Star Wars! Because who hasn't blasted the soundtrack while preparing for an audition or interview? (Just me, then?) This music is the definition of iconic, and even people who hate Star Wars know the music. With John Williams at the helm, who would expect anything different?
The Star Wars score holds the record for the most purchased score only soundtrack of all time. The music earned John Williams an Oscar nomination - and he holds the record for most nominations. It seems that in Hollywood, if you need an epic score, you know who to call.
Though Williams is known for his adoration of the perfect fifth interval (the beginning two notes of the main theme), and some may even mock him for it, but the effectiveness cannot be denied. Just for kicks, and to celebrate May the Fourth, revel in the orchestral glory of the London symphony, conducted by John Williams himself.
Excellent. So satisfying. It reminds me of being 10 years old, learning to play flute via a songbook of Star Wars. The variance in texture is really why this satisfies - the repetition of the theme embeds it into your brain for approximately 3 years, and hearing it across the different instrument families is what drives the piece home.
Interestingly, John Williams chose to use leitmotifs in the Star Wars score, just as Richard Wagner used them in his operas, and Howard Shore went on to use them later for the Lord of the Rings score (which you can read more about here). Given the vast scope of the score, and the huge amount of music composed, it is not surprising that Williams chose this sort of musical organization to make sense of such an immense score. Presented with a similar opportunity (please oh please oh please), I would approach the score in the same way. Not only do leitmotifs help the composer to organize thoughts, it also assists the audience in identifying themes and characters. Check it out - the Imperial March.
Aww, yes. Rock out to some epic Darth Vader music. I know several people who have used this music as a ringtone for their bosses, in-laws, or co-workers. I do recommend it, answering the phone is a bit easier when you have your opinions of someone validated by an excellent ringtone.
George Lucas originally wanted to use classical music for the score, but Williams convinced George to let him compose an original track. The temp track (used in promotional material for the film before the composer finishes the score) used Gustav Holst's "Mars, the Bringer of War" where the Imperial March eventually ended up. The triplets in the beginning are certainly evocative of the same style, and when the orchestra really opens up at about 1:30, you can certainly hear some similarities.
This isn't to say that Williams plagiarized - there is no identical content whatsoever. As Stravinsky once said, "Good composers borrow; great composers steal." In this day and age, there is no "new" music. Everything that can be done, has been done (at least with current technologies; who knows what the future will bring). New music is simply rearrangements of existing structures and fusions of different styles. That may sound cynical - it is not. Music is art, and every piece of music will affect and touch people in a different way. The creation of new works leaves us composers buzzing with energy and insight, and performing those works translates the feeling from the composer, to the performer, to the audience.
The (boring) theme, "The Force," was inspired by Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet, and the music of Tatooine emerged out of the score for Ladri di Biciclette, a 1947 Italian movie where the music is infinitely more interesting and relevant than the film itself.
"Duel of the Fates" is probably my favorite track, partly due to the choral parts that are evocative of Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, and partly because in high school orchestra, I had an excellent part on the contrabass. This is the ultimate power song - start using it during your time at the gym, and I guarantee you will feel excellent instead of exhausted when you are done.
And here is the inspiration, "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi, part 1" by Carl Orff, which I also adore. You've undoubtedly heard it in advertisements for years - my least favorite was hearing it to advertise deoderant. Because nothing says personal hygiene quite like the text of Orff's work - "Fate is against me in health and virtue."
Indeed.
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