Star Wars Main Theme

• MELODY

  The main A theme can be broken down as follows: Bar 1 contains a rising perfect 5th (tonic to dominant) which creates a heroic feel. Bars 2 and 3 are identical, including a leap of a minor 7th. Bar 4 uses an auxiliary note (not in the main chord) to reach the note C, preparing for the repeat of the 4 bar phrase.
• RHYHM, TEMPO and METRE

  The “Mars” like chords when the large spaceship appears are homorhythmic (all playing the same rhythm).
• TONALITY

  As the planets are revealed the piece switches to C major (with an added Ab) for a short while.

  When the spaceships appear the music is more based around the note C, which is heard as a bass pedal.
• STRUCTURE

  The full structure of the rebel blockade runner section is: Star filled sky, camera pans down to show planets, spaceship ap- pears, larger spaceship attacks, action continues and switch
• Harmony


  • Uses some chords not in the key of Bb major
  • Ab major at the end of the first A theme
  • Db major in the B section
• Intro and A theme


  Inverted tonic pedal played tremolo in the violins
• Harmony

  in the section B theme the Dominant pedal is played by the brass instruments.
• Harmony

  During the “Star filled sky” section the Harmonies mix unrelated chords together (like Db major and C major) to create strange, unstable effects
• Harmony. When we see the two planets, the strings and the brass are playing in two different keys
• TEXTURE

  The piece uses pedal textures, such as the inverted tonic pedal (repeated Bb note played by the violins) during the introduc- tion and A theme, and the dominant pedal (repeated 5th note played by the brass) in the B section.
• INSTRUMENTS/SONORITY

  The orchestra is used in the style of a traditional romantic-era orchestra, with much doubling of parts an octave or more apart.