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'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' SCORE speculation


Ricard

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Could have been, I'm not sure where they did it. It does sound dryer overall than the prequels though, which is why LA instead of Abbey Road in general might be a good sign for those who prefer the punchy original recordings.

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I would imagine if he wants to include special solo passages, he might have to already know now who will be available, right?

There aren't that many solo passages in Star Wars, is there? (Genuine question, not a rethorical one. I'm trying to remember if there is any solo passage in the Star Wars scores).

There's a fair amount in the slower stuff. Princess Lea's Theme, Across the Stars, Luke and Leia, etc

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Spoiler Alert

Don't read this --> I'm afraid we will see a cue called "The Death of Han Solo" on Episode VII Soundtrack... Han didn't really have a theme of its own.. it will be the occasion for John Williams to make a good one for this very moving farewell. With the tears of Chewie, the scene should be heart-wrenching.

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I really hope that they don't pull an Interstellar on us (releasing the score well after the film's release). Though it's still nothing to worry about as we'll have Untitled Cold War Spy Thriller to tide us over until then.

As for predictions go, I have a feeling that this will be widely considered the weakest of the 7 SW scores but will still be relatively well received by fans and critics alike. Pretty much a repeat of KOTCS.

I'm also wondering who or what the big theme(s) will be for for (assuming there are any). TPM had "Duel of the Fates" and "Anakin's Theme", AOTC had "Across the Stars". and ROTS had "Battle of Heroes". Perhaps we'll get a theme for Rey or the villain.

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I'm also wondering who or what the big theme(s) will be for for (assuming there are any). TPM had "Duel of the Fates" and "Anakin's Theme", AOTC had "Across the Stars". and ROTS had "Battle of Heroes". Perhaps we'll get a theme for Rey or the villain.

Yeah, I'm sure some of the new characters will get themes. I'm excited for those!

What if we got a theme for the imbalance in the Force? Not the normal, triumphant theme we've had since A New Hope, but something weirder and distressed? And then, when/if the Force is fully "reawakened," the old Force theme can return. Since the film is The Force Awakens, I could imagine a new theme for the new state of the Force.

The same could happen to Luke's theme, if the rumors about his character are true. His theme could be distorted and uneven for the beginning of the film, and when/if he returns to normal, his normal theme can return.

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I'm also wondering who or what the big theme(s) will be for for (assuming there are any). TPM had "Duel of the Fates" and "Anakin's Theme", AOTC had "Across the Stars". and ROTS had "Battle of Heroes". Perhaps we'll get a theme for Rey or the villain.

This trilogy will be about free-will of each man, as he decide to make good or bad around him. So I guess the main theme will be about this subject, when a hero makes the bad choice...

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My guess is that Abrams has asked Williams to score the film more in the style of ROTJ than the prequels, given both Abrams's love of the OT and the fact that the film follows ROTJ. In terms of the score/concert pieces, I would expect 3-5 concert pieces like what we got with the OT and TPM.

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I'm not so sure about this one being the weakest one. Williams has always really shone through when it comes to Star Wars and him having plenty of time to work on this as well as what I feel is a constant effort from everyone involved to make this a great film should lead to a pretty good score. I'm expecting something like ROTJ or a little better than AOTC.

As far as music is involved, it'd be neat to see the Stormtroopers finally get a motif. I definitely see a theme for Rey being made. As this is the first movie in a new trilogy, I agree with Tom in that there will most likely be 3-5 concert pieces to help propel the music beyond this movie and into the next two to follow.

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Spoiler Alert

Don't read this --> I'm afraid we will see a cue called "The Death of Han Solo" on Episode VII Soundtrack... Han didn't really have a theme of its own.. it will be the occasion for John Williams to make a good one for this very moving farewell. With the tears of Chewie, the scene should be heart-wrenching.

you mean Noble Death.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Mark Griskey (composer of Star Wars Force Unleashed 1 & 2 and The Old Republic) said that John Williams had already written the themes for the movie before Christmas. I'm guessing he's well on the way to finishing it now surely.


Considering that the Empire is going to play a large role in the new movie, think Williams will use The Imperial March? or is it too suggestive of Darth Vader?

I think it's safe to say we can expect Main TItle, Force Theme, Rebel Fanfare, Han Solo and Princess Leia, Leia's Theme, Luke and Leia's Theme.

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Mark Griskey (composer of Star Wars Force Unleashed 1 & 2 and The Old Republic) said that John Williams had already written the themes for the movie before Christmas. I'm guessing he's well on the way to finishing it now surely.

Considering that the Empire is going to play a large role in the new movie, think Williams will use The Imperial March? or is it too suggestive of Darth Vader?

I think it's safe to say we can expect Main TItle, Force Theme, Rebel Fanfare, Han Solo and Princess Leia, Leia's Theme, Luke and Leia's Theme.

That timeline makes sense assuming that Williams saw a rough cut in November when he recorded the trailer. That would also mean he is likely nearly done composing the score. He probably is going to begin working on the Spielberg pic and take a break from that to record SW7 when the LSO schedule permits.

I say finish scoring the Spielberg film and record them both with the LSO.

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I'm so, so hoping the "Luke and Leia" theme gets the amount of use it deserves. Such an amazing theme, and so barely used.

Wow, I was thinking the exact same thing. It's probably one of my favorite Star Wars themes. To hear that once more would be absolutely glorious.

I'm confident JW will be there himself to conduct.

Agreed. I can't see him handing off conducting duties for something like Star Wars.

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I predict the movie will have a five-minute montage sequence somewhere at the beginning, maybe right after the opening crawl. JW will have a brief quote of the Imperial theme as Luke narrates the events of the preceding films saying something like: "I'm Luke Skywalker and I am a Jedi knight like my father, Anakin...well, maybe not when he was that whiny kid and teenager but when he was that bad ass who cut my hand off." It will make a cool suite of the various new and old themes and we'll probably hear it at the Hollywood bowl as a concert arrangement.

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Every single SW film begins in media res, so I'm sure Ep7 will do the same. Flashbacks and voice-overs aren't consistent with the style of these films.

Anyway, I expect several quotes and reprise of old familiar themes throughout the score, including the Imperial March (Williams' music will be one of the major elements in giving the audience the right amount of nostalgia). That being said, I also expect at least 2 or 3 brand new themes around which the main bulk of the score will pivot.

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Anyway, I expect several quotes and reprise of old familiar themes throughout the score.

The one thing I'm most interested in finding out is the extent of JJ's conversations with JW about this. JJ grew up loving Star Wars, I wonder if he asked Williams very specifically to reprise certain themes, like Hans/Princess, Luke/Leia.

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I'm sure the conversation went like this:

JJ: "Johnny, could you please reuse the love theme for Han and the Princess in this scene?"

JW: "What love theme? Oh, you mean Across The Stars?"

JJ: Well, I sure don't mean Across the Universe.

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  • 5 weeks later...

So, in about 2 days, we'll possibly hear some new Williams music? I've read the film's poster will be revealed and the trailer will be shown at the Celebration in Anaheim. Does anyone know if they'll release the trailer online to the general public, too?

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I hope the new trailer has new music, but I am not counting on it. I doubt Williams recorded a piece for a then non-existent trailer in Nov and we have not heard of any new recording sessions since then.

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The rumor is that the trailer and poster will drop during JJ Abrams'/Kathleen Kennedy's opening panel at Celebration. If that's the case, we'll see it live simulcast at StarWars.com.

http://www.starwars.com/news/watch-star-wars-celebration-anaheim-live-on-starwars-com-powered-by-verizon

I'd imagine an official online version will be up shortly after, since people would be able to make unofficial versions of the simulcast anyway.(unless the webcast blacks out the trailer, which would make me pretty grumbly)

Of course it's possible that Abrams and Kennedy won't premiere a trailer anyway. It's just a rumor, after all. I can't imagine that Celebration will go by without the premier of some new footage from the movie.

I'm off work on Thursday and Friday, so I plan on popping in on Abrams/Kennedy's panel. Otherwise, I figure I'll just catch up with anything newsworthy on Twitter.

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I hope the new trailer has new music, but I am not counting on it. I doubt Williams recorded a piece for a then non-existent trailer in Nov and we have not heard of any new recording sessions since then.

They could have created a rough cut of the trailer (along with the teaser) for Williams to view since they were done filming by October/November. And I imagine they had at least pre-visual effects to use as well.

The rumor is that the trailer and poster will drop during JJ Abrams'/Kathleen Kennedy's opening panel at Celebration. If that's the case, we'll see it live simulcast at StarWars.com.

http://www.starwars.com/news/watch-star-wars-celebration-anaheim-live-on-starwars-com-powered-by-verizon

I'd imagine an official online version will be up shortly after, since people would be able to make unofficial versions of the simulcast anyway.(unless the webcast blacks out the trailer, which would make me pretty grumbly)

Of course it's possible that Abrams and Kennedy won't premiere a trailer anyway. It's just a rumor, after all. I can't imagine that Celebration will go by without the premier of some new footage from the movie.

I'm off work on Thursday and Friday, so I plan on popping in on Abrams/Kennedy's panel. Otherwise, I figure I'll just catch up with anything newsworthy on Twitter.

Thanks for the information about the live simulcast. I imagine, at the very least, they would reveal a poster, even if it's a teaser poster.

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Boyega and Ridley will finally give the series its first love theme! It's about time too!

But the Han Solo and the Princess theme was a love theme or a Han Solo theme? I was never sure

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Was Across The Stars not a love theme?

Did you know it was the first love theme Mr Williams wrote for the Star Wars movies?

It was. And if you're wondering about who orchestrated it, I can tell you with some certainty from in-depth research that Williams' sketches as presented to his orchestrators are already so complete, it's basically just a copyist job! Haha, isn't that funny?

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Williams said Across the Stars was the first love theme. The 1997 linear notes describe the ESB theme as a "new theme for Han and his growing relationship with Princess Leia." Then it is referred to as the "Han/Leia" theme. So, there's some discrepancy among the sources. I believe the LP notes call it a love theme.

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I believe the LP notes call it a love theme.

The first poll: Is Han Solo & The Princess a love theme? (May 19, 2002):

"Han Solo and the Princess"

"The love theme associated with their developing relationship is in the tradition beloved by the romantic operatic composers of the nineteenth century. Such stylized melodies are deceptively simple but difficult for a composer to come by, and when placed in a space setting evoke a wonderful feeling of romance and adventure. The love theme is interrupted by Darth Vader who, accompanied by quiet but dissonant strings, communicates with the Galactic Emperor"

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Williams said Across the Stars was the first love theme. The 1997 linear notes describe the ESB theme as a "new theme for Han and his growing relationship with Princess Leia." Then it is referred to as the "Han/Leia" theme. So, there's some discrepancy among the sources. I believe the LP notes call it a love theme.

Liner notes. Not linear notes. Common misconception.

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