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"A New Home" from SW Episode 9 Appreciation


Falstaft

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4 hours ago, crumbs said:

I'll make a bold prediction here but I don't think this score is Williams' final word in the Star Wars musical universe.

Are we talking fiddling with concert pieces or contributing new music to a film?  

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2 minutes ago, Tom said:

Are we talking fiddling with concert pieces or contributing new music to a film?  

 

The former. He's certainly done with the films but I have this nagging feeling he might have an itch left to scratch when it comes to concert arrangements, especially for Rey.

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Terrific post, @Falstaft  This is the JWFan content I just absolutely love.  It's one of the reasons why I love this score so much, it's has a lot of warmth to it.

 

15 hours ago, Falstaft said:

& the Imperial March

 

At what part does it reference that?  I couldn't pick up on it.

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Yeah, with your mention of the references, it's interesting to think about potential connections. But as for intentional ones, I think it's only meant to contain variations on Rey's theme.

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I love it and it's great, but at the same time, I can't help but think it's basically JW's response to JJ saying, "So we put Jedi Steps in the temp track…can you do that again, but different?"

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41 minutes ago, aviazn said:

I love it and it's great, but at the same time, I can't help but think it's basically JW's response to JJ saying, "So we put Jedi Steps in the temp track…can you do that again, but different?"

In all fairness, that is exactly the purpose of every temp-track.  

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23 hours ago, Falstaft said:

Now that the dust has settled a bit since December, I thought it might be nice to start a discussion on some of the highlights of The Rise of Skywalker's score. 

 

 

Technically, "A New Home" is Williams's final word for this franchise (since the Force Theme statement that follows is repurposed from TFA...which was repurposed from ROTS...which was repurposed from ANH). And, thank goodness Williams is finally allowed some space to breathe musically, with no dialogue, cuts, or sound effects to distract us.

 

It's a subtle and quite desolate piece of music to my ears, and on first glance perhaps exceedingly simple. But over its brief 1:50 duration, it actually conveys a wealth of complex emotions and musical allusions amidst those pacing minor arpeggios. There's obvious and not-so-obvious nods to Rey's Theme, plus Jedi Steps & the Imperial March, and maybe even Across the Stars. I can't help but discern a dash of Shmi's Funeral from AOTC -- a hugely apposite reference, albeit unlikely an intentional one. It's at once a piece that summarizes a lot of the music of Star Wars, while still standing quite apart.

 

Despite my utter distaste for this scene from a narratival and character perspective, its hard for me to deny that it really lands on an emotional level. What do you all think?

 

 

 

 

I love the idea for this thread.  But technically, "A New home" is JJ Abrams final word on Williams's original music.  For all we know, this scene was scored mid way and constant revisions to other cues happened after this.  It would be interesting to know what was JW's last new music for the epic, but I very much doubt it was the last scene shown in the film.  This might not have been JW's intention even since his version 1 of this scene might be quite different than a muddled final version.  To me, it doesn't land emotionally as well as it could have.  I am one of the rare people who experienced the saga before it was a thing and can recall the significant impact that Star Wars (77) and Empire (80) had was immediately and devastatingly powerful.  This music and scene does not carry that weight.  I am talking both dramatically, emotionally, and musically. 

 

 

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Even before I know the (awful) scene it accompanied, it always felt like the musical equivalent of all the musical legends of Star Wars being buried in the sand by strong winds, knowing they'll be uncovered one day many years in the future.

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I love ite from the very first moment I listened! One of the best moments in the score and also one of the very few moments were JJ allowed the music to stand out.

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