BTR1701

According to the keepers of Star Wars canon, yes. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Darth_Vader's_castle

Yeah, the only time I remember really noticing the music in ROGUE ONE when I first saw it in the theater was when Krennic meets Vader on Mustafar and Giacchino quoted both the Empire theme from ANH and Vader's theme, and at the end when Vader is watching the Tantive IV escape and Giacchino gave Vader's theme a neat little flourish. The only other musical aspect of the film that struck me was the absence of the traditional STAR WARS opening.

But that's where Williams' brilliance comes in. Luke's Theme doesn't have to always be presented as heroic and upbeat. For example, in the "Battle of Yavin" cue in Episode 4, Williams shifts the theme into a minor mode, then modulates it, making it sound anxious and unstable.

Well, whether it represents Luke or not, it represents Star Wars, and I'd have liked to have heard more of it instead of the umpteenth presentation of the Force Theme.

I agree. That's my main criticism of the TLJ soundtrack, which otherwise I very much enjoy. Way too much Force Theme. And if Williams was going to use older themes from the SW series, why is Luke's Theme (or whatever the Main Title theme is called these days) completely absent except for the opening crawl? This installment, more than any of the other of the new trilogy, is all about Luke. Yet his theme is nowhere to be found.

And yet that's exactly how all the scores (and parts) are written: with no key signatures (in C), so that all the sharps and flats of the key are included in the body of the music. E.g., this bit from ESB

Not in the language of music it isn't. You can rant about it all you like, but that won't change the reality and practice of music theory that's been in effect for centuries.

Which one is properly used depends on the key and chord. It's like in language where two words can mean the same thing but depending on the context, one is correct and the other is not.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Adams_(music_journalist)

Both amusing and informative.

Yeah, you're not the only one who has noticed that. Doug Adams pointed it out in his podcast analysis of the Indiana Jones scores.

How is that a 'wrong' in the first place?

I couldn't disagree more. I loved all the little callbacks and nods to the past in the score. I smiled in the theater after the crawl when I heard that pic lick. And when TIE Fighter Battle appeared during the battle on Crait, I was grinning from ear-to-ear. My only criticism of this score echoes some others who have lamented that JW is leaning too heavily on the Force Theme. I do agree that it seems somewhat overused, especially in light of JW's inexplicable snub of Luke's Theme in the one film in this latter trilogy in which Luke is most dominant. (The opening march and end credits excepted, of course, but they don't really count in this context.)

I think THE FORCE AWAKENS was released in March after the film's premiere in December.

Seems like a pretty good bet. https://www.halleonard.com/product/viewproduct.action?itemid=4492273&lid=2&keywords=rebellion is reborn&subsiteid=1&

Well, Malcolm McNab played 1st trumpet on TFA (as he has on just about every studio orchestra film score for the last 30 years or so), but the liner notes list Jon Lewis as 1st on this one. If the top chair trumpet has changed, others probably have as well. The studio recording orchestras aren't a set crew of musicians like professional symphony orchestras are. The studios put out a call for players and people book the gigs as they're available to do so. Some folks may be on vacation or working another gig or whatever, and they can't do a particular set of sessions, the makeup of the orchestra will change as other players take their place.

He doesn't only do concert arrangements. He did "Indy's First Adventure" and "Battle in the Snow" at two different Hollywood Bowl concerts.

Oh, it's been used before. A quick check shows an Eb Contrabass Clarinet in: ROTS: Yoda Falls/Boys Continue; Yoda to Exile; The Immolation Scene ATOC: Zam's Dirty Trick TFA: Jedi Steps & Finale I'm sure there are many others but I don't have time to look through them all.

Right. It's silly to say that a lush romance theme belongs to a character who is a swashbuckling intergalactic criminal with 'situational' ethics. The only way it works for Han at all is in conjunction with his relationship with Leia. Playing stucco music is a skill I've never been able to master. The stuff gets everywhere, and before you know it everything is just covered with a brittle crust.

"Battle in the Snow" from EMPIRE prominently featured two grand pianos, pounding out that bellicose ascending and descending triplet figure that heralded the advancing Imperial walkers.

AVENGERS has one seven-note lick that is recognizable. And it's never developed or used creatively in the score(s), just repeated over and over again verbatim. If Williams had done the AVENGERS series of films, not only would the overall team have a theme, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Widow, etc., would all have their own intricate themes which would intertwine and subtlely play off one another. As for JUSTICE LEAGUE, it's notable that the only recognizable themes in that score were cribbed from previous movies/scores-- Batman and Superman-- one of which is Williams's. I take that back, Wonder Woman does have a strange battle cry-like theme, but much like the AVENGERS theme, it's only about five seconds long and it only gets re-stated over and over again. Nothing is ever actually done with it musically. But your point is taken. There are plenty of other examples to choose from to make the point that Williams is really the only one out there these days composing real film scores as opposed to musical special effects.

"Where was the epic new tune to hum on the way out of the theater?" If only this question would be asked of all other modern film composers currently working. At least Williams is producing music that's melodic and listenable. I honestly can't imagine why someone would sit down and listen to a score from THE AVENGERS or JUSTICE LEAGUE, for example. They're just 45 minutes of endless fluttering string ostinatos over booming electronic drums and the themes-- if they exist at all-- consist of long, sustained whole notes running up and down a scale progression. That ain't hummable.

She's been at several. She and her kids sat in the box next to us two years ago.

I was down in the box seats much closer to the stage. The yelling lightsaber crowd was behind me and unless I turned around, I hardly knew they were there. It was no distraction at all. Yes, he said the score is done but he couldn't play any of it this year because Disney won't allow anything to leak ahead of the release date. He promised LAST JEDI pieces for next year's concert. Great concert, as ever. My only complaint is that I wish more of these concerts would feature Williams' lesser-known cues. It's usually the same rotation of standards-- Star Wars Main Title, Harry Potter Medley, E.T. - Flying, Imperial March, Raiders March, etc. All wonderful pieces but ones you hear over and over and over again. If they're worried about turning off the casual fan, they don't even have to go into the older, more obscure films. Just play some different cues from the big blockbusters: Miracle of the Ark instead of Raiders March; The Battle of Yavin instead of the Main Title; T-Rex Rescue instead of Jurassic Park Theme, etc. It'd just be nice to have some variation, and also to see some of these big action cues performed live. Got this nice little poster on the way out last night as a souvenir.

That's a situation where an iPad with the part in PDF format is handy. Still keep the sheets handy, though, in case the device goes on the fritz.