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Analysis - New Themes of The Last Jedi


Ludwig

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Neat.

 

5 hours ago, karelm said:

Wasn't there also a new theme for Holdo based on the resistance march or would you consider it too inconsequential?

 

Holdo's material is the desperation motif.

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7 hours ago, karelm said:

Wasn't there also a new theme for Holdo based on the resistance march or would you consider it too inconsequential?

and more urgent here:

 

 

 

I'd say those are different themes. The first one is March of the Resistance rather than something else derived from it. The second one, as Chen pointed out, is what I'm calling (after Lehman) the Desperation theme.

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On 1/2/2018 at 9:46 PM, Ludwig said:

Here is my spoiler-free analysis of the new themes from The Last Jedi:

 

http://www.filmmusicnotes.com/new-musical-themes-and-their-meaning-in-the-last-jedi/

 

Enjoy!

 

Beautiful analysis, Ludwig. I particularly like how you described the "Luke in Exile" theme and how it relates to the form of sarabande. Now that you pointed it out, it seems very clear.

 

Did you also get the reference to Sibelius' 2nd Symphony in this piece?

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Great analysis Ludwig as always. :)

 

1 hour ago, TownerFan said:

Did you also get the reference to Sibelius' 2nd Symphony in this piece?

I thought the Luke in Exile theme has a sort of Sibelian feel to it, especially the 2nd symphony indeed comes to mind. And it has been haunting me for a week now.

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3 hours ago, Incanus said:

Sibelian feel to it, especially the 2nd symphony indeed comes to mind. And it has been haunting me for a week now.

 

Is it a specific part in the second symphony or the feel of the whole thing?

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On 1/11/2018 at 8:40 AM, Oskar said:

Is this the same motif, or just coincidence?

 

2:22 - 2:28

 

1:46 - 1:52 

 

2:30 - 2:35

 

 

Not the same motif, but all three feature a motion from scale degree 5 to 6 of the minor scale, which is a traditional musical symbol of grief, turmoil, or otherwise great suffering. And interestingly, they are all associated with events on Ahch-To, specifically with the negative emotions of Luke. The first one I think occurs with Luke and Rey's first encounter and his initial refusal to help her. The second is with Luke's frantic calls to Rey when the Dark Side beckons. And the third is with their conversation about the truth between Luke and Kylo.

 

So all three might be viewed as a musical means of portraying Luke's emotional pain, which fits in well with statements of the Force Theme on Ahch-To since most there include this kind of 5-6 minor-key motion in the theme's accompaniment, and even the Jedi Steps theme has it in the melody, giving all these the same "suffering" sort of sound.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I thought I heard a melody in the "Canto Bight" opening appear in other sequences on Canto Bight, particularly when the police were involved.  Anyone else notice this?  

 

Also, has the below been given a name yet?  I've been calling it the battle motif since it occurs at least once in every First Order vs Resistance battle.

 

 

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On 3.2.2018 at 2:39 PM, Ludwig said:

I would say that's a sped up version of the head of the Desperation theme. Hearing it that way nicely binds together several of the big action sequences in a subtle way that is probably more readily felt than actively heard.

Agreed. I particularly love the finale of the Main Title and Escape where strains of the Desperation coincide with the sacrifice of the Resistance bomber pilot who is Rose' sister.

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On 2/3/2018 at 7:39 AM, Ludwig said:

I would say that's a sped up version of the head of the Desperation theme. Hearing it that way nicely binds together several of the big action sequences in a subtle way that is probably more readily felt than actively heard.

What about the motif drawn from TFA's "The Bombing Run" and the unused Parade Grounds cue, "Gb Ab A Ab B"?

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6 hours ago, Fal said:

What about the motif drawn from TFA's "The Bombing Run" and the unused Parade Grounds cue, "Gb Ab A Ab B"?

 

That's the one Lehman calls the First Order motif in his catalogue of Star Wars themes. Too bad the Parade Grounds music was cut - it could have had (and maybe did have) more of a presence in TFA and provided a nice emotional contrast to Kylo's pair of themes, something like how the Rebel Fanfare as basically an action theme contrasts with both the heroic theme for Luke and the sense of struggle captured by the Force theme in ANH.

 

This First Order motif is essentially a boiled-down version of the first idea of the Force theme (same scale degrees), only now more forward driving in its rhythm and repetitive in its shape, creating a kind of "flip side" to the Force theme, one chiseled and hardened into a theme more appropriate for the aggression of villains than the struggle of heroes that the Force theme depicts.

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