The Mandalorian The Music of The Mandalorian

There are two things going on here, one being that there's probably now been enough "non saga" onscreen content which has departed in minor ways from all-Williams-all-the-time that, as with many other factors, the SW feel has finally become pliable enough to have this kind of score without many objections. The second is that this show is just so damned good at what it does that it's particularly well-suited to be the vehicle of that kind of change. I just now realized, having seen the episode twice and thought about it plenty: *someone used the Force and "that theme" didn't play not only did I not miss it, I DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE IT*. And now that I have, I realize I'm totally ready for this show to have 0% JW content. It'll always have its place but it doesn't need to be everywhere, and will be more effective when it is used if it's not beaten into the ground. And meanwhile we have the awesomeness of this score.

 

Yup. I think the worst thing they could do to John Williams’ music is to wear it out and overuse it until it becomes stale.

Favreau, I think, instinctively understood that this show needed something new in the score department.

 

Awoo awooawooawooawooo...

Playing in the the car on Spotify.
It gets under your skin.

 

Having played one, I would say it's a Tenor Recorder, which is about two feet long.

 

I think new is fine. But I want new to also be good, and I don't think Goransson's music is good at all.

 

I love the theme song, can't get it out of my head. Sounds like an old western combined with a 70s action show.

 

Three episodes in, it's growing on me.

 

A couple seconds into the first episode, I was sold.

 

I’m going to be a little upset if we go an entire series without referencing other Star Wars music.

 

IMO, John William's music has been overused for four decades. I still love JW's scores when watching the movies he wrote them for, but outside that, please no... The more you transplant it to other stuff, the greater risk of these works becoming mentally associated with something I despise.

I loved the way TCW showed great restrain and thoughtfulness in the use of JW themes, despaired when Rebels went back to hard-core John Williams cut and paste in the early days of Disney's reign, and am delighted that the pendulum has swung back the other way.

I'm not yet hooked on many individual pieces in Mandalorian (and probably won't unless the BR/DVD's come out - I simply refuse to get too emotionally invested in something that's tied to a streaming service) but the main theme has already taken a place on my mental shelf.

 

Have to say, the music so far is the one thing that's not working for me in this show. I get they're trying to go for that spaghetti western/Morricone style, but I don't think they're succeeding at all.

 

Chapter 3 has the first song that I dislike (sort of). The first half of Mando Rescue is really disjointed and is just generally unpleasant in my ears. The second half slaps though.

 

I'm the exact opposite as this is the first episode where I liked all of the beats.

 

I think the whole thing is a blast, and the music is a welcome change. I've listened to the soundtrack on Spotify in between multiple viewings. The reason this series works so well is because of the shared universe, yet the soundtrack makes it unique.

 

I think they’re succeeding wildly, and beyond even my highest expectations. The show wouldn’t work nearly as well, I think, without this type of “western in space” musical landscape. It just fits all the environments, situations and characters so well.

 

This one from The Clone Wars movie sounds like it has the feel.

 

I listened to the soundtrack before I saw the show and I agree. Those cues felt more heroic and epic. Like a very important personal passage for the main character, not just a transport theme. But I really like the soundtrack overall. The sound has this raw frontier person thing going, which really fits with the Mandalorian culture(even though I don't really know much about the Manda-Lore).

Even though I understand that it might not be everyones cup of tea, I am really happy that they went sort of in the opposite of John Williams beautiful sweeping sounds for something more dirty and exotic.

 

He's a musician. I have photographic proof.

 

I'm loving the soundtrack. Best song I think is the Back for Beskar. So epic.

And proud a fellow Nordic person wrote that epicness.

 

Chapter 4 reminded me a bit of the score to Unforgiven.

 

Chapter 4 had the weakest score by far, but IMO, Görannsson is one of the best new additions to Star Wars. He’s a gem.

 

Thought of this immediately when I heard this melody. Sigh. Bad memories.





Also I might be going crazy but I think I'm hearing some of the same intervals in the Title theme and the main theme for the saga. There has to be a little nod of some sort in there, the previous title themes for Star Wars show all had them, and they were generally overt.
To give an example, the sixth note in the title melody to the ninth note sounds an awful lot like the first three of the saga theme.

 

I was really surprised when this scene happens, we didn't hear The Force theme:

Spoiler

When Baby Yoda lifts the Mudhorn with The Force...I was so surprised we didn't hear any of this familiar music.

 

I loved the music that played when Yodaling lifted the Mudhorn. It had a strangeness to it that fit the Mando’s feelings in that moment. This show stands on its own musically and narratively, which I like a lot. No need to bring in Skywalker saga baggage with the Force theme.

 

Got a vibe from the start of the music during this scene that felt reminiscent of the Walker theme from ESB:




It's not a one-to-one match, and I'm not music expert, but if 'feels' the same to me. Kiner also used that same motif more noticeably in Rebels.