ST John Williams to Score the Sequel Trilogy

I keep thinking this reads as "John Williams to Scare Star Wars Episode VIII".

 

The "Rebellion Is Reborn" track with Rose's theme has become one of my favorites. So simple yet so emotional. All John has to do is rearrange the sequence of his themes and he keeps coming up with magically new ones. Amazing!!!!

 

So far very disappointed by Williams' scores. Nothing memorable at all and the old themes seem to stick out.

I hate to say it but Rogue One's score was more Star Wars than the sequel trilogy.

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I was watching Indiana Jones last night and one of the themes in a particular scene for a brief moment was Kylos music.

 

This seemed like a return to form for Mr. Williams after the mediocre TFA score. Listening to the score, especially the binary sunset at the end, give me shivers.

 

Is there an actual concert version of Rose's theme somewhere? I'm very surprised it isn't on the soundtrack. First time Star Wars soundtrack hasn't had at least one concert version of a new theme


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Having listened to the score nonstop for a week now, I wanted to jump in and offer a defense for the score to those who are finding it unmemorable, because I think potentially brilliant moments—and new themes—are being missed (do bear with me, my musical vocabulary is limited, so I'll do a lot of pointing at things I can't describe well).

The first thing I noticed is that we are feeling the effects of a saga that now spans eight episodes, principally in the sense that Williams already has a rich vocabulary of motifs for most of the central elements in the film. All the major characters, old and new, have their own themes, the factions have their own themes, even the Falcon sees a reprisal of its "Tie Fighter" track from A New Hope (to great effect, I might add!). While I feel the Force theme may have been employed a few too many times (which weakened its impact overall), it's astonishing to me how many new themes, interludes, and variations on existing motifs Williams was able to find this time around in spite of all the ground he's already covered. This score especially reminds me of his work on Sith because of his interludes between themes, emotionally swelling tracks, and one-off motifs. For example...



"Main Title and the Escape": We hear an extension to the beginning of Kylo's theme at 2:06, trailing off into a new orchestration as Hux appears, and continues with a beautiful, whimsical flair at Poe's entrance at 2:30, but the main thing I want to point out here is what I can only describe as a Resistance vs. First Order motif (and is timestamped at 3:30 in the link above). This moment is right as the bombers come into view, and continues to build for the next thirty seconds until a tremendous peak at 4:03 that continues through 4:20. During the film, this climax can't be heard because right at 4:03 a torrent of TIE Fighters attack the bombers, covering up the score. (This motif is quoted again in "The Battle of Crait" at 1:33.) We also see a return to a more "emotional," swelling score than was heard in VII towards the end and, as others have mentioned, what might be a quote from "Battle of Heroes" from 6:16 to 6:43.



"Ach-To Island": We hear a new motif for Luke's training at 2:15 here that builds throughout the film (it repeats at 2:55), but a moment I want to highlight here is from 2:28 to 2:42 (timestamped above), which is an amazing, one-off flair of Ach-To itself that utilizes Williams' cellos—it reminds me of Kamino's motif in Clones in that you can feel the oceanic sound embedded into the track. We also hear what others have called the "Rebellion Reborn" theme from 3:33 to the end of the track, which plays when Luke is milking, fishing, and ignoring Rey.



"Fun With Finn and Rose": Right off the bat, we have Rose's new theme, which is appropriately optimistic to match her personality (and sounds great fully orchestrated in "The Fathiers" at 1:27), but I want to point out an interlude that Williams employs that then falls into what might be the best orchestration of the Resistance March yet, from 0:46 to 1:16 (timestamped above). In the prequels, Williams frequently used staccato repetition of strings to create mystery and suspense, such as in "Star Wars Revenge and the Revenge of the Sith" main titles at 5:20, "Return to Tatooine" from Clones at 1:24, and "Palpatine's Teachings" from Sith at 3:44. It doesn't appear again, but it's instantly memorable. Also, the syncopation and light violins on the Resistance theme give it a style and slickness that couldn't be found with its overhanded, bombastic orchestration in TFA.

"The Rebellion is Reborn": This entire track is chock-full of memorable moments, and most particularly between major motifs. The transitions between Rose's theme, the Rebellion Reborn theme, and the Luke training theme are seamless and more nuanced than what we had in TFA. In particular, I love the strings at the top, which to me are a classical sound we haven't yet heard in the saga, and 0:34 to 0:52 is a good example of the kind of memorable transitions throughout the score. Of course, the rest of the Luke training theme at the end is a real treat too.

"Lesson One": I just want to point out again Williams' use of strings at 1:26, similar to what I described in "Fun With Finn and Rose," demonstrating how Williams uses repetition to create mystery and suspense. It's a motif we never hear again, but it's instantly memorable.

I also want to show some love for "Who Are You" and "The Cave," which I think are hauntingly beautiful tracks. I won't link them to save room, but they seem to quote each other, especially in "Who Are You" from 1:00 to 1:10, which is repeated in "The Cave" from 0:10 to 0:20. They both have slow builds that are instantly creepy, especially in "Who Are You" from 0:48 to 1:20. I appreciate how new that sound is to Star Wars, perhaps only seen elsewhere in Dagobah's tree from Empire. These two would be right at home in Knights of the Old Republic or The Old Republic as Sith ambience tracks or something.

"Chrome Dome": This track sounds like it came straight from the prequels to me, and that's why I love it. TFA lacked percussion, but this track makes up for it with fight music that reminds me of "General Grievous" from Sith (which has strong percussion at the start and again at 1:25). It's so rhythmic. My favorite moments in it are from 0:40 to 0:46 and again at 1:19 to the end (which reminds me of the drums at the top of Sith). The steady drums and blasting horns embody the literal weight of Finn and Phasma's duel perfectly.



People have already mentioned the great section at the end of "The Battle of Crait" that is similar to "The Immolation Scene," as well as how unbelievably awesome "The Spark" is, so I'll skip those and go straight to "Peace and Purpose." The reprise of "Binary Sunset" is obviously the main attraction, but one of my favorite extensions of a theme happens from 1:09 to 1:28 (timestamped above). Kylo's theme is turned into a march, and I hope it carries into the next film. It reminds me of the droid army's march from the prequels because of its horns, rhythm, and percussion, and I could easily see it expanded further into a successor to the "Imperial March." Also, I adore the piano at the start of "The Finale."

Overall, the score here is much more nuanced and complex than that of The Force Awakens (which I also fell in love with eventually). Whereas Williams was content to repeat simpler action themes like the "Follow Me" track in TFA, here he's playing with all kinds of variations on melody and instrumentation even beyond the major motifs. In TFA, he provided a plethora of memorable new themes, and this time around he's getting a chance to play with them.

Poe's theme appears after the main titles when he's facing the dreadnaught, as well as in "Peace and Purpose" at the end of the film, when he meets Rey.

 

So Finn gets no love yet again. How surprising...

 

Does anyone know if j.j. confirmed Williams is finishing out the saga with 9?

 

I would say it goes without saying that that's the plan. Only Williams not doing it would be news.(which is not inconceivable with his age)

 

Thanks! I could have sworn I heard Poe's before the dreadnaught.

 

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Say what you want about the new scores, but Kylo and Rey have great themes, and the Jedi Steps still rules. The use of Leia’s Theme during her moment in space was also spot on.

 

My favorite tracks of the new soundtrack are The Supremacy, The Rebellion Is Reborn, Canto Bight, The Fathiers, and The Battle of Crait.

Only reason I like most of these is because of the way Williams uses past themes like Leia's Theme, TIE Fighter Attack, and the Force theme. Canto Bight and the few snippets of Rose's Theme are the only things that stick out to me as fresh in this soundtrack. I wonder why there were so few new themes in this one.

 

I posted my analysis of prequel callbacks in the score in the prequel references thread. There's quite a few of them. I'll copy+paste it here.

edit: nevermind. The media limit is too... limiting. Here's the link. http://boards.theforce.net/threads/prequel-references.50047288/page-4

My favorite is the Battle of Crait main melody being the Space Battle motif from the prequels. This one:

 

While not bad at all, I didn't think "Rogue One's" music was anything exceptional -- but I did give Giaccino a pass since he only had a short amount of time to do the score.

 

In the same way neither Han, Obi-Wan, Padme, Dooku, Maul and so many others did not.

So the usual victimism with Finn clearly does not apply here. Sorry.

 

Um, Maul does have a theme in TPM, Padme gets Across the Stars in AOTC onwards (the theme's mostly for her over Anakin), and Han gets Han and the Princess (though that one hues more equally between the two characters than AtS did).

Obi-Wan and Dooku though, yeah, they never get specific theme music.

 

They have nothing to do with Finn not having a theme song. I don't know why people feel the need to try to justify the lack of respect Finn receives with what a bunch of supporting characters got. He's a main lead character, as described by LucasFilm, and should be treated as such.

 

So were Han and Obi-Wan. And neither got a theme.

Oh my, what a drama.

 

Nothing new from Episode VII or Episode VIII stood out for me, in all honesty.

 

To me John Williams is a co-author of this franchise. His music tells a story all in itself.

 

I think he's spread out the last of the jam from the jar.

TFA had Rey's theme and Jedi Steps. TLJ has retreads of those and some unorganized ambiance.

 

On the contrary. Plenty of new melodies throughout this score. This one is probably my favorite. 1:24

 

I loved the Episode 8 soundtrack. After TFA and R1, I really wanted some nostalgia, and TLJ delivered. I think Williams did a great job interweaving OT and ST themes together