putting the "opera" in "space opera"
April 10, 2018 9:03 AM Subscribe
A Field Guide to The Musical Leitmotifs of Star Wars.
Frank Lehman has complied a Complete Catalogue of Star Wars Letimotifs[PDF] from Episodes I-VIII.
more:
These are inarguably the best musical themes from all the Star Wars films
The Music Of Star Wars And John Williams, complete with cues and notations.
Who's who in the Star Wars score.
The Music Of Star Wars
want a good demonstration?
The Emperor's Theme is the Victory March from The Phantom Menace.
Frank Lehman has complied a Complete Catalogue of Star Wars Letimotifs[PDF] from Episodes I-VIII.
more:
These are inarguably the best musical themes from all the Star Wars films
The Music Of Star Wars And John Williams, complete with cues and notations.
Who's who in the Star Wars score.
The Music Of Star Wars
want a good demonstration?
The Emperor's Theme is the Victory March from The Phantom Menace.
I love this kind of hidden use of the Imperial March in the track "Hope" from the Rogue One OST.
hooded little scavenger goblins
Best description of Jawas I've ever heard.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:37 PM on April 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
hooded little scavenger goblins
Best description of Jawas I've ever heard.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:37 PM on April 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Does it go into which pieces John Williams plagiarized them from? (Sorry — “was inspired by”)
posted by Sys Rq at 1:50 PM on April 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Sys Rq at 1:50 PM on April 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
First link is worth reading just for the terrible, awful pun right at the end.
posted by Combat Wombat at 4:55 PM on April 10, 2018
posted by Combat Wombat at 4:55 PM on April 10, 2018
The Han and Leia theme is a goddamn triumph, being ultimately governed by chromatic voice-leading (the whole thing plays out over a Db pedal point in the bass, and as I hear it the Db -> Ebm7b5 -> Ebb -> Db progression above is all about the line, with a 5 -> b6 ascent between the Db and the Ebm7b5 and then a 2 -> b2 descent between the latter and the Ebb) while also evoking the poignant and astringent quality of the Neapolitan chord and then complicating its syntactic function with a 4-7 jump in the melody rather than the typical b2 -> 7. It's beautiful and parsimonious and beautiful in part because parsimonious.
posted by invitapriore at 7:47 PM on April 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by invitapriore at 7:47 PM on April 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Duel of the Fates is one of the best fight themes ever in a movie and I really wish there would be another epic song like that.
posted by gucci mane at 9:13 PM on April 10, 2018
posted by gucci mane at 9:13 PM on April 10, 2018
The music in Episode III made the movie worth seeing. (almost?)
posted by Chuffy at 9:25 PM on April 10, 2018
posted by Chuffy at 9:25 PM on April 10, 2018
Does it go into which pieces John Williams plagiarized them from? (Sorry — “was inspired by”)
a couple of weeks ago I was listening to the classical music station in the car, and I did hear a piece that had a phrase that was identical, for the first 4 or 5 notes, to the Tattoine-two-suns theme. But I don't know what it was.
posted by thelonius at 5:42 AM on April 11, 2018
a couple of weeks ago I was listening to the classical music station in the car, and I did hear a piece that had a phrase that was identical, for the first 4 or 5 notes, to the Tattoine-two-suns theme. But I don't know what it was.
posted by thelonius at 5:42 AM on April 11, 2018
Does it go into which pieces John Williams plagiarized them from? (Sorry — “was inspired by”)
This used to be my attitude towards John Williams. Then I heard someone knowledgeable (I forget who) talk about the purpose of a movie score. Movie scores are not (solely) about originality, but rather are about evoking a particular emotion or feel to complement the imagery on the screen. Directors will often go to the composers and say, "For this scene, I want to evoke the same feeling as [insert classical piece]" and it is the composer's job to make that happen. Given the existence in popular consciousness (not so much now, but certainly more in the 1970s) of the melodic and harmonic structures of Strauss, Mahler, Korngold, Wagner, Puccini, etc., it made sense to borrow from those composers for the purpose of getting to the end result.
Williams is the master at this, because he takes these quotes and inspirations and makes them his own in a way that is absolutely memorable and that elevate the films. The fact that some of the chords in the main Star Wars theme are cribbed from Mahler's Second Symphony is less important than the fact that the shot of Luke looking at the double-sunset wouldn't pack the same emotional punch without the music underneath it.
Semi-Tangent: On a recent red-eye flight, I watched a documentary called SCORE, all about film music. It was fascinating and I highly recommend it. NB: Pretty much all of the composers interviewed agree that John Williams is the absolute top dog in their industry.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 7:30 AM on April 11, 2018 [3 favorites]
This used to be my attitude towards John Williams. Then I heard someone knowledgeable (I forget who) talk about the purpose of a movie score. Movie scores are not (solely) about originality, but rather are about evoking a particular emotion or feel to complement the imagery on the screen. Directors will often go to the composers and say, "For this scene, I want to evoke the same feeling as [insert classical piece]" and it is the composer's job to make that happen. Given the existence in popular consciousness (not so much now, but certainly more in the 1970s) of the melodic and harmonic structures of Strauss, Mahler, Korngold, Wagner, Puccini, etc., it made sense to borrow from those composers for the purpose of getting to the end result.
Williams is the master at this, because he takes these quotes and inspirations and makes them his own in a way that is absolutely memorable and that elevate the films. The fact that some of the chords in the main Star Wars theme are cribbed from Mahler's Second Symphony is less important than the fact that the shot of Luke looking at the double-sunset wouldn't pack the same emotional punch without the music underneath it.
Semi-Tangent: On a recent red-eye flight, I watched a documentary called SCORE, all about film music. It was fascinating and I highly recommend it. NB: Pretty much all of the composers interviewed agree that John Williams is the absolute top dog in their industry.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 7:30 AM on April 11, 2018 [3 favorites]
This is probably old news (sorry I didn't read all the links yet) but.. this morning I realised Rey's theme is in dorian mode. That is, it uses a scale whose keynote is re. This cannot possibly be a coincidence.
And I recently saw someone on Youtube point out that Rey and Kylo Ren's themes are somewhat mirroring each other- not quite exactly but they do have the same shape in reverse, sort of. (Can't find the clip now or I would post it here.)
posted by Coaticass at 2:01 AM on April 15, 2018
And I recently saw someone on Youtube point out that Rey and Kylo Ren's themes are somewhat mirroring each other- not quite exactly but they do have the same shape in reverse, sort of. (Can't find the clip now or I would post it here.)
posted by Coaticass at 2:01 AM on April 15, 2018
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That theme in Empire and Marion's Theme from Raiders were my childhood motifs for doomed romance.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:34 AM on April 10, 2018