John Williams and the Music of Star Wars - A Further Step into a Larger Musical World (Main Page article)

[Ricard 2,245]

John Williams and the Music of Star Wars – A Further Step Into a Larger Musical World

An exploration of John Williams's music for the popular film series, with a particular focus on the latest instalment, The Last Jedi, by Maurizio Caschetto

 

An engaging, thoughtful and enlightening read. Enjoy!

 

http://www.jwfan.com/?p=10681

[Miguel Andrade 1,263]

Cool addition! Great work Maurizio!

[Will 2,215]

Great article!

[crumbs 14,306]

Fantastic article! I can't believe I didn't notice Luke & Leia appears twice in the score! In such an obvious spot, too, I just never made that connection with those 4-5 notes.

 

Brilliant writing, Maurizio. Hopefully it opens a few eyes to the genius contained within The Last Jedi, which has become increasingly apparent with the isolated score.

[Chen G. 3,948]

I knew it!

 

Interestingly, Williams quoes "Luke and Leia"  over the mention of Han, and "Han Solo and the Princess" over the mention of Leia. As a result, the latter was much more overt in my mind

[Incanus 5,714]

An excellent article Maurizio!  

[Jurassic Shark 12,051]

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The film directed by J.J. Abrams is very much based on nostalgia, going back to the escapist fun realm of the original three films, but Williams seemed more interested to expand and further develop his own rich musical tapestry.

 

Oh no, I sense another discussion about escapism on the horizon...

[Jay 37,336]

Great work @TownerFan, a very very nice read!

[crumbs 14,306]

8 hours ago, Chen G. said:

I knew it!

 

Interestingly, Williams quoes "Luke and Leia"  over the mention of Han, and "Han Solo and the Princess" over the mention of Leia. As a result, the latter was much more overt in my mind

 

That's actually a very interesting observation. I hadn't rewatched the scene, naturally assuming Leia is mentioned first and Han second, but you're right in this instance.

[Ludwig 1,120]

Thanks, @TownerFan! This is an excellent exploration of the score. I think it's an especially important point that, as you say,

 

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Williams shows an impeccable sense of dramaturgy, creating tension and releasing it always at the proper occasion, without losing any of the propulsive energy needed to address and balance a story with many quick shifts in tone.

 

There's something about this score that truly lives and breathes as a continuous, coherent whole. Whereas the strengths of TFA's score lies especially in its new themes and the set pieces composed especially for them, the strengths of TLJ's score lies in its weaving together of the drama, as you say.

 

Put another way, if TFA is like a patchwork quilt whose individual patches tell rich and engrossing stories on their own, TLJ is like a composite picture that tells a rich and engrossing story when one stands back and sees a large-scale picture made up of countless smaller pictures.

[crumbs 14,306]

Beautifully put, Ludwig. My thoughts exactly, I'm just not as succinct with words!

 

Viewed holistically, TLJ is immensely cohesive, flowing seamlessly from one cue to the next with masterful ease. When you consider the sheer volume of themes, melodies and motifs Williams is juggling throughout, it makes this achievement all the more noteworthy.

 

You point out an interesting observation about TFA, and I'd level the same observation towards the prequels. On a cue-by-cue basis, the prequels might well be filled with greater individual highlights than TLJ, but viewed holistically from a storytelling and writing perspective? Only ROTS comes close to matching TLJ's cohesion.

[Chen G. 3,948]

3 hours ago, crumbs said:

You point out an interesting observation about TFA, and I'd level the same observation towards the prequels. On a cue-by-cue basis, the prequels might well be filled with greater individual highlights than TLJ, but viewed holistically from a storytelling and writing perspective? Only ROTS comes close to matching TLJ's cohesion.

 

Is it? Out of the three new themes, one is only used in conjunction with a single storyline; the other is contained roughly within the opening third of the film, and the other - appears (at least, in its definitive form) only in the false third act.

 

And cohesion isn't necessarily the best dramatic tool. You gave the example of Revenge of the Sith. Well, that film is structured such that the midpoint transforms the narrative into something far more tragic; and so too does the music: Suddenly, the Imperial March rears its heads, the lament theme is introduced (through transforming the Across the Stars B section), variations on the Grievous material are redirected to apply to Anakin, the choir becomes much more pronounced, etc..

[Faleel 5,345]

The imperial march is introduced way before the midpoint. And what are you referring to with the Grievous thing?

[Chen G. 3,948]

Sure, but it only comes to the center of the stage at that point in the narrative, and aptly so.

[crumbs 14,306]

5 hours ago, Chen G. said:

Is it? Out of the three new themes, one is only used in conjunction with a single storyline; the other is contained roughly within the opening third of the film, and the other - appears (at least, in its definitive form) only in the false third act.

 

There's more to a cohesive score than just thematic continuity. Williams' use of themes is only part of his storytelling process; the more important detail is the score's overall tone and the emotion it conveys. Williams' melodic writing has always been more focused on malleable themes explored through a range of orchestration rather than "thematic development". So if he feels like Luke's Exile theme has no place in the score once Rey abandons him, and he favours a different route for his triumphant moment of redemption (like deconstructing a related theme), I'm not going to argue! And given the results, how could anyone?

 

It's like arguing The Lost World is incohesive because the main theme barely appears in the score proper after the first few cues, but if you actually focus on the score itself you understand the musical storytelling taking place: a descent into primordial darkness and back again. Surely one of Williams' most engrossing scores and it has nothing to do with thematic development; in fact, the absence of thematic writing is one of the score's greatest strengths (especially in the wake of its highly tonal predecessor).

 

Sometimes I wonder if you're so hung up on forensically obsessing over each motif and theme that you fail to hear the music itself, disregarding the musical storytelling taking place.

 

5 hours ago, Chen G. said:

And cohesion isn't necessarily the best dramatic tool. You gave the example of Revenge of the Sith. Well, that film is structured such that the midpoint transforms the narrative into something far more tragic; and so too does the music: Suddenly, the Imperial March rears its heads, the lament theme is introduced (through transforming the Across the Stars B section), variations on the Grievous material are redirected to apply to Anakin, the choir becomes much more pronounced, etc..

 

That's true. I said it comes closest because that film/score doesn't find much cohesion until the entire Grievous subplot is resolved and we actually focus on the important stuff -- Anakin succumbing to the dark side, the creation of the Empire, and the last stand of the Jedi. As identified earlier, it's a score with plenty of highlights but its musical storytelling would be incoherent in C&C form until Anakin's Betrayal onwards (which is clearly where Williams' devoted his energy).

 

The less said about the final acts of TPM and AOTC, the better.

[Chen G. 3,948]

16 minutes ago, crumbs said:

So if he feels like Luke's Exile theme has no place in the score once Rey abandons him, and he favours a different route (like deconstructing a related theme) for his triumphant moment of redemption, I'm not going to argue! And given the results, how could anyone?

 

I don't mind that leitmotives are sometimes contained within a certain part of a film. But when there's only three of them...

[Faleel 5,345]

6 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

I don't mind that leitmotives are sometimes contained within a certain part of a film. But when there's only three of them...

You mean new motives.

There are leitmotives (or atleast things that appear to be) throughout the entire score (for example that bouncy First Order/Resistance/Action motif, Rey's Theme etc.)

[Jurassic Shark 12,051]

10 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

I don't mind that leitmotives are sometimes contained within a certain part of a film. But when there's only three of them...

 

I think three's the optimal number for a lot of things...

[Holko 9,516]

Three is company.

[crumbs 14,306]

Three's a crowd.

[Jurassic Shark 12,051]

Three Pea Oh

[TownerFan 4,983]

Thanks everyone for the appreciation. I tried to put my best efforts in writing something substantial and hopefully interesting for everyone. For me, TLJ is certainly a score with so much to offer that every listen reveals nuances and subtleties.

 

Just a couple of notes (which I read in other TLJ-related threads) on which I'd like to chime in:

 

- I'd cut Williams some slack for repeating/repurposing some of the older material from previous scores. Aside from temp-track love from the filmmakers' part (which is always a valid explanation), let's keep in mind that Williams wrote an insanely amount of music for this film. When one is requested to produce almost 3-hrs of music in a few months (also considering his age), I guess it's sort of a necessity to adapt and conform already written pieces to new scenes.

 

- The usage of leitmotiv technique in this score in particularly refined and thoroughly written. Of course JW takes some liberties in using some of the themes, not referring strictly to their original intent and instead going for their emotional resonance. For all its undisputable qualities, it's still film-music, hence the first and foremost thought from the composer is the functional element to the scenes and the narrative. That being said, it's particularly impressive that JW spent a lot of care and detail into weaving a dozen themes/leitmotifs (old and new) into the score and make them flow with apparent natural ease.

[Chen G. 3,948]

23 minutes ago, TownerFan said:

Of course JW takes some liberties in using some of the themes, not referring strictly to their original intent and instead going for their emotional resonance. For all its undisputable qualities, it's still film-music, hence the first and foremost thought from the composer is the functional element to the scenes and the narrative.

 

Oh, I don't mind that; at least, as long as its not too rampant, which it isn't in this score: the use of the themes is actually quite straightforward: Rey's theme for Rey, Kylo's fanfare for Kylo (well, and The First Order, but that makes sense). His secondary theme, clearly intended to evoke his conflicted side, certainly stopped serving that goal, but that already happened in The Force Awakens. The Rebel Fanfare may have lost its original association, but that also started with The Force Awakens. At least he's consistent with the re-appropriation of the motif. Otherwise, the themes are used where narrativelly appropriate.

 

I guess you could rant about The Emperor's theme or the Death Star motif but, to my mind, those are more of a wink and a nod than anything else.

 

The issue with, say, The Force theme, is not that its thematically inappropriate, per se. Its that it becomes a bit repititive, and the theme a) loses some of its dramatic weight; b) loses its associative power, becoming a dramatic gesture rather than a narrative device.

[Jurassic Shark 12,051]

4 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

becoming a dramatic gesture rather than a narrative device.

 

As already mentioned, the force theme was already used like that in the binary sunset scene in the first episode.

[Chen G. 3,948]

Yeah, but there it was the exception to the rule. I don't mind that occasionaly a theme is used outside of a narrative context.

 

Here, its happens too many times.

 

And, to be fair, it happened in Attack of the Clones, too. But two wrongs don't make a right.

[Jurassic Shark 12,051]

I don't think JW meant the theme to exclusively signifying the force. It's an emotional theme and therefore used to express certain emotions.

[Chen G. 3,948]

It isn't. Its the theme for The Force and, formerly, the theme of Ben Kenobi. Its just that occasionally Williams uses his themes for their emotional effect. It doesn't undo the thematic association alltogether.

 

In Williams own words:

 

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when the Force is referred to or felt, we want to hear the Force theme.

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,051]

That it's called the force theme doesn't mean it's only intended to portray the force. It could just be a practical label which covers some of its use. Before we know it JW will claim it was written for Harry Potter's wand.

[Chen G. 3,948]

Just now, Jurassic Shark said:

That it's called the force theme doesn't mean it's only intended to portray the force.

 

Eh?

[Jurassic Shark 12,051]

It sure sounds better than The Force and Longing and Sadness and Sentimental and All the Other Emotions it Portrays Theme.

[Chen G. 3,948]

Which is exactly why it isn't all those things: you're casting your net way too wide.

 

It is The Force theme, and occasionally its used outside of that context. But that doesn't make it any less of a theme for The Force.

 

That Leia's theme is used for Ben's Death doesn't make it "Ben's Farewells theme", that Yoda's theme is used in the finale of Empire Strikes Back doesn't mean that its "'told you this would happen, I did' theme"; etc...

[Jurassic Shark 12,051]

My point is it doesn't matter what the theme's called, but how it's being used.

[Chen G. 3,948]

But not every single use comes to redefine the theme.

 

Its the bigger picture that counts.

[Jurassic Shark 12,051]

Exactly. And the bigger picture is that the theme is quite versatile compared to most of the other SW themes.

[Chen G. 3,948]

No, the bigger picture is, I would say, still consistent with the idea of it being "The Force" theme. Even in The Last Jedi, you could probably justify most of the instances of the theme, thematically. Its just that its in there way too much, regardless of what it stands for and what it doesn't.