rescoring Star Wars with "classical" music

Ok, here's the scenario.

For The Emperor's New Clones, I'd like to create an alternative score using classical music, rather than JW music (this will be an option on the DVD). But I'm having a little trouble.

So I'm wondering what suggestions you lot have for classical music to be used in a SW film. So, think of a scene from one of the films, and say what classical music you think would complement it well.

The biggest challenge is what music to use to replace the main theme at the start! Here's some of my suggestions

Main Theme
Beethoven's 5th - 4th movement
Saint Seans - Organ Symphony - 4th movement
Mussorgsky - The Great Gate at Kiev

Saber Duels
Obvious stuff really.
Mozart - Dies Irae
Verdi - Dies Irae
Anyone - Dies Irae lol

Anakin's Betrayal
Allegri - Miserere
Barber - Adagio for Strings
Albinoni - Adagio

Any other thoughts? Music for space battles? Evil music for Vader and the Emperor? Yoda's theme? etc

 

Well, Wagner and Holst would be obvious additions, especially in the space battles. Mars, from The Planets would be interesting for space battles.

Shostakovich has some really similar stuff in terms of love scenes. I'll think about it and get back to you.

 

YES YES WE NEED WAGNER!! I LOVE WAGNER!!

and wasn't Holst's Mars a big inspiration for the Battle of Yavin i mean just listen to the ending those accented notes are just obvious. so Yavin battle sould have Mars

 

slightly off topic but - the dambusters music.... okay back on topic....

 

Oddly enough, ANH was originally scored with classical pieces as a temp track. I don't know what pieces, but I can almost imagine. JW's music for R2/3PO walking through the desert and the Imperial theme always reminds me of sections of Stravinskys' "Rite of Spring". Also, when I hear the Rebel fanfare I'm always reminded of a brief passage in Dukas' "Sorcerer's Apprentice". Just a couple of examples.

 

Any specific Wagner for specific scenes?

 

Okay, well 'The Ride of the Valkeries' is a great Imperial March replacement. Aside from that I have to admit I'm not overly familiar with Wagner, sorry.

 

I think that either of the melodies from Holst's "Jupiter" could work for Yoda's Theme, or possibly the Force Theme.

I love the Romance from Prokofiev's Lt. Kije Suite. That might work for "Across The Stars".

And the main theme from Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture can work for something. Not quite the Imperial March - maybe the ANH Imperial Theme or even the Emperor's Theme when played right. There's a menacing statement that reminds me of how the Emperor's Theme is played when Vader throws his saber at Luke.

An obvious choice might me Orff's "Carmina Burana" for Duel Of The Fates. Maybe Mozart's "Confutatis" for some fo the duels.

 

What about the Sugar Plum Fairy Dance for the Jawas

 

LOL!!!!!
You need to put in dance Marcabre. I can see its big climax and FF (last movement I belive) when you see the 2 jedi starfighters appear on screen for the first time in ROTS.

 

I remember there was this march in Mars that was said to resemble Imperial March, but I think it sounds more like the Imperial Motif from ANH.

 

Yeah, I've already penciled in Confutatis for the duels

Mars and Jupiter are good choices as well

 

There's a lot of similarity between Star Wars and Wagner's ring, including musical motifs...

http://www.trell.org/wagner/starwars.html

so, lots of things come to mind (such as using siegmund & sieglinde love theme for Luke & Leia theme, Siegfried's motif for Luke, etc.

For something off the beaten path, the "Mt. Saint Helens" symphony by Alan Hovhanness would work well for Mustafar. The music sounds like a raging volcano...

 

The Force Theme could easily be substituted with either Wagner's Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin or the Overture to Parsifal. Much of Wagner's operatic scores had themes for the characters and certain events, such as the Ride of the Valkyries or the Good Friday Spell. I also recall Siegfried's Fire Music from the Ring of the Nibelungen. Chopin's Marche funèbre would make a lovely Imperial theme.

 

I guess an obvious one would be subsituting Duel Of The Fates for O Fortuna.

 

Interesting choices halibut, but perhaps confutatis could be a good one too.

Beethoven: Opus 27 no. 2: Mondschein sonata: Adagio sostenuto for Across the Stars
Unfinished symphony from Shubert for Battle of the Heroes

 

I meant Carmina Burana. I get confused because my itunes has the subtitle O Fortuna

 

All excellent suggestions!

But I'm still really stuck for the main theme!!

 

Confutatis from what? It's common in most liturgical music....Did you mean the Confutatis from Mozart's Requiem?

 

Yup!

 

I'll have to get back to you. But first of all coming to mind is

- Pavane, Opus 50 by Gabriel Faure. (similair to Battle of the Heroes)

- Radetsky March by Strauss II

- The Planets: Venus, the Bringer of Peace by Gustav Holst (I'm thinking Leia's theme, but perhaps something else.)

- Salut D'Amour by I believe Elgar

- Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Opus 90 ; 3rd movement especially - Brahms (Certainly a Star Wars potential)

- Peleas and Melisande: Sicilienne - Faure (Another good song, reminscent of the Love song, even Anakin's Theme, but still its own qualities)

- The Wasps (everything in this Opera, check out the Overature for small bits) - Ralph Vaughn Willaims


Well, that's all I got. Give me a while and when I can look at some of my collection and not just off the cuff, I can get you some more.

 

"O Fortuna" is just the first movement of the larger work -- Carmina Burana, by Carl Orff.

 

The final movement is titled O Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi.

 

It's both. Check it out.
Either way, doesn't matter, we know the music in question.

Other ideas:
Mahler symphonies, especially III and V
"Black Angels" by George Crumb

 

The very end of the 3rd movement of Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony. Tee hee!

AC2