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Rey's Theme – John Williams' Best Theme Yet?


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Rey's Theme – John Williams' Best Theme Yet?   

104 members have voted

  1. 1. Rey's Theme ? John Williams' Best Theme Yet?

    • YES! Sweeping, malleable, chameleon, fresh, beautiful, and perfect!
      38
    • NO! It's terrible!
      6
    • Maybe, it's too early to tell, but it keeps growing on me!
      40
    • I'm a Communist and believe all themes are equal, though Rey's Theme is more equal than other themes.
      15
    • I don't have any opinion yet
      4


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On 2016. 05. 27. at 10:34 PM, Not Mr. Big said:

Same, particularly with the brass at the end.

 

Couldn't agree more :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Don't know if this was ever talked about, but a little detail that I love about the theme that I wanted to bring up: the little "stabbing" bass accents that appear in the refrain at the end. 

 

 

Interestingly I don't think these accents appear at all in the "Rey's Theme" concert piece but I find it so distinctive. It really stood out to me the second time I saw the movie for some reason and now I always notice it. I think it's only in The Scavenger, Farewell & The Trip, and The Jedi Steps & Finale but somehow it makes a strong statement to me, that very simple lovely phrase with this thing jabbing at it, a little too dark and sharp for the pastoral colors. I love the tone of it, gives the lyricism something kinda uneasy and foreboding. Forward momentum too which is appropriate.

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I mentioned them on here a little while back, they're glorious. As I said at the time it's as if JW is celebrating his wonderful creation and successful return to his long running opus with those little flourishes, the way they sing out and wrap themselves around the sweeping statement of his heroine's tune. Vintage Williams. 

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  • 4 months later...
On 4/13/2016 at 2:12 AM, DarthDementous said:

 

oh hi Skyy38.

 

with this outlandish claim surely you have something you've composed to back it up? I see this with a lot of films, particularly with the Prequels where people think they have the key to the movie's success, a million dollar idea that is vastly better than what was presented. the only difference is that the ideas in the movie came under a strict timeframe and budget (more relevant to the movie side than the musical side but still). ideas are all well and good but you can't put yourself anywhere near the level of the person unless you work under the same restrictions, and this isn't just Williams - this goes for every professional that people think they can do their job better. you could have the greatest idea but if its executed poorly then you'll receive no praise, I believe this fits as well for Williams simple melodic construction. complexity isn't always a good thing.



Well let's see.

John Williams TOTALLY ripped off Stravinsky's "Rite Of Spring" (third movement?) for "The Desert" in STAR WARS.

While I, myself, am inspired by my heroes, ANYONE, who knew about classical music in that audience of 1977 would

have screamed "rip-off" at the time.

I myself, am inspired by Mr. Williams, but I am STILL my "own person"- so to speak. When I write, whether original or temp, I stay true to myself.

I use his music as a guide line rather than a rule, because everyone is ruled by different forces.

And also, since he never came up with a full concert version of  "Ben's Theme" , it falls upon me, to do so.

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8 hours ago, skyy38 said:

John Williams TOTALLY ripped off Stravinsky's "Rite Of Spring" (third movement?) for "The Desert" in STAR WARS.

 

Actually he ripped off Kennan:

 

 

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On 10/22/2016 at 11:26 PM, BloodBoal said:

skyy38! I missed you, buddy!


Thanks for the vote of confidence!

On 10/23/2016 at 7:40 AM, loert said:

 

Actually he ripped off Kennan:

 

Who is Kennan, and why is your link worthless?

 

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The thing about Rey's Theme is that because it has so many different components, despite the fact that it is featured very well throughout the OST, the first few times I listened to the OST I couldn't quite identify the musical development of the theme outside of The Scavenger, Rey's Theme, and the end credits. 

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18 hours ago, artguy360 said:

The thing about Rey's Theme is that because it has so many different components, despite the fact that it is featured very well throughout the OST, the first few times I listened to the OST I couldn't quite identify the musical development of the theme outside of The Scavenger, Rey's Theme, and the end credits. 

 

I agree. I personally think it is an outstanding theme. But its different components will affect its stickiness with the general feeling.

 

I still feel that you could play it full blast on the street and many would not know it is from VII.

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I think it's also affected by the lack of full statements in the score. Only three times plus the end credits do you get more than the first 12-note phrase -- The Scavenger, The Abduction, and Farewell and the Trip -- and a lot of the time it's really just the first 6 notes, which would include the soaring variation on those 6 in Maz's Counsel and Farewell and the Trip which I think only soundtrack fans would have picked up as part of Rey's Theme.

 

Ways of the Force could be seen as something of a missed opportunity for the theme to have made a more immediate impact, because there as well it never even completes 12 notes, much less the entire theme. And I mean, I think that's still a pretty great cue and that big final statement of the first 6 notes is pretty glorious, but you wonder if there was room for fuller statements somewhere in the sequence or elsewhere in the film. 

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14 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

 

I definitely agree with this, but that's what made me love the score even more. Rey's theme is the key to the whole thing, and once you know what the components to her theme are it "unlocks" the rest of the score and it all comes flooding to the fore. One of the most rewarding JW scores for repeated listens in recent memory.

Yes it makes for great re-listens. 

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  • 8 months later...
On 2015-12-29 at 1:40 PM, nightscape94 said:

Love that short middle section that only builds once to a fanfare.  I also like that he used that punctuation a few times throughout the score for different reasons, like when

 

I just realized something's bothering me about Rey's theme and that's it

 

He used that section twice in the score in an epic fashion and I would have expected him to use it that way near the end of the concert version.And it's not even in the End Credits version of the theme. It's my favorite section of the theme but it's so short in the actual theme

 

So those 2 epic moments in the score (2.40 Maz's Counsel  and 0.10 Farewell and the trip) are only based on that short segment in the middle of Rey's Theme Concert Version ( 1.22 Rey's Theme)

 

 

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The concert version of the theme is surprising short, especially given both Williams's fondness for the character and the workout the theme gets in the movie.  I can only hope that some concert piece from VIII (or IX) involve some grand Rey's theme statement. 

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  • 1 year later...

I just noticed that if you take the first 2 phrases of Rey's theme and put them under the first 2 phrases of the force theme to sound simultaneously they  perfectly fit.

I don't remember, is there any instance in TFA or TLJ of such contrapuntal statements where the 2 themes sound simultaneously?

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1 hour ago, Taikomochi said:

Don’t the themes counterpoint at the end of Jedi Steps and Finale and again in Peace and Purpose?  Or am I misunderstanding?  Seems pretty hard to miss

ah, thanks.

Yes, i meant that instance in Jedi Steps and Finale.

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8 hours ago, Taikomochi said:

Don’t the themes counterpoint at the end of Jedi Steps and Finale and again in Peace and Purpose?  Or am I misunderstanding?  Seems pretty hard to miss

Yep, JW has used that trick twice now and it is beautiful each time. 

On 7/2/2017 at 7:22 PM, Tom said:

The concert version of the theme is surprising short, especially given both Williams's fondness for the character and the workout the theme gets in the movie.  I can only hope that some concert piece from VIII (or IX) involve some grand Rey's theme statement. 

I'm very curious what the new arrangement JW wrote for ASM does with Rey's theme. His new arrangement of Across the Stars is stunning and so different from the original.

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On 3/25/2019 at 6:05 AM, artguy360 said:

Yep, JW has used that trick twice now and it is beautiful each time. 

I'm very curious what the new arrangement JW wrote for ASM does with Rey's theme. His new arrangement of Across the Stars is stunning and so different from the original.

There are so many directions he could go into. Rey's is such a unique SW theme. I personally want the new arrangement to be both reflective and adventurous. Maybe the Dies Irae motif would handled like how he manipulated the march-like motif of Across the Stars. 😃

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  • 1 month later...

I hope they track the action version of Rey's Theme from the TLJ deleted scene (Rey Runs) and maybe it makes it to the OST of Episode 9

 

K.M.Who thinks the concert version of Rey's Theme is weaker than the quotes of it in the scores

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On 5/11/2019 at 1:49 AM, King Mark said:

K.M.Who thinks the concert version of Rey's Theme is weaker than the quotes of it in the scores

 

Doesn't everyone think that?

 

Heck, the arrangement of her theme in the end credits is better than the arrangement on the OST called Rey's Theme.

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35 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

Doesn't everyone think that?

 

Heck, the arrangement of her theme in the end credits is better than the arrangement on the OST called Rey's Theme.

 

Err... The version of her theme in that appears at the start of the Finale is essentially identical to the opening & closing statements of her theme in the Concert Arrangement. The differences are

*The first statement of the theme in the Finale uses the alternative concluding phrase (as in "The Scavenger" and 1:55 of Concert Arrangement)

*The second statement of the theme in the Finale is transposed relative to the former (Dbm in finale, Ebm in Concert Arrangement), and at slightly more sprightly tempo.

 

Other than that, same orchestration, same transitions, same everything. :)

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23 minutes ago, Falstaft said:

 

Err... The version of her theme in that appears at the start of the Finale is essentially identical to the opening & closing statements of her theme in the Concert Arrangement. The differences are

*The first statement of the theme in the Finale uses the alternative concluding phrase (as in "The Scavenger" and 1:55 of Concert Arrangement)

*The second statement of the theme in the Finale is transposed relative to the former (Dbm in finale, Ebm in Concert Arrangement), and at slightly more sprightly tempo.

 

Other than that, same orchestration, same transitions, same everything. :)

 

Yes.  And?

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10 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

Yes.  And?

 

Just strange you're making a value judgement about the Finale version, which is essentially copy and pasted from the Concert Arrangement. It's not a materially different arrangement.

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I said the end credits version was different than the singular track, and you explained nicely the ways in which it is different.  Better or worse is a personal opinion, not an empirical fact, and my personal opinion is that the end credits version is better.

 

I don't understand the problem.

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52 minutes ago, Falstaft said:

 

Err... The version of her theme in that appears at the start of the Finale is essentially identical to the opening & closing statements of her theme in the Concert Arrangement. The differences are

*The first statement of the theme in the Finale uses the alternative concluding phrase (as in "The Scavenger" and 1:55 of Concert Arrangement)

*The second statement of the theme in the Finale is transposed relative to the former (Dbm in finale, Ebm in Concert Arrangement), and at slightly more sprightly tempo.

 

Other than that, same orchestration, same transitions, same everything. :)

 

The second Finale statement and the closing Concert Arrangement statement have more differences than that. The Finale version adds timpani rolls/accents and an alternate brass counterpoint, and plays out that extra phrase of the theme which is abridged in that final CA statement.

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the concert version of Rey's theme is a bit better than the End Credits because it has the secondary theme that plays a few other times in the score

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I like the concert version because it has its own narrative. That makes it a very unique theme presentation in the entire saga. But because every single statement in the piece is different, and in different key, I think that it makes it bit hard for an average listener to pinpoint the actual melodic line...because it's not exactly the same in each statement. That is why the end credits feels like the most mature and full statement of the theme. So yeah, concert piece is a marvellous piece of miniature musical storytelling...much less of a "catchy single". Bit of a double edged sword situation there...

 

Speaking of which, saying "double-edged sword" in any context is bit ridiculous because all swords are double edged. Otherwise they'd be knives. ;) 

 

Karol

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