[[Markus Wormstorm]] |
|||
|} |
|||
===== ''LEGO Star Wars'' ===== |
|||
A list of ''[[Lego Star Wars]]'' tv series & specials and their score composers: |
|||
{| class="wikitable" |
|||
!Year |
|||
!Title |
|||
!Composer |
|||
|- |
|||
|2002 |
|||
|''[[Lego Star Wars|LEGO Star Wars: The Han Solo Affair]]'' |
|||
|[[Jason Graves]]<br>John Williams {{small|(themes)}} |
|||
|- |
|||
|2005 |
|||
|''[[Lego Star Wars: Revenge of the Brick]]'' |
|||
|Kostia Efimov<br>John Williams {{small|(themes)}} |
|||
|- |
|||
|2009 |
|||
|''[[Lego Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2]]'' |
|||
| rowspan="2" |[[Anthony Lledo]]<br>John Williams {{small|(themes)}} |
|||
|- |
|||
|2010 |
|||
|''[[Lego Star Wars: Bombad Bounty]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
|2011 |
|||
|''[[Lego Star Wars: The Padawan Menace]]'' |
|||
| rowspan="4" |John Williams |
|||
|- |
|||
|2012 |
|||
|''[[Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
|2013-2014 |
|||
|''[[Lego Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
|2015 |
|||
|''[[LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
|2016–2017 |
|||
|''[[Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures|LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures: Seasons 1-2]]'' |
|||
| rowspan="5" |Michael Kramer<br>John Williams {{small|(themes)}} |
|||
|- |
|||
|2018 |
|||
|''[[Lego Star Wars: All Stars|LEGO Star Wars: All-Stars: Season 1]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
|2020 |
|||
|''[[The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
|2021 |
|||
|''[[Lego Star Wars: Terrifying Tales]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
|2022 |
|||
|''[[Lego Star Wars: Summer Vacation]]'' |
|||
|} |
|||
===== ''Zen: Grogu and Dust Bunnies'' ===== |
|||
For the hand drawn anime short by [[Studio Ghibli]] ''Grogu and Dust Bunnies,'' Ludwig Göransson composes the score. |
|||
{| class="wikitable" |
|||
!Year |
|||
!Title |
|||
!Composer |
|||
|- |
|||
|2022 |
|||
|''[[Zen - Grogu and Dust Bunnies]]'' |
|||
|[[Ludwig Göransson]] |
|||
|} |
|||
==== Live-action series ==== |
|||
===== ''The Mandalorian'' ===== |
|||
For the [[Disney+]] series ''[[The Mandalorian]]'', [[Academy Awards|Oscar]]-winner [[Ludwig Göransson]] composes the score. For the third season of the series, Joseph Shirley was revealed to be composing the score for the season, replacing Ludwig Göransson. Shirley previously provided additional music for the first two seasons and used Göransson's themes to compose the score for ''The Book of Boba Fett''. |
|||
{| class="wikitable" |
|||
! Year |
|||
! Title |
|||
! Composer(s) |
|||
|- |
|||
| rowspan="8" | 2019 |
|||
| ''[[The Mandalorian: Chapter 1 (Original Score)|The Mandalorian: Season 1 (Chapter 1)]]'' |
|||
| rowspan="10" |[[Ludwig Göransson]] |
|||
|- |
|||
| ''[[The Mandalorian: Chapter 2 (Original Score)|The Mandalorian: Season 1 (Chapter 2)]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
| ''[[The Mandalorian: Chapter 3 (Original Score)|The Mandalorian: Season 1 (Chapter 3)]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
| ''[[The Mandalorian: Chapter 4 (Original Score)|The Mandalorian: Season 1 (Chapter 4)]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
| ''[[The Mandalorian: Chapter 5 (Original Score)|The Mandalorian: Season 1 (Chapter 5)]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
| ''[[The Mandalorian: Chapter 6 (Original Score)|The Mandalorian: Season 1 (Chapter 6)]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
| ''[[The Mandalorian: Chapter 7 (Original Score)|The Mandalorian: Season 1 (Chapter 7)]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
| ''[[The Mandalorian: Chapter 8 (Original Score)|The Mandalorian: Season 1 (Chapter 8)]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
| rowspan="2" | 2020 |
|||
| ''[[The Mandalorian: Season 2 – Vol. 1 (Chapters 9–12) (Original Score)|The Mandalorian: Season 2 (Chapters 9-12)]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
| ''[[The Mandalorian: Season 2 – Vol. 2 (Chapters 13–16) (Original Score)|The Mandalorian: Season 2 (Chapters 13-16)]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
| rowspan="2" |2023 |
|||
|''[[The Mandalorian: Season 3 – Vol. 1 (Chapters 17–20) (Original Score)|The Mandalorian: Season 3 (Chapters 17-20)]]'' |
|||
| rowspan="2" |Joseph Shirley |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[The Mandalorian: Season 3 – Vol. 2 (Chapters 21–24) (Original Score)|The Mandalorian: Season 3 (Chapters 21-24)]]'' |
|||
|} |
|||
===== ''The Book of Boba Fett'' ===== |
|||
For the [[Disney+]] series ''[[The Book of Boba Fett]]'', Ludwig Göransson composes the main theme, while Joseph Shirley composes the score. |
|||
{| class="wikitable" |
|||
! Year |
|||
! Title |
|||
! Composer(s) |
|||
|- |
|||
| rowspan="2" | 2022 |
|||
| [[The Book of Boba Fett|''The Book of Boba Fett: Season 1 (Chapters 1-4)'']] |
|||
| rowspan="2" |Ludwig Göransson<br />Joseph Shirley |
|||
|- |
|||
| [[The Book of Boba Fett|''The Book of Boba Fett: Season 1 (Chapters 5-7)'']] |
|||
|} |
|||
===== ''Obi-Wan Kenobi'' ===== |
|||
For the Disney+ series [[Obi-Wan Kenobi (TV series)|''Obi-Wan Kenobi'']], [[John Williams]] returned to write the main theme. [[Natalie Holt]] composed the rest of the score, making her the first woman to score a live-action ''Star Wars'' project.<ref name="Holt">{{Cite web |last=Breznican |first=Anthony |date=April 22, 2022 |title=Obi-Wan Kenobi Composer Natalie Holt Reveals "Haunting" Approach |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/04/obi-wan-kenobi-composer-natalie-holt-john-williams |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422150613/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/04/obi-wan-kenobi-composer-natalie-holt-john-williams |archive-date=April 22, 2022 |access-date=April 22, 2022 |website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]}}</ref> |
|||
{| class="wikitable" |
|||
!Year |
|||
!Title |
|||
!Composer(s) |
|||
|- |
|||
|2022 |
|||
|[[Obi-Wan Kenobi (soundtrack)|''Obi-Wan Kenobi: Season 1'']] |
|||
|[[John Williams]]<br />[[Natalie Holt]]<br />[[William Ross (composer)|William Ross]] |
|||
|} |
|||
===== ''Andor'' ===== |
|||
For the Disney+ series [[Andor (TV series)|''Andor'']], [[Nicholas Britell]] composes the score. |
|||
{| class="wikitable" |
|||
!Year |
|||
!Title |
|||
!Composer(s) |
|||
|- |
|||
| rowspan="3" |2022 |
|||
|[[Andor (soundtrack)|''Andor: Season 1 (Episodes 1-4)'']] |
|||
| rowspan="3" |[[Nicholas Britell]] |
|||
|- |
|||
|[[Andor (soundtrack)|''Andor: Season 1 (Episodes 5-8)'']] |
|||
|- |
|||
|[[Andor (soundtrack)|''Andor: Season 1 (Episodes 9-12)'']] |
|||
|} |
|||
===== ''Ahsoka'' ===== |
|||
In April 2023, during ''Star Wars'' Celebration London, it was revealed that [[Kevin Kiner]] would compose the score for ''[[Ahsoka (TV series)|Ahsoka]]'', after previously composing the music for the animated series ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)|The Clone Wars]]'', ''[[Star Wars Rebels|Rebels]]'', ''[[Star Wars: The Bad Batch|The Bad Batch]]'', and ''[[Tales of the Jedi (TV series)|Tales of the Jedi]]''.<ref name="Kiner">{{Cite web |last=McPherson |first=Christopher |date=April 8, 2023 |title='Ahsoka': Kevin Kiner Returns as Composer |url=https://collider.com/ahsoka-kevin-kiner-composer/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408150802/https://collider.com/ahsoka-kevin-kiner-composer/ |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |access-date=April 8, 2023 |website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]]}}</ref> |
|||
{| class="wikitable" |
|||
! Year |
|||
! Title |
|||
! Composer(s) |
|||
|- |
|||
| rowspan="2" | 2023 |
|||
| ''[[Ahsoka (TV series)|Ahsoka: Season 1 (Episodes 1-4)]]'' |
|||
| rowspan="2" |[[Kevin Kiner]] |
|||
|- |
|||
| ''[[Ahsoka (TV series)|Ahsoka: Season 1 (Episodes 5-8)]]'' |
|||
|} |
|||
===== ''The Acolyte'' ===== |
|||
In February 2024 it was revealed that [[Michael Abels]] had been tapped to compose the score for ''The Acolyte''.<ref name="acolyte_music">{{cite web |last1=McPherson |first1=Chris |title='The Acolyte' Has a Tentative Release Date [Exclusive] |url=https://collider.com/the-acolyte-release-date/ |website=Collider |publisher=Valnet.net |access-date=2 March 2024 |ref=acolyte_music}}</ref> |
|||
{| class="wikitable" |
|||
!Year |
|||
!Title |
|||
!Composer(s) |
|||
|- |
|||
|2024 |
|||
|[[The Acolyte (TV series)|''The Acolyte: Season 1'']] |
|||
|[[Michael Abels]] |
|||
|} |
|||
===== ''Skeleton Crew'' ===== |
|||
In November 2024, Mick Giacchino was revealed to have composed the score for the series. His father, [[Michael Giacchino]], previously composed the score for the ''Star Wars'' film ''[[Rogue One]]'' (2016).<ref name="Giacchino">{{Cite web |last=<!-- StarWars.com Team --> |date=November 11, 2024 |title=Composer Mick Giacchino Joins Star Wars: Skeleton Crew - Reveal |url=https://www.starwars.com/news/skeleton-crew-mick-giacchino-composer-announce?cmp=smc%7C15220166281 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241111173057/https://www.starwars.com/news/skeleton-crew-mick-giacchino-composer-announce?cmp=smc%7C15220166281 |archive-date=November 11, 2024 |access-date=November 11, 2024 |website=[[StarWars.com]]}}</ref> |
|||
==== ''Jedi Temple Challenge'' ==== |
|||
For the [[game show]] [[Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge|''Jedi Temple Challenge'']], [[Gordy Haab]] composes the score. |
|||
{| class="wikitable" |
|||
!Year |
|||
!Title |
|||
!Composer(s) |
|||
|- |
|||
|2020 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge|Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge: Season 1]]'' |
|||
|[[Gordy Haab]] |
|||
|} |
|||
=== Documentaries === |
|||
{| class="wikitable" style=" #aaa solid; font-size:100%;" |
|||
! Year |
|||
! Title |
|||
! Composer |
|||
! Additional composers |
|||
|- |
|||
|2004 |
|||
|''[[Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy]]'' |
|||
|John Williams |
|||
| |
|||
|- |
|||
|2020 |
|||
|''[[Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian|Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian: Season 1]]'' |
|||
| rowspan="3" |Michael Kramer |
|||
| |
|||
|- |
|||
|2020–2021 |
|||
|''[[Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian|Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian: Season 2]]'' |
|||
| |
|||
|- |
|||
|2021 |
|||
|''[[Disney Gallery: The Book of Boba Fett]]'' |
|||
| |
|||
|- |
|||
| rowspan="2" |2022 |
|||
|''[[Light & Magic (TV series)|Light & Magic: Season 1]]'' |
|||
|[[James Newton Howard]] |
|||
|Michael Dean Parsons<br />Xander Rodzinski<br />Tobin Pugash |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Obi-Wan Kenobi (TV series)|Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return]]'' |
|||
|Michael Dean Parsons<br />Scott Michael Smith |
|||
| |
|||
|- |
|||
|2023 |
|||
|''[[Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian|Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian: Season 3]]'' |
|||
|Michael Kramer |
|||
| |
|||
|} |
|||
=== Video games === |
|||
{| class="wikitable" style=" #aaa solid; font-size:100%;" |
|||
! Year |
|||
! Title |
|||
! Composer |
|||
|- |
|||
|1995 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Dark Forces]]'' |
|||
|[[Clint Bajakian]] |
|||
|- |
|||
|1996 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (video game)|Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire]]'' |
|||
|[[Joel McNeely]] |
|||
|- |
|||
|1998 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Rogue Squadron]]'' |
|||
| rowspan="2" |[[Chris Huelsbeck]] |
|||
|- |
|||
|2001 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
|2002 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Bounty Hunter]]'' |
|||
| rowspan="2" |[[Jeremy Soule]] |
|||
|- |
|||
| rowspan="3" |2003 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (video game)|Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike]]'' |
|||
|Chris Huelsbeck |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords]]'' |
|||
|[[Mark Griskey]] |
|||
|- |
|||
|2005 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Republic Commando]]'' |
|||
|Jesse Harlin |
|||
|- |
|||
|2006 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Empire at War]]'' |
|||
|[[Frank Klepacki]] |
|||
|- |
|||
|2008 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: The Force Unleashed]]'' |
|||
|[[Mark Griskey]]<br />Jesse Harlin |
|||
|- |
|||
|2010 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II]]'' |
|||
|Mark Griskey |
|||
|- |
|||
|2011 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: The Old Republic]]'' |
|||
|Mark Griskey<br />[[Wilbert Roget, II|Wilbert Roget II]]<br />[[Gordy Haab]]<br />[[Lennie Moore]]<br />Jesse Harlin<br />[[Peter McConnell|Peter McConnel]]<br />[[Jared Emerson-Johnson]]<br />Steve Kirk<br />Henri Wilkinson<br />Samuel Joseph Smythe<br />Madison Denbrock<br />Marco Valerio Antonini<br />Yitong ET Chen<br />Vincent Oppido |
|||
|- |
|||
|2015 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Battlefront (2015 video game)|Star Wars: Battlefront]]'' |
|||
| rowspan="2" |Gordy Haab |
|||
|- |
|||
|2017 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Battlefront II (2017 video game)|Star Wars: Battlefront II]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
|2019 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order]]'' |
|||
|[[Stephen Barton]]<br />Gordy Haab |
|||
|- |
|||
| rowspan="2" |2020 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Squadrons]]'' |
|||
|Gordy Haab |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge]]'' |
|||
|[[Bear McCreary]]<br />[[Joseph Trapanese]]<br />Danny Piccione |
|||
|- |
|||
|2023 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars Jedi: Survivor]]'' |
|||
|Stephen Barton<br />Gordy Haab |
|||
|} |
|||
=== Multimedia / Theme Parks === |
|||
{| class="wikitable" |
|||
!Year |
|||
!Title |
|||
!Composer |
|||
|- |
|||
|1996 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire#Soundtrack|Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire]]'' |
|||
|[[Joel McNeely]] |
|||
|- |
|||
|2019 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge]]'' |
|||
|John Williams |
|||
Harlan Hodges |
|||
Randy Kerber |
|||
|} |
|||
=== Other albums === |
|||
{| class="wikitable" |
|||
!Year |
|||
!Title |
|||
!Composer |
|||
|- |
|||
|1980 |
|||
|''[[Christmas in the Stars|Star Wars: Christmas in the Stars]]'' |
|||
|[[Meco]] |
|||
|- |
|||
|2016 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars Headspace|Star Wars: Headspace]]'' |
|||
| rowspan="3" |[[Compilation album|Various Artists]] |
|||
|- |
|||
|2019 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge|Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: Oga's Cantina: R3X's Playlist 1]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
| rowspan="2" |2023 |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge|Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: Oga's Cantina: R3X's Playlist 2]]'' |
|||
|- |
|||
|''[[Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser]]'' |
|||
|Gaya |
|||
|} |
|||
== Style == |
|||
=== Inspiration === |
|||
The scores utilize an eclectic variety of musical styles, many culled from the Late [[Romantic music|Romantic]] idiom of [[Richard Strauss]] and his contemporaries that itself was incorporated into the [[Cinema of the United States|Golden Age Hollywood]] scores of [[Erich Korngold]] and [[Max Steiner]]. The reasons for this are known to involve George Lucas's desire to allude to the underlying fantasy element of the narrative rather than the science-fiction setting, as well as to ground the otherwise strange and fantastic setting in recognizable, audience-accessible music. Indeed, Lucas maintains that much of the films' success relies not on advanced visual effects, but on the simple, direct emotional appeal of its plot, characters and, importantly, music.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmmusicsociety.org/news_events/features/2012/020812.html|title=Spielberg and Lucas on Williams: Directors reminisce about collaborating with Hollywood's greatest composer|last1=Burlingame|first1=Jon|date=February 8, 2012|website=[[The Film Music Society]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223055247/http://www.filmmusicsociety.org/news_events/features/2012/020812.html|archive-date=December 23, 2015|access-date=December 23, 2015}}</ref> |
|||
Lucas originally wanted to use tracked orchestral and film music in a similar manner to [[2001: A Space Odyssey (soundtrack)|''2001: A Space Odyssey'']], itself a major inspiration for ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''. Williams, who was hired to consult and possibly work on the source music, was advised to form a soundtrack with recurring musical themes to augment the story, while Lucas's choice of music could be used as a temporary track for Williams to base his musical choices on. This resulted in several nods or homages to the music of [[Gustav Holst]], [[William Walton]], [[Sergei Prokofiev]] and [[Igor Stravinsky]] in the score to ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]].''{{efn|That particular score was first intended to be tracked with existing music from the classical repertoire or from older film scores, as was the case of [[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]], which inspired George Lucas to write the film. After Williams convinced Lucas to have an original score (which would excel as a tracked score in that it will have set themes for characters, Williams argued), those musical pieces were used as a temp track and Williams followed them closely, turning portions of the score into a homage to earlier film score and to romantic music in general.}} Williams relied less and less on references to existing music in the latter eight scores, incorporating more strains of [[modernism (music)|modernist]] orchestral writing with each progressive score, although occasional nods continue to permeate the music. The score to [[Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith|'' Revenge of the Sith'']] has clear resemblances to the successful scores of other contemporary composers of the time, namely [[Howard Shore]]'s [[Music of The Lord of the Rings film series|''Lord of the Rings'']], [[Hans Zimmer]]'s [[Gladiator (2000 soundtrack)|''Gladiator'']] and [[Tan Dun]]'s'' [[Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (soundtrack)|Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon]]'', with which the movie was most likely scored contemporarily.{{efn|These inspirations are evident in some of the orchestration choices, including the wide use of an SATB choir and boy choir and even a soloist (including a woman singing mournfully in "Padme's Ruminations", similar to Lisa Gerard's vocal work in Gladiator). The orchestra was augmented with a second set of timpani as was the case with Shore's Lord of the Rings scores, and with taiko drums, which have been used extensively by Shore and Zimmer. |
|||
In particular, Anakin's Dark Deeds with the humming boy choir opening leading into a Gothic piece for an adult choir is evocative of "The Treason of Isengard". Several tracks, including the music to the film's opening, evoke the Orcs' rhythmic music. |
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<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/articles/2005/11_Apr---FSM_Forum_Star_Wars_Episode_III.asp |title=4/11/05: FSM Forum Star Wars Episode III |access-date=July 12, 2017 |archive-date=September 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911161658/http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/articles/2005/11_Apr---FSM_Forum_Star_Wars_Episode_III.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>}} However, his later scores were otherwise mostly tracked with music of his own composition,<ref name=":40">{{Cite web|url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/film/jwilliamsinterview.html|title=Star Wars Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace : Interview with John Williams April9 1999|website=www.musicweb-international.com|access-date=January 15, 2018|archive-date=June 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629111857/http://www.musicweb-international.com/film/jwilliamsinterview.html|url-status=live}}</ref> mainly from previous ''Star Wars'' films.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://audioboom.com/posts/6557819-episode-69-rian-johnson-on-the-music-of-star-wars-other-movies|title=Episode 69: Rian Johnson On The Music Of Star Wars & Other Movies|work=audioBoom|access-date=2018-01-01|language=en|archive-date=January 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101194512/https://audioboom.com/posts/6557819-episode-69-rian-johnson-on-the-music-of-star-wars-other-movies|url-status=live}}</ref> Williams also started to develop his style throughout the various films, incorporating other instruments, unconventional orchestral set-ups (as well as various choral ensembles) and even electronic or electronically attenuated music as the films progressed. Williams often composed the music in a heroic but tongue-in-cheek style, and has described the scored film as a "musical".<ref>Star Wars, [http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/swlp.htm liner notes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212162233/http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/swlp.htm |date=December 12, 2017 }}.</ref> |
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=== Structure === |
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''Star Wars'' was one of the film scores that heralded the revival of grand symphonic scores in the late 1970s. One technique that particularly influenced these scores is Williams' use of the ''[[leitmotif]]'', which was most famously associated with [[Richard Wagner]]'s [[Der Ring des Nibelungen|''Der Ring Des Nibelungen'']] and, in early film scores, with Steiner. A leitmotif (or leading motive) is a recurring, evolving musical theme for narrative elements such as characters, locations, ideas, sentiments, objects or other specific part of the film. It is commonly used in modern film scoring as a device for mentally anchoring certain parts of a film to the soundtrack.{{efn|Using a leitmotif merely as a "stand-in" for a character would be a devolved form of using leitmotifs, compared to the operatic practice. A theme can be used symbolically, such as hinting at Darth Vader's theme when the decision to train Anakin is made in ''Episode I''.}} Of chief importance for a leitmotif is that it must be strong enough for a listener to latch onto while being flexible enough to undergo variation and development along the progression of the story. The more varied and nuanced the use of leitmotif is, the more memorable it typically becomes. A good example of this is the way in which Williams subtly conceals the intervals of "[[The Imperial March]]" within "Anakin's Theme" in ''[[Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (soundtrack)|The Phantom Menace]]'', implying his dark future to come. |
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Also important is the density in which leitmotifs are used: the more leitmotifs are used in a piece of a given length, the more thematically rich it is considered to be. Film music, however, typically needs to strike a balance between the number of leitmotifs used, so as to not become too dense for the audience (being preoccupied with the visuals) to follow. Williams' music of ''Star Wars'' is unique in that it is relatively dense for film scoring, with approximately 17 themes used in each two-hour film, of which about 90% is scored.{{efn|Williams full score often slightly overtakes the length of the film due to the recording of concert suites and several alternate takes. However, the amount of music written for the film proper varies from 80 percent, to scoring effectively the entire film. The finished film is always subjected to tracking, looping and muting (especially ''Attack of the Clones''), so about 85% of each finished film is scored.}} |
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=== Performance === |
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Williams re-recorded some of his suites from the first trilogy with the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra as an album. Several of his later themes were released as singles and music videos, and were later released a collection of suites from the six films as a compilation that played to a series of clips from the films, with sparse dialogue and sound effects. These became the basis for a series of hour-long concerts which featured ''Star Wars'' music to images from the films, ''[[Star Wars: In Concert]]'', which took place in 2009 and 2010. First performed in [[London]], it went on to tour across the [[United States]] and [[Canada]], last playing in London, Ontario, Canada on July 25, 2010. |
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The scores of the first trilogy (in the form of its Blu-Ray release) and ''[[Star Wars: The Force Awakens (soundtrack)|The Force Awakens]]'' are performed as Live to Projection concerts, but with greatly reduced forces. The performances follow the music of the finished film, with some of the music looped, tracked or omitted entirely, and do not feature any of the diegetic pieces and often omit the choral parts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/five-time-oscar-winner-john-williams-talks-bringing-star-wars-scores-to-the-new-york-philharmonic|title=Five-Time Oscar Winner John Williams Talks Bringing Star Wars Scores to the New York Philharmonic|date=September 12, 2017|access-date=September 16, 2017|archive-date=September 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916085626/http://www.playbill.com/article/five-time-oscar-winner-john-williams-talks-bringing-star-wars-scores-to-the-new-york-philharmonic|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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==Orchestration== |
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John Williams sketched the score for his various orchestrations and wrote the music for a full symphony orchestra (ranging from 79 to 113 players overall{{efn|''Episode III'' required 109 players (not including the conductor) due to expanded string and percussion sections.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/epi3_stuff.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807113722/http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/epi3_stuff.htm|url-status=dead|title=STAR WARS - Episode III|archivedate=August 7, 2017|website=www.jw-collection.de}}</ref>}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Williams London Symphony Orchestra Star Wars |url=http://soundtrackfest.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/John-Williams-London-Symphony-Orchestra-Star-Wars.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616151919/http://soundtrackfest.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/John-Williams-London-Symphony-Orchestra-Star-Wars.jpg |archive-date=2020-06-16 |access-date=2024-09-17}}</ref> |
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''The Empire Strikes Back'' required 104 players, not including the conductor or synthesizer ([http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/tesblp.htm rhttp://www.jw-collection.de/scores/tesblp.htmecalls] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807113659/http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/tesblp.htm |date=August 7, 2017 }}) due to the inclusion of a fourth flute, and sections that required a third harp, five oboes overall, an added piccolo and eight percussionists overall. |
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If the Empire Strikes Back is to augmented with the string section size of Revenge of the Sith or the Skywalker Symphony Recording, it would require about 112 players and a small women choir. |
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A Star Wars in Concert production that would follow the orchestration of the recording, would have to feature some of the expansions of the various episodes, requiring about 110 players, as well as the mixed choir and possibly the bass choir.) and, in several passages, chorus (ranging from 12 to 120 singers overall) and a few non-orchestral instruments. The orchestration is not consistent throughout the different films,{{efn|''Star Wars'' and the sequel trilogy film use an 84-piece arrangement, with the latter also incorporating a 24-piece men choir. ''Empire Strikes Back'' uses 106 pieces and about ten women vocalists, Return of the Jedi uses a 100-piece orchestra, about ten men, and a few women for the Special Edition; ''The Phantom Menace'' uses a 100-piece orchestra, 88-piece SATB choir and 30 boys; ''Attack of the Clones'' and ''Revenge of the Sith'' use a 112-piece orchestra, 89-piece SATB choir and a synthesized boy choir.}} but generally, the score makes use of a considerable brass section over a comparatively smaller string section, giving the series its heraldic, brassy sound. |
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Several of the scores require larger forces, including a large (over 100-piece) romantic-period orchestra, a mixed choir and even a boy choir, although none of the scores call for particularly immense forces compared to larger film or theater works.{{efn|Star Wars Concerts were held with as few as 130 performers, and some Live to Projection Concerts can therefore be played by as few as sixty players. By comparison, each of Howard Shore's [[Music of The Lord of the Rings film series#Instrumentation|Middle Earth scores]] require a minimum of 230 musicians to stage (ranging to as many as 500), and several stage works such as [[Gurre-Lieder#Instrumentation|Gurre Lieder]] or [[Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)#Choral and vocal forces|Mahler's Eighth Symphony]] can range from 300 to over a thousand musicians. |
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Nevertheless, amateur performances (like the NJYS Playathon) of Williams score, among other film scores (including the aforementioned Howard Shore ones) have utilized orchestral forces of 450-piece or more.}} Nevertheless, due to added high woodwinds and percussion parts, scores such as Empire Strikes Back and Attack of the Clones call for 106 and 110 players, respectively. The former called for a third harp and fourth bassoon, while the latter (and all prequel scores) utilized a fuller string section. Revenge of the Sith also utilized a second set of timpani. Comparatively, the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy and the sequel trilogy films call for much smaller forces of as little as 82 players, and small choral accompaniment in select cues.{{efn|''The Last Jedi'' used 101 instrumental players (including the diegetic band), probably a result of added percussion and high woodwind players, a 65-piece SATB choir, and a few additional pieces for the all-male choir.}} The first spin-off film, ''Rogue One'', followed the prequel trilogy's instrumentation, using a 110-piece orchestra and 90-piece mixed choir. |
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In live performances, the forces are usually greatly reduced: Official [[Star Wars: In Concert|Star Wars Concerts]] were held with as little as 60-piece orchestras and 50-piece mixed choral ensembles or with the choir omitted altogether.<ref>Keyes, Allison (July 24, 2010). [https://web.archive.org/web/20151230163343/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128731971 "'Star Wars In Concert' Puts The Force In The Music"]. ''[[NPR]]''. Archived from [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128731971 the original] on December 30, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2015.</ref> |
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{{efn|The Live to Projection presentations also feature various reductions, namely in the brass section, in line with Williams' reduced orchestration for his "Star Wars Suite", and generally omit the unusual orchestrations of Empire Strikes Back and synthesize or remove the choral parts The roster is between 50 and 90 pieces. |
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<ref>{{cite web | url=https://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/program-notes/1718/WilliamsStarWarsANewHope.pdf | title=Error | access-date=September 12, 2017 | archive-date=July 14, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714095218/https://nyphil.org/404 | url-status=live }}</ref>}} However, to recreate the nine scores as they were originally recorded, the following instrumentation would be needed: |
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* Woodwinds: 3 flutes (doubling on piccolos and an alto flute), 2 oboes (doubling on a cor anglais), 3 clarinets (doubling on a bass clarinet and an E-flat clarinet), 2 bassoons (doubling on a contrabassoon). |
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* Brass: 6 horns (doubling on Wagner Tubas{{efn|''Empire Strikes Back'' only.}}), 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba. |
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* Keyboards: Piano, celesta, synthesizer.{{efn|''Star Wars'' featured one player on a piano and a second player on celesta. The second player also doubles on Electric Piano. For select sections of ''Empire Strikes Back'', both played on pianos. The scores also used synthesizers for electronic sounds and to mimic the Celesta (a real Celesta was not used since ''Return of the Jedi'') and the Harpsichord (for ''Return of the Jedi'' and ''Attack of the Clones''). In the Skywalker Symphony recording, one player doubles on all keyboards. From ''Attack of the Clones'' going forward, the synth is performed by the electric keyboard player.}} |
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* Timpani: 4–6 kettledrums. |
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* Percussion: at least three percussionists playing bass drums, [[tenor drum]]s, [[snare drum]]s (including [[guillotine drums]], side drums, military drums), [[timbales]], [[Tom-tom drum|toms]] (floor tom and hanging toms), [[Triangle (musical instrument)|triangle]], [[tambourine]], [[cymbal]]s (suspended, sizzle, crash and finger cymbals), tam-tam, [[xylophone]]s, [[vibraphone]], [[glockenspiel]], [[tubular bells]], and anvil on all episodes. Also required are [[wooden fish|temple block]]s (I), [[claves]] (II, V, VI), ratchet (V–VIII), [[marimba]] (I, IV, VII–VIII), [[Bongo drum|bongos]] (I, IV, VII–VIII), [[conga]]s (I–III, VI–VII), log drums (I, IV, VI–VII), low wood block (IV), [[bell plate]]s, [[Clapper (musical instrument)|clappers]] (IV), [[Steelpan|steel drum]] (IV, VIII), [[boobam]]s (I, IV, VII), medium gong (VI–VII), [[kendhang]], rattle, [[sistrum]], [[shekere]], [[Güiro|guiro]], bamboo sticks, [[Cowbell (instrument)|cowbells]], [[hyoshigi]] (VI), [[bell tree]] (III), one medium [[Nipple gong|Thai gong]] (VI), three medium [[chu-daiko]] drums (II–III, one for VII–VIII), [[Washboard (musical instrument)|washboard]], goblet drum, caxixi (VIII).{{efn|Most of the episodes feature six percussionists, although sections of the prequels and ''Empire Strikes Back'' require as many as eight, including two Xylophone parts, etc. ''Star Wars'', however, only requires only three and the sequel trilogy scores require only four.}}<ref>https://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/program-notes/1718/John-Williams-Star-Wars-The-Empire-Strikes-Back.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714092402/https://nyphil.org/404 |date=July 14, 2022 }}; https://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/program-notes/1718/John-Williams-Star-Wars-Return-of-the-Jedi.pdf ; https://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/program-notes/1718/John-Williams-Star-Wars-The-Force-Awakens.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115184620/https://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/program-notes/1718/John-Williams-Star-Wars-The-Force-Awakens.pdf |date=January 15, 2018 }}</ref> |
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* Strings: 2 harps, 14 first violins, 12 second violins, 10 violas, 10 violoncellos, 6 double basses. |
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* Additional instruments: 1 piccolo, 1 flute, 1–2 recorders, 2 oboes, 1 clarinet, 3 saxophones, 1–2 bassoons,{{efn|''Star Wars'' uses the original arrangement, but its two sequels call for an additional of one of each woodwind. The prequel trilogy scores use three flutes, oboes and bassoons, as well as four clarinets, and the sequel trilogy scores omit the fourth clarinet part. Sections of Empire Strikes Back, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith and The Last Jedi call for expanded higher woodwind: four flutes and an added piccolo part and five oboes. The former score also calls for a fourth bassoon for Boba Fett's motif. ''Return of the Jedi'' and The Phantom Menace also feature recorders. Star Wars and The Last Jedi use three saxophones, as well.}} 2 horns, trumpet, bass trombone, tuba,{{efn|Up to the sequel trilogy, Star Wars scores had utilized eight horns and two tubas, although the Skywalker Symphony recording omits those parts and adds a fifth trumpet. The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones also omit the second tuba.}} set of timpani, five percussionists,{{efn|In Empire Strikes Back, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. A second set of timpani is used in the former, and in The Last Jedi.}} 89-piece SATB choir, 10 basso profundo singers, 30 boys, 1 Tibetan throat singer,{{efn|The full SATB choir is used for the prequels: The Last Jedi only requires a 64-piece Tibetan Throat chanting is used in Revenge of the Sith. The boy choir is used in The Phantom Menace but synthesized in the later two scores. Empire Strikes Back uses a small women choir and Return of the Jedi uses a small male choir. The Force Awakens uses a 24-piece basso profundo orchestra, which is about ten more pieces than would be in a 90-piece SATB choir.}} narrator,{{efn|For [[Star Wars: In Concert]].}} 4 violins divided, 2 violas, 2 contrabasses, 1 harp.{{efn|Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi call for two added contrabass parts, and the former also calls for a third harp. The Skywalker Symphony uses a fuller string section, but omits the second harp. The prequels also use the fuller string section.}} |
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* Non-orchestral instruments: [[Cretan lyra|Cretan Lyra]] and [[cümbüş]] (I), [[electric guitar]] (II), [[toy piano]] (VI), [[kazoo]], highland bagpipes, [[banjo]], didgeridoo (VIII).{{efn|Williams is not usually keen to stray far from the orchestral instrumentation. The Cretan Lyra and Cumbus are used briefly for diegetic Tatooine music for ''Phantom Menace'' and ''Attack of the Clones'', composed by his son, Joseph, and were originally played by one instrumentalist. Williams also recalls "reed flutes"<ref>{{cite web | url=http://starwars.talkcity.com/starwars/trans/5-6-99.htmpl | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991013020724/http://starwars.talkcity.com/starwars/trans/5-6-99.htmpl | archive-date=October 13, 1999 | title=Star Wars: Star Wars Episode I the Phantom Menace }}</ref> (most likely referring to the [[ney]] flute) used in the score, probably for those cues. The prequel scores are not performed live, but seeing as diegetic pieces are not played even in the scores that are performed live, these would probably be omitted under such circumstances, as well. |
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The electric guitar is used in small inserts during the chase through Curoscant in ''Attack of the Clones'' (albeit muted in the film on the request of George Lucas). Williams also used three saxophones for the Cantina Band, although those could be doubled by the clarinet players. He also once claimed to have used Kazoos in that sequence, although the liner notes make no mention of it. |
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Didgeridoos are used in the diegetic Caretaker party music, which scores a deleted scene. They are also featured in The Phantom Menace ultimate edition release, where they were originally used as diegetic sound effects, and layered over the soundtrack. |
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}} |
}} |
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==Musical themes in the scores== |
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* ''Overture'' (all episodes) – Easily the most recognizable melody of the saga, the main theme is variously associated with [[Luke Skywalker]], heroism, and adventure. It is heard over the [[Star Wars opening crawl|opening crawl]] at the beginning of all the films and forms the basis of the end-title as well. The theme is most prominent in the first film, ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'', in which strong brass treat it as a fanfare for Luke; throughout subsequent films, it is relied upon less frequently, though this restraint lends it a greater impact. |
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John Williams wrote a series of themes and motifs for certain characters and ideas in each of the ''Star Wars'' films. The multiple installments allowed Williams to compose some sixty or seventy themes and reprise some of them extensively, continually developing them over a long period of screen time. |
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Williams introduces a considerable, but manageable number of themes in each episode (seven themes on average), attempting to compose main themes that are distinct, long-lined and memorable. Connections between the themes are formed for narrative purposes or, more generally, in the favour of cohesion. As a result, some of the themes play very often: the Force Theme plays over one hundred times in the series. |
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{{Listen MIDI |type=music |
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|title=Rebel Fanfare |description= originally heard in ''A New Hope'' |filename=Rebel Fanfare.MID |
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|title2=The Obi-Wan Kenobi & Force motif |description2=<ref name="LI170"/> |filename2=Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi theme.mid |
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|title3=Princess Leia's Theme |description3= originally heard in ''A New Hope''<ref name="LI170">Larsen & Irons (2007), p.170.</ref> |filename3=Princess Leia's Theme.MID}} |
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Each score can be said to have a "main theme", which is developed and repeated frequently throughout the film, and represents the high and low points of the film itself as much as they do narrative elements within the film: for instance, the frequent use of The Imperial March in ''Empire Strikes Back''.{{efn|the theme recurs thirty times or more in a two-hour film.}} Besides the main theme and a handful of other principal themes, Williams forged several smaller motifs for each episode, which are generally not as memorable and at times interchangeable. As a result of his compositional process, a large number of incidental musical material and themes that are specific to certain setpieces also occur throughout the piece. Williams had designated the music of the main titles to be the main theme of the series as a whole, but there is not necessarily a main theme for each trilogy. Instead, each trilogy (and to a lesser extent, each film) has its own style or soundscape.{{efn|The scores to the original three films are melodic and romantic, as is – largely – the score to The Phantom Menace. However, Episodes II and even III feature much more rhythmic music, and Revenge of the Sith, in particular, is more operatic in its use of choir and even solo vocals. |
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* ''Rebel Fanfare'' (all episodes) – This short motif is used extensively throughout the saga to represent the [[Rebel Alliance]], most frequently in ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope''. The theme is also used in ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'', ''Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back'', and ''Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi'', and is part of the ending credits of all the films in the saga. The theme itself is constructed out of brassy major block chords that progress in parallel motion through intervals of a third, resulting in an appropriate though non-diatonic heraldic flavor. Written in minor key, the melody is often misinterpreted as a theme for the [[Galactic Empire (Star Wars)|Empire]].{{Citation needed|reason=The motif may be written in modal instead of minor.|date=April 2010}} In fact, the radio dramatization of Star Wars mistakenly introduced or [[Epilogue|outro]]'d Imperial scenes while Rebel Fanfare played in the background.{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} |
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* ''Force Theme'' (all episodes) – The theme is a strong [[leitmotif]] of the series, being consistently developed and, consequently, difficult to attach to a specific meaning. It variously represents [[Obi-Wan Kenobi]], the [[Jedi]] and [[the Force (Star Wars)|the Force]] from which they draw their power, as well as more abstract ideas such as fate or destiny. In general, the theme's appearances mark moments of significance in the films, due in part to its portentous minor mode and upward-striving melody.{{Citation needed|reason=Source for it being in minor mode.|date=September 2015}} |
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* ''Princess Leia's Theme'' (''Revenge of the Sith'', ''A New Hope'', ''The Empire Strikes Back'', and ''Return of the Jedi'') – A lush theme for [[Princess Leia]], the melody is mostly heard in ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'' to represent the romanticized and naive idea of the princess. It is used in subsequent films where the princess is particularly vulnerable or mentioned; in addition, it is heard prominently in ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'' after she is born. An extended concert version of this theme was incorporated into the end credits for ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith''. |
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* ''Imperial Motif'' (''A New Hope'') – The motif represents [[Grand Moff Tarkin]] and the Imperial forces under his control, including [[Darth Vader]], before the iconic Imperial March theme was written. It is generally played by bassoons or muted trombones and, for its brevity and limited melodic scope, is not nearly as successful at conjuring dread as the Imperial March; however, certain rhythmic and harmonic aspects do anticipate the March. |
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* ''Death Star Motif'' (''A New Hope'', ''Return of the Jedi'') – An imposing four chord motif, played six times during ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'', that heralds a shot or mention of the dreaded [[Death Star]]. It is also heard in ''Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi'' when Darth Vader's Super [[Star Destroyer]] flagship crashes into the Death Star II through music adapted from the first film. |
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* ''Jawa Theme'' (''A New Hope'') – Early Tatooine scenes in ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'' feature this jaunty, playful theme during the presence of [[Jawas]]. The theme is mostly associated with double-reed instruments. |
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* ''[[Dies Irae#Musical settings|Dies Irae]]'' (''Attack of the Clones'', ''Revenge of the Sith'', ''A New Hope'') – Following in the tradition of many classical composers{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}}, John Williams incorporated the melody of the Gregorian chant Dies Irae into the score of ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'', though only the first four notes are clearly stated. The motif often arises in connection to Anakin and Luke Skywalker's destinies, evoking fear and apprehension. When featured in ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'', Dies Irae has a connection to the murders of Owen and Beru Lars. This tragic function is expanded upon in ''Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones'' during the scene in which Anakin confesses to killing the Sand People and in ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'' during the scene in which Jedi are slaughtered across the galaxy. |
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The sequel scores feature another evolution of Williams' musical style, which is less obtrusive, with more lilting musical themes like Rey's theme, reminiscent of some of Williams' work on Harry Potter. |
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===First appearance in ''The Empire Strikes Back''=== |
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}} |
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Williams' Star Wars catalog remains one of the largest collections of leitmotifs in the history of cinema,{{efn|Williams themes for Star Wars have been classified based on Williams own comments on the LP release, Mike Matessino's Special Edition Liner notes, and further analyses provided by Doug Adams, John Takis ''et al.'' On FilmScoreMonthly. Ancillary sources include Frank Lehman's "Complete Catalogue of the Musical Themes of Star Wars", which includes a lot of "incidental motifs" including stylistic gestures and tracked material.}} although – for comparison – it still falls short of Wagner's use of leitmotifs in the ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen|Ring Cycle]]'' or even [[Howard Shore]]'s work on the [[Music of The Hobbit film series|''Hobbit'']] and [[Music of The Lord of the Rings film series|''Lord of the Rings'']] films.{{efn|Williams wrote some fifty themes for over 19 hours of cinema, with an average of six new themes per film and an average 12 themes used in each film overall. By comparison, Howard Shore wrote over 160 leitmotifs for 21 hours of cinema in the Middle Earth films, of which he uses 40 or more in each film. Richard Wagner wrote 176 leitmotifs for the 15-hour Ring cycle.}} Both works feature many more themes for a similar or shorter running time; and use the themes with greater specificity and variation; where Williams prefers to write fewer themes (to allow him to focus on them better) and use them in a more straightforward manner and sometimes, solely for their romantic effect. Shore and Wagner's themes are also inter-related and arranged into sets of subsets of related themes through various melodic or harmonic connections, whereas Williams prefers greater distinction between his themes.{{efn|In thematic works such as those of Wagner or Shore, all the leitmotifs which are thematically connected (e.g. all of Alberich's themes or all of the Hobbits' themes) are connected in melody, harmony, key and orchestration, so as to create sets and subsets of inter-connected thematic "families." This allows the composer to introduce new themes later in the work while having the new theme evoke associations that the audience already felt towards existing related themes. |
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{{Listen MIDI |type=music |title=The March of the Empire |description=<ref>Larsen & Irons (2007), p.171.</ref> |filename=Star Wars The March of the Empire.mid}} |
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* ''[[The Imperial March]]'' or "Darth Vader's Theme" (Episodes I, II, III, V and VI). The theme that represents the totalitarian Galactic Empire as a whole, and [[Darth Vader]] specifically. More than other Star Wars themes, the March has attained an iconic status in the Western consciousness as a general "evil theme", and as such is used to portray power at public events, sometimes seriously, sometimes with tongue in cheek (as in sporting events). It has been used on multiple occasions to introduce a scene featuring the "evil" [[Montgomery Burns]] on the animated comedy ''[[The Simpsons]]''. Musical features include relentless martial rhythm and dark, non-diatonic harmonic support. In the Original Trilogy, The Imperial March also represents all that is the Empire; therefore, it is nearly equivalent to a galactic anthem. Williams retrograded the theme for the prequel trilogy, subtly embedding it in Anakin's innocent theme and the evolution of the Republic (represented by the [[clone troopers]]) into the Empire. It is heard with progressive prominence through Episodes II and III, signaling critical points in Anakin's downward spiral to the Dark side. In the March's final rendition, accompanying Vader's death in Episode VI, Williams reverses the effect of the theme, by means of reduced orchestration and volume. It ends with a cadence of solos (strings, [[Western concert flute|flute]], [[clarinet]], [[French horn|horn]] and, ultimately, [[harp]]) as Vader expires. |
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* ''Han Solo and the Princess'' or the ''Love theme'' or ''Han Solo's theme'' ({{audio|HanSoloandPrincessSnippet.mid|Episodes V}} and VI). A sweeping theme for the love between Han Solo and Princess Leia. Heard in Episodes V and VI, and often used in not only scenes of romance but also scenes of sacrifice from the two characters, including the closing moments of Episode V. During its original appearance, this melody first is played by a solo [[French horn]]. |
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* {{audio|YodasTheme.mid|''Yoda's Theme''}} (Episode I, II, III, V and VI). A gentle theme for the Jedi Master Yoda, who appears in five of the six films along with his music. Closely associated with his teachings and abilities, though can be related to Luke's retention of those lessons as well. Used more sparingly in the Prequel Trilogy, though certain moments, especially Yoda's departure from Kashyyyk, highlight the theme quite prominently. It is briefly heard in the film ''[[E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial]]'' as E.T. encounters a trick-or-treater in a Yoda costume and tries to communicate with him. This was most likely included as a humorous nod to the Star Wars movies, as John Williams is the composer of both soundtracks. |
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* ''Droids motif'' (Episode V). A short playful motif associated with [[C-3PO]] and [[R2-D2]]. Prominent in several scenes on Hoth, Dagobah, and during the climactic "Hyperspace" cue at the end of the film. A version is played in a minor tune during the scene that C-3PO gets shot. |
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* ''[[Boba Fett]] motif'' (Episode V). A simple bassoon melody based on a descending semitone phrase representing Boba Fett. It is played sparingly in Episode V in scenes strongly involving the bounty hunter. Some speculation exists of a secondary motif for Fett, occurring as he escorts frozen Han through the halls of Bespin. This theme heard in the horns appears in scenes unrelated to Fett, which throws association into debate. It may represent a 'struggle' by the rebels to escape the Bespin city, which would qualify it as a secondary Bespin theme. Some have asserted material associated with Fett also turns up in Episode II as well, though whether the material in question bears anything more than coincidental similarity to his original motif is debatable. |
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* ''Lando's Palace'' or the ''[[Cloud City]] march'' (Episodes V). A major-mode march, heard a few times in [[Lando Calrissian]]'s Palace during the [[Bespin]] sequences of ''Episode V''. |
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Williams' various themes do share certain connections, but they are basic enough as to nullify any attempts to categorize them except in the broadest of strokes, such as themes for the protagonists and themes for the antagonists. |
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===First appearance in ''Return of the Jedi''=== |
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}} |
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Williams scores the films one episode at a time and attempts to base each score on new material as much as possible. Therefore, the ''Imperial March'' makes no appearance in the original Star Wars, since Williams did not conceive of it until he was scoring ''The Empire Strikes Back'', and the same is true of ''Across the Stars'' and ''The Phantom Menace''.<ref name=":7" /> Other themes get abandoned, like the Droid motive from ''The Empire Strikes Back'' or the original Imperial motives of the original ''Star Wars.'' Between trilogies, Williams had often changed his way of using leitmotifs, moving from long-lined melodies in the classic trilogy to shorter, more rhythmic ideas in the prequel trilogy. |
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* ''Jabba's Theme'' (Episodes I, IV, and VI). A rolling, bulbous tuba theme for the slug-like [[Jabba the Hutt]], it is played during the opening act of Episode VI, which takes place at Jabba's Palace. It is also played during the added Jabba scene in the 1997 Special Edition of Episode IV, and in a slightly disguised form before the pod-race in Episode I. |
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<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:JabbasTheme.png]] --> |
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=== The use of the themes in the scores === |
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* The ''Emperor's Theme'' (Episodes I, II, III and VI). The theme for [[Palpatine]], aka Darth Sidious. More generally, it portrays the dark side itself. Consists of an ominous melody built over alternating, chromatically related chords and often sung by a male choir. In Episodes I and II, it is used to represent the growing power of the mysterious Darth Sidious, most notably in the scene in the Naboo capital at the end of the first film, where it is performed in a major key by a child chorus as celebratory music (symbolically representing the hidden victory of Palpatine's overall plan). In Episode III it is played as Sidious' true identity is unmasked and as he lays the foundation for the Empire. In Episode VI, it is used to represent the Emperor, and plays whenever he is on screen. |
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Williams does not always use his themes in a strictly narrative sense. In almost each entry, he will occasionally use a theme seemingly at random, purely because its mood fits the scene. [[Princess Leia's Theme]] is used for the death of [[Obi-Wan Kenobi]] in the original ''Star Wars'', which has little to do with her character even though she is present in the scene.{{efn|Since the princess is present at Ben's death, her theme is said to "''represents Luke's and the Princess' reaction to leaving Ben behind''"<ref>Star Wars, [http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/swlp.htm Liner Notes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212162233/http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/swlp.htm |date=December 12, 2017 }}</ref> although the romantic explanation has been favored by Adams and Michael Matessimo, the author of the special edition liner notes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mahawa.jw-music.net/scores/swse.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130111326/http://mahawa.jw-music.net/scores/swse.htm|url-status=dead|title=Star Wars - Special Edition|archivedate=January 30, 2016|website=mahawa.jw-music.net}}</ref>}} Yoda's Theme appears several times during the Cloud City sequences in ''The Empire Strikes Back''. The concert piece [[Duel of the Fates]] is used several times throughout the prequel trilogy, appearing over the entire final battle in ''The Phantom Menace'' (as opposed to just the lightsaber duel for which it was written); [[Anakin Skywalker]]'s search for his mother in ''Attack of the Clones''; and the unrelated Yoda and [[Darth Sidious]]'s duel in ''Revenge of the Sith.'' Williams' original composition for the Geonosis Battle Arena in ''Attack of the Clones,'' a variation on the Droid Army March, was used for the Utapau assault in ''Revenge of the Sith''. Multiple uses of the Force Theme are also non-thematic.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Ross |first1=Alex |title=A Field Guide to the Musical Leitmotifs of "Star Wars" |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-field-guide-to-the-musical-leitmotifs-of-star-wars |magazine=The New Yorker |date=3 January 2018 |access-date=December 24, 2019 |archive-date=September 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190920222535/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-field-guide-to-the-musical-leitmotifs-of-star-wars |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:EmperorsThemeSnippet.png]] --> |
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This also happens through the use of tracked music. ''Attack of the Clones'', the first film to be shot digitally, had major edits made after the scoring process, leading to the inclusion of tracked music over many of the digitally created sequences such as the Droid Factory on Geonosis or the Clone Army's arrival to the battle. These scenes used music such as Yoda's theme or incidental music from ''The Phantom Menace'' with little dramatic connection to what is occurring on screen. Musical similarities exist between the final scenes of ''The Phantom Menace'' with Finn's confession to Rey in ''The Force Awakens'', probably a result of temp-track choice.{{efn|However, ''some'' of the music in the later films was always intended to be acquired through tracking of pre-existing material, and some of the tracking choices are very deliberate.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}}} In other cases, the material was not tracked but rather lifted from the original composition and re-recorded, such as in the big action scenes of ''Return of the Jedi'', both of which lift material from the Battle of Yavin and Ben's death. Other composers to have used Williams' themes in spinoff materials have likewise sometimes used them loosely. |
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* The ''[[Ewok|Ewok's]] Theme'' or {{audio|EwoksThemeSnippet.mid|''Parade of the Ewoks''}} (Episode VI). The [[Sergei Prokofiev|Prokofiev]]-styled theme for the Ewoks, who live on the [[forest moon of Endor]]. It is played at the Ewok village, during the forest battle and in the End Credits of Episode VI. |
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* ''Luke and Leia'' (Episode VI). The theme for the link between Leia and her brother Luke in Episode VI. Heard only twice in the actual film; the extended concert suite that Williams composed for it is clearly greater than the sum of its uses. In some ways a more mature theme than the outwardly romantic Leia and Han Solo and Princess themes. |
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*''Victory Celebration'' (Episode VI). The theme signifying the victory of the Alliance and the culmination of the entire saga. Its music has various animal calls, flutes and is played mostly at the Ewok village where everybody celebrates. The original music was replaced by this theme in the 1997 Special Edition, in order to accommodate new scenes on Tatooine, Naboo, Bespin & Coruscant. |
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Over the long period in which the films were made, many of the themes changed their initial meaning: By the time of The Empire Strikes Back, the Luke Skywalker material and the theme of Old Ben were already rebranded as the "Star Wars Main theme" and "The Force Theme", respectively, by Williams. The Rebel Fanfare<ref name=":3">Doug Adams, [http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/backissues/viewissue.cfm?issueID=32 ''Sounds of the Empire: Analysing the themes of the Star Wars Trilogy''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806223711/http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/backissues/viewissue.cfm?issueID=32 |date=August 6, 2017 }}, in: ''Film Score Monthly'' (Volume 4, number 5), pp. 22–47.</ref> (initially, the fanfare of the Blockade Runner) eventually turned into the theme of the Millennium Falcon. |
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He also received the 1977 [[Saturn Award for Best Music]] for both the Star Wars score and his score for ''[[Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]''.<ref name=saturnawards>{{cite web|title=Past Saturn Awards|url=http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html|publisher=Saturn Awards|accessdate=19 January 2013}}</ref> |
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== Themes == |
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Williams's score for the 1980 sequel, ''The Empire Strikes Back'', also earned him a number of awards: |
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{{Excessive citations|date=October 2023}} |
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* BAFTA Award for Best Film Music at the [[34th British Academy Film Awards]] in 1980<ref name=bafta-1980>{{cite web|title=Soundtrack 1980|url=http://www.bafta.org/awards-database.html?year=1980&category=Film&award=Original+Film+Music|work=BAFTA Awards Database|publisher=British Acacdemy of Film & Television Awards|accessdate=19 January 2013}}</ref> |
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Listed below are about 67 leitmotifs, based on primarily on Williams own notes and Frank Lehman's extensive catalogue, but also on Doug Adams ''et al'' analyses of the scores. Along with two themes Williams composed for ''Solo'' and two more for ''Galaxy's Edge'', his work of the series had accrued as many as 71 leitmotifs. The main new theme of each entry is highlighted: |
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* two awards at the [[1981 Grammy Awards]] for Best Instrumental Composition and Best Album Of Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special<ref name=grammy-1980>{{cite web|title=1908- 23rd Annual Grammy Awards|url=http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=&title=&year=1980&genre=All|publisher=Grammy Awards|accessdate=19 January 2013}}</ref> |
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===Original trilogy=== |
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''The Empire Strikes Back'' was also nominated in 1981 for Best Original Score the [[53rd Academy Awards]] (the award was won by [[Michael Gore]] for ''[[Fame (1980 film)|Fame]]'').<ref name=oscars-1981>{{cite web|title=The 53rd Academy Awards (1981) Nominees and Winners|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1981|publisher=The Academy Awards of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences|accessdate=19 January 2013}}</ref> |
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====''Star Wars (A New Hope)''==== |
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Williams's subsequent ''Star Wars'' film music was nominated for a number of awards; in 1984 his score for ''Return of the Jedi'' was nominated for Best Original Score at the [[56th Academy Awards]].<ref name=oscars-1984>{{cite web|title=The 56th Academy Awards (1984) Nominees and Winners|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1984|publisher=The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences|accessdate=19 January 2013}}</ref> His compositions for the [[Star Wars prequels|prequel trilogy]] also received nominations: the score for ''The Phantom Menace'' was nominated for Best Instrumental Composition at the [[2000 Grammy Awards]]<ref name=billboard-grammy-2000>{{cite journal|title=Final Nominations for the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards|journal=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=15 January 2000|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oQ0EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA73&dq=2000%20grammy%20awards%20phantom%20menace&pg=PA73#v=onepage&q=2000%20grammy%20awards%20phantom%20menace&f=false|page=73}}</ref> and ''Revenge of the Sith'' was nominated at the [[2006 Grammy Awards]] for Best Soundtrack Album.<ref name=billboard-grammys-2006>{{cite journal|journal=Billboard|date=17 December 2005|title=Grammy Award Nominees |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dxMEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA60&dq=2006%20grammy%20awards%20%22revenge%20of%20the%20sith%22&pg=PA60#v=onepage |accessdate=19 January 2013|page=60}}</ref> |
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* "[[Star Wars (Main Title)|'''Luke's Theme (Star Wars Main Theme)''']]"<ref name=":21">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/swlp.htm|title=Star Wars - LP|website=www.jw-collection.de|access-date=June 10, 2017|archive-date=December 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212162233/http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/swlp.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":19">Frank Lehman, ''[https://franklehman.com/starwars/ The Complete Catalogue of Musical Themes of Star Wars] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011191650/https://franklehman.com/starwars/ |date=October 11, 2019 }}''.</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":24" /> |
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** "Luke's (Star Wars) Secondary Theme"<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":19" /> |
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* "The Rebel Spaceship Fanfare" (Millennium Falcon Theme)<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":21" /><ref name=":22">Michael Matessino, [http://mahawa.jw-music.net/scores/swse.htm Star Wars: A New Hope Special Edition Liner notes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130111326/http://mahawa.jw-music.net/scores/swse.htm |date=January 30, 2016 }}.</ref><ref name=":19" /> |
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* "Action Ostinato"<ref name=":3" /> |
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* "Old Ben's Theme (The Force Theme)"<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":21" /><ref name=":22" /><ref name=":19" /> |
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* "Jawa Theme"<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":21" /><ref name=":22" /><ref name=":19" /> |
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* "Princess Leia's Theme"<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":21" /><ref name=":22" /><ref name=":35">Karol Krok, [https://cbwritingblogblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/14/themes-of-star-wars-trilogy/ themes of the original trilogy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106063503/https://cbwritingblogblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/14/themes-of-star-wars-trilogy/ |date=January 6, 2018 }}, films on wax.</ref><ref name="web.archive.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.moviemusicuk.us/starwacd.htm |title=Star Wars |website=www.moviemusicuk.us |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020230931/http://www.moviemusicuk.us/starwacd.htm |archive-date=20 October 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{efn|Williams commented to having originally written this theme as a love theme for Leia and Luke.}} |
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* "Imperial Motif"<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":21" /><ref name=":22" /><ref name=":19" /> |
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* "Death Star Motif"<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":21" /><ref name=":22" /><ref name=":19" /> |
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* "Rebel Victory Theme"<ref name=":21" /><ref name=":22" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":19" /> |
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====''The Empire Strikes Back''==== |
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In 2005 the 1977 soundtrack for ''Star Wars'' was voted as the "most memorable film score of all time" by the [[American Film Institute]] in the list [[AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores]], based on the assessment of a jury of over 500 artists, composers, musicians, critics and historians from the film industry.<ref name=afi100>{{cite web|title=Star Wars Tops AFI's List of 25 Greatest Film Scores of All Time|url=http://www.afi.com/100years/scores.aspx|work=AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores|publisher=American Film Institute|accessdate=19 January 2013}}</ref> |
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''Returning: Star Wars Theme, Star Wars Secondary Theme, Rebel Fanfare, The Force, Princess Leia, Rebel Victory'' |
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* "'''[[The Imperial March]]" (Darth Vader's Theme)'''<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":23">Michael Matessino, [http://mahawa.jw-music.net/scores/tesbse.htm Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition liner notes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827171552/http://mahawa.jw-music.net/scores/tesbse.htm |date=August 27, 2017 }}.</ref><ref name=":24">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/tesblp.htm|title=The Empire Strikes Back - LP|website=www.jw-collection.de|access-date=June 10, 2017|archive-date=August 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807113659/http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/tesblp.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":19" /> |
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* {{audio|HanSoloandPrincessSnippet.mid|"Han Solo and the Princess"}}<ref name=":3" /><ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web|url=http://www.movie-wave.net/titles/empire_strikes_back.html|title=Williams: The Empire Strikes Back|website=www.movie-wave.net|access-date=February 19, 2017|archive-date=January 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112035929/http://www.movie-wave.net/titles/empire_strikes_back.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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* {{audio|YodasTheme.mid|"Yoda's Theme"}}:<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":24" /><ref name=":23" /><ref name=":19" />{{efn|This theme was also used briefly in Williams' score of E.T. when the figure of Yoda (here a boy in a costume) appeared on screen.}} |
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* "Droids Motif"<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":23" /><ref name=":19" /><ref name=":24" /> |
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* "Cloud City March"<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":23" /><ref name=":24" /><ref name=":19" /> |
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** "Cloud City Trap"<ref name=":23" /><ref name=":19" /> |
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* "[[Boba Fett]] Motif"<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":23" /><ref name=":19" /><ref name=":35" /><ref name="ReferenceC">{{Cite web|url=http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/empire.html|title=Filmtracks: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (John Williams)|access-date=February 18, 2017|archive-date=February 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208235425/http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/empire.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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* "Dark Side theme"<ref name=":19" /> |
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====''Return of the Jedi''==== |
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===Certifications=== |
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''Returning: Spaceship Dogfight Motif;'' ''Star Wars Theme, Secondary Star Wars Theme, Rebel Fanfare, The Force, Leia, the Imperial March, Han Solo and the Princess, Yoda'' |
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The soundtracks to both ''[[Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (soundtrack)|Star Wars]]'' and ''[[Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (soundtrack)|The Phantom Menace]]'' have been certified Platinum by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]], for shipments of at least 1 million units, with the albums for ''[[Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (soundtrack)|The Empire Strikes Back]]'' and ''[[Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (soundtrack)|Attack of the Clones]]'' being certified Gold (500,000 units).<ref>[http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=Star%20Wars&artist=&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25 RIAA: Certifications]</ref> The [[British Phonographic Industry]] certified ''Star Wars'' and ''The Phantom Menace'' as Gold for shipments of over 100,000 units in the UK.<ref>[http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx Certified Awards Search - BPI]</ref> |
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* '''{{audio|EwoksThemeSnippet.mid|"Parade of the Ewoks"}}'''<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":25">Michael Matessino, [http://mahawa.jw-music.net/scores/rotjse.htm Return of the Jedi: Special Edition liner notes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828144309/http://mahawa.jw-music.net/scores/rotjse.htm |date=August 28, 2017 }}</ref><ref name=":19" /> |
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** "Primitive Ewok Theme"<ref name=":2">Doug Adams, [http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/backissues/viewissue.cfm?issueID=28 ''A Return or a New Hope?''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714095217/https://www.filmscoremonthly.com/backissues/viewissue.cfm?issueID=28 |date=July 14, 2022 }} In: ''Film Score Monthly'', Volume 4, number 7, pp. 32–34.</ref><ref name=":19" /> |
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* "The Emperor's Theme"'''<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":19" /><ref name=":25" /><ref name=":35" /><ref name=":5">{{cite web |url=http://www.moviemusicuk.us/jedicd.htm |title=Return of the Jedi |website=www.moviemusicuk.us |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307054714/http://www.moviemusicuk.us/jedicd.htm |archive-date=7 March 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>''' |
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* "Jabba The Hutt Theme"<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":25" /><ref name=":19" /><ref name=":35" /><ref name=":28">{{Cite web|url=https://www.filmtracks.com/titles/jedi.html|title=Filmtracks: Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (John Williams)|website=www.filmtracks.com|access-date=July 14, 2022|archive-date=July 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714092449/https://www.filmtracks.com/titles/jedi.html|url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|This motif was also re-tracked into the Special Edition of ''A New Hope'' from ''Return of the Jedi''.}} |
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* "Brother and Sister Arpeggios"<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":25" /><ref name=":19" /> |
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* "Triumph Fanfare"<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":19" /> |
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* "Trap motif"<ref name=":19" /> |
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* "Luke and Leia Theme"<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":19" /><ref name=":25" /> |
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* First reprisal: "Spaceship Dogfight motif"<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":19" /> |
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=== Prequel trilogy === |
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==Minor motifs== |
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==== ''The Phantom Menace'' ==== |
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In addition to these major leitmotifs, a host of subsidiary motifs occur throughout the six films, some whose existence is tied to a single scene, others which recur infrequently, or are given to little development. These include: |
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''Returning: Star Wars Theme, Stars Wars Secondary Theme, The Rebel Fanfare, The Force Theme, The Imperial March, Yoda's Theme, Jabba's Theme, The Emperor's Theme'' |
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* "'''[[Duel of the Fates]]'''"<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":8">Karol Krok, [https://cbwritingblogblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/06/the-themes-of-star-wars-episode-2-the-prequel-trilogy/ The themes of the Prequel Trilogy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115185418/https://cbwritingblogblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/06/the-themes-of-star-wars-episode-2-the-prequel-trilogy/ |date=January 15, 2018 }}, Films-on-wax.</ref><ref name=":19" /><ref>In [http://www.musicweb-international.com/film/jwilliamsinterview.html interviews] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629111857/http://www.musicweb-international.com/film/jwilliamsinterview.html |date=June 29, 2017 }}, Williams mentions "Duel of the Fates", Anakin's theme, "Jar Jar's music", as well as Qui-Gon's theme and the Trade Federation Droid Army March, from an interview in the making of the film.</ref><ref name=":44">{{Cite web|url=http://starwars.talkcity.com/starwars/trans/5-6-99.htmpl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991013020724/http://starwars.talkcity.com/starwars/trans/5-6-99.htmpl|archive-date=October 13, 1999|title=Star Wars: Star Wars Episode I the Phantom Menace}}</ref> |
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* "Young Anakin's Theme"<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":19" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite web|url=http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/phantom_menace.html|title=Filmtracks: Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (John Williams)|access-date=February 18, 2017|archive-date=February 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208212508/http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/phantom_menace.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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* "Droid Invasion March"<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":19" /><ref name="ReferenceE">{{Cite web|url = http://www.movie-wave.net/star-wars-the-phantom-menace/|title = Star Wars: The Phantom Menace|date = February 25, 2012|access-date = February 19, 2017|archive-date = July 15, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190715085421/http://www.movie-wave.net/star-wars-the-phantom-menace/|url-status = live}}</ref> |
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* "Qui-Gon's Motif"<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":19" /><ref name=":7" /> |
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* "Darth Maul Motif"<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":19" /><ref name="ReferenceF">{{cite web |url=http://www.moviemusicuk.us/phantmcd.htm |title=Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace |website=www.moviemusicuk.us |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307054734/http://www.moviemusicuk.us/phantmcd.htm |archive-date=7 March 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{efn|Other than the introduction fanfare, this theme is the first "none-pitched theme", based on whispering voices and percussion figures. The latter have been confused for a separate, secondary motif, specifically for Darth Maul or even for his probe droids, but Adams refers to them as mere "drum patterns" that are simply part of the theme.}} |
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* "Jar Jar's Theme"<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":19" /><ref name=":8" /> |
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* "Shmi's Theme"<ref name=":19" /> |
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====''Attack of the Clones''==== |
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* Jar Jar's Theme (Episode I) |
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''Returning: Shmi's Theme;'' ''Star Wars Theme, Star Wars Secondary Theme, The Rebel Fanfare, The Force Theme, The Imperial March, The Emperor's Theme, Young Anakin's Theme, Droid Invasion March, Duel of the Fates'' |
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* Darth Maul Motif (Episode I) |
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* "'''Across the Stars'''"<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":19" /><ref name=":31">Mark Richards, [http://www.filmmusicnotes.com/celebrating-star-wars-themes-part-5-of-6-across-the-stars/ Across the Stars: Analysis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228080141/http://www.filmmusicnotes.com/celebrating-star-wars-themes-part-5-of-6-across-the-stars/ |date=December 28, 2017 }}.</ref><ref name=":46">{{Cite web |url=http://jimlochner.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/FSM_TheHeiress.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=September 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022202522/http://jimlochner.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/FSM_TheHeiress.pdf |archive-date=October 22, 2016 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> |
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* Qui-Gon's Theme (Episode I) |
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** "Across the Stars" (second theme)<ref name=":19" /><ref name=":10" /><ref name=":8" /> |
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* The Flag Parade (Episode I) |
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* "Courting on Naboo Theme"<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":19" /><ref name=":8" /> |
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* Shmi's Theme (Episodes I, II, III) |
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* "Separatist Motif"<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":19" /> |
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* Secondary Droid March (Episode I, II, III) |
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* "Kamino Motif"<ref name=":10">John Takis, ''[http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/backissues/viewissue.cfm?issueID=62 Star Wars Episode Tunes: Attack on the Score] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806224736/http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/backissues/viewissue.cfm?issueID=62 |date=August 6, 2017 }}'', Film Score Monthly, pp. 18–23.</ref><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":49">Jon and Al Kaplan [http://jimlochner.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/FSM_TheHeiress.pdf mention] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022202522/http://jimlochner.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/FSM_TheHeiress.pdf |date=October 22, 2016 }} "minor-mode arpeggiations" as dominating this score, presumably referring to this motif. [http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/articles/2005/11_Apr---FSM_Forum_Star_Wars_Episode_III.asp Adams] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911161658/http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/articles/2005/11_Apr---FSM_Forum_Star_Wars_Episode_III.asp |date=September 11, 2017 }} also says that the leitmotifs in that score were "rhythmic" in nature. While Williams himself has said little of the leitmotifs of this score (outside of Across the Stars), Lucas is quoted on the album saying that Williams "heightens the mystery and suspense that drives the first half of the film", most likely referring to this motif, which is indeed confined to the first half of the film.</ref><ref name=":19" /> |
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* Arrival on Tatooine (Episodes I, IV) |
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** "Mystery Motif"<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":19" /> |
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* Separatists' Theme (Episode II) |
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* Kamino Motif (Episode II) |
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* Mourning Theme (Episode II) |
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* Count Dooku motif (Episode II) |
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* Bounty Hunter's Pursuit (Episode II) |
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* Jango's Escape (Episode II) |
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* Arena Theme (Episodes II and III) |
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* Tusken Raiders (Episode II, IV) |
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* Republic Motif (Episode III) |
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* Anakin's Betrayal (Episode III) |
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* Immolation Theme (Episode III) |
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* Grievous and the Droids (Episode III) |
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* Mystery of the Sith Motif (Episode III) |
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* Anakin's Dark Deeds (Episode III) |
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* Throne Room March (Episodes IV, V, VI; rerecorded for Episode III, but not used in the final cut) |
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* Here They Come! (Space battle motif) (Episodes IV, VI) |
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* Imperial Walkers (Episode V) |
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* Boba Fett motif (Episode V) |
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* The Asteroid Field (Episode V) |
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* Yoda's Revelation (Episode VI) |
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* |
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====''Revenge of the Sith''==== |
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==Diegetic music== |
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''Returning: Jedi Funeral Theme,'' ''Coruscant Fanfare;'' ''Star Wars Theme, Secondary Star Wars Theme, Leia's theme, The Rebel Fanfare, The Force Theme, The Imperial March, The Emperor's Theme, Young Anakin's Theme, Descent, Droid Invasion March, Duel of the Fates, Shmi, Across the Stars, Across the Stars (embryonic), Dark Side'' |
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[[Source cue|Diegetic]] music is music "that occurs as part of the action (rather than as background), and can be heard by the film's characters".<ref>{{Wiktionary-inline|diegetic|''Diegetic''}}.</ref> |
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* "'''[[Battle of the Heroes]]'''"<ref name=":19" /><ref name=":32">Mark Richards, [http://www.filmmusicnotes.com/celebrating-star-wars-themes-part-6-of-6-battle-of-the-heroes/ Battle of the Heroes: Analysis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119213527/http://www.filmmusicnotes.com/celebrating-star-wars-themes-part-6-of-6-battle-of-the-heroes/ |date=January 19, 2016 }}.</ref><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":36">Williams [http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/epi3_stuff.htm recalls] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807113722/http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/epi3_stuff.htm |date=August 7, 2017 }} to have written "three or four pieces of new material" for this installment, including "a couple of[...]lamentations[...]of Anakin's turn from the light to the dark", a "piece with a lot of percussion for Grievous" [http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/epi3.htm and] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823010528/http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/epi3.htm |date=August 23, 2017 }} "Battle of the Heroes[...]a motif based on four pitches." Ian Freer who was present at the recording, noted the lament and "variations to Qui-Gon’s funeral." Also based on the recording, John Crichton speaks of "the new theme" (Battle of the Heroes) which has "nine notes", the lament, Across the Stars, and "a reprise of a choral track from a previous score. This is probably the reprise of Qui-Gon’s funeral music."</ref><ref name=":45" /> |
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* ''Cantina Band'' and ''Cantina Band #2'' (Episode IV). Played in the Cantina on Tatooine. It is written for solo trumpet, saxophone, clarinet, Fender Rhodes piano, steel drum, synthesizer and various percussion. According to the [[Star Wars CCG]], the [[diegesis|diegetic]] title for the first Cantina band piece is "Mad About Me". The liner notes for the 1997 Special Edition release of the Episode IV soundtrack describe the concept behind these works as "several creatures in a future century finding some 1930's [[Benny Goodman]] swing band music ... and how they might attempt to interpret it". This piece also appears on an all the outtakes [[easter egg (media)|easter eggs]] on the DVDs from episode I and II <!-- Ep III had Hip Hop Yoda --> and on the bonus disc of the 2004 original trilogy DVD set. |
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* "[[General Grievous|General Grievous']] Motif"<ref name=":19" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name="ReferenceI">{{Cite web|url=http://www.movie-wave.net/titles/revenge_sith.html|title=Williams: Revenge of the Sith|access-date=January 8, 2016|archive-date=May 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150506035844/http://www.movie-wave.net/titles/revenge_sith.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":36" /> |
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* ''Jabba's Baroque Recital'' (Episode VI). Mozart-esque [[John Williams]] composition played while 3PO and R2 first arrive and play Jabba the message from Luke Skywalker. |
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* "Lament for Anakin Theme"<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":19" /> |
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* ''Lapti Nek'' (Episode VI). Lyrics written by [[Joseph Williams (musician)|Joseph Williams]] and translated into Huttese, this is played by the Max Rebo Band in Jabba the Hutt's palace (in the original cut of the movie). |
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* First reprisal: "Funeral Theme"<ref name=":19" /><ref name=":29">This is a piece of music written originally for Qui-Gon's funeral in The Phantom Menace. It was reprised and repurposed here as a general "funeral" theme, being woven into the lament material in "Anakin's Betrayal" and used for Padme's death and her later funeral.</ref><ref name=":40" /><ref name=":46" /> |
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* ''Jedi Rocks'' (composed by [[Jerry Hey]]) (Episode VI). This was composed to replace ''Lapti Nek'' for the 1997 Special Edition of the film. |
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* First reprisal: "Coruscant Fanfare"<ref name=":30">This fanfare from "He is the Chosen One", [http://jimlochner.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/FSM_TheHeiress.pdf recurs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022202522/http://jimlochner.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/FSM_TheHeiress.pdf |date=October 22, 2016 }} in "Palpatine's Teachings" for a transition to the view of Curoscant from Padme's abode. It was used in the finished film rather for a shot of Obi-Wan entering Bail Organa's ship.</ref><ref name=":45">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/epi3_themes.htm|title=STAR WARS - Episode III|access-date=April 14, 2018|archive-date=July 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714092403/http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/epi3_themes.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":46" /> |
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* ''Max Rebo Band Jams'' (Episode VI). Heard twice in the film, once after Jabba sends the Wookiee Chewbacca to jail, and again on Jabba's Sail Barge (hence its title). A recording of the first can be found on the official Star Wars Soundboards. |
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* ''Unknown Jabba Source Music'' (Episode VI). Not used or heard in the films, [[Joseph Williams (musician)|Joseph Williams]] is credited for a second source cue that has been lost. |
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* ''Ewok Feast'' and ''Part of the Tribe'' (Episode VI). Heard when Luke and company were captured by the Ewoks and brought to their treehouses. |
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* ''Ewok Celebration'' (Episode VI). The Victory Song, whose lyrics were written by [[Joseph Williams (musician)|Joseph Williams]], can be heard at the end of the original release of Return of the Jedi. |
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* ''Victory Celebration'' (Episode VI). The Victory Song at the end of Return of the Jedi 1997 re-edition. |
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* ''Tatooine Street Music'' (Episode I). [[Joseph Williams (musician)|Joseph Williams]] wrote four separate pieces of unusual, vaguely Eastern sounding source music for the streets of Mos Espa. |
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* ''Augie's Municipal Band'' (Episode I). Music played during the peace parade at the end of the film. |
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* ''Dex's Diner'' (Episode II) |
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* ''Unknown Episode II Source Cue'' (Episode II). A second source cue is credited to [[Joseph Williams (musician)|Joseph Williams]]' name for Episode II, but is not heard in the film. |
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* ''Arena Percussion'' (Episode II). Originally meant to accompany the Droid Factory sequence, [[Ben Burtt]]'s attempt at composition is instead shifted to the arena, replacing the predominantly unused [[John Williams]] cue "Entrance of the Monsters." |
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== |
===Sequel trilogy=== |
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==== ''The Force Awakens'' ==== |
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* ''Star Wars Main Theme'' (Episode IV). This concert suite combines "Main Title" with most of "End Title." It is the most often performed concert suite from ''Star Wars''. |
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''Returning: Star Wars Theme, Secondary Star Wars Theme, Millennium Falcon''{{efn|The Rebel Fanfare is often (but not always) used in the sequel trilogy scores with the Millennium Falcon. In his score to Solo, John Powell continued this trend, having said that in talking to Williams the former claimed that it was the motif's intended association all along.}}'', The Force theme, Leia's Theme, The Imperial March, Han Solo and the Princess'' |
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* ''Here They Come!'' (Episode IV). This concert suite is an expanded version of the latter part of the cue "Ben Kenobi's Death and TIE Fighter Attack". |
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* "'''[[Rey (Star Wars)|Rey]]'s Theme'''"<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|url = http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-star-wars-force-awakens-music-score-john-williams-20151217-story.html|title = John Williams on 'Force Awakens' score: 'I felt a renewed energy, and a vitality'|website = [[Los Angeles Times]]|date = December 18, 2015|access-date = June 10, 2017|archive-date = June 18, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180618204712/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-star-wars-force-awakens-music-score-john-williams-20151217-story.html|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name=":33">Mark Richards, [http://www.filmmusicnotes.com/themes-and-their-musical-meaning-in-star-wars-episode-vii-the-force-awakens/ The Force Awakens themes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106055645/http://www.filmmusicnotes.com/themes-and-their-musical-meaning-in-star-wars-episode-vii-the-force-awakens/ |date=January 6, 2018 }}.</ref><ref name=":19" /><ref name=":43">According to [http://www.jwfan.com/?p=8360 an interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409171442/http://www.jwfan.com/?p=8360 |date=April 9, 2018 }} with Williams, he composed themes for Rey, Kylo, Rey, the Resistance, Poe and Snoke. His end-credits suite, traditionally used to recapitulate the entire thematic glossary of the film, features the themes for Rey, Kylo (both themes), Poe, the Resistance and the Pursuit ostinato. Snoke's theme is not visited, although it has a dedicated track on the album.</ref> |
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* ''[[Princess Leia's Theme]]'' (Episode IV). This concert suite was recorded for the original soundtrack album. A portion of it is utilized in the end credits suite from Episode III. |
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** Rey's Chime Figure<ref name=":19" /> |
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* ''The Final Battle'' (Episode IV, Episode VI). This concert suite is a combination of cues heard when the ''Millennium Falcon'' arrives at the Death Star, when Obi-Wan is killed by Darth Vader and the subsequent escape from the Death Star and the Rebel assault on the Death Star. Parts of the Superstructure Chase cue from Return of the Jedi also appear in this concert suite. |
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** Rey's Gallop Figure<ref name=":19" /> |
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* ''The Throne Room'' (Episode IV). For concert performances, Williams created an extended version of the ceremonial music heard at the end of the original film. Though recorded numerous times, including by Williams himself, this piece was not featured on a ''Star Wars'' film soundtrack until ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]'', in which Williams incorporated the entire piece into the end credits suite. Due to time constraints, it was cut from the film. |
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* "[[Kylo Ren]]'s Fanfare"<ref name=":19" /><ref name=":33" /><ref name=":12" /><ref name=":13">{{Cite web|url = https://moviemusicuk.us/2015/12/21/star-wars-the-force-awakens-john-williams/|title = STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS – John Williams|date = December 21, 2015|access-date = February 19, 2017|archive-date = December 24, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151224162850/https://moviemusicuk.us/2015/12/21/star-wars-the-force-awakens-john-williams/|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name=":38">{{Cite web|url = https://variety.com/2015/music/awards/oscar-icons-williams-morricone-and-horner-loom-large-in-score-race-1201657637/|title = Film Score Icons Williams, Morricone and Horner Loom Large in Oscar Race|date = December 9, 2015|access-date = January 29, 2018|archive-date = December 11, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151211232345/http://variety.com/2015/music/awards/oscar-icons-williams-morricone-and-horner-loom-large-in-score-race-1201657637/|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name=":43" /><ref name=":53">{{cite web |url=https://www.theclicktrack.net/single-post/2017/12/21/Star-Wars-The-Last-Jedi |title=The Click Track |website=www.theclicktrack.net |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528134720/https://www.theclicktrack.net/single-post/2017/12/21/Star-Wars-The-Last-Jedi |archive-date=2018-05-28}}</ref> |
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* ''[[The Imperial March]]'' (Episode V). Premiered in a Williams concert five weeks before the movie was released. |
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** "Kylo Ren's Conflicted Motif"<ref>John Williams [https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-star-wars-force-awakens-music-score-john-williams-20151217-story.html refers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217120020/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-star-wars-force-awakens-music-score-john-williams-20151217-story.html |date=February 17, 2020 }} to a "more ruminative part" besides Kylo Ren's main theme, which he thought of as a "relative of Darth Vader." (the unabridged interview appears here: http://projectorandorchestra.com/john-williams-on-the-force-awakens-and-the-legacy-of-star-wars/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730042200/http://projectorandorchestra.com/john-williams-on-the-force-awakens-and-the-legacy-of-star-wars/ |date=July 30, 2019 }}) |
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* ''Yoda's Theme'' (Episode V). Premiered in a Williams concert five weeks before the movie was released. |
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The arpeggiated material that often introduces this motif often appears as a shorthand for the entire theme, and Lehman classifies it as a separate motif and [http://www.jwfan.com/?p=10681 Maurizio Caschetto] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429092640/http://www.jwfan.com/?p=10681 |date=April 29, 2018 }} follows in his lead.</ref><ref name=":33" /><ref name=":19" /><ref name=":13" /><ref name=":43" /> |
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* ''Han Solo and the Princess''. This concert suite is based on the love theme from Episode V. It contains a reference to Leia's theme. Notably, this piece has never been recorded by Williams, and in interviews he seems to have no memory of the theme. It was first recorded by Charles Gerhardt on his Empire Strikes Back album containing a reworked suite of the most memorable music from the movie. |
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* "First Order Theme"<ref name=":19" /> |
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* ''[[Jabba the Hutt]]'' (Episode VI). Concert suite based on Jabba the Hutt's theme which features an extended solo for tuba. The original soundtrack recording of this piece has been lost; however, an excerpt of it was utilized in the film, replacing "At the Court of Jabba the Hutt." This recording can be heard on the [[Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (soundtrack)#Star Wars Trilogy: The Original Soundtrack Anthology|Star Wars Trilogy Anthology]]. |
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* "Map Motif"<ref name=":19" /> |
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* ''[[Parade of the Ewoks]]'' (Episode VI). A concert suite based on the Ewok theme, most of which was used in the end credits. A revised version of this concert suite adds orchestral flourishes to the beginning of the piece. |
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* "March of the Resistance"<ref name=":33" /><ref name=":19" /><ref name=":13" /><ref name=":38" /> |
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* ''Luke and Leia'' (Episode VI). Much of this concert suite was incorporated into the end credits. It contains references, possibly unintentional, to both Yoda's theme and Leia's theme. |
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* "Tension figure"<ref name=":19" /> |
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* ''The Forest Battle'' (Episode VI). A concert suite based on "The Ewok Battle." The section from 2:33 to 2:49 is based on material from the alternative version of "Sail Barge Assault." |
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* "Pursuit Ostinato"<ref name=":33" /><ref name=":19" /><ref name="ReferenceJ">{{Cite web|url=http://www.movie-wave.net/star-wars-the-force-awakens/|title=Star Wars: The Force Awakens|date=December 20, 2015|access-date=February 19, 2017|archive-date=December 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223020941/http://www.movie-wave.net/star-wars-the-force-awakens/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":13" /><ref>This theme is often used in conjunction with the character of Finn, and was therefore often mistaken to be his theme, as well as for the [http://www.artofthescore.com.au/podcast/2018/4/3/episode-15-the-force-awakens-part-1 Millennium Falcon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528133248/http://www.artofthescore.com.au/podcast/2018/4/3/episode-15-the-force-awakens-part-1 |date=May 28, 2018 }}. Rather, it is a motif for the more comedic action sequences in the film, in which Finn's propensity to flee is used for comedic effect.</ref><ref name=":43" /> |
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* ''[[Duel of the Fates]]'' (Episode I). This concert arrangement of the theme was written for the end credits. |
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* "[[Poe Dameron]]'s Motif"<ref name=":33" /><ref name=":19" /> |
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* ''Anakin's Theme'' (Episode I). This concert arrangement of Anakin's theme was written to follow [[Duel of the Fates]] in the end credits. |
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* "Snoke's Theme"<ref name=":19" /><ref name=":33" /><ref name=":15">{{cite web |url=http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/please-your-platter-4-new-limited-edition-star-wars-force-awakens-vinyl-sets |title=Limited edition Star Wars: The Force Awakens vinyl sets available for pre-order - Syfy Wire |website=www.syfy.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712140730/http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/please-your-platter-4-new-limited-edition-star-wars-force-awakens-vinyl-sets |archive-date=2017-07-12}}</ref><ref name=":13" />{{efn|This theme is written for voices in the Basso Profundo range, and has drawn tenuous comparisons to Palpatine's Teachings, although the latter is based rather on [[overtone singing]].}} |
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* ''The Flag Parade'' (Episode I). An expanded version of the cue The Flag Parade (as seen in the OST release), Williams created an expanded concert suite that was not recorded for the original soundtrack. |
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* "Jedi Steps"<ref name=":19" /><ref name=":33" /><ref name=":15" /> |
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* ''The Adventures of Jar Jar'' (Episode I). This concert suite utilizes Jar Jar's theme and the cue "Moving Forward" (written for the scene in which the heroes return to Naboo). It was not recorded for the original soundtrack. |
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* ''Across the Stars'' (Episode II). It features a slow and tranquil opening, utilizing the oboe and strings heavily. Nearly the entire theme is underscored with triplet arpeggios. Finally, the end of this musical composition features a haunting solo by the harp, repeating the initial theme with colorful ornaments. Most of this concert suite was incorporated into the end credits. |
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* ''[[Battle of the Heroes]]'' (Episode III). To create this concert suite, Williams wrote a new introduction and conclusion to the cue "Revenge of the Sith," heard in the film during the final stage of the duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan. |
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==== ''The Last Jedi'' ==== |
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==Editing== |
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''Returning: Star Wars Theme, Secondary Star Wars Theme, Millennium Falcon, The Force Theme, Leia's Theme, Yoda's Theme, Luke and Leia, Han Solo and the Princess, The Imperial March, Spaceship Dogfight Motif, Death Star motif,<ref name=":50">{{Cite web|url = https://moviemusicuk.us/2017/12/19/star-wars-the-last-jedi-john-williams/|title = STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI – John Williams|date = December 19, 2017|access-date = April 30, 2018|archive-date = February 2, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180202175958/https://moviemusicuk.us/2017/12/19/star-wars-the-last-jedi-john-williams/|url-status = live}}</ref> The Emperor's Theme, Poe's Theme, Rey's Themes, Kylo Ren's themes, First Order, Tension figure, Snoke's Theme, Jedi Steps'' |
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The cues recorded by Williams for the ''Star Wars'' movies are not always heard in their original forms. In cases when a scene was re-edited after the recording process, the music was edited to reflect the changes. Such edits sometimes carry over into the soundtrack albums and sometimes do not. |
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* "'''Rose Tico's Theme'''"<ref name=":18">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jwfan.com/?p=10287|title='Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Original Soundtrack Album: First Impressions – JOHN WILLIAMS Fan Network – JWFAN|access-date=December 14, 2017|archive-date=December 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214182912/http://www.jwfan.com/?p=10287|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":19" /><ref name=":34" /><ref>http://www.waltdisneystudiosawards.com/media/pdf/SW_PRODUCTION_NOTES.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414234418/http://www.waltdisneystudiosawards.com/media/pdf/SW_PRODUCTION_NOTES.pdf |date=April 14, 2018 }}. Williams mentions a theme for Finn, but is most likely misremembering.</ref> |
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* "Luke's Island Motif"<ref name=":18" /><ref name=":19" /><ref name=":34">Mark Richards, [http://www.filmmusicnotes.com/new-musical-themes-and-their-meaning-in-the-last-jedi/ The Last Jedi themes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106063909/http://www.filmmusicnotes.com/new-musical-themes-and-their-meaning-in-the-last-jedi/ |date=January 6, 2018 }}.</ref><ref name=":37">{{Cite web|url = https://variety.com/2018/music/awards/john-williams-could-set-oscar-record-1202658996/|title = John Williams is on Target to Set Yet Another Oscar Record|date = January 10, 2018|access-date = January 29, 2018|archive-date = January 14, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180114104908/http://variety.com/2018/music/awards/john-williams-could-set-oscar-record-1202658996/|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name=":53" /> |
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* "Rebel Desperation Motif"<ref name=":19" /><ref name=":34" /> |
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==== ''The Rise of Skywalker'' ==== |
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Williams will also record the same cue several times. These different takes will then be assembled to form one "ideal" take of the cue which is then used in the film. |
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''Returning: Star Wars Theme, Secondary Star Wars Theme, Millennium Falcon, The Force Theme, Leia's Theme, Han Solo and the Princess, The Imperial March, The Emperor's Theme, Poe's Theme, Rey's Themes, Kylo Ren's themes, March of the Resistance, Luke and Leia, Yoda's Theme, Dark Side, Tension figure'' |
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Improper notation or the loss of documentation, however, led to an array of incorrectly edited album releases, using alternate takes not meant to be officially used. |
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* "'''The Trio Theme'''"<ref name=":19" /> |
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* "The Rise of Skywalker (Victory) Theme"<ref name=":19" /> |
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* "Anthem of Evil (Psalm of the Sith)"<ref name=":19" /> |
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* "Poe's Heroics Theme"<ref name=":19" /> |
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* "Sith Artifacts"<ref name=":19" /> |
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* "Knights of Ren Motif"<ref name=":19" /> |
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== Incidental motifs == |
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With the advent of modern technology and editing techniques, the prequels took the ability to re-construct the music to an extreme. Williams and Lucas however did decide where some tracked music would be used and would leave the scene open for the music (such as "Escape from Naboo" from Episode I and in Episode III as the ''Invisible Hand'' falls from space). |
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Since neither Williams nor his office ever provided a full list of the leitmotifs used in every ''Star Wars'' film, there is some controversy around the exact number of themes, with some taking an inclusive approach that identifies various leitmotifs, even where the composer probably never intended for,<ref>Such an approach is taken by the programs to the live-to-projection premiere, which is seemingly not based on new insight from Williams himself. |
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Such an approach was taken by the [http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/27124-star-wars-live-to-projection-concerts-begins-september-2017-david-newman-conducting-new-york-philharmonic/&page=4 programs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714092404/https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?%252Ftopic%252F27124-star-wars-live-to-projection-concerts-begins-september-2017-david-newman-conducting-new-york-philharmonic%252F=&page=4 |date=July 14, 2022 }} to the live-to-projection premiere of the Star Wars films, where numerous motifs were identified (seemingly with no new insight from Williams himself), including a rancor motif, a motif for the droids in the original Star Wars, etc... Others to have taken to such an approach are [http://starwarsmusic.pashamusic.com/ Alfred Surenyan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714092403/http://starwarsmusic.pashamusic.com/index.html |date=July 14, 2022 }} and [https://www.aaronkrerowicz.com/star-wars-blog/a-new-hope-index-of-musical-themes-and-motifs Aaron Krerowicz] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115184943/https://www.aaronkrerowicz.com/star-wars-blog/a-new-hope-index-of-musical-themes-and-motifs |date=January 15, 2018 }}. Even [https://www.blogger.com/profile/02790159104500713198 Ed Chang] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161128070702/https://www.blogger.com/profile/02790159104500713198 |date=November 28, 2016 }} does this with several minor motifs he attributes to the various Star Wars scores, including an "Imperial rhythmic motif", a " rhythmic Imperial skirmish motif", "exotic Bespin motif", "'one with the Force' motif", "trap theme", a "taking off motif", a secondary Droid march, an Utapau "motoric" motif, and a "Millennium Falcon rhythmic motif." Also see previous versions of this page.</ref> and others taking an exclusive, reductive approach. |
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Some of the more inclusive analyses identify themes that do not actually recur either in discrete cues nor even strewn across one long stretch of music.<ref>For instance, a multitude of motifs identified in these reviews: |
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However, further editing usually took place past what Williams had intended. |
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http://scoresheet.tripod.com/alpha.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501004444/http://scoresheet.tripod.com/alpha.html |date=May 1, 2018 }}</ref> This is the result of Williams' propensity (in these scores and otherwise) to write material that is either melodic, rhythmic, harmonic or timbral specifically to an individual setpiece or non-recurring plot element in the film, such as The Battle of Hoth, the Chase through Coruscant, or The Battle of Crait. These individual pieces of music – whether they consist of a full melody, ostinati, diegetic pieces or a certain timbre – have sometimes been described as having thematic significance,<ref>[http://starwarsmusic.pashamusic.com/ Alfred Surenyan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714092403/http://starwarsmusic.pashamusic.com/index.html |date=July 14, 2022 }} describes themes for the Flag Parade, the Arrival on Tatooine, Jango's Escape, Taun We (which is mentioned in Takis analysis, but as a setpiece-specific piece), Anakin's Dark Deeds, The Dune Sea, The Emperor's Throne Room, Starkiller Base, etc. Ed Chung describes an "escape theme" from the opening space battle of [http://cuebycue.blogspot.co.il/2016/05/star-wars-ep-iii-revenge-of-sith.html Revenge of the Sith] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828183748/http://cuebycue.blogspot.co.il/2016/05/star-wars-ep-iii-revenge-of-sith.html |date=August 28, 2017 }}, an Utapau motoric figure appearing in the fight with Grievous, an "[http://cuebycue.blogspot.co.il/search?q=strikes+back exotic Bespin motif] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714092431/http://cuebycue.blogspot.com/search?q=strikes+back |date=July 14, 2022 }}" for the finale of Empire Strikes Back, a "[http://cuebycue.blogspot.co.il/2016/04/star-wars-ep-i-phantom-menace-williams.html taking off] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828143800/http://cuebycue.blogspot.co.il/2016/04/star-wars-ep-i-phantom-menace-williams.html |date=August 28, 2017 }}" motif from "The Phantom Menace", etc...</ref> occasionally (in fleeting comments) even by Williams himself,<ref name=":20">Williams [http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/swlp.htm refers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212162233/http://www.jw-collection.de/scores/swlp.htm |date=December 12, 2017 }} to the use of "bouncing" horns in Star Wars as a "motif" for Luke's Landspeeder, although it is based on no fixed recurring melodic or rhythmic idea. He also [https://www.jwfan.com/?page_id=4585 once] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316193900/http://www.jwfan.com/?page_id=4585 |date=March 16, 2018 }} referred to the material for the Battle of Hoth as "thematic", but Matessino's notes ultimately [http://mahawa.jw-music.net/scores/tesbse.htm conclude] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827171552/http://mahawa.jw-music.net/scores/tesbse.htm |date=August 27, 2017 }} that "thematic material is deffered" in the piece. Lehman makes no mention of either motif, even as "incidental" motifs, and in fact stressed that "Themes for self-contained, non-repeating set-pieces are not included." Adams also does not list any setpiece-specific material in his thematic analyses, but did [http://jimlochner.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/FSM_TheHeiress.pdf mention] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022202522/http://jimlochner.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/FSM_TheHeiress.pdf |date=October 22, 2016 }} that "the walker attack on Hoth[...]was assigned a memorable and fully realized standalone melody" but, unlike the melody of "The TIE fighters chasing the Millennium Falcon away from the Death Star", which went on to recur in a later installment, this motif (like the Asteroid Field music) is used "with less thought toward a score-length arc of material than toward a series of self-contained vignettes." In the prequels, ostinati-based pieces such as Chase through Coruscant or Jango Fett's escape are described by Adams not as melodies but as "shorter, chunkier motives seldom longer than a measure or two, and often more rhythmic than melodic" and as "terse" and "episodic." [http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/daily/aticle.cfm?articleID=3866 Jeff Bonds] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616153835/http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/daily/aticle.cfm?articleID=3866 |date=June 16, 2020 }} also mentions that the former sequence features "no theme hitting them [the audience] over the head."</ref> but since they do not recur in a different part of the narrative, nor are transformed from or into another motif, they do not comply with the definition of a leitmotif. |
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==Film soundtracks== |
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* ''[[Star Wars (soundtrack)|Star Wars]]'' (1977) |
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* ''[[The Empire Strikes Back (soundtrack)|The Empire Strikes Back]]'' (1980) |
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* ''[[Return of the Jedi (soundtrack)|Return of the Jedi]]'' (1983) |
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* ''[[Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (soundtrack)|Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace]]'' (1999) |
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* ''[[Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (soundtrack)|Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones]]'' (2002) |
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* ''[[Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (soundtrack)|Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith]]'' (2005) |
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* ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)|Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]'' (2008) |
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*The original trilogy's soundtracks were re-released in 2007, marketing them as "the complete score." They were released by Sony Classical. |
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*The prequels (excluding ''Episode I'') were re-released in 2007<!-- correct if wrong -->, also marketing them as the Ultimate Edition. They were also released by Sony. |
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Even when some of these figures do recur, it is often unclear whether they are substantial enough to be assigned with thematic significance, as these instances often includes material that is incidental in nature, such as several figures used in the finale of ''The Empire Strikes Back''; material that is purely rhythmic or timbral like various "bouncing" horn figures for Luke's landspeeder search in the original ''Star Wars,''<ref name=":20" /> material that is of a generic nature, such as his use of "mournful homophonic" choir in ''The Last Jedi'' for climactic moments; or material that is part of Williams' stylistic choices as a composer, more than a thematic statement unique to the series. For instance, his use of tritones often denotes mystery, a device he uses for the droids landing on Tatooine and again in the concert arrangement of "The Throne Room."<ref name=":3" /> |
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==Other ''Star Wars'' music== |
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In fact, sometimes the supposedly recurring material is similar, but not in fact identical. A good example would be the variety of gestures relating to the dark side, following a piece of music used in the opera-house scene. Lehamn however clarifies that those alleged following statements are "similar but inexact" to the earlier gesture.<ref name=":19" /> |
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===Expanded Universe scores=== |
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Incidental music has been composed in the style of John Williams for a number of films, television programmes and computer games which have been produced which depict characters and situations within the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]], the extended franchise licensed by Lucasfilm. These scores often borrow thematic material from the film scores as well as introducing original composition. |
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Sometimes, the recurring material is question is not part of the original composition but is rather tracked after-the-fact, or at least lifted, from existing material into a different section of the film, or from material that is recapitulated in a concert piece or end-credits suite. This includes the [[Podracing]] fanfare and the ostinato accompaniment of the Rebel Fanfare,<ref name=":3" /> which otherwise does not appear isolated from the unabridged theme more than once; the mournful writing for French horn at Shmi's funeral, the Arena March from ''Attack of the Clones<ref name=":10" />''<ref name=":19" /> etc. |
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====Star Wars Holiday Special==== |
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Original music was composed for ''[[Star Wars Holiday Special]]'' television special (1978) by Ken and Mitzie Welch. The film also used the ''Star Wars'' main theme and the force theme, which were composed by John Williams. |
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==Themes in the Anthology films== |
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====Ewoks==== |
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[[File:Michael Giacchino Sep 2017.jpg|thumb|[[Michael Giacchino]], the composer of ''[[Rogue One]]'']]The first ''Star Wars Anthology'' score for ''[[Rogue One]]'', written by [[Michael Giacchino]], utilizes several themes (and recurring interstitial material) from John Williams, mostly for their Romantic sweep (such as The Force Theme and hints of the Main Theme). It has its own catalog of themes, independent from Williams' material, including a new, third theme for the Empire, although Giacchino also quotes both the original Imperial Motif and The Imperial March. |
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For the films ''Caravan of Courage'' and ''Ewoks: The Battle for Endor'', Peter Bernstein composed an original score, also using a brief reprise of John Williams' Ewok theme (from ''Return of the Jedi'') in both films. The album was officially released as a 12-inch LP record by Varése Sarabande on December 8, 1986. |
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=== ''Rogue One'' === |
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The LP was later bootlegged onto CD in 1999 and retitled "Star Wars: Ewoks". The bootleg has a number of discrepancies including an incorrect track arrangement, incorrect track names and incorrect track times. So called "Additional Material" on the bootleg was never officially sanctioned by Lucasfilm Ltd. and is in fact made up of three tracks cobbled together from tracks from the Star Wars Trilogy: The Original Soundtrack Anthology & various releases of the ''Return of the Jedi'' soundtrack. |
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''Returning: Luke's Theme, Rebel Fanfare, The Force Theme, Leia's Theme, Imperial Motif, Death Star Motif, The Imperial March'' |
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* Jyn's Theme |
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* Hope Theme |
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* Guardians of the Whills Theme |
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* Imperial Theme (Krennic's Theme) |
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<ref name="ReferenceK">{{Cite web|url=http://www.movie-wave.net/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story/|title=Rogue One: A Star Wars Story|date=December 23, 2016|access-date=February 19, 2017|archive-date=February 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215131902/http://www.movie-wave.net/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="moviemusicuk.us">{{Cite web|url=https://moviemusicuk.us/2016/12/20/rogue-one-michael-giacchino/|title=ROGUE ONE – Michael Giacchino|date=December 20, 2016|access-date=February 19, 2017|archive-date=February 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215195737/https://moviemusicuk.us/2016/12/20/rogue-one-michael-giacchino/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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===''Solo''=== |
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=====Track Listing (Official 1986 12" LP Release)===== |
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For ''[[Solo: A Star Wars Story|Solo]]'', John Williams wrote and recorded a concert arrangement for a new theme for Han Solo. In the process of composing the theme, Williams ended up using two separate ideas, each conveying a different aspect of the character, and went as far as to spot the film for places to use each motif; all other leitmotifs and other material were written and adapted by [[John Powell (film composer)|John Powell]], the main composer for the film.<ref name=":27">{{Cite web|url = https://variety.com/2017/film/news/john-williams-star-wars-composer-han-solo-movie-theme-1202650282/amp/|title = 'Solo' Locks in Key 'Star Wars' Veteran (EXCLUSIVE)|date = December 30, 2017|access-date = January 29, 2018|archive-date = January 30, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180130062558/http://variety.com/2017/film/news/john-williams-star-wars-composer-han-solo-movie-theme-1202650282/amp/|url-status = live}}</ref> |
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Side A |
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#A1. Trek (Caravan of Courage) 1:53 |
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#A2. Intro/Main Title (Caravan of Courage) 02:47 |
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#A3. Noa & Terak (Battle for Endor) 03:50 |
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#A4. Teek (Battle for Endor) 02:44 |
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#A5. Set Up/Terak's Theme (Battle for Endor) 03:09 |
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#A6. Noa's Ark (Battle for Endor) 02:09 |
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#A7. Izrina (Caravan of Courage) 01:31 |
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''Returning: Spaceship Dogfight motif, Star Wars Theme, Millennium Falcon theme, Duel of the Fates, The Imperial March, The Imperial motif, Death Star Motif'', ''The Asteroid Field'', ''Imperial Cruiser Pursuit'', ''Droids Motif'' |
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Side B |
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#B1. Flying (Caravan of Courage) 02:46 |
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#B2. Good Night, Bad Dreams (Battle for Endor) 03:11 |
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#B3. Poker Game (Battle for Endor) 02:15 |
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#B4. Pulga Chase (Caravan of Courage) 02:40 |
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#B5. The House (Battle for Endor) 01:39 |
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#B6. Escape (Battle for Endor) 01:30 |
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#B7. Farewell (Battle for Endor) 03:46 |
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By John Williams: |
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Total Duration: 00:35:50 |
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* Han Solo's Theme<ref name=":27" /> |
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** "Han Solo's Searching theme"<ref>According to John Powell, "The Adventures of Han" contains two themes which Williams develops separately (to the point of spotting them for a couple of actual cues), one more heroic, the other – more reflective.</ref> |
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By John Powell: |
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====''Shadows of the Empire''==== |
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* Chewbacca's Theme |
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<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:Swsote.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The cover of Joel McNeely's soundtrack to ''Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire''.]] --> |
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* Han and Qi'Ra's Love Theme |
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For the ''[[Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire|Shadows of the Empire]]'' media project, an unusual soundtrack was scored by composer [[Joel McNeely]] after a suggestion by [[John Williams]]. It was performed by the [[Royal Scottish National Orchestra]] and Chorus, and published by [[Varèse Sarabande]]. Familiar themes from the movies can only be heard in tracks one (Main Theme from ''Star Wars'' and the carbon freeze scene from ''The Empire Strikes Back''), eight ([[The Imperial March]] and [[The Force Theme]]) and ten ([[The Imperial March]]). The disc also includes an interactive track for personal computers, containing concept art and additional information about the project. |
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* L3'S Theme |
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* Crew theme |
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* Enfys Nest Theme |
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* Crime Syndicate Motif (Vos's Theme) |
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== |
==Concert suites== |
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Instead of offering a full recording release of a particular film, Williams typically releases a condensed score on album,{{efn|The first three scores received an expanded Anthology release and finally an effectively complete release in 1996. The Phantom Menace was also released in an "Ultimate Edition", featuring a lot of added cues but also multiple instances of tracked music, hence lacking a lot of original music that was not used as intended by the composer in the finished film. The Last Jedi received an isolated score release, albeit again not including unused material and maintaining tracked sequences.}} in which the music is arranged out of the film order and more within the veins of a concert program. These album releases typically include several concert suites, written purely for the end credits or the album itself, where a specific theme is developed continuously throughout the piece. Williams also re-edited some of his existing cues after the fact in order to "concertize" theme on the behest of conductors such as Charles Gerhardt. Five of the eight films also have unique credit suites that feature alternate concert arrangements of themes and/or a medley of the main themes of a particular film. |
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#Main Theme from Star Wars and Leia's Nightmare (3:41) |
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#The Battle of Gall (7:59) |
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#Imperial City (8:02) |
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#Beggar's Canyon Chase (2:56) |
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#The Southern Underground (1:48) |
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#Xizor's Theme (4:35) |
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#The Seduction of Princess Leia (3:38) |
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#Night Skies (4:17) |
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#Into the Sewers (2:55) |
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#The Destruction of Xizor's Palace (10:43) |
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=== Original Trilogy === |
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Total time: 58:31 |
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''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'' |
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* "Main Title" |
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* "[[Princess Leia's Theme]]" |
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* "The Little People" |
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* "Cantina Band" |
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* "Here They Come!" |
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* "The Battle" |
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* "Throne Room and End Title" |
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<ref name="filmtracks.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/star_wars.html|title=Filmtracks: Star Wars: A New Hope (John Williams)|access-date=February 18, 2017|archive-date=February 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209051834/http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/star_wars.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="web.archive.org"/><ref name="movie-wave.net">{{Cite web|url=http://www.movie-wave.net/titles/star_wars.html|title=Williams: Star Wars|access-date=February 19, 2017|archive-date=January 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112035129/http://www.movie-wave.net/titles/star_wars.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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''Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back'' |
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The liner notes of the booklet give brief plot summaries for each track of the corresponding sections from the novel. McNeely wrote, "Unlike with film music, I have been allowed to let my imagination run free with the images, characters and events from this story. I have also had the luxury to loiter as long as I like with a character or scene. Every passage represents some person, place or event in this story." |
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* "[[The Imperial March]]" |
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* "Yoda's Theme" |
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* "Han Solo and the Princess (1980)" |
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* "Han Solo and the Princess (2018)"{{efn|While the original track is a film cue, Williams created a new suite based on it in 2018.}} |
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<ref name="ReferenceC"/><ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite web |url=http://www.moviemusicuk.us/empirecd.htm |title=The Empire Strikes Back |website=www.moviemusicuk.us |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090929014718/http://www.moviemusicuk.us/empirecd.htm |archive-date=29 September 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA"/> |
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''Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi'' |
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* "[[Parade of the Ewoks]]" |
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Music for the 1995 computer game ''[[Star Wars: Dark Forces]]'' was mostly original works composed by [[Clint Bajakian]], though they are based on cues from the original Star Wars works. The background music for the Anoat City level was loosely based on the Jawa theme from A New Hope. The music for the level that takes place aboard the [[Super Star Destroyer]] [[Executor]] borrows from both the Death Star Attack and the [[Imperial March]]. The last level, the Arc Hammer, utilizes cues from the Death Star Battle as well. Due to the length of the game itself and the ''[[Full Throttle (1995 video game)|Full Throttle]]'' demo included on the disk, some of the tracks had to be re-used. Two new cues were composed for this game, which are the Dark Forces Main Title and [[Kyle Katarn]]'s Theme. The Main Title is supposedly the theme for General Mohc, as an online [[MIDI]] soundtrack is available which has an alternative arrangement of the main theme titled "Mohc: The Final Battle". Kyle's theme is used primarily in the cutscenes, and a nearly complete rendition is heard in the cutscene preceding the second level, After the Massacre. Three tracks were composed for the game which weren't included, and they are a battle theme for the first encounter with a Dark Trooper, a theme for Jabba's Ship (with apparently no ties to the theme used for Jabba the Hutt in Episode VI), and the final battle with the last boss in the game, General Mohc in a Dark Trooper Phase 3 exoskeleton. |
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* "Luke and Leia" |
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* "Jabba the Hutt" |
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* "The Forest Battle" |
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<ref name=":28"/><ref name=":5"/> |
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====''Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic''==== |
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Music for ''[[Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic]]'' was composed by [[Jeremy Soule]]. For ''[[Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords]]'', [[Mark Griskey]] developed music and themes for characters and places, including the Jedi's theme, [[Darth Sion]]'s theme and [[Darth Malak]]'s theme (which both have many similarities with the Emperor's theme from ''The Return of the Jedi''). He also created a theme for the main character, which is heard occasionally when he or she experiences internal conflict. The 70-minute score was recorded by the Sinfonia Orchestra in [[Seattle]].<ref>[http://www.music4games.net/Features_Display.aspx?id=68 Interview with Mark Griskey]</ref> The opening crawl still uses the version of William's theme that was re-recorded for the prequel trilogy. |
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=== |
=== Prequel Trilogy === |
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''Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace'' |
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In the computer game ''[[Star Wars: Republic Commando]]'', the ''Vode An'' theme plays in the main menu and several key points throughout the game content (such as when the player's clone commandos defeats a large group of enemies). The ''Vode An'' theme, as well as several other key music pieces, has additional choral lyrics in the Mandalorian language. |
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* "[[Duel of the Fates]]" |
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* "Anakin's Theme" |
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* "The Adventures of Jar Jar" |
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* "The Flag Parade" |
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<ref name=":7"/><ref name="ReferenceF"/><ref name="ReferenceE"/> |
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''Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones'' |
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=====Track listing===== |
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* "Across the Stars"{{efn|There's an alternate presentation over the end-credits, featuring a hint of Anakin's theme as an ending coda.}} |
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#Vode An (Brothers All) - 1:58 |
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<ref name=":9">{{Cite web|url=https://www.filmtracks.com/titles/attack_clones.html|title=Filmtracks: Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (John Williams)|website=www.filmtracks.com|access-date=July 14, 2022|archive-date=July 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714092431/https://www.filmtracks.com/titles/attack_clones.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceG">{{cite web |url=http://www.moviemusicuk.us/aotccd.htm |title=Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones |website=www.moviemusicuk.us |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090929014510/http://www.moviemusicuk.us/aotccd.htm |archive-date=29 September 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceH">{{Cite web|url=http://www.movie-wave.net/titles/attack_clones.html|title=Williams: Attack of the Clones|website=www.movie-wave.net|access-date=February 19, 2017|archive-date=May 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512031025/http://www.movie-wave.net/titles/attack_clones.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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#Prologue - 3:24 |
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#The Egg Room - 2:34 |
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#Gra'tua Cuun (Our Vengeance) - 2:33 |
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#Improvised Entry - 1:34 |
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#They Must Be Asleep - 1:23 |
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#The Ghost Ship - 2:24 |
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#Ka'rta Tor (One Heart of Justice) - 1:54 |
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#Com Interference - 2:16 |
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#The Jungle Floor - 2:46 |
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#RV Alpha - 1:55 |
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#Through the Canopy - 1:15 |
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#Rage of the Shadow Warriors - 2:02 |
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#Make Their Eyes Water - 1:23 |
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#Kachirho by Night Vision - 1:23 |
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''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'' |
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Total time: 28:04 |
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* "[[Battle of the Heroes]]" |
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<ref name=":16">{{Cite web|url=http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/revenge_sith.html|title=Filmtracks: Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (John Williams)|access-date=February 18, 2017|archive-date=July 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714092432/https://www.filmtracks.com/titles/revenge_sith.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":17">{{cite web |url=http://www.moviemusicuk.us/revengesithcd.htm |title=Movie Music UK – Revenge of the Sith – John Williams |website=www.moviemusicuk.us |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081022015000/http://www.moviemusicuk.us/revengesithcd.htm |archive-date=22 October 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceI"/> |
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=== |
=== Sequel Trilogy === |
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''Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens''<ref name=":14">As with other long-lined themes on this list, components of Rey's theme have been described as independent leitmotifs, namely the wind and chime introduction figures of the unabridged theme. In his [https://makingstarwars.net/2017/05/the-cantina-cast-177-the-music-of-star-wars-and-john-williams/ commentary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928055844/https://makingstarwars.net/2017/05/the-cantina-cast-177-the-music-of-star-wars-and-john-williams/ |date=September 28, 2017 }} on the score, Doug refers to the piece as a single theme. He also refers to the variation heard in the end-credits as "Rey's theme in counterpoint[...]with The Force theme."</ref> |
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Music for the computer game ''[[Star Wars: TIE Fighter]]'' contains many themes from the original trilogy, however, many motifs (such as the Imperial March motifs) which were originally composed as dark motifs are used as heroic motifs. This is consistent with the theme of the game, where the player plays as an Imperial TIE Fighter pilot. |
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* "Rey's Theme" |
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* "March of the Resistance" |
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* "Adagio"{{efn|Features a variation of "The Starkiller", premiered in 2019.}} |
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* "Scherzo for X-Wings"{{efn|Features a variation of Luke's theme.}} |
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* "The Jedi Steps" |
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<ref name=":14"/><ref name=":13"/><ref name="ReferenceJ"/> |
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''Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi'' |
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The in-game music played during flight sequences (missions) uses the [[iMuse]] game engine. This uses [[leitmotif]]s to vary the music played during missions depending on the actions of the player or other mission events. For example, a special motif is played when player achieves a victory, when the mission is failed, when secondary or bonus goals or completed, when an Imperial or Rebel capital ship exits hyperspace etc. This does mirror the use of leitmotifs in the original film music while at the same time makes the music sequence a little different with each mission. |
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* "The Rebellion is Reborn"{{efn|This suite uniquely features not one but two of the three thematic ideas that make up the entire score: Rose's theme, and Luke's Island motif, notably stressing the former.}} |
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''Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker'' |
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* "The Rise of Skywalker" |
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Composer [[Jeremy Soule]] wrote music for the game ''[[Star Wars: Bounty Hunter]]'', including both cut scenes and gameplay. The characters [[Jango Fett]] and [[Komari Vosa]] have their own leitmotifs. |
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* "The Speeder Chase" |
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* "Anthem of Evil" |
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=== |
=== From the spin-offs === |
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From ''Rogue One'' |
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[[Kevin Kiner]] composed the score to the film ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)|Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]'' which started the [[Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)|TV series]] while using some of the original themes and score by [[John Williams]]. His own material includes a theme for Anakin Skywalker's Padawan learner, [[Ahsoka Tano]], as well as a theme for Jabba the Hutt's uncle Ziro. |
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* "Jyn Erso and Hope Suite" |
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* "The Imperial Suite" |
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* "The Guardians of the Whills Suite" |
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<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/rogue_one.html|title=Filmtracks: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Michael Giacchino)|access-date=February 18, 2017|archive-date=February 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216013604/http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/rogue_one.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceK"/><ref name="moviemusicuk.us"/> |
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From ''Solo'' |
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=====Track listing===== |
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* "The Adventures of Han"{{efn|This is a suite of Han's themes which was written by John Williams, and the suite was arranged and conducted by Williams, as well.}} |
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#Star Wars Main Title & A Galaxy Divided (1:13) |
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#Admiral Yularen (0:57) |
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#Battle of Christophsis (3:20) |
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#Meet Ahsoka (2:45) |
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#Obi-Wan to the Rescue (1:24) |
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#Sneaking Under the Shield (4:25) |
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#Jabba's Palace (0:46) |
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#Anakin vs. Dooku (2:18) |
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#Landing on Teth (1:44) |
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#Destroying the Shield (3:09) |
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#B'omarr Monastery (3:11) |
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#General Loathsom/Battle Strategy (3:08) |
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#The Shield (1:37) |
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#Battle of Teth (2:45) |
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#Jedi Don't Run! (1:22) |
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#Obi-Wan's Negotiation (2:08) |
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#The Jedi Council (2:05) |
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#General Loathsom/Ahsoka (3:40) |
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#Jabba's Chamber Dance (0:42) |
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#Ziro Surrounded (2:21) |
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#Scaling the Cliff (0:45) |
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#Ziro's Nightclub Band (0:54) |
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#Seedy City Swing (0:35) |
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#Escape from the Monastery (3:13) |
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#Infiltrating Ziro's Lair (2:22) |
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#Courtyard Fight (2:42) |
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#Dunes of Tatooine (2:00) |
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#Rough Landing (3:04) |
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#Padmé Imprisoned (0:51) |
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#Dooku Speaks with Jabba (1:28) |
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#Fight to the End (3:59) |
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#End Credits (0:52) |
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==Diegetic music== |
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Total time: 67:39 |
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[[Source cue|Diegetic]] music is music "that occurs as part of the action (rather than as background), and can be heard by the film's characters".<ref>{{Wiktionary-inline|diegetic|''Diegetic''}}.</ref> In addition to the orchestral scope that was brought on by John Williams' musical score, the ''Star Wars'' franchise also features many distinguishing diegetic songs that enrich the detail of the audio [[mise-en-scène]]. Some of this diegetic music was written by John Williams; some by his son, Joseph; and some by various other people.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hutchinson |first=Sean |title=Alien Musicians in 'Star Wars,' Ranked |url=https://www.inverse.com/article/8065-alien-musicians-in-star-wars-ranked |website=Inverse |access-date=December 30, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151230232511/https://www.inverse.com/article/8065-alien-musicians-in-star-wars-ranked |archive-date=December 30, 2015 |date=November 11, 2015 |url-status=live }} {{Link note|note=Archived page contains a JavaScript that replaces article with page not found message. To prevent this stop page loading as soon as article text is visible.}}</ref> |
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From ''Star Wars'' |
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* "Cantina Band" and "Cantina Band #2". Written by John Williams, it is played in the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine. It is written for solo trumpet, three saxophones, clarinet, Fender Rhodes piano, steel drum, synthesizer and various percussion, including boobams and toms. According to the ''[[Star Wars Customizable Card Game]]'', the [[diegesis|diegetic]] title for the first Cantina band piece is "Mad About Me". The liner notes for the 1997 Special Edition release of the ''Star Wars'' soundtrack describe the concept behind these works as "several creatures in a future century finding some 1930's [[Benny Goodman]] swing band music ... and how they might attempt to interpret it". This piece also appears on an all the outtake [[Easter egg (media)|easter eggs]] on the ''Episode I'' and ''Episode II''<!--"Episode III" had "Hip Hop Yoda"--> and on the bonus disc of the 2004 original trilogy DVD set. |
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[[Mark Griskey]] composed the score for ''[[Star Wars: The Force Unleashed]]'', while Jesse Harlin composed the main theme. Griskey uses references to three old themes (''The Force Theme'', ''The Imperial March'', and ''The Rebel Fanfare'') as well as new themes for Rahm Kota, PROXY, and Juno Eclipse. The music was composed with the intent of utilizing much of John Williams' original ''Star Wars'' scores to bridge the gap between the Prequel and Original trilogies. |
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From ''Return of the Jedi'' |
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=====Track listing===== |
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* "Jabba's Baroque Recital". [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]-esque John Williams composition (featuring a synthesized harpsichord) played while 3PO and R2 first arrive and play Jabba the message from Luke Skywalker. |
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#The Force Unleashed (Jesse Harlin) - 1:19 |
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* "Lapti Nek". Written by [[Joseph Williams (musician)|Joseph Williams]] (John Williams' son) and translated into Huttese, this is played by the Max Rebo Band in Jabba the Hutt's palace (in the original cut of the movie).{{efn|Later used in the ''[[Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures]]'' episode "Jabba the Hutt – Galactic Gangster".<ref>{{cite web |title=Jabba the Hutt – Galactic Gangster {{!}} Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmm9_lBEnOk |website=YouTube |access-date=May 9, 2019 |date=May 3, 2019 |archive-date=July 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714092456/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmm9_lBEnOk |url-status=live }}</ref>}} |
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#General Kota and the Control Room - 3:44 |
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* "Jedi Rocks" (composed by [[Jerry Hey]]). This was composed to replace "Lapti Nek" for the 1997 Special Edition of the film. |
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#Infiltrating the Junk Temple - 2:54 |
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* "Max Rebo Band Jams". Heard twice in the film, once after Jabba sends the Wookiee Chewbacca to jail, and again on Jabba's sail barge ''Khetanna'' (hence its title). A recording of the first can be found on the official ''Star Wars'' Soundboards. |
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#Drexl's Raiders - 2:51 |
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* "Ewok Feast" and "Part of the Tribe". By John Williams. Heard when Luke and company were captured by the Ewoks and brought to their treehouses. |
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#Approaching Felucia - 3:28 |
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* "Ewok Celebration". The Victory Song, whose lyrics were written by [[Joseph Williams (musician)|Joseph Williams]], can be heard at the end of the original release of ''Return of the Jedi''. |
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#The Sarlaac Unleashed - 3:20 |
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* "Victory Celebration". By John Williams. The Victory Song at the end of the ''Return of the Jedi'' 1997 re-edition. |
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#Maris and the Bull Rancor - 2:11 |
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#PROXY and the Skyhook - 2:37 |
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#Redemption - 2:19 |
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#Juno Eclipse and Finale - 1:12 |
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#Ton'yy Rho's Uglehop (Bonus Track, Jesse Harlin) - 1:13 |
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From ''The Phantom Menace'' |
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Total Time: 25:08 |
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* "Tatooine Street Music". [[Joseph Williams (musician)|Joseph Williams]] wrote four separate pieces of unusual, vaguely Eastern sounding source music for the streets of Mos Espa, featuring a player on Cretan Lyra and Cumbus, and a solo, wailing female vocal. |
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* "Augie's Municipal Band". By John Williams. Music played during the peace parade at the end of the film, it is a sped-up, attenuated trumpet and boy choir composition. It is closely related to the Emperor's Theme, but is not an outright quote of it. |
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From ''Attack of the Clones'' |
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====''Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II''==== |
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* "Dex's Diner" |
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For the [[Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II|sequel]], Mark Griskey returned to compose the score. As the game was intended to be much darker & more somber than its predecessor, the music was written to comply with this change. The Imperial March also features prominently, and new themes were created to emphasize the characters and locales that feature within the game. Like the original score, it was only released as promotional content online, and has yet to gain a CD release. |
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* "Unknown Episode II Source Cue". A second source cue is credited to [[Joseph Williams (musician)|Joseph Williams]]' name for Episode II, but is not heard in the film. |
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* "Arena Percussion". Originally meant to accompany the Droid Factory sequence, [[Ben Burtt]]'s attempt at composition is instead shifted to the arena, replacing the predominantly unused [[John Williams]] cue "Entrance of the Monsters." |
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From ''The Force Awakens'' |
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=====Track listing===== |
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* "Jabba Flow" and "Dobra Doompa". Written by [[Lin-Manuel Miranda]] and [[J. J. Abrams]], these songs were played at [[Maz Kanata]]'s castle.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2015/12/star-wars-songs-ranked/|title=The 9 Best Songs Ever Played in a Star Wars Movie|last1=Raftery|first1=Brian|date=December 21, 2015|magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|publisher=[[Condé Nast]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222024747/http://www.wired.com/2015/12/star-wars-songs-ranked/|archive-date=December 22, 2015|access-date=December 22, 2015}}</ref> |
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#Main Title and Test Chamber - 4:48 |
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#Escape from Kamino - 5:38 |
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#Arrival on Cato Neimoidia - 3:20 |
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#The Hanging City - 6:20 |
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#Discovering Dagobah and the Cave - 6:58 |
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#Aboard the Salvation - 6:52 |
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#Assault on Kamino - 5:36 |
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#The Reunion of Juno and Starkiller - 4:21 |
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From ''The Last Jedi'' |
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Total Time: 44:23 |
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* "Canto Bight". Written by John Williams, it appears when Finn and Rose first arrive to the casino planet of Canto Bight. It is written in the style of big-band jazz and is stylistically akin to the "Cantina Band" music from ''Star Wars''. The track features solo alto saxophone, two baritone saxophones, solo clarinet, trombones, [[kazoo]], muted trumpets,{{efn|The Kazoos were inserted into the mutes to produce a nasal sound.}} Fender Rhodes piano, bass, synthesizers, steel drums, and various percussion, including washboards and goblet drums. The track briefly quotes "[[Aquarela do Brasil]]" (which also features hi-hat and ride cymbals) by [[Ary Barroso]] as a reference to the 1985 [[Terry Gilliam]] film [[Brazil (1985 film)|''Brazil'']], and includes a brief piano statement of Williams' and Johnny Mercer's theme from [[The Long Goodbye (film)|''The Long Goodbye'']]. |
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* "Caretaker party music": source cue of an unknown composition (possibly by Williams), which features highland bagpipes and a didgeridoo, and accompanies a deleted scene from the film. |
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From ''The Rise of Skywalker'' |
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* "Lido Hey": Written by [[Lin-Manuel Miranda]] and [[J. J. Abrams]] and performed by Shag Kava, a musical moniker for Miranda and Abrams. Plays as the main characters participate and traverse the Festival of Ancestors on the desert planet Pasaana. |
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* "Oma's Place": Performed by Ricky Tinez and J. J. Abrams. Plays as the main characters enter a bar owned by Oma Tres (featuring composer John Williams in a cameo role) on the planet Kijimi. |
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From ''Solo: A Star Wars Story'' |
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* "Chicken in the Pot". Written by John Powell, it is performed on Dryden Vos' yacht when Solo reunites with Qi'ra and first meets Vos. |
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==Reception== |
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=== Accolades === |
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In 2005, the 1977 soundtrack for ''Star Wars'' was voted as the "most memorable film score of all time" by the [[American Film Institute]] in the list [[AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores]], based on the assessment of a jury of over 500 artists, composers, musicians, critics and historians from the film industry.<ref name="afi100">{{cite web|title=Star Wars Tops AFI's List of 25 Greatest Film Scores of All Time|url=http://www.afi.com/100years/scores.aspx|access-date=January 19, 2013|work=AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores|publisher=American Film Institute|archive-date=December 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225213455/http://afi.com/100Years/scores.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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{| class="wikitable" |
|||
|- |
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! Year |
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! Title |
|||
! Award |
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! Recipient |
|||
! Result |
|||
|- |
|||
! colspan="5" style="background-color:#c5cdf3;" | Films |
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|- |
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| rowspan="7" | 1978 |
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| rowspan="7" |''[[A New Hope (soundtrack)|A New Hope]]'' |
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|[[Academy Award for Best Original Score]]<ref name="oscar-1978">{{cite web|title=The 50th Academy Awards (1978) Nominees and Winners|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1978|access-date=January 19, 2013|publisher=The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|archive-date=May 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525032405/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1978|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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| rowspan="25" |John Williams |
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| rowspan="7" | Won |
|||
|- |
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|[[Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score]]<ref name="goldenglobes-1978">{{cite web|title=The 35th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1978)|url=http://www.goldenglobes.org/browse/?param=/year/1977|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415025541/http://www.goldenglobes.org/browse/?param=/year/1977|archive-date=April 15, 2013|access-date=January 19, 2013|publisher=Golden Globe Awards}}</ref> |
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|- |
|||
|[[BAFTA Award for Best Film Music]]<ref name="bafta-1978">{{cite web|title=Soundtrack 1978|url=http://www.bafta.org/awards-database.html?year=1978&category=Film&award=Soundtrack|access-date=January 19, 2013|work=BAFTA Awards Database|publisher=British Acacdemy of Film & Television Awards|archive-date=July 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714092437/http://awards.bafta.org/explore?year=1978&category=Film&award=Soundtrack|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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|- |
|||
|[[Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition]]<ref name="grammy-1978">{{cite web|title=1977 20th Annual Grammy Awards|url=http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=&title=&year=1977&genre=All|access-date=January 19, 2013|work=Past Winners database|publisher=Grammy Awards|archive-date=September 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930230545/http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=&title=&year=1977&genre=All|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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|- |
|||
|[[Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media|Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special]]<ref name="grammy-1978" /> |
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|- |
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|[[Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance]]<ref name="grammy-1978" /> |
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|- |
|||
|[[Saturn Award for Best Music]]<ref name="saturnawards">{{cite web|title=Past Saturn Awards|url=http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209012608/http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html|archive-date=February 9, 2010|access-date=January 19, 2013|publisher=Saturn Awards|df=mdy-all}}</ref> |
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|- |
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| rowspan="5" | 1981 |
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| rowspan="5" |''[[The Empire Strikes Back (soundtrack)|The Empire Strikes Back]]'' |
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|Academy Award for Best Original Score<ref name="oscars-1981">{{cite web|title=The 53rd Academy Awards (1981) Nominees and Winners|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1981|access-date=January 19, 2013|publisher=The Academy Awards of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004127/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1981|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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|Nominated |
|||
|- |
|||
|BAFTA Award for Best Film Music<ref name="bafta-1980">{{cite web|title=Soundtrack 1980|url=http://www.bafta.org/awards-database.html?year=1980&category=Film&award=Original+Film+Music|access-date=January 19, 2013|work=BAFTA Awards Database|publisher=British Acacdemy of Film & Television Awards|archive-date=September 27, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927162528/http://www.bafta.org/awards-database.html?year=1980&category=Film&award=Original+Film+Music|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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| rowspan="3" | Won |
|||
|- |
|||
|Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition<ref name="grammy-1980">{{cite web|title=1980 – 23rd Annual Grammy Awards|url=http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=&title=&year=1980&genre=All|access-date=January 19, 2013|publisher=Grammy Awards|archive-date=July 28, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728121953/http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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|- |
|||
|Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special<ref name="grammy-1980" /> |
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|- |
|||
|Saturn Award for Best Music |
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| rowspan="11" |Nominated |
|||
|- |
|||
| rowspan="4" | 1984 |
|||
| rowspan="4" |''[[Return of the Jedi (soundtrack)|Return of the Jedi]]'' |
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|Academy Award for Best Original Score<ref name="oscars-1984">{{cite web|title=The 56th Academy Awards (1984) Nominees and Winners|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1984|access-date=January 19, 2013|publisher=The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004202/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1984|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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|- |
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|Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score |
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|- |
|||
|[[Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media|Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special]] |
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|- |
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|[[Saturn Award for Best Music]] |
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|- |
|||
| rowspan="2" |2000 |
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| rowspan="2" |''[[Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (soundtrack)|The Phantom Menace]]'' |
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|Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media |
|||
|- |
|||
|[[Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition]]<ref name="billboard-grammy-2000">{{cite magazine|date=January 15, 2000|title=Final Nominations for the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ0EAAAAMBAJ&q=2000+grammy+awards+phantom+menace&pg=PA73|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|page=73|access-date=October 2, 2020|archive-date=July 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714092435/https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ0EAAAAMBAJ&q=2000+grammy+awards+phantom+menace&pg=PA73|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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|- |
|||
|2003 |
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|''[[Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones|Attack of the Clones]]'' |
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|Saturn Award for Best Music |
|||
|- |
|||
| rowspan="2" | 2006 |
|||
| rowspan="2" |''[[Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (soundtrack)|Revenge of the Sith]]'' |
|||
|[[Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media|Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media]]<ref name="billboard-grammys-2006">{{cite magazine|date=December 17, 2005|title=Grammy Award Nominees|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dxMEAAAAMBAJ&q=2006%20grammy%20awards%20%22revenge%20of%20the%20sith%22&pg=PA60|magazine=Billboard|page=60|access-date=January 19, 2013|archive-date=July 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714092435/https://books.google.com/books?id=dxMEAAAAMBAJ&q=2006+grammy+awards+%22revenge+of+the+sith%22&pg=PA60|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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|- |
|||
|Saturn Award for Best Music |
|||
|- |
|||
| rowspan="4" |2016 |
|||
| rowspan="4" |''[[Star Wars: The Force Awakens (soundtrack)|The Force Awakens]]'' |
|||
|Academy Award for Best Original Score |
|||
|- |
|||
|BAFTA Award for Best Film Music |
|||
|Won |
|||
|- |
|||
|[[Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media]] |
|||
|Nominated |
|||
|- |
|||
|Saturn Award for Best Music |
|||
|Won |
|||
|- |
|||
|2017 |
|||
|''[[Rogue One]]'' |
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|Saturn Award for Best Music |
|||
|[[Michael Giacchino]] |
|||
| rowspan="7" |Nominated |
|||
|- |
|||
| rowspan="3" |2018 |
|||
| rowspan="3" |''[[Star Wars: The Last Jedi (soundtrack)|The Last Jedi]]'' |
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|Academy Award for Best Original Score |
|||
| rowspan="3" |John Williams |
|||
|- |
|||
|Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media |
|||
|- |
|||
|Saturn Award for Best Music |
|||
|- |
|||
|2019 |
|||
|''[[Solo: A Star Wars Story]]'' |
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|[[Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition]] ("Mine Mission") |
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|John Williams, [[John Powell (film composer)|John Powell]] |
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|- |
|||
| rowspan="2" |2020 |
|||
| rowspan="2" |''[[Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (soundtrack)|The Rise of Skywalker]]'' |
|||
|Academy Award for Best Original Score |
|||
| rowspan="2" |John Williams |
|||
|- |
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|[[BAFTA Award for Best Film Music]] |
|||
|- |
|||
! colspan="5" style="background-color:#c5f3c6;" | Other media |
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|- |
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| 2020 |
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|''[[Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge]]'' |
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|[[Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition]] ("[[Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge#Other media|''Star Wars'': Galaxy's Edge Symphonic Suite]]")<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hipes|first=Patrick|date=January 26, 2020|title=Grammy Awards: Billie Eilish Sweeps Record, Album, Song & New Artist – The Complete Winners List|work=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|url=https://deadline.com/2020/01/2020-grammy-awards-winners-list-grammys-1202842034/|access-date=June 16, 2020|archive-date=January 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128085525/https://deadline.com/2020/01/2020-grammy-awards-winners-list-grammys-1202842034/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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|John Williams |
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|Won |
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|} |
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===Certifications=== |
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The soundtracks to both ''[[Star Wars (soundtrack)|Star Wars]]'' and ''[[Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (soundtrack)|Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace]]'' have been certified Platinum by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]], for shipments of at least 1 million units, with the albums for ''[[The Empire Strikes Back (soundtrack)|The Empire Strikes Back]]'' and ''[[Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (soundtrack)|Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones]]'' being certified Gold (500,000 units).<ref>{{cite web|title=Star Wars – Gold & Platinum|url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=star+wars#search_section|website=[[Recording Industry Association of America]]|access-date=January 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108030216/http://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=star+wars|archive-date=January 8, 2016}}</ref> The [[British Phonographic Industry]] certified ''Star Wars'' and ''Episode I'' as Gold for shipments of over 100,000 units in the UK.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx|title=Certified Awards Search – BPI|access-date=August 30, 2009|archive-date=May 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511120001/http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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==Notes== |
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{{notelist}} |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{Reflist |
{{Reflist}} |
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* Michael Matessino's liner notes included in the RCA 1997 release of Star Wars soundtrack. |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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{{Portal| |
{{Portal|Speculative fiction|Film}} |
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* [ |
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120724012839/http://www.starwarsthemusic.com/ The Official ''Star Wars'' Music Site (Archived)] |
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* [https://franklehman.com/starwars/ Complete Catalogue of the Musical Themes of Star Wars] |
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{{Star Wars}} |
{{Star Wars|state=collapsed}} |
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{{John Williams}} |
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{{Michael Giacchino}} |
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{{Ludwig Göransson|state=collapsed}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Star Wars Music}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Star Wars Music}} |
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[[Category:Star Wars |
[[Category:Music of Star Wars| ]] |
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[[Category:Compositions by John Williams]] |
[[Category:Compositions by John Williams]] |
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[[Category:Music by media franchise]] |
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Latest revision as of 06:50, 2 January 2025
The music of the Star Wars franchise is composed and produced in conjunction with the development of the feature films, television series, and other merchandise within the epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas. The music for the primary feature films (which serves as the basis for the rest of the related media) was written by John Williams. Williams' work on the series included the scores of nine feature films, a suite and several cues of thematic material for Solo and the theme music for the Galaxy's Edge Theme Park. These count among the most widely known and popular contributions to modern film music, and utilize a symphony orchestra and features an assortment of about fifty recurring musical themes to represent characters and other plot elements: one of the largest caches of themes in the history of film music.
Released between 1977 and 2019, the music for the primary feature films was, in the case of the first two trilogies, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and, in select passages, by the London Voices chorus. The sequel trilogy was largely conducted by Williams and William Ross, and performed by the Hollywood Freelance Studio Symphony and (in a few passages) by the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
Additional composers have since contributed music to other movies and media within the Star Wars universe. The music for several animated and live-action television series spin-offs has been written by Kevin Kiner, Ludwig Göransson, Natalie Holt, Nicholas Britell, and Ryan Shore.[1] Music for the spin-off films, other television programs, and video games, as well as the trailers of the various installments, were created by various other composers, with this material occasionally revisiting some of Williams' principal themes (and, with one spin-off film, with Williams actually writing a new theme for the composer to use).
The scores are primarily performed by a symphony orchestra of varying size joined, in several sections, by a choir of varying size.[a] They each make extensive use of the leitmotif, or a series of musical themes that represents the various characters, objects and events in the films. Throughout all of the franchise, which consists of a total of over 18 hours of music,[b] Williams has written approximately sixty or seventy themes, in one of the largest, richest collection of themes in the history of film music.
Overview
[edit]Films
[edit]| Year | Title | Composer | Conductor | Orchestrator/Arranger | Orchestra | Choir |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saga films | ||||||
| 1977 | Star Wars | John Williams | John Williams | Herbert W. Spencer | London Symphony Orchestra | |
| 1980 | The Empire Strikes Back | London Voices (women) | ||||
| 1983 | Return of the Jedi | London Voices (men[c]) | ||||
| 1999 | The Phantom Menace | Conrad Pope John Neufeld |
London Voices (SATB)
New London Children's Choir | |||
| 2002 | Attack of the Clones | Conrad Pope Eddie Karam |
London Voices (SATB)
Boy choir (synth) | |||
| 2005 | Revenge of the Sith | London Voices (SATB)
Boy choir (synth) | ||||
| 2015 | The Force Awakens | John Williams William Ross Gustavo Dudamel[2] |
John Williams William Ross |
Hollywood Freelance Studio Symphony[d] | Hollywood Film Chorale (bass) | |
| 2017 | The Last Jedi | John Williams William Ross |
Los Angeles Master Chorale (SATB, bass) | |||
| 2019 | The Rise of Skywalker | John Williams | ||||
| Anthology films | ||||||
| 1978 | The Star Wars Holiday Special | Ian Fraser John Williams (Original Themes) |
Ian Fraser | |||
| 1984 | Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure | Peter Bernstein John Williams (Original Themes) |
Peter Bernstein | |||
| 1985 | Ewoks: The Battle for Endor | |||||
| 2016 | Rogue One | Michael Giacchino John Williams (Original Themes) |
Tim Simonec | William Ross Tim Simonec Brad Dechter Jeff Kryka Chris Tilton Herbert W. Spencer[3] |
Hollywood Freelance Studio Symphony | Los Angeles Master Chorale |
| 2018 | Solo | John Powell John Williams (Han Solo Theme, Original Themes) |
Gavin Greenaway | (additional music and arrangements)
Batu Sener |
The London Session Orchestra Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles (Han Solo Theme) |
|
| Animated films | ||||||
| 2008 | The Clone Wars | Kevin Kiner John Williams (Original Themes) |
Kevin Kiner Nic Raine |
Kevin Kiner Nic Raine Takeshi Furukawa |
City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra | |
Television
[edit]Animation series
[edit]Kevin Kiner composed the score to the film Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008), the predecessor to the animated TV series of the same name. Both properties loosely use some of the original themes and music by John Williams. Kiner's own material for the film includes a theme for Anakin Skywalker's Padawan learner, Ahsoka Tano, as well as a theme for Jabba the Hutt's uncle Ziro. Kiner went on to score the TV series' entire seven seasons, which concluded in 2020. A soundtrack album for the first six seasons was released in 2014 by Walt Disney Records and three soundtrack albums for the final season were released in 2020.[4]
Kiner continued his work with the franchise for the animated series Star Wars Rebels (2014–2018), which also incorporates Williams' themes.[5] He had later made the score for Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021–2024) and Star Wars: Tales (2022–), spin-offs of The Clone Wars.
James L. Venable and Paul Dinletir composed the music of Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003–2005) 2D animated series, Ryan Shore serves as the composer for Star Wars: Forces of Destiny (2017–2018) and Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures (2018–2020), and Michael Tavera composes the score to Star Wars Resistance (2018–2020).
Matthew Margeson produced the soundtrack for Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures in 2023.[6]
Star Wars: Visions
[edit]Various composers worked on the animated anthology series Star Wars: Visions.
LEGO Star Wars
[edit]A list of Lego Star Wars tv series & specials and their score composers:
| Year | Title | Composer |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | LEGO Star Wars: The Han Solo Affair | Jason Graves John Williams (themes) |
| 2005 | Lego Star Wars: Revenge of the Brick | Kostia Efimov John Williams (themes) |
| 2009 | Lego Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2 | Anthony Lledo John Williams (themes) |
| 2010 | Lego Star Wars: Bombad Bounty | |
| 2011 | Lego Star Wars: The Padawan Menace | John Williams |
| 2012 | Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out | |
| 2013-2014 | Lego Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles | |
| 2015 | LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales | |
| 2016–2017 | LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures: Seasons 1-2 | Michael Kramer John Williams (themes) |
| 2018 | LEGO Star Wars: All-Stars: Season 1 | |
| 2020 | The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special | |
| 2021 | Lego Star Wars: Terrifying Tales | |
| 2022 | Lego Star Wars: Summer Vacation |
Zen: Grogu and Dust Bunnies
[edit]For the hand drawn anime short by Studio Ghibli Grogu and Dust Bunnies, Ludwig Göransson composes the score.
| Year | Title | Composer |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Zen - Grogu and Dust Bunnies | Ludwig Göransson |
Live-action series
[edit]The Mandalorian
[edit]For the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, Oscar-winner Ludwig Göransson composes the score. For the third season of the series, Joseph Shirley was revealed to be composing the score for the season, replacing Ludwig Göransson. Shirley previously provided additional music for the first two seasons and used Göransson's themes to compose the score for The Book of Boba Fett.
The Book of Boba Fett
[edit]For the Disney+ series The Book of Boba Fett, Ludwig Göransson composes the main theme, while Joseph Shirley composes the score.
| Year | Title | Composer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | The Book of Boba Fett: Season 1 (Chapters 1-4) | Ludwig Göransson Joseph Shirley |
| The Book of Boba Fett: Season 1 (Chapters 5-7) |
Obi-Wan Kenobi
[edit]For the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi, John Williams returned to write the main theme. Natalie Holt composed the rest of the score, making her the first woman to score a live-action Star Wars project.[7]
| Year | Title | Composer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Obi-Wan Kenobi: Season 1 | John Williams Natalie Holt William Ross |
Andor
[edit]For the Disney+ series Andor, Nicholas Britell composes the score.
| Year | Title | Composer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Andor: Season 1 (Episodes 1-4) | Nicholas Britell |
| Andor: Season 1 (Episodes 5-8) | ||
| Andor: Season 1 (Episodes 9-12) |
Ahsoka
[edit]In April 2023, during Star Wars Celebration London, it was revealed that Kevin Kiner would compose the score for Ahsoka, after previously composing the music for the animated series The Clone Wars, Rebels, The Bad Batch, and Tales of the Jedi.[8]
| Year | Title | Composer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Ahsoka: Season 1 (Episodes 1-4) | Kevin Kiner |
| Ahsoka: Season 1 (Episodes 5-8) |
The Acolyte
[edit]In February 2024 it was revealed that Michael Abels had been tapped to compose the score for The Acolyte.[9]
| Year | Title | Composer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | The Acolyte: Season 1 | Michael Abels |
Skeleton Crew
[edit]In November 2024, Mick Giacchino was revealed to have composed the score for the series. His father, Michael Giacchino, previously composed the score for the Star Wars film Rogue One (2016).[10]
Jedi Temple Challenge
[edit]For the game show Jedi Temple Challenge, Gordy Haab composes the score.
| Year | Title | Composer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge: Season 1 | Gordy Haab |
Documentaries
[edit]| Year | Title | Composer | Additional composers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy | John Williams | |
| 2020 | Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian: Season 1 | Michael Kramer | |
| 2020–2021 | Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian: Season 2 | ||
| 2021 | Disney Gallery: The Book of Boba Fett | ||
| 2022 | Light & Magic: Season 1 | James Newton Howard | Michael Dean Parsons Xander Rodzinski Tobin Pugash |
| Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return | Michael Dean Parsons Scott Michael Smith |
||
| 2023 | Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian: Season 3 | Michael Kramer |
Video games
[edit]Multimedia / Theme Parks
[edit]| Year | Title | Composer |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire | Joel McNeely |
| 2019 | Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge | John Williams
Harlan Hodges Randy Kerber |
Other albums
[edit]Style
[edit]Inspiration
[edit]The scores utilize an eclectic variety of musical styles, many culled from the Late Romantic idiom of Richard Strauss and his contemporaries that itself was incorporated into the Golden Age Hollywood scores of Erich Korngold and Max Steiner. The reasons for this are known to involve George Lucas's desire to allude to the underlying fantasy element of the narrative rather than the science-fiction setting, as well as to ground the otherwise strange and fantastic setting in recognizable, audience-accessible music. Indeed, Lucas maintains that much of the films' success relies not on advanced visual effects, but on the simple, direct emotional appeal of its plot, characters and, importantly, music.[11]
Lucas originally wanted to use tracked orchestral and film music in a similar manner to 2001: A Space Odyssey, itself a major inspiration for Star Wars. Williams, who was hired to consult and possibly work on the source music, was advised to form a soundtrack with recurring musical themes to augment the story, while Lucas's choice of music could be used as a temporary track for Williams to base his musical choices on. This resulted in several nods or homages to the music of Gustav Holst, William Walton, Sergei Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky in the score to Star Wars.[e] Williams relied less and less on references to existing music in the latter eight scores, incorporating more strains of modernist orchestral writing with each progressive score, although occasional nods continue to permeate the music. The score to Revenge of the Sith has clear resemblances to the successful scores of other contemporary composers of the time, namely Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings, Hans Zimmer's Gladiator and Tan Dun's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, with which the movie was most likely scored contemporarily.[f] However, his later scores were otherwise mostly tracked with music of his own composition,[13] mainly from previous Star Wars films.[14] Williams also started to develop his style throughout the various films, incorporating other instruments, unconventional orchestral set-ups (as well as various choral ensembles) and even electronic or electronically attenuated music as the films progressed. Williams often composed the music in a heroic but tongue-in-cheek style, and has described the scored film as a "musical".[15]
Structure
[edit]Star Wars was one of the film scores that heralded the revival of grand symphonic scores in the late 1970s. One technique that particularly influenced these scores is Williams' use of the leitmotif, which was most famously associated with Richard Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelungen and, in early film scores, with Steiner. A leitmotif (or leading motive) is a recurring, evolving musical theme for narrative elements such as characters, locations, ideas, sentiments, objects or other specific part of the film. It is commonly used in modern film scoring as a device for mentally anchoring certain parts of a film to the soundtrack.[g] Of chief importance for a leitmotif is that it must be strong enough for a listener to latch onto while being flexible enough to undergo variation and development along the progression of the story. The more varied and nuanced the use of leitmotif is, the more memorable it typically becomes. A good example of this is the way in which Williams subtly conceals the intervals of "The Imperial March" within "Anakin's Theme" in The Phantom Menace, implying his dark future to come.
Also important is the density in which leitmotifs are used: the more leitmotifs are used in a piece of a given length, the more thematically rich it is considered to be. Film music, however, typically needs to strike a balance between the number of leitmotifs used, so as to not become too dense for the audience (being preoccupied with the visuals) to follow. Williams' music of Star Wars is unique in that it is relatively dense for film scoring, with approximately 17 themes used in each two-hour film, of which about 90% is scored.[h]
Performance
[edit]Williams re-recorded some of his suites from the first trilogy with the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra as an album. Several of his later themes were released as singles and music videos, and were later released a collection of suites from the six films as a compilation that played to a series of clips from the films, with sparse dialogue and sound effects. These became the basis for a series of hour-long concerts which featured Star Wars music to images from the films, Star Wars: In Concert, which took place in 2009 and 2010. First performed in London, it went on to tour across the United States and Canada, last playing in London, Ontario, Canada on July 25, 2010.
The scores of the first trilogy (in the form of its Blu-Ray release) and The Force Awakens are performed as Live to Projection concerts, but with greatly reduced forces. The performances follow the music of the finished film, with some of the music looped, tracked or omitted entirely, and do not feature any of the diegetic pieces and often omit the choral parts.[16]
Orchestration
[edit]John Williams sketched the score for his various orchestrations and wrote the music for a full symphony orchestra (ranging from 79 to 113 players overall[i][18]
The Empire Strikes Back required 104 players, not including the conductor or synthesizer (rhttp://www.jw-collection.de/scores/tesblp.htmecalls Archived August 7, 2017, at the Wayback Machine) due to the inclusion of a fourth flute, and sections that required a third harp, five oboes overall, an added piccolo and eight percussionists overall.
If the Empire Strikes Back is to augmented with the string section size of Revenge of the Sith or the Skywalker Symphony Recording, it would require about 112 players and a small women choir.
A Star Wars in Concert production that would follow the orchestration of the recording, would have to feature some of the expansions of the various episodes, requiring about 110 players, as well as the mixed choir and possibly the bass choir.) and, in several passages, chorus (ranging from 12 to 120 singers overall) and a few non-orchestral instruments. The orchestration is not consistent throughout the different films,[j] but generally, the score makes use of a considerable brass section over a comparatively smaller string section, giving the series its heraldic, brassy sound.
Several of the scores require larger forces, including a large (over 100-piece) romantic-period orchestra, a mixed choir and even a boy choir, although none of the scores call for particularly immense forces compared to larger film or theater works.[k] Nevertheless, due to added high woodwinds and percussion parts, scores such as Empire Strikes Back and Attack of the Clones call for 106 and 110 players, respectively. The former called for a third harp and fourth bassoon, while the latter (and all prequel scores) utilized a fuller string section. Revenge of the Sith also utilized a second set of timpani. Comparatively, the original Star Wars trilogy and the sequel trilogy films call for much smaller forces of as little as 82 players, and small choral accompaniment in select cues.[l] The first spin-off film, Rogue One, followed the prequel trilogy's instrumentation, using a 110-piece orchestra and 90-piece mixed choir.
In live performances, the forces are usually greatly reduced: Official Star Wars Concerts were held with as little as 60-piece orchestras and 50-piece mixed choral ensembles or with the choir omitted altogether.[19]
[m] However, to recreate the nine scores as they were originally recorded, the following instrumentation would be needed:
- Woodwinds: 3 flutes (doubling on piccolos and an alto flute), 2 oboes (doubling on a cor anglais), 3 clarinets (doubling on a bass clarinet and an E-flat clarinet), 2 bassoons (doubling on a contrabassoon).
- Brass: 6 horns (doubling on Wagner Tubas[n]), 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba.
- Keyboards: Piano, celesta, synthesizer.[o]
- Timpani: 4–6 kettledrums.
- Percussion: at least three percussionists playing bass drums, tenor drums, snare drums (including guillotine drums, side drums, military drums), timbales, toms (floor tom and hanging toms), triangle, tambourine, cymbals (suspended, sizzle, crash and finger cymbals), tam-tam, xylophones, vibraphone, glockenspiel, tubular bells, and anvil on all episodes. Also required are temple blocks (I), claves (II, V, VI), ratchet (V–VIII), marimba (I, IV, VII–VIII), bongos (I, IV, VII–VIII), congas (I–III, VI–VII), log drums (I, IV, VI–VII), low wood block (IV), bell plates, clappers (IV), steel drum (IV, VIII), boobams (I, IV, VII), medium gong (VI–VII), kendhang, rattle, sistrum, shekere, guiro, bamboo sticks, cowbells, hyoshigi (VI), bell tree (III), one medium Thai gong (VI), three medium chu-daiko drums (II–III, one for VII–VIII), washboard, goblet drum, caxixi (VIII).[p][21]
- Strings: 2 harps, 14 first violins, 12 second violins, 10 violas, 10 violoncellos, 6 double basses.
- Additional instruments: 1 piccolo, 1 flute, 1–2 recorders, 2 oboes, 1 clarinet, 3 saxophones, 1–2 bassoons,[q] 2 horns, trumpet, bass trombone, tuba,[r] set of timpani, five percussionists,[s] 89-piece SATB choir, 10 basso profundo singers, 30 boys, 1 Tibetan throat singer,[t] narrator,[u] 4 violins divided, 2 violas, 2 contrabasses, 1 harp.[v]
- Non-orchestral instruments: Cretan Lyra and cümbüş (I), electric guitar (II), toy piano (VI), kazoo, highland bagpipes, banjo, didgeridoo (VIII).[w]
Musical themes in the scores
[edit]John Williams wrote a series of themes and motifs for certain characters and ideas in each of the Star Wars films. The multiple installments allowed Williams to compose some sixty or seventy themes and reprise some of them extensively, continually developing them over a long period of screen time.
Williams introduces a considerable, but manageable number of themes in each episode (seven themes on average), attempting to compose main themes that are distinct, long-lined and memorable. Connections between the themes are formed for narrative purposes or, more generally, in the favour of cohesion. As a result, some of the themes play very often: the Force Theme plays over one hundred times in the series.
Each score can be said to have a "main theme", which is developed and repeated frequently throughout the film, and represents the high and low points of the film itself as much as they do narrative elements within the film: for instance, the frequent use of The Imperial March in Empire Strikes Back.[x] Besides the main theme and a handful of other principal themes, Williams forged several smaller motifs for each episode, which are generally not as memorable and at times interchangeable. As a result of his compositional process, a large number of incidental musical material and themes that are specific to certain setpieces also occur throughout the piece. Williams had designated the music of the main titles to be the main theme of the series as a whole, but there is not necessarily a main theme for each trilogy. Instead, each trilogy (and to a lesser extent, each film) has its own style or soundscape.[y]
Williams' Star Wars catalog remains one of the largest collections of leitmotifs in the history of cinema,[z] although – for comparison – it still falls short of Wagner's use of leitmotifs in the Ring Cycle or even Howard Shore's work on the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings films.[aa] Both works feature many more themes for a similar or shorter running time; and use the themes with greater specificity and variation; where Williams prefers to write fewer themes (to allow him to focus on them better) and use them in a more straightforward manner and sometimes, solely for their romantic effect. Shore and Wagner's themes are also inter-related and arranged into sets of subsets of related themes through various melodic or harmonic connections, whereas Williams prefers greater distinction between his themes.[ab]
Williams scores the films one episode at a time and attempts to base each score on new material as much as possible. Therefore, the Imperial March makes no appearance in the original Star Wars, since Williams did not conceive of it until he was scoring The Empire Strikes Back, and the same is true of Across the Stars and The Phantom Menace.[23] Other themes get abandoned, like the Droid motive from The Empire Strikes Back or the original Imperial motives of the original Star Wars. Between trilogies, Williams had often changed his way of using leitmotifs, moving from long-lined melodies in the classic trilogy to shorter, more rhythmic ideas in the prequel trilogy.
The use of the themes in the scores
[edit]Williams does not always use his themes in a strictly narrative sense. In almost each entry, he will occasionally use a theme seemingly at random, purely because its mood fits the scene. Princess Leia's Theme is used for the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars, which has little to do with her character even though she is present in the scene.[ac] Yoda's Theme appears several times during the Cloud City sequences in The Empire Strikes Back. The concert piece Duel of the Fates is used several times throughout the prequel trilogy, appearing over the entire final battle in The Phantom Menace (as opposed to just the lightsaber duel for which it was written); Anakin Skywalker's search for his mother in Attack of the Clones; and the unrelated Yoda and Darth Sidious's duel in Revenge of the Sith. Williams' original composition for the Geonosis Battle Arena in Attack of the Clones, a variation on the Droid Army March, was used for the Utapau assault in Revenge of the Sith. Multiple uses of the Force Theme are also non-thematic.[26]
This also happens through the use of tracked music. Attack of the Clones, the first film to be shot digitally, had major edits made after the scoring process, leading to the inclusion of tracked music over many of the digitally created sequences such as the Droid Factory on Geonosis or the Clone Army's arrival to the battle. These scenes used music such as Yoda's theme or incidental music from The Phantom Menace with little dramatic connection to what is occurring on screen. Musical similarities exist between the final scenes of The Phantom Menace with Finn's confession to Rey in The Force Awakens, probably a result of temp-track choice.[ad] In other cases, the material was not tracked but rather lifted from the original composition and re-recorded, such as in the big action scenes of Return of the Jedi, both of which lift material from the Battle of Yavin and Ben's death. Other composers to have used Williams' themes in spinoff materials have likewise sometimes used them loosely.
Over the long period in which the films were made, many of the themes changed their initial meaning: By the time of The Empire Strikes Back, the Luke Skywalker material and the theme of Old Ben were already rebranded as the "Star Wars Main theme" and "The Force Theme", respectively, by Williams. The Rebel Fanfare[27] (initially, the fanfare of the Blockade Runner) eventually turned into the theme of the Millennium Falcon.
Themes
[edit] | This article may contain an excessive number of citations. (October 2023) |
Listed below are about 67 leitmotifs, based on primarily on Williams own notes and Frank Lehman's extensive catalogue, but also on Doug Adams et al analyses of the scores. Along with two themes Williams composed for Solo and two more for Galaxy's Edge, his work of the series had accrued as many as 71 leitmotifs. The main new theme of each entry is highlighted:
Original trilogy
[edit]Star Wars (A New Hope)
[edit]- "Luke's Theme (Star Wars Main Theme)"[28][29][27][30]
- "The Rebel Spaceship Fanfare" (Millennium Falcon Theme)[27][28][31][29]
- "Action Ostinato"[27]
- "Old Ben's Theme (The Force Theme)"[27][28][31][29]
- "Jawa Theme"[27][28][31][29]
- "Princess Leia's Theme"[27][28][31][32][33][ae]
- "Imperial Motif"[27][28][31][29]
- "Death Star Motif"[27][28][31][29]
- "Rebel Victory Theme"[28][31][27][29]
The Empire Strikes Back
[edit]Returning: Star Wars Theme, Star Wars Secondary Theme, Rebel Fanfare, The Force, Princess Leia, Rebel Victory
- "The Imperial March" (Darth Vader's Theme)[27][34][30][29]
- ⓘ[27][35]
- ⓘ:[27][30][34][29][af]
- "Droids Motif"[27][34][29][30]
- "Cloud City March"[27][34][30][29]
- "Boba Fett Motif"[27][34][29][32][36]
- "Dark Side theme"[29]
Return of the Jedi
[edit]Returning: Spaceship Dogfight Motif; Star Wars Theme, Secondary Star Wars Theme, Rebel Fanfare, The Force, Leia, the Imperial March, Han Solo and the Princess, Yoda
- ⓘ[27][37][29]
- "The Emperor's Theme"[27][29][37][32][39]
- "Jabba The Hutt Theme"[27][37][29][32][40][ag]
- "Brother and Sister Arpeggios"[27][37][29]
- "Triumph Fanfare"[27][29]
- "Trap motif"[29]
- "Luke and Leia Theme"[27][38][29][37]
- First reprisal: "Spaceship Dogfight motif"[27][29]
Prequel trilogy
[edit]The Phantom Menace
[edit]Returning: Star Wars Theme, Stars Wars Secondary Theme, The Rebel Fanfare, The Force Theme, The Imperial March, Yoda's Theme, Jabba's Theme, The Emperor's Theme
- "Duel of the Fates"[38][41][29][42][43]
- "Young Anakin's Theme"[38][29][23]
- "Droid Invasion March"[38][29][44]
- "Qui-Gon's Motif"[38][29][23]
- "Darth Maul Motif"[38][29][45][ah]
- "Jar Jar's Theme"[38][29][41]
- "Shmi's Theme"[29]
Attack of the Clones
[edit]Returning: Shmi's Theme; Star Wars Theme, Star Wars Secondary Theme, The Rebel Fanfare, The Force Theme, The Imperial March, The Emperor's Theme, Young Anakin's Theme, Droid Invasion March, Duel of the Fates
- "Across the Stars"[46][29][47][48]
- "Courting on Naboo Theme"[46][29][41]
- "Separatist Motif"[46][41][29]
- "Kamino Motif"[46][41][49][29]
Revenge of the Sith
[edit]Returning: Jedi Funeral Theme, Coruscant Fanfare; Star Wars Theme, Secondary Star Wars Theme, Leia's theme, The Rebel Fanfare, The Force Theme, The Imperial March, The Emperor's Theme, Young Anakin's Theme, Descent, Droid Invasion March, Duel of the Fates, Shmi, Across the Stars, Across the Stars (embryonic), Dark Side
- "Battle of the Heroes"[29][50][41][51][52]
- "General Grievous' Motif"[29][41][53][51]
- "Lament for Anakin Theme"[41][29]
- First reprisal: "Funeral Theme"[29][54][13][48]
- First reprisal: "Coruscant Fanfare"[55][52][48]
Sequel trilogy
[edit]The Force Awakens
[edit]Returning: Star Wars Theme, Secondary Star Wars Theme, Millennium Falcon[ai], The Force theme, Leia's Theme, The Imperial March, Han Solo and the Princess
- "Rey's Theme"[56][57][29][58]
- "Kylo Ren's Fanfare"[29][57][56][59][60][58][61]
- "First Order Theme"[29]
- "Map Motif"[29]
- "March of the Resistance"[57][29][59][60]
- "Tension figure"[29]
- "Pursuit Ostinato"[57][29][63][59][64][58]
- "Poe Dameron's Motif"[57][29]
- "Snoke's Theme"[29][57][65][59][aj]
- "Jedi Steps"[29][57][65]
The Last Jedi
[edit]Returning: Star Wars Theme, Secondary Star Wars Theme, Millennium Falcon, The Force Theme, Leia's Theme, Yoda's Theme, Luke and Leia, Han Solo and the Princess, The Imperial March, Spaceship Dogfight Motif, Death Star motif,[66] The Emperor's Theme, Poe's Theme, Rey's Themes, Kylo Ren's themes, First Order, Tension figure, Snoke's Theme, Jedi Steps
- "Rose Tico's Theme"[67][29][68][69]
- "Luke's Island Motif"[67][29][68][70][61]
- "Rebel Desperation Motif"[29][68]
The Rise of Skywalker
[edit]Returning: Star Wars Theme, Secondary Star Wars Theme, Millennium Falcon, The Force Theme, Leia's Theme, Han Solo and the Princess, The Imperial March, The Emperor's Theme, Poe's Theme, Rey's Themes, Kylo Ren's themes, March of the Resistance, Luke and Leia, Yoda's Theme, Dark Side, Tension figure
- "The Trio Theme"[29]
- "The Rise of Skywalker (Victory) Theme"[29]
- "Anthem of Evil (Psalm of the Sith)"[29]
- "Poe's Heroics Theme"[29]
- "Sith Artifacts"[29]
- "Knights of Ren Motif"[29]
Incidental motifs
[edit]Since neither Williams nor his office ever provided a full list of the leitmotifs used in every Star Wars film, there is some controversy around the exact number of themes, with some taking an inclusive approach that identifies various leitmotifs, even where the composer probably never intended for,[71] and others taking an exclusive, reductive approach.
Some of the more inclusive analyses identify themes that do not actually recur either in discrete cues nor even strewn across one long stretch of music.[72] This is the result of Williams' propensity (in these scores and otherwise) to write material that is either melodic, rhythmic, harmonic or timbral specifically to an individual setpiece or non-recurring plot element in the film, such as The Battle of Hoth, the Chase through Coruscant, or The Battle of Crait. These individual pieces of music – whether they consist of a full melody, ostinati, diegetic pieces or a certain timbre – have sometimes been described as having thematic significance,[73] occasionally (in fleeting comments) even by Williams himself,[74] but since they do not recur in a different part of the narrative, nor are transformed from or into another motif, they do not comply with the definition of a leitmotif.
Even when some of these figures do recur, it is often unclear whether they are substantial enough to be assigned with thematic significance, as these instances often includes material that is incidental in nature, such as several figures used in the finale of The Empire Strikes Back; material that is purely rhythmic or timbral like various "bouncing" horn figures for Luke's landspeeder search in the original Star Wars,[74] material that is of a generic nature, such as his use of "mournful homophonic" choir in The Last Jedi for climactic moments; or material that is part of Williams' stylistic choices as a composer, more than a thematic statement unique to the series. For instance, his use of tritones often denotes mystery, a device he uses for the droids landing on Tatooine and again in the concert arrangement of "The Throne Room."[27]
In fact, sometimes the supposedly recurring material is similar, but not in fact identical. A good example would be the variety of gestures relating to the dark side, following a piece of music used in the opera-house scene. Lehamn however clarifies that those alleged following statements are "similar but inexact" to the earlier gesture.[29]
Sometimes, the recurring material is question is not part of the original composition but is rather tracked after-the-fact, or at least lifted, from existing material into a different section of the film, or from material that is recapitulated in a concert piece or end-credits suite. This includes the Podracing fanfare and the ostinato accompaniment of the Rebel Fanfare,[27] which otherwise does not appear isolated from the unabridged theme more than once; the mournful writing for French horn at Shmi's funeral, the Arena March from Attack of the Clones[46][29] etc.
Themes in the Anthology films
[edit]
The first Star Wars Anthology score for Rogue One, written by Michael Giacchino, utilizes several themes (and recurring interstitial material) from John Williams, mostly for their Romantic sweep (such as The Force Theme and hints of the Main Theme). It has its own catalog of themes, independent from Williams' material, including a new, third theme for the Empire, although Giacchino also quotes both the original Imperial Motif and The Imperial March.
Rogue One
[edit]Returning: Luke's Theme, Rebel Fanfare, The Force Theme, Leia's Theme, Imperial Motif, Death Star Motif, The Imperial March
- Jyn's Theme
- Hope Theme
- Guardians of the Whills Theme
- Imperial Theme (Krennic's Theme)
Solo
[edit]For Solo, John Williams wrote and recorded a concert arrangement for a new theme for Han Solo. In the process of composing the theme, Williams ended up using two separate ideas, each conveying a different aspect of the character, and went as far as to spot the film for places to use each motif; all other leitmotifs and other material were written and adapted by John Powell, the main composer for the film.[77]
Returning: Spaceship Dogfight motif, Star Wars Theme, Millennium Falcon theme, Duel of the Fates, The Imperial March, The Imperial motif, Death Star Motif, The Asteroid Field, Imperial Cruiser Pursuit, Droids Motif
By John Williams:
By John Powell:
- Chewbacca's Theme
- Han and Qi'Ra's Love Theme
- L3'S Theme
- Crew theme
- Enfys Nest Theme
- Crime Syndicate Motif (Vos's Theme)
Concert suites
[edit]Instead of offering a full recording release of a particular film, Williams typically releases a condensed score on album,[ak] in which the music is arranged out of the film order and more within the veins of a concert program. These album releases typically include several concert suites, written purely for the end credits or the album itself, where a specific theme is developed continuously throughout the piece. Williams also re-edited some of his existing cues after the fact in order to "concertize" theme on the behest of conductors such as Charles Gerhardt. Five of the eight films also have unique credit suites that feature alternate concert arrangements of themes and/or a medley of the main themes of a particular film.
Original Trilogy
[edit]Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
- "Main Title"
- "Princess Leia's Theme"
- "The Little People"
- "Cantina Band"
- "Here They Come!"
- "The Battle"
- "Throne Room and End Title"
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
- "The Imperial March"
- "Yoda's Theme"
- "Han Solo and the Princess (1980)"
- "Han Solo and the Princess (2018)"[al]
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
- "Parade of the Ewoks"
- "Luke and Leia"
- "Jabba the Hutt"
- "The Forest Battle"
Prequel Trilogy
[edit]Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
- "Duel of the Fates"
- "Anakin's Theme"
- "The Adventures of Jar Jar"
- "The Flag Parade"
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
- "Across the Stars"[am]
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Sequel Trilogy
[edit]Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens[87]
Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
- "The Rebellion is Reborn"[ap]
Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
- "The Rise of Skywalker"
- "The Speeder Chase"
- "Anthem of Evil"
From the spin-offs
[edit]From Rogue One
- "Jyn Erso and Hope Suite"
- "The Imperial Suite"
- "The Guardians of the Whills Suite"
From Solo
- "The Adventures of Han"[aq]
Diegetic music
[edit]Diegetic music is music "that occurs as part of the action (rather than as background), and can be heard by the film's characters".[89] In addition to the orchestral scope that was brought on by John Williams' musical score, the Star Wars franchise also features many distinguishing diegetic songs that enrich the detail of the audio mise-en-scène. Some of this diegetic music was written by John Williams; some by his son, Joseph; and some by various other people.[90]
From Star Wars
- "Cantina Band" and "Cantina Band #2". Written by John Williams, it is played in the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine. It is written for solo trumpet, three saxophones, clarinet, Fender Rhodes piano, steel drum, synthesizer and various percussion, including boobams and toms. According to the Star Wars Customizable Card Game, the diegetic title for the first Cantina band piece is "Mad About Me". The liner notes for the 1997 Special Edition release of the Star Wars soundtrack describe the concept behind these works as "several creatures in a future century finding some 1930's Benny Goodman swing band music ... and how they might attempt to interpret it". This piece also appears on an all the outtake easter eggs on the Episode I and Episode II and on the bonus disc of the 2004 original trilogy DVD set.
From Return of the Jedi
- "Jabba's Baroque Recital". Mozart-esque John Williams composition (featuring a synthesized harpsichord) played while 3PO and R2 first arrive and play Jabba the message from Luke Skywalker.
- "Lapti Nek". Written by Joseph Williams (John Williams' son) and translated into Huttese, this is played by the Max Rebo Band in Jabba the Hutt's palace (in the original cut of the movie).[ar]
- "Jedi Rocks" (composed by Jerry Hey). This was composed to replace "Lapti Nek" for the 1997 Special Edition of the film.
- "Max Rebo Band Jams". Heard twice in the film, once after Jabba sends the Wookiee Chewbacca to jail, and again on Jabba's sail barge Khetanna (hence its title). A recording of the first can be found on the official Star Wars Soundboards.
- "Ewok Feast" and "Part of the Tribe". By John Williams. Heard when Luke and company were captured by the Ewoks and brought to their treehouses.
- "Ewok Celebration". The Victory Song, whose lyrics were written by Joseph Williams, can be heard at the end of the original release of Return of the Jedi.
- "Victory Celebration". By John Williams. The Victory Song at the end of the Return of the Jedi 1997 re-edition.
From The Phantom Menace
- "Tatooine Street Music". Joseph Williams wrote four separate pieces of unusual, vaguely Eastern sounding source music for the streets of Mos Espa, featuring a player on Cretan Lyra and Cumbus, and a solo, wailing female vocal.
- "Augie's Municipal Band". By John Williams. Music played during the peace parade at the end of the film, it is a sped-up, attenuated trumpet and boy choir composition. It is closely related to the Emperor's Theme, but is not an outright quote of it.
From Attack of the Clones
- "Dex's Diner"
- "Unknown Episode II Source Cue". A second source cue is credited to Joseph Williams' name for Episode II, but is not heard in the film.
- "Arena Percussion". Originally meant to accompany the Droid Factory sequence, Ben Burtt's attempt at composition is instead shifted to the arena, replacing the predominantly unused John Williams cue "Entrance of the Monsters."
From The Force Awakens
- "Jabba Flow" and "Dobra Doompa". Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and J. J. Abrams, these songs were played at Maz Kanata's castle.[92]
From The Last Jedi
- "Canto Bight". Written by John Williams, it appears when Finn and Rose first arrive to the casino planet of Canto Bight. It is written in the style of big-band jazz and is stylistically akin to the "Cantina Band" music from Star Wars. The track features solo alto saxophone, two baritone saxophones, solo clarinet, trombones, kazoo, muted trumpets,[as] Fender Rhodes piano, bass, synthesizers, steel drums, and various percussion, including washboards and goblet drums. The track briefly quotes "Aquarela do Brasil" (which also features hi-hat and ride cymbals) by Ary Barroso as a reference to the 1985 Terry Gilliam film Brazil, and includes a brief piano statement of Williams' and Johnny Mercer's theme from The Long Goodbye.
- "Caretaker party music": source cue of an unknown composition (possibly by Williams), which features highland bagpipes and a didgeridoo, and accompanies a deleted scene from the film.
From The Rise of Skywalker
- "Lido Hey": Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and J. J. Abrams and performed by Shag Kava, a musical moniker for Miranda and Abrams. Plays as the main characters participate and traverse the Festival of Ancestors on the desert planet Pasaana.
- "Oma's Place": Performed by Ricky Tinez and J. J. Abrams. Plays as the main characters enter a bar owned by Oma Tres (featuring composer John Williams in a cameo role) on the planet Kijimi.
From Solo: A Star Wars Story
- "Chicken in the Pot". Written by John Powell, it is performed on Dryden Vos' yacht when Solo reunites with Qi'ra and first meets Vos.
Reception
[edit]Accolades
[edit]In 2005, the 1977 soundtrack for Star Wars was voted as the "most memorable film score of all time" by the American Film Institute in the list AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores, based on the assessment of a jury of over 500 artists, composers, musicians, critics and historians from the film industry.[93]
Certifications
[edit]The soundtracks to both Star Wars and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace have been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of at least 1 million units, with the albums for The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones being certified Gold (500,000 units).[106] The British Phonographic Industry certified Star Wars and Episode I as Gold for shipments of over 100,000 units in the UK.[107]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Williams generally uses the choir for texture, as humming or wordless voices. Several sections rely on repeated syllables in Sanskrit, as is the case of Duel of the Fates or Snoke's theme. While the syllables are drawn from (loosely) translated texts such as Cad Goddeu or the writing of Kipling, Williams typically arranges them by ear and without heed to their meaning, so the choral text remains repetitive and meaningless. In other instances, the choir repeats a short albeit coherent sentence, such as with the Funeral theme or Anakin's Dark Deeds.
- ^ Including all the alternate takes of the recording, Williams has recorded about 21 hours of music for the series, although much of it remains unreleased.
- ^ Women were used for the special edition rescoring.
- ^ This orchestra consists of a group of individually contracted freelanced musicians, rather than being an organised orchestra that plays regularly as a group.
- ^ That particular score was first intended to be tracked with existing music from the classical repertoire or from older film scores, as was the case of 2001: A Space Odyssey, which inspired George Lucas to write the film. After Williams convinced Lucas to have an original score (which would excel as a tracked score in that it will have set themes for characters, Williams argued), those musical pieces were used as a temp track and Williams followed them closely, turning portions of the score into a homage to earlier film score and to romantic music in general.
- ^ These inspirations are evident in some of the orchestration choices, including the wide use of an SATB choir and boy choir and even a soloist (including a woman singing mournfully in "Padme's Ruminations", similar to Lisa Gerard's vocal work in Gladiator). The orchestra was augmented with a second set of timpani as was the case with Shore's Lord of the Rings scores, and with taiko drums, which have been used extensively by Shore and Zimmer. In particular, Anakin's Dark Deeds with the humming boy choir opening leading into a Gothic piece for an adult choir is evocative of "The Treason of Isengard". Several tracks, including the music to the film's opening, evoke the Orcs' rhythmic music. [12]
- ^ Using a leitmotif merely as a "stand-in" for a character would be a devolved form of using leitmotifs, compared to the operatic practice. A theme can be used symbolically, such as hinting at Darth Vader's theme when the decision to train Anakin is made in Episode I.
- ^ Williams full score often slightly overtakes the length of the film due to the recording of concert suites and several alternate takes. However, the amount of music written for the film proper varies from 80 percent, to scoring effectively the entire film. The finished film is always subjected to tracking, looping and muting (especially Attack of the Clones), so about 85% of each finished film is scored.
- ^ Episode III required 109 players (not including the conductor) due to expanded string and percussion sections.[17]
- ^ Star Wars and the sequel trilogy film use an 84-piece arrangement, with the latter also incorporating a 24-piece men choir. Empire Strikes Back uses 106 pieces and about ten women vocalists, Return of the Jedi uses a 100-piece orchestra, about ten men, and a few women for the Special Edition; The Phantom Menace uses a 100-piece orchestra, 88-piece SATB choir and 30 boys; Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith use a 112-piece orchestra, 89-piece SATB choir and a synthesized boy choir.
- ^ Star Wars Concerts were held with as few as 130 performers, and some Live to Projection Concerts can therefore be played by as few as sixty players. By comparison, each of Howard Shore's Middle Earth scores require a minimum of 230 musicians to stage (ranging to as many as 500), and several stage works such as Gurre Lieder or Mahler's Eighth Symphony can range from 300 to over a thousand musicians. Nevertheless, amateur performances (like the NJYS Playathon) of Williams score, among other film scores (including the aforementioned Howard Shore ones) have utilized orchestral forces of 450-piece or more.
- ^ The Last Jedi used 101 instrumental players (including the diegetic band), probably a result of added percussion and high woodwind players, a 65-piece SATB choir, and a few additional pieces for the all-male choir.
- ^ The Live to Projection presentations also feature various reductions, namely in the brass section, in line with Williams' reduced orchestration for his "Star Wars Suite", and generally omit the unusual orchestrations of Empire Strikes Back and synthesize or remove the choral parts The roster is between 50 and 90 pieces. [20]
- ^ Empire Strikes Back only.
- ^ Star Wars featured one player on a piano and a second player on celesta. The second player also doubles on Electric Piano. For select sections of Empire Strikes Back, both played on pianos. The scores also used synthesizers for electronic sounds and to mimic the Celesta (a real Celesta was not used since Return of the Jedi) and the Harpsichord (for Return of the Jedi and Attack of the Clones). In the Skywalker Symphony recording, one player doubles on all keyboards. From Attack of the Clones going forward, the synth is performed by the electric keyboard player.
- ^ Most of the episodes feature six percussionists, although sections of the prequels and Empire Strikes Back require as many as eight, including two Xylophone parts, etc. Star Wars, however, only requires only three and the sequel trilogy scores require only four.
- ^ Star Wars uses the original arrangement, but its two sequels call for an additional of one of each woodwind. The prequel trilogy scores use three flutes, oboes and bassoons, as well as four clarinets, and the sequel trilogy scores omit the fourth clarinet part. Sections of Empire Strikes Back, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith and The Last Jedi call for expanded higher woodwind: four flutes and an added piccolo part and five oboes. The former score also calls for a fourth bassoon for Boba Fett's motif. Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace also feature recorders. Star Wars and The Last Jedi use three saxophones, as well.
- ^ Up to the sequel trilogy, Star Wars scores had utilized eight horns and two tubas, although the Skywalker Symphony recording omits those parts and adds a fifth trumpet. The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones also omit the second tuba.
- ^ In Empire Strikes Back, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. A second set of timpani is used in the former, and in The Last Jedi.
- ^ The full SATB choir is used for the prequels: The Last Jedi only requires a 64-piece Tibetan Throat chanting is used in Revenge of the Sith. The boy choir is used in The Phantom Menace but synthesized in the later two scores. Empire Strikes Back uses a small women choir and Return of the Jedi uses a small male choir. The Force Awakens uses a 24-piece basso profundo orchestra, which is about ten more pieces than would be in a 90-piece SATB choir.
- ^ For Star Wars: In Concert.
- ^ Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi call for two added contrabass parts, and the former also calls for a third harp. The Skywalker Symphony uses a fuller string section, but omits the second harp. The prequels also use the fuller string section.
- ^ Williams is not usually keen to stray far from the orchestral instrumentation. The Cretan Lyra and Cumbus are used briefly for diegetic Tatooine music for Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, composed by his son, Joseph, and were originally played by one instrumentalist. Williams also recalls "reed flutes"[22] (most likely referring to the ney flute) used in the score, probably for those cues. The prequel scores are not performed live, but seeing as diegetic pieces are not played even in the scores that are performed live, these would probably be omitted under such circumstances, as well. The electric guitar is used in small inserts during the chase through Curoscant in Attack of the Clones (albeit muted in the film on the request of George Lucas). Williams also used three saxophones for the Cantina Band, although those could be doubled by the clarinet players. He also once claimed to have used Kazoos in that sequence, although the liner notes make no mention of it. Didgeridoos are used in the diegetic Caretaker party music, which scores a deleted scene. They are also featured in The Phantom Menace ultimate edition release, where they were originally used as diegetic sound effects, and layered over the soundtrack.
- ^ the theme recurs thirty times or more in a two-hour film.
- ^ The scores to the original three films are melodic and romantic, as is – largely – the score to The Phantom Menace. However, Episodes II and even III feature much more rhythmic music, and Revenge of the Sith, in particular, is more operatic in its use of choir and even solo vocals. The sequel scores feature another evolution of Williams' musical style, which is less obtrusive, with more lilting musical themes like Rey's theme, reminiscent of some of Williams' work on Harry Potter.
- ^ Williams themes for Star Wars have been classified based on Williams own comments on the LP release, Mike Matessino's Special Edition Liner notes, and further analyses provided by Doug Adams, John Takis et al. On FilmScoreMonthly. Ancillary sources include Frank Lehman's "Complete Catalogue of the Musical Themes of Star Wars", which includes a lot of "incidental motifs" including stylistic gestures and tracked material.
- ^ Williams wrote some fifty themes for over 19 hours of cinema, with an average of six new themes per film and an average 12 themes used in each film overall. By comparison, Howard Shore wrote over 160 leitmotifs for 21 hours of cinema in the Middle Earth films, of which he uses 40 or more in each film. Richard Wagner wrote 176 leitmotifs for the 15-hour Ring cycle.
- ^ In thematic works such as those of Wagner or Shore, all the leitmotifs which are thematically connected (e.g. all of Alberich's themes or all of the Hobbits' themes) are connected in melody, harmony, key and orchestration, so as to create sets and subsets of inter-connected thematic "families." This allows the composer to introduce new themes later in the work while having the new theme evoke associations that the audience already felt towards existing related themes. Williams' various themes do share certain connections, but they are basic enough as to nullify any attempts to categorize them except in the broadest of strokes, such as themes for the protagonists and themes for the antagonists.
- ^ Since the princess is present at Ben's death, her theme is said to "represents Luke's and the Princess' reaction to leaving Ben behind"[24] although the romantic explanation has been favored by Adams and Michael Matessimo, the author of the special edition liner notes.[25]
- ^ However, some of the music in the later films was always intended to be acquired through tracking of pre-existing material, and some of the tracking choices are very deliberate.[citation needed]
- ^ Williams commented to having originally written this theme as a love theme for Leia and Luke.
- ^ This theme was also used briefly in Williams' score of E.T. when the figure of Yoda (here a boy in a costume) appeared on screen.
- ^ This motif was also re-tracked into the Special Edition of A New Hope from Return of the Jedi.
- ^ Other than the introduction fanfare, this theme is the first "none-pitched theme", based on whispering voices and percussion figures. The latter have been confused for a separate, secondary motif, specifically for Darth Maul or even for his probe droids, but Adams refers to them as mere "drum patterns" that are simply part of the theme.
- ^ The Rebel Fanfare is often (but not always) used in the sequel trilogy scores with the Millennium Falcon. In his score to Solo, John Powell continued this trend, having said that in talking to Williams the former claimed that it was the motif's intended association all along.
- ^ This theme is written for voices in the Basso Profundo range, and has drawn tenuous comparisons to Palpatine's Teachings, although the latter is based rather on overtone singing.
- ^ The first three scores received an expanded Anthology release and finally an effectively complete release in 1996. The Phantom Menace was also released in an "Ultimate Edition", featuring a lot of added cues but also multiple instances of tracked music, hence lacking a lot of original music that was not used as intended by the composer in the finished film. The Last Jedi received an isolated score release, albeit again not including unused material and maintaining tracked sequences.
- ^ While the original track is a film cue, Williams created a new suite based on it in 2018.
- ^ There's an alternate presentation over the end-credits, featuring a hint of Anakin's theme as an ending coda.
- ^ Features a variation of "The Starkiller", premiered in 2019.
- ^ Features a variation of Luke's theme.
- ^ This suite uniquely features not one but two of the three thematic ideas that make up the entire score: Rose's theme, and Luke's Island motif, notably stressing the former.
- ^ This is a suite of Han's themes which was written by John Williams, and the suite was arranged and conducted by Williams, as well.
- ^ Later used in the Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures episode "Jabba the Hutt – Galactic Gangster".[91]
- ^ The Kazoos were inserted into the mutes to produce a nasal sound.
References
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- ^ "Dudamel Conducts Some Music for New 'Star Wars' Film". The New York Times. December 15, 2015. Archived from the original on July 23, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
- ^ according to the closing credit roll
- ^ "'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' TV Series Soundtrack Announced". Film Music Reporter. November 4, 2014. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
- ^ "Kevin Kiner to Score 'Star Wars Rebels'". Film Music Reporter. April 21, 2014. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
- ^ "Matthew Margeson to Score Disney Junior's 'Young Jedi Adventures'". Film Music Reporter. July 20, 2022. Archived from the original on July 20, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
- ^ Breznican, Anthony (April 22, 2022). "Obi-Wan Kenobi Composer Natalie Holt Reveals "Haunting" Approach". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ McPherson, Christopher (April 8, 2023). "'Ahsoka': Kevin Kiner Returns as Composer". Collider. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
- ^ McPherson, Chris. "'The Acolyte' Has a Tentative Release Date [Exclusive]". Collider. Valnet.net. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ "Composer Mick Giacchino Joins Star Wars: Skeleton Crew - Reveal". StarWars.com. November 11, 2024. Archived from the original on November 11, 2024. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
- ^ Burlingame, Jon (February 8, 2012). "Spielberg and Lucas on Williams: Directors reminisce about collaborating with Hollywood's greatest composer". The Film Music Society. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
- ^ "4/11/05: FSM Forum Star Wars Episode III". Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
- ^ a b "Star Wars Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace : Interview with John Williams April9 1999". www.musicweb-international.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
- ^ "Episode 69: Rian Johnson On The Music Of Star Wars & Other Movies". audioBoom. Archived from the original on January 1, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
- ^ Star Wars, liner notes Archived December 12, 2017, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Five-Time Oscar Winner John Williams Talks Bringing Star Wars Scores to the New York Philharmonic". September 12, 2017. Archived from the original on September 16, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
- ^ "STAR WARS - Episode III". www.jw-collection.de. Archived from the original on August 7, 2017.
- ^ "John Williams London Symphony Orchestra Star Wars". Archived from the original on June 16, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
- ^ Keyes, Allison (July 24, 2010). "'Star Wars In Concert' Puts The Force In The Music". NPR. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
- ^ "Error" (PDF). Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
- ^ https://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/program-notes/1718/John-Williams-Star-Wars-The-Empire-Strikes-Back.pdf Archived July 14, 2022, at the Wayback Machine; https://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/program-notes/1718/John-Williams-Star-Wars-Return-of-the-Jedi.pdf ; https://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/program-notes/1718/John-Williams-Star-Wars-The-Force-Awakens.pdf Archived January 15, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Star Wars: Star Wars Episode I the Phantom Menace". Archived from the original on October 13, 1999.
- ^ a b c d "Filmtracks: Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (John Williams)". Archived from the original on February 8, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
- ^ Star Wars, Liner Notes Archived December 12, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Star Wars - Special Edition". mahawa.jw-music.net. Archived from the original on January 30, 2016.
- ^ Ross, Alex (January 3, 2018). "A Field Guide to the Musical Leitmotifs of "Star Wars"". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on September 20, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Doug Adams, Sounds of the Empire: Analysing the themes of the Star Wars Trilogy Archived August 6, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, in: Film Score Monthly (Volume 4, number 5), pp. 22–47.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Star Wars - LP". www.jw-collection.de. Archived from the original on December 12, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm Frank Lehman, The Complete Catalogue of Musical Themes of Star Wars Archived October 11, 2019, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b c d e "The Empire Strikes Back - LP". www.jw-collection.de. Archived from the original on August 7, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g Michael Matessino, Star Wars: A New Hope Special Edition Liner notes Archived January 30, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b c d Karol Krok, themes of the original trilogy Archived January 6, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, films on wax.
- ^ a b "Star Wars". www.moviemusicuk.us. Archived from the original on October 20, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f Michael Matessino, Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition liner notes Archived August 27, 2017, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b "Williams: The Empire Strikes Back". www.movie-wave.net. Archived from the original on January 12, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ a b "Filmtracks: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (John Williams)". Archived from the original on February 8, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Michael Matessino, Return of the Jedi: Special Edition liner notes Archived August 28, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f g h Doug Adams, A Return or a New Hope? Archived July 14, 2022, at the Wayback Machine In: Film Score Monthly, Volume 4, number 7, pp. 32–34.
- ^ a b "Return of the Jedi". www.moviemusicuk.us. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ a b "Filmtracks: Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (John Williams)". www.filmtracks.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Karol Krok, The themes of the Prequel Trilogy Archived January 15, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Films-on-wax.
- ^ In interviews Archived June 29, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Williams mentions "Duel of the Fates", Anakin's theme, "Jar Jar's music", as well as Qui-Gon's theme and the Trade Federation Droid Army March, from an interview in the making of the film.
- ^ "Star Wars: Star Wars Episode I the Phantom Menace". Archived from the original on October 13, 1999.
- ^ a b "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace". February 25, 2012. Archived from the original on July 15, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ a b "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace". www.moviemusicuk.us. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g John Takis, Star Wars Episode Tunes: Attack on the Score Archived August 6, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Film Score Monthly, pp. 18–23.
- ^ Mark Richards, Across the Stars: Analysis Archived December 28, 2017, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b c "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 22, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Jon and Al Kaplan mention Archived October 22, 2016, at the Wayback Machine "minor-mode arpeggiations" as dominating this score, presumably referring to this motif. Adams Archived September 11, 2017, at the Wayback Machine also says that the leitmotifs in that score were "rhythmic" in nature. While Williams himself has said little of the leitmotifs of this score (outside of Across the Stars), Lucas is quoted on the album saying that Williams "heightens the mystery and suspense that drives the first half of the film", most likely referring to this motif, which is indeed confined to the first half of the film.
- ^ Mark Richards, Battle of the Heroes: Analysis Archived January 19, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b Williams recalls Archived August 7, 2017, at the Wayback Machine to have written "three or four pieces of new material" for this installment, including "a couple of[...]lamentations[...]of Anakin's turn from the light to the dark", a "piece with a lot of percussion for Grievous" and Archived August 23, 2017, at the Wayback Machine "Battle of the Heroes[...]a motif based on four pitches." Ian Freer who was present at the recording, noted the lament and "variations to Qui-Gon’s funeral." Also based on the recording, John Crichton speaks of "the new theme" (Battle of the Heroes) which has "nine notes", the lament, Across the Stars, and "a reprise of a choral track from a previous score. This is probably the reprise of Qui-Gon’s funeral music."
- ^ a b "STAR WARS - Episode III". Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
- ^ a b "Williams: Revenge of the Sith". Archived from the original on May 6, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
- ^ This is a piece of music written originally for Qui-Gon's funeral in The Phantom Menace. It was reprised and repurposed here as a general "funeral" theme, being woven into the lament material in "Anakin's Betrayal" and used for Padme's death and her later funeral.
- ^ This fanfare from "He is the Chosen One", recurs Archived October 22, 2016, at the Wayback Machine in "Palpatine's Teachings" for a transition to the view of Curoscant from Padme's abode. It was used in the finished film rather for a shot of Obi-Wan entering Bail Organa's ship.
- ^ a b "John Williams on 'Force Awakens' score: 'I felt a renewed energy, and a vitality'". Los Angeles Times. December 18, 2015. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Mark Richards, The Force Awakens themes Archived January 6, 2018, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b c d According to an interview Archived April 9, 2018, at the Wayback Machine with Williams, he composed themes for Rey, Kylo, Rey, the Resistance, Poe and Snoke. His end-credits suite, traditionally used to recapitulate the entire thematic glossary of the film, features the themes for Rey, Kylo (both themes), Poe, the Resistance and the Pursuit ostinato. Snoke's theme is not visited, although it has a dedicated track on the album.
- ^ a b c d e f "STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS – John Williams". December 21, 2015. Archived from the original on December 24, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ a b "Film Score Icons Williams, Morricone and Horner Loom Large in Oscar Race". December 9, 2015. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
- ^ a b "The Click Track". www.theclicktrack.net. Archived from the original on May 28, 2018.
- ^ John Williams refers Archived February 17, 2020, at the Wayback Machine to a "more ruminative part" besides Kylo Ren's main theme, which he thought of as a "relative of Darth Vader." (the unabridged interview appears here: http://projectorandorchestra.com/john-williams-on-the-force-awakens-and-the-legacy-of-star-wars/ Archived July 30, 2019, at the Wayback Machine) The arpeggiated material that often introduces this motif often appears as a shorthand for the entire theme, and Lehman classifies it as a separate motif and Maurizio Caschetto Archived April 29, 2018, at the Wayback Machine follows in his lead.
- ^ a b "Star Wars: The Force Awakens". December 20, 2015. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ This theme is often used in conjunction with the character of Finn, and was therefore often mistaken to be his theme, as well as for the Millennium Falcon Archived May 28, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. Rather, it is a motif for the more comedic action sequences in the film, in which Finn's propensity to flee is used for comedic effect.
- ^ a b "Limited edition Star Wars: The Force Awakens vinyl sets available for pre-order - Syfy Wire". www.syfy.com. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017.
- ^ "STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI – John Williams". December 19, 2017. Archived from the original on February 2, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- ^ a b "'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Original Soundtrack Album: First Impressions – JOHN WILLIAMS Fan Network – JWFAN". Archived from the original on December 14, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ^ a b c Mark Richards, The Last Jedi themes Archived January 6, 2018, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ http://www.waltdisneystudiosawards.com/media/pdf/SW_PRODUCTION_NOTES.pdf Archived April 14, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. Williams mentions a theme for Finn, but is most likely misremembering.
- ^ "John Williams is on Target to Set Yet Another Oscar Record". January 10, 2018. Archived from the original on January 14, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
- ^ Such an approach is taken by the programs to the live-to-projection premiere, which is seemingly not based on new insight from Williams himself. Such an approach was taken by the programs Archived July 14, 2022, at the Wayback Machine to the live-to-projection premiere of the Star Wars films, where numerous motifs were identified (seemingly with no new insight from Williams himself), including a rancor motif, a motif for the droids in the original Star Wars, etc... Others to have taken to such an approach are Alfred Surenyan Archived July 14, 2022, at the Wayback Machine and Aaron Krerowicz Archived January 15, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. Even Ed Chang Archived November 28, 2016, at the Wayback Machine does this with several minor motifs he attributes to the various Star Wars scores, including an "Imperial rhythmic motif", a " rhythmic Imperial skirmish motif", "exotic Bespin motif", "'one with the Force' motif", "trap theme", a "taking off motif", a secondary Droid march, an Utapau "motoric" motif, and a "Millennium Falcon rhythmic motif." Also see previous versions of this page.
- ^ For instance, a multitude of motifs identified in these reviews: http://scoresheet.tripod.com/alpha.html Archived May 1, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Alfred Surenyan Archived July 14, 2022, at the Wayback Machine describes themes for the Flag Parade, the Arrival on Tatooine, Jango's Escape, Taun We (which is mentioned in Takis analysis, but as a setpiece-specific piece), Anakin's Dark Deeds, The Dune Sea, The Emperor's Throne Room, Starkiller Base, etc. Ed Chung describes an "escape theme" from the opening space battle of Revenge of the Sith Archived August 28, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, an Utapau motoric figure appearing in the fight with Grievous, an "exotic Bespin motif Archived July 14, 2022, at the Wayback Machine" for the finale of Empire Strikes Back, a "taking off Archived August 28, 2017, at the Wayback Machine" motif from "The Phantom Menace", etc...
- ^ a b Williams refers Archived December 12, 2017, at the Wayback Machine to the use of "bouncing" horns in Star Wars as a "motif" for Luke's Landspeeder, although it is based on no fixed recurring melodic or rhythmic idea. He also once Archived March 16, 2018, at the Wayback Machine referred to the material for the Battle of Hoth as "thematic", but Matessino's notes ultimately conclude Archived August 27, 2017, at the Wayback Machine that "thematic material is deffered" in the piece. Lehman makes no mention of either motif, even as "incidental" motifs, and in fact stressed that "Themes for self-contained, non-repeating set-pieces are not included." Adams also does not list any setpiece-specific material in his thematic analyses, but did mention Archived October 22, 2016, at the Wayback Machine that "the walker attack on Hoth[...]was assigned a memorable and fully realized standalone melody" but, unlike the melody of "The TIE fighters chasing the Millennium Falcon away from the Death Star", which went on to recur in a later installment, this motif (like the Asteroid Field music) is used "with less thought toward a score-length arc of material than toward a series of self-contained vignettes." In the prequels, ostinati-based pieces such as Chase through Coruscant or Jango Fett's escape are described by Adams not as melodies but as "shorter, chunkier motives seldom longer than a measure or two, and often more rhythmic than melodic" and as "terse" and "episodic." Jeff Bonds Archived June 16, 2020, at the Wayback Machine also mentions that the former sequence features "no theme hitting them [the audience] over the head."
- ^ a b "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story". December 23, 2016. Archived from the original on February 15, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ a b "ROGUE ONE – Michael Giacchino". December 20, 2016. Archived from the original on February 15, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ a b "'Solo' Locks in Key 'Star Wars' Veteran (EXCLUSIVE)". December 30, 2017. Archived from the original on January 30, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
- ^ According to John Powell, "The Adventures of Han" contains two themes which Williams develops separately (to the point of spotting them for a couple of actual cues), one more heroic, the other – more reflective.
- ^ "Filmtracks: Star Wars: A New Hope (John Williams)". Archived from the original on February 9, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
- ^ "Williams: Star Wars". Archived from the original on January 12, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ "The Empire Strikes Back". www.moviemusicuk.us. Archived from the original on September 29, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ "Filmtracks: Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (John Williams)". www.filmtracks.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
- ^ "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones". www.moviemusicuk.us. Archived from the original on September 29, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ "Williams: Attack of the Clones". www.movie-wave.net. Archived from the original on May 12, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ "Filmtracks: Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (John Williams)". Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
- ^ "Movie Music UK – Revenge of the Sith – John Williams". www.moviemusicuk.us. Archived from the original on October 22, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ a b As with other long-lined themes on this list, components of Rey's theme have been described as independent leitmotifs, namely the wind and chime introduction figures of the unabridged theme. In his commentary Archived September 28, 2017, at the Wayback Machine on the score, Doug refers to the piece as a single theme. He also refers to the variation heard in the end-credits as "Rey's theme in counterpoint[...]with The Force theme."
- ^ "Filmtracks: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Michael Giacchino)". Archived from the original on February 16, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
- ^
The dictionary definition of 'Diegetic' at Wiktionary.
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- ^ "Jabba the Hutt – Galactic Gangster | Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures". YouTube. May 3, 2019. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
- ^ Raftery, Brian (December 21, 2015). "The 9 Best Songs Ever Played in a Star Wars Movie". Wired. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
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- ^ a b "1980 – 23rd Annual Grammy Awards". Grammy Awards. Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
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- ^ "Final Nominations for the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards". Billboard. January 15, 2000. p. 73. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
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External links
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