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Star Wars: Episode IX - Early Score Predictions Thread


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Episode IX Score Predictions  

94 members have voted

  1. 1. Will John Williams score an Episode IX trailer, like the TFA teaser?

  2. 2. Will John record the Main Title during the IX sessions and actually use it, or re-use the TFA version?

    • A new 2019 recording will be used
    • The Force Awakens recording will be re-used again
  3. 3. What will be the final theme of the score before the ending credits fanfare?

    • Force Theme
    • Rey's Theme
    • Luke's Theme (Main Title)
    • Something new/non-thematic
  4. 4. Will John write an original end credits suite or assemble an edit of film cues?

    • A proper end credits suite (ala TFA's "Jedi Steps and Finale")
    • An assembly of excerpts from the score (ala The Last Jedi's "Finale")
  5. 5. Will John again reprise an existing suite, such as The Throne Room, to finish the credits?

    • Yes, he'll reuse an existing concert piece
    • No, John will write something new as his big send-off to the saga
  6. 6. Will JJ finally get his Williams-composed 'Cantina Band'-esque source music, ala Canto Bight?

    • Yes, JJ won't let that opportunity slip twice!
    • No, there won't be any need for it in IX... or JJ will hire Lin-Manuel Miranda again!


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Based on previous statement by Abrams about linking the trilogies, when I saw this thread, I half wondered if Duel of the Fates will be crowbarred into it. Even a hint or maybe even Across the Stars, depending on what if anything of Vader shows. 

 

Looking at the poll(s) above. 1 (No), 2 (B), 3, (Force Theme), 4 (A, though it was hard to decide exactly), 5 (something new, but again hard to say. I wouldn't be surprised, as above, to see/hear The Throne Room), 6 (no). 

 

Vaguely felt like putting in the Enterprise's self destruct code...No destruct zero, option. 

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Um, no. The bit where Chewie adjusts controls on the Falcon to the surprise of Q'ira and Han is Chewie's Theme.

 

Or perhaps you were joking? 

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On 3/15/2019 at 3:15 PM, JTWfan77 said:

Wonder if Williams will quote Powell's new theme for Chewie :D

 

Also curious if, should Han appear in some capacity, say via flashback, if Williams will feel compelled to use the Han theme he now has at his disposal.  

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8 hours ago, Not Mr. Big said:

I wonder when scoring will start

 

Well presumably JJ's editors have been working since production started last August. I guess they'll take a few more weeks to assemble all the rough scenes then have a preliminary screening with JJ and John so he can sketch out themes (followed by a proper spotting session around June-July).

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6 hours ago, Cerebral Cortex said:

Also curious if, should Han appear in some capacity, say via flashback, if Williams will feel compelled to use the Han theme he now has at his disposal.  

 

I don't think he'll appear. The closing film in a trilogy tends to be the least nonlinear, anyway.

 

But Han may well be named or his memory evoked in some way, which could be enough for Williams to quote a snippet of the theme.

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I thought MM said Williams wouldn't start working (meaning start writing) on IX until this summer?  Who knows when they will start recording... may not be until August.

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7 hours ago, Balahkay said:

I thought MM said Williams wouldn't start working (meaning start writing) on IX until this summer?  Who knows when they will start recording... may not be until August.

 

From memory he said the schedule was still being worked out.

 

We don't even know if he'll repeat the same workflow as TFA, watching the film out of order, one reel at a time. Presumably that plan was just to accommodate a writing break for Bridge of Spies around March.

 

They should have some semblance of a rough edit by now. JJ and JW will probably watch the workprint in the next few months so JW can start sketching out the score (concert suites and new themes), then have a proper spotting session a few months later once the film's edit is closer to completion. It would make sense for JJ+JW to have a general sense of new character themes before the spotting session (which is more specific about how each scene should be scored).

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2 hours ago, Fabulin said:

"New character themes"

image.png

 

ROTS had no less than 3 signature new themes and only one involved a new character. You're being naive if you think John won't write any new themes for the final film in the trilogy. 

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I'm confused. Technically, Kylo Ren actually has two themes- the fanfare one (doo doo, da doo doooo) and the conflicted/darker one that's more descending (doo-doo-doo-doo-da-doo-doo). 

 

Also @crumbs, what were the new themes in RotS? I need a refresher.

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Battle of the Heroes, Anakin's Betrayal, General Grievous. Two new themes for existing characters in new situations, one theme for a new character. 

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23 hours ago, Holko said:

Isn't BotH just a setpiece-specific motif like Asteroid Field?

 

Because of the cross-cutting, it is technically a reprised piece, and so I'd say it does count as a recurring theme.

 

Revenge of the Sith has that, the Grievous material, the Lament, and it creates recurring themes out of two pieces which it revisits from The Phantom Menace: The funeral material and the Curoscant fanfare. Williams said at the time that he had about four themes for the film, so it fits.

 

Not a lot, but enough. Its less noticeable, too, due to the bridging nature of the piece.

 

22 hours ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

Well in those cases the material was very much dependent on the shift in the storyline. Not sure how much of a shift we'll get in IX.

 

Composers find ways around such issues. Technically, how much new stuff is there in Empire Strikes Back to write themes for? Its mostly just Yoda and Cloud City. But Williams also wrote a new Imperial theme, a new theme for the Droids, a new theme for Han and Leia. In strict narrative terms, he didn't have to. But he did it so that the score would have a reasonably diverse cache of recurring themes for itself.

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True, but at this point of the trilogy the main characters/ideas already have themes that have been developing for two episodes. To throw in new ones in the final episode may not work as easily as it did in the case of The Empire Strikes Back. Plus, in the case of ESB, Vader didn't really have a set theme, even though he was already a character in SW '77. The same thing goes for the droid motif. And for Han and Leia, that was a love theme, which had to entail that they now had a different relationship that was not as evident or at all present in SW '77. I see what you're saying @Chen G., and I don't doubt the possibilities, I just don't expect the new thematic material to be as great in number as ESB.

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You can give a character a new theme, to signal a new facet of their growth, as you enter the next film, without discarding their existing themes. Williams is certainly not averse to giving two or even three themes to a single characer or narrative element, and using both.

 

Kylo has two themes. The Anakin-Padme love story has both Across the Stars (the two main segments of which can be said to constitute two separate leitmotives) and the "courting" motif. Luke originally had two themes (in an interview, Williams refered to the two parts of the opening crawl music as separate themes) and another one in The Last Jedi; his relationship with Leia has the Luke-Leia theme as well as the Brother/Sister motif. Heck, the Leia/Han material grows out of Leia's theme, and attaches itself to the princess, but never supplants her original theme.

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Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

 

I just have a hard time seeing that coming at this point in the musical journey of the trilogy. The Last Jedi was more dependent on using previous themes (i.e. the Force theme) from the original trilogy and a some great variations on the sequel trilogies themes (i.e. Rey's theme), but didn't really develop a lot of new material where it could've. Granted, I quite like The Rebellion is Reborn and the desperation motif, but I would've loved to see some new material for, perhaps BB-8, or really giving Poe's theme a break through. 

 

Now that we are on the closer of the trilogy, I don't see there being as much opportunity as there was before.

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Oh, I agree. But I've been cursed with optimism. Just like I wish for IX to be a good film - in spite of the rushed production and insurmountable challenges suggesting otherwise - so too do I wish that, with the score, Williams will up his already top-notch game for his final outing.

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6 minutes ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

Shark, you're becoming a little dismissive. 

 

Just dismiss that post of mine. :)

 

2 hours ago, Chen G. said:

insurmountable challenges

 

Are you referring to the inclusion of Leia?

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No, to it being the final chapter in a trilogy. Those are nearby impossible to crack.

 

I'm not even talking about it being a satisfying cap to the previous six: that's impossible under the circumstances.

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11 hours ago, crumbs said:

I think the grandiose choral style of the prequels is long behind him.

 GOOOOOD!! 

 

Never liked those. Nice music, mostly show pieces, didn't work with the picture. 

 

I've said this before but the most pure and most star warsy music can be heard in the Battle of the Crait. Please give us this shit more!!! 

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