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The intricacy and depth of all the action cues is mindblowing. The man is 87 and is still sharp as a tac.

Reposting from Twitter a little analysis I cooked up of this extraordinary piece of music: "Rise of Skywalker" concert arrangement based on two distinct but emotionally simpatico themes, a hymn (A) that's stated in full in the first minute (first woodwind choir, then strings), and a more lyrical, striving melody (B) that is stated over the next minute in strings and horns. The middle the piece is essentially a development section that sequences and composes out the B theme. Midway through, it becomes based on the music from the aftermath of the final battle in the movie.There's a big arrival back on the A-theme at 2:50, now much more fully orchestrated (in the film there's also chorus). This has some developmental qualities too (internal modulation to Db maj before returning to Bb), but overall serves a climactic & recapitulatory formal function. There are a few cadential delaying tactics before the very end, including a great brass chorale that evokes the conclusion of Rey's Theme nicely and a little rebel-fanfare-esque chromatic planing. The final bars make a brief, transformed statement of the B theme. The unusual structure of this piece -- bithematic ternary with some light rotational and developing-variational features -- is characteristic of I guess you could call "late" period Williams SW concert arrangements. "Rebellion is Reborn" and "Galaxy's Edge" work similarly. Watching the way his approach concert arrangements have evolved over time is fascinating. The developmental, dare I say sonata-principle-esque, impulse seems to be getting stronger and stronger the older Williams gets. In terms of melody & harmony, there's a nice mix of old and new here too. The A theme has a Lincoln-y quality, and the B-theme a War Horsey vibe (those tearjerking IV<=>iii progressions!), but I also get some ET, Amazing Stories, Midway, Spacecamp, even Close Encounters...I also hear Williams channeling Brahms quite strongly in the opening section, and echoes of Franck, Saint-Saens, and Prokofiev in the B-theme. As far as connections with Star Wars music, there seem to be some passing echoes of Rey (esp. her chimes), Rebel Fanfare, Jedi Steps, and March of the Resistance in there, plus Yoda/Young Anakin/Rose by dint of the lydian disposition of both A and B themes. Overall -- and my opinion will surely evolve over time -- I think it's an intensely beautiful, well-balanced, & sophisticated piece of music with a direct, heartfelt sentimentality that Williams does so well. Up there w/ Rey's theme as the best concert arr. of the ST.

Really can't get enough of that statement of Kylo's/Ben's theme in Farewell, what with the new way Williams chooses to resolve it, the new orchestral presentation, and that new additional note at the end. It's so good that it literally retroactively redefines how we, the listener, hear every other instance of that theme prior to this one. When we first hear it in TFA, you think that that's it, that's Kylo Ren's theme! We're hearing it in full. But now you go back to listen to it after hearing it in Farewell and it feels like the theme is just hanging there in the air, incomplete, waiting to be resolved with that additional note. And it never does until 4 years and 2 films later when Ren's arc as a character (whether intended or not from the beginning) is resolved. And that unresolved nature to it almost seems like a deliberate choice now, as if Williams somehow was waiting for the moment in Farewell to finally complete it. God, it's so good. Perhaps that "unresolved" nature of his theme was clear from the start and I just never got it until now. Perhaps I'm just reading too much into this whole thing in general (quite possible!). All I know is that it's a genius statement of his theme and comparing that final instance with the first time we hear it is bonkers development that only someone like Williams could pull off. And he doesn't even dwell on it. It's such a fleeting moment, over and done with in 10 seconds! Ugh.

Listened to all three sequel OSTs tonight; just finished. Pretty wild to go back to TFA and re-listen to the very first iterations of Rey and Kylo's themes, and then to hear how many times they are reprised in various interesting ways over the course of the trilogy. I will also say that I love the three main concert arrangements of this trilogy (one per film): "Rey's Theme", "The Rebellion Is Reborn" and lastly "The Rise of Skywalker". These are some of the best themes he's written in recent memory, and the arrangements are all top-notch. I wish JW would record a SW album now that he's finished with the saga. Use the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles (or the "Skywalker Symphony", or whatever) and just re-record a bunch of stuff, especially tracks he's never re-recorded before, like: "Duel of the Fates", "Battle of the Heroes", "Rey's Theme", "March of the Resistance", "The Jedi Steps", "The Rebellion Is Reborn", "The Rise of Skywalker" and of course the new arrangement of "Han Solo and the Princess", among others.

My non-spoiler review: Dude what the _fuck_ was this movie?

it's about STAR WARS and it's fucking perfect

Eh, it felt right - it's all the heroes and ships arriving, not just about Lando!

One of many absolutely stunning musical moments that didn't make the album or FYC! I'm in full agreement with others here in that a complete TROS release has jumped to the top of my grail list. I didn't expect that to happen so instantly!

Amazing the little details you pick up on repeat plays. Listen to 1:18 - 1:22 of Prologue. That's Rey's theme, right?

How about we ban people that complain about it without watching it?

I like the little Superman "reference" in Battle of the Resistance. Neat throwback to almost exactly 41 years ago. Surely not intentional but still fun:

The music when Kylo fights the Knights of Ren and Rey fights Palpatine's guards is quite possibly my #1 most wanted unreleased cue... It's an absolute travesty that wasn't included on either the OST or FYC.

I take umbrage with those who say this film was a retcon of TLJ; it actually supports TLJ. I remember reading a few reviews which took issue with how it seemingly tries to undo what Rian Johnson had done, but as I watched the film for the first time yesterday, I was surprised at how little truth there was to that and felt the elements they pointed out (Luke catches the Saber etc.) worked to support the choices that came before. The only thing I genuinely felt like they had reduced in favour of the backlash was Rose's role, going from a large role in TLJ to almost a cameo. On a separate note: Palpatine's plan reminded me of Doctor Who's Season 9 two-part opener - the one where Davros saps the life force out of The Doctor to restore himself and all the Daleks.

wow, are you kidding me It's like a super epic version of the End Credits Luke's Theme mixed with Chasm Crossfire ,This is probably the BEST variation of Luke's Theme ever

why isn't the fantastic version of the Star Wars main theme in a certain scene on this album .Criminal

Because JW has a life. He cannot score every whim and fancy that JJ has two days before the premiere. JW can score the cuts he gets to an extent - but after that - JJ can fuck off.

Also something I wanted to point out, I've had my pet interpretation of the variation of Rey's Theme that gets a reprise in "Destiny of a Jedi", that it represented Rey's resisting her "call" in TFA and then later embracing it... This is how I've always thought about it since and I feel like this function still holds up in Rise of Skywalker, with Rey exiling herself on Ahch-To. Rey’s “destiny” motif perhaps.

This was a cool one. Aside from the big Luke's Theme for Lando's fleet, obviously, this probably stood out to me the most from the unreleased stuff. The intense little string ostinato reminds me a bit of "The Dueling Club"

Hello, World! This is my first post on this forum :) I don't know if this is famous but there's a track in Episode VII ("Finn's Confession") that starts exactly like another track from Episode I ("The High Council Meeting and Qui Gon's Funeral"). Well I've watched Episode IX twice already and I swear you can ALSO hear the same beginning in another track, which plays in the movie during the scene where Finn talks to the female ex-stormtrooper, when she tells her story. Unfortunately this track is neither in the official OST, nor on the "FYC" (I've just listened to it) :( Thoughts?

I think the last thing people expected to be thinking about as a result of this flick is Palpatine having sex, but then here we are.

It's easily the best recording of the Imperial March I've ever heard, something about the Los Angeles orchestra this time around is so sonically powerful in this movie.

NO, it had new epic orchestrations with horns I think and had new passages

Here's my analysis of the entire movie: it's really bad. Here's my analysis of the entire score: it's really good.

I love Babu Frik, though. Very funny and cute in a non-cloying way.

Yep, nothing embodies the spirit of Superman better than a montage of a sullen alien “rescuing” people while brooding music plays and he looks miserable while doing so. Thanks Snyder!

@Falstaft (hiatus til TROS) Others have voiced this but I have yet to do so personally: you are such a treasured member of this community. Thanks for consistently sharing your wonderful insight with us as well as for your always quality posts and analysis.

The music for that scene is on the FYC and the OST (it's in Seeing Sights FYC / The Force Is With You OST) Here it is. Amazing unreleased variations of Rey's Theme and Ren's Theme

I just saw it a second time. It was good, but I loved TLJ and feel that this one was too predictable. It's funny that I never notice faults in movies until someone points them out to me on the internet. The only thing I don't like, which started in TLJ, is teleporting objects through the Force. And then having a lightsaber duel while being in different places was also stupid. My only other gripe is that I wish the space battle was more epic. Couldn't see much and felt underwhelming compared to the end of ROTJ's.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service - annual festive rewatch. In its 50th anniversary year this is still 'high-end' Bond, up there with the likes of From Russia With Love, The Living Daylights and Skyfall.

*Maclunkey

'Minority Report' happens to be my favourite Spielberg film, and I adore the OST. my favourite track is 'A New Beginning', which plays over the final SC. as the camera reverse pans over the house where the precogs live. as crazy as I'm sure this may sound to some experienced classical vets on here, this piece has echoes of Tchaikovsky's Romeo + Juliette Fantasy Overture for me; which is my favourite piece of music of all time. all hail Mr. Williams

After listening to TROS again, having all the Prequel music released is now a major priority! Its just better!

Just saw it. Okay firstly - you people think way too much. Because of the internet, I limped into the theatre expecting the worst, but what I got was oddly satisfying. One of the biggest problems with fandom is its preoccupation with details, technicalities and whether every facet makes perfect sense. Come on, SW has always been a bit dodgy; it mirrors its 40 B-flick serial heritage. But thanks to nostalgia and persistent self-important marketing, fans respond to the films with way more seriousness than they really merit. And that's the trick to enjoying TROS - don't think too much. Instead, experience it at a visceral level and forget about how Palpatine had a nookie, alleged TLJ retcons (I didn't detect any), supposed fan service or minuscule contradictions and lapses in logic. TROS is a romantic space fantasy about forgiveness and acceptance. How oddly fitting an end to the saga that the children/grandchildren of the Skywalkers and the Palpatines could find harmony with one-another on the homestead that's been a series touchstone since the very beginning. You're not responsible for the "Sins of the Father", I suppose its message is. It probably sounds lame on paper, but for me it worked, even if it was a bit clunky in places.

Lmao this movie really does have to be seen to be believed. Random thoughts... I felt like I was watching this at 1.5x speed. And also reminded me of when I skim through scenes of a movie I’ve seen a million times. There was a certain point midway through the film, maybe around the Death Star fight, where I suddenly thought “Wait a minute....LANDO CALRISSIAN was in this movie!” He feels like such a bizarre non-sequitur. Then he shows up again at the base and starts reminiscing about the old times. I can’t remember if he was responding to a question anybody asked? He seemed senile. I basically figured I was gonna see a movie that at least went through the motions about the trio bonding and learning and growing together and shit. I never understood people who say Force Awakens and Last Jedi have no story. Occasionally I would wonder if I was giving them a pass and I could just get into them easier because they’re Star Wars and everything, but this definitely convinced me otherwise. Love or hate em, those play like pretty normal movies. This reminded me of a Spielberg quote where he said he watches a lot of contemporary films that lack a beginning-middle-end and rather just have a middle for 2 hours then stop. That is sort of what this is. I also feel like this is kinda what Martin Scorsese was talking about, but it’s a particularly incompetent case. This is one of those movies that just reminded me that some movies legitimately fail to meet some pretty basic standards. And I didn’t even hate it! It’s not miserable or anything. It’s just perplexing. I felt like I was “observing” it. The score was...alright? It made me feel kinda bad for Johnny. There’s not much to score here. It’s gotta be his least consequential blockbuster film score in context. The fact that so much of it is musically fulfilling....he kept his dignity. Well, aside from the cameo maybe I’m glad he did that. The little monkey guy was great. Adam Driver’s Ben Solo energy was pretty interesting. The Carrie Fisher stuff was about as good as it could have been, probably was worth doing it that way. I still like Daisy Ridley’s acting. The worm/snake thing RULED, that is the best monster in this trilogy. Maybe since the Rancor?? I fucking loved that thing. I have nothing to say about the plot twists or various changes, additions, subtractions other than I don’t really feel like this is any more conflicting with Last Jedi than it is with Force Awakens. How it fits in with the trilogy and saga is really the least of this movie’s problems. I went in fully expecting that people were overblowing the criticism like those other two but it is pretty much ass. But in kind of a pleasant way. What a wild movie.

I like that Snoke was just a temporary Palpatine clone. Because it made no sense to have something that kind of looked like the Emperor but wasn't Now Williams using the Emperor's Theme for Snoke in TLJ feels less random .Maybe it was an actual hint

Such a shame. That entire track is so much fun and is an album highlight for me. Has the same sound and energy to me as if Williams had had to score that type of scene in the prequels. Deserved to have been heard in full.

That's 47 times the number of times I did, plus one.

A racket to impoverish nerds.

#ReleaseTheSynderCut

who wrote that? i don't agree with how it's worded. I want a complete score release but I don't want to ACTIVELY hurt the chance of an iso score either because that might be all we can get I'm fine with a petition asking for complete recordings but please remove the "we don't want this ,we don't want that" part. It' makes us look as a demanding bunch of nerds who won't be happy with anything and might I remind you when we sent out a similarly worded petition after the TPM UE we got exactly nothing Also, giving your full name and email on some random site...isn't there a security issue?

You talk about the Baby Yoda show? He will die in the Jedi Academy Jedi Massacre, by the hands of Ren Knights. What do you expect? This series is ridiculous. EDIT: Hello @Holko, by the way. I hope you have fun on your Discord Channel!

Just came back and I liked the film quite a bit . Aaaaand my most wanted unreleased cue ever: The spectacular, glorious version of the Star Wars main theme during the space battle. That was NOT the Main Title version at all. I can't believe nobody is mentioning it. Jay can you post a clip of it? Also I don't think there's any tracked music in this film. Even the Vader's death quote seemed like a new and different version

I’m very impressed with job Mike Matessino and co did on Earthquake. The album version sounds superb and even the film score sounds fantastic.

For some reason the post office left mine on the ground near the mailbox, instead of putting it inside! It's fine, though.

Jay, just saw the film and read your initial assessment and you voiced everything I was thinking. We are 100% in agreement. The score is a masterpiece and I have also never experienced a film with so much fantastic unreleased music that instantly spoke to me. Man oh man we need this complete score.

JW did what he probably was asked to do for the finale and end credits. I've seen people calling him lazy for that. An 87 year old that just composed 3 hours of highly complicated music

I asked Mike Matessino about the chances of this and he said that "petitioning for isolated scores would be a very good way of sabotaging potential official expansions. It would send the message the The Phantom Menace: Ultimate Edition was what the fans wanted after all, and music recorded but not used could never see the light of day. Bad idea."

3 times we hear the Force Theme played all the way through, and not just the first phrase like most of its' appearance in TLJ! I really like the version in Track 3. I really love the warmth of the new theme that is reminiscent of Anakin's Theme. Overall, I do notice more dissonance in this music and it makes it feel related to ROTS a little bit. He gave some nice big parts to Don Williams timpani, very loud. Track 9: Love the Emperor's Theme on low flute (alto flute or bass flute?) I'm also liking that there is some variation in the presentation of the themes. The Imperial March statement is not just a copy-paste from a concert version, etc. The Leia's theme statement is unique. Track 21 contains my new favorite 'rebel fanfare' statement of the Sequel Trilogy. This makes me even more excited to hear the OST on Dec 20! I really like what I'm hearing. Ah, but in Track 2! It's a minor-key version of Augie's Great Municipal Band! The genius of Williams!