*OFFICIAL THREAD* RotS Soundtrack Discussion

Because of decreasing expectations, It actually took until last week before I bought the soundtrack CD for ROTS. Normally, I would run and get it the day it came out (darn that ?Qui-Gon?s funeral? track listing on the Ep I soundtrack when I was trying to be spoiler free).

I am a John Williams fan for going on 30 years and own most of his soundtracks? but I have to say that with this Episode III soundtrack, this series of prequel soundtracks is very disappointing. Compared to the OT music, they lack quite a bit in terms of memorable themes, and are very high in incidental tuneless background music. It?s almost more like sound effects than the melodic, operatic music that made the original trilogy soundtracks classics. But just so I don?t come across as just scurrilous negativity, let me quote some comparisons.

A New Hope - This introduced the Main Theme, Cantina Band, Imperials theme, Jawa/Tatooine music, Garbage Compactor music, Princess Leia?s Theme, Force Theme/Luke?s Theme and the Processional at the End.. At least 8 Distinct, melodic themes, most of which stand alone as great pieces of music, as well as good accompaniment for the visuals

Empire Strikes Back ? The Mother Lode ? This had the Love Theme, Yoda?s Theme, Darth Vader?s Theme, Bespin Music, Asteroid Chase Music, Hoth Battle Theme, and probably several others I am forgetting to mention. Very strong melodies here ? and even the battles and action sequences have melodies you can hum afterwards.

Return of the Jedi - Emperor?s Theme, Luke and Leia Theme. There weren?t many new themes, but there weren?t that many new characters (except Ewoks) and there were very creative uses of recurring themes from earlier ? Yoda, Darth Vader, Love theme, etc.

Now compare the above with the Prequels:

The Phantom Menace: I had high hopes in ?99 when I heard Anakin?s Theme. This had Anakin?s Theme (excellent), and then there was also Duel of the Fates (the first Star Wars theme I didn?t personally like that much). Other than some parade fanfare music, there?s really not much else to take away from this soundtrack.

Attack of the Clones: The new Love Theme and? well, the new Love theme. Was there really anything else going on in this one besides random staccato hits during the action scenes?

Revenge of the Sith: Anakin vs. Obi-Wan and ? not much else. Grievous had a ?style? but not really a theme, and the end credits was a nice medley? of OT music that tended to just highlight that trilogy?s musical superiority.

Why can?t Padme have a theme? Or Dooku? Some background for Kamino? Or Kashyyk? Just random action music that never coalesces into anything. I understand holding off on Emperor?s theme until Ep III ? but where was Yoda?s theme during the PT?

It is much easier to write incidental, tuneless ?sound effect? music for action scenes, than it is to write something that matches the action AND stands alone as a great piece of music. That?s why I wonder why Williams was phoning it in with these prequels. Less budget? Less time to compose them?

There?s a reason that out of 17 chapters on the restrospective DVD that came with the ROTS soundtrack, that only 4 of them come with music from the prequels.

Just my 2 cents.

I think the Padme's destiny theme concludes the PT because it has such an influence on Qui-Gons funeral, which had the same music. Now whenever I watch TPM I get reminded of RotS because of this music. It is amazing!


(That may not make too much sense... )

For the final duel they should've used the "May the Force be with you" theme, since its the one moment the entire prequel trilogy revolved around. I think they played it at some point during the Battle of Coruscant but I'm surprised they didn't for the final duel.

Don't forget the beautful "Anakin's Betrayal" theme from ROTS. On par with anything from the original trilogy, this theme serves as the musical emotional core of ROTS-- similar to the love themes from ESB and AOTC, and Leia's theme from ANH. It isn't used as often as the others, but is featured prominently in two very emotional scenes in ROTS: Order 66, and Anakin's confrontation with Padme and Obi-Wan on Mustafar. It really adds a lot to those scenes, and I doubt that without such a great theme they would have the impact they did.

On the whole I felt the ROTS score was outstanding. Not quite as many memorable themes as in the OT, but that doesn't necessarily signify an inferior score. The music is beautiful and operatic and VERY appropriate. And very in line with the emotion in the movie. It's as if JW knows what us Star Wars fans are thinking and feeling when we watch ROTS.

For example, one of my favorite scenes is where Anakin recounts his dream to Padme. It might have been typical for any other composer to underscore such a scene with darkness and foreboding. But instead the score here is bittersweet and tragic, and very beautiful. It almost made me want to cry. Because we all know the import of the scene, we know how tragic it really is. From our perspective there is perhaps even a little nostalgia: we know we are watching the parents of Luke and Leia discussing their own inevitable doom.

And JW comments on that inevitability throughout the movie. Another great musical moment is when Palpatine first appoints Anakin as his personal representative. This is of course the beginning of the end, the start of Palpatineâ??s seduction. And the string section here swells and effectively conveys a sense of dread.

Padme's theme was "Across The Stars." Dooku's theme was the recurring motif in AOTC, which denoted the mystery part of the story. Kamino was in the same boat. Kashyyyk didn't really need a theme, since it's more about the Clone Army and the Droid Army. Hence using "The Arena" and "The Droid Invasion." The Emperor's theme from ROTJ is heard in the TPM soundtrack, both versions and on the ROTS soundtrack, at the end of "Enter Lord Vader". That's when the scene shifts back to the Senate, as Bail enters the Naboo pod. Only the low male chorus is absent and it's a brief useage. Yoda's theme is heard on both versions of the TPM soundtrack and in AOTC. Space was limited for it's use in the ROTS soundtrack, but as you know, it's in the film.

Yoda's theme in the films.

-TPM, it's heard when Yoda talks to Obi-wan alone. On the original CD, it's "High Council Meeting" and on the UE, it's "Padme Confronts Nute And Rune" or "Qui-gon's Funeral." I don't have the UE.

-AOTC, it's heard during "Yoda And The Younglings" at the part where Obi-wan enters the training center where Yoda is. It returns during the Droid Factory sequence and can be heard at the end of "Yoda Strikes Back", which is when Yoda uses the Force to save Anakin and Obi-wan.

-ROTS is heard Yoda says good-bye to Chewbacca and Tarrful.

Thanks for the feedback - I'm crunched for time, but will reply shortly.

Ewan, that was great review. Well done.

G-Fett,

Did you ever place the third part of the first track? My guess is when R2 is battling the buzz droid, but I'm sure its wrong.

I'm sure the musical nuances are there to highlight the emotions the characters are going through, it's just that with this movie (and Eps I and II as well) JW did not write as many melodic melodies. I'm not saying that it is required by all soundtracks (LOTR for instance, is a great soundtrack that does not use quite as many melodic themes) in general, but it is a form that he started with the OT and I was disappointed that he didn't make the PT consistent with that considering that it is the same series of movies.

Hi Bry, no so far I've nobody has posted an answer. You could easily be right though!

I'm upping this sucker for a few reasons:

1) I made it, therefore it's awesome
2) The music in this movie is too great to go "un-talked-about" for more than twenty seconds
3) The music after Order 66 when the Tantive is flying around retrieving Obi-Wan and Yoda is the coolest music in the history of cool music

Seriously, when Bail, Antilles, and that hot Alderaanian chick are walking down the hallway to that music, with the snare drum solo as they pivet around the corner... *swoon* that scene makes Bail Organa seem like the King of Cool.

Yes, those few minutes of music after Order 66 up until Anakin talks to Padme is definately some of the coolest music in the entire saga

"Seriously, when Bail, Antilles, and that hot Alderaanian chick are walking down the hallway to that music, with the snare drum solo as they pivet around the corner... *swoon* that scene makes Bail Organa seem like the King of Cool."

I love that moment too, Pooja. That musical section there is really great. Bail, in that moment, looked like he was ready to just take out people. Great part.

Honestly? Bail Organa was so cool in Episode III, I actually hate it that he isn't in 4-6 (shutup, I know he's supposed to die on Alderaan when it blows up, but I didn't see a body so I'll run with that).

Oh, and damn them all to hell and back like eight times for not putting that on the soundtrack. Seriously. What gives.

Well I haven't see ROTS in about 4 months so I can't really remember much of the music that isn't on the soundtrack. But one piece of music that isn't on the soundtrack that for some reason got stuck in my head for an entire week was the music playing when Obi-Wan takes off in the Star Destroyer after his chat with Anakin. It's so insignificant a tune yet it stuck with me for no reason.

I like that too, HLAS, and the Force theme that plays when Obi-Wan travels and lands on Utapau.

Soundtrack releases always baffle me, because they always leave off the best stuff. I love the ROTS score, but if all the music were released, we'd have a lot more "thematic" music.

As for the Force Theme during The Duel, isn't it part of the tracked "CLash of Lightsabers?"

Well, most record companies or composers perfer to give you a simple and to the point soundtrack. With just highlights from the films and not the entire score. If not for the demand to have the entire OT soundtrack released, we wouldn't have gotten the SE soundtracks. It's AOTC that baffles most of us, cause we should've heard something about an SE by now. ROTS just came out, so we may have to wait a bit for it, like with TPM.

The Force theme is heard during the duel, first in "Anakin vs Obi-wan" and then "Battle Of The Heroes". The former is tracked with "Clash Of The Lightsabers."

For the Final Battle the order is:
Anakin Vs. Obi-Wan
part of Duel of the Fates
Battle of the Heroes

My God, three cheers for John Williams.
I'm glad this thread was bumped - I'm gonna have to listen to some SW sountrackery as I drift off to sleep (it's past 4am here in the UK!).

Sorry if I go off topic here but just a few random thoughts before I hit the sack: I can listen to the OT sondtracks and the films just play in my head (bah - who needs the DVDs anyway?).... Cantina Band #1 is just genius. What would an alien band in a GFFA play? Why, trad jazz with calypso steel drums, clarinet, fuzzed-up Fender Rhodes bass and a big rock drum kit, of course - I'll have what Mr Williams is smoking please.... The TESB love theme makes me choke up like nothing else if I'm in the right mood.... Sadly, Lapti Nek and the Nub Nub song need to be back in there IMO.... Hearing just a snippet of Asteroid Field makes me feel 8-years-old again.... Jabba's Baroque Recital - another stroke of genius. Who would have thought counterpoint could be so strangely sinister.... And there is no cinema experience - I repeat - no cinema experience like the anticipation which fills the void between "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" and "Star Wars - de de de dah dah, da-da-da dah....

Good grief yeah - what would Star Wars be without John Williams' contribution?
It's too often overlooked, I'm feeling all sentimental just thinking about all that amazing music...
Time for bed I think, I must be really tired to get so mushy over the bleeding soundtrack to a movie...

I don't think anyone could make music for star wars better

personally, I enjoy the PT much better; JW has matured quite a bit in his music style. Instead of (roughly) simple tracks that were shown in the PT I think i like the fast-paced choir chiming hits such as Battle of the Heroes and Duel of Fates. I still can't get over the love theme, its charm can't be beat. There are so many tracks that also paralell the PT, for example: Anakin's Theme is the Imperial March just in some other octave and key. The end parade in TPM is also the same alteration of the Emperor's Theme which is very symbolic in itself. The tracks are so deep, for example: JW chose to have Duel of Fates a keltic language that depicted 3 battles going on at once between ancient tribes. Tell me, what was happening when this song was first played? I think the ancient language of lyrics also refelected the Sith's harsh and raw devility. ROTS featured such a sad and reflective tone, but also staggering and fast-paced in just the right places. Don't get me wrong, I love the PT composition, but for me either I, II, or III are in my cd player most of the time.

RJ

It would be lovely if one of the DVD features is "just the score and film." We'd get our ultimate soundtrack.

In 1977, I fell in love with Star Wars--and the music. The score is so important to all 6. I don't think of any other movie where the score is so integrated with the movie, that it is not the same movie without it.

Does anyone happen to know if the music played at the end of the scene where Obi confronts Padmé (that carries on into Anakin on Mustafar) is featured on the soundtrack? And if so, which song? It's such a beautiful piece, and your help would be much appreciated.

I'd also like to say that I prefer the music from the PT to that of the OT. It's just more emotional for me.

Yes, it's the tail end of "Anakin's Dark Deeds". Williams combined the two separate tracks together for the album, but they are separated in the film.