Star Wars

• Instrumentation


  • Full symphony orchestra-strings & harp, woodwind, brass and percussion
  • Includes timpani, triangle, snare drum, gong, glockenspiel and cymbals, piano/celeste
  • Much doubling of parts
• Dynamics


  • Mostly loud dynamics
• Instrumental effects


  • Fanfare-the figures brass & tremolando strings (1-3), glissandos (29)
• Tonality


  • Major (bars 3-29), then from bar 30 the tonality becomes less clear
  • More complex chords and dissonance makes some of the passage from 41-60 sound almost atonal
  • Combines elements of bitonality (C vs D6 in 52-5)
• Harmony

  • Mainly tonal but does not always use conventional progressions
  • Opening fanfare uses chords built on 4s rather than 3s (quartal harmony)
  • Harmonies in 33-35 mix elements of different chords creating instability
  • Dissonant cluster chords in 44-50; use of tritone D-G (44)
• Texture


  • Mostly homophonic and melody-dominated homophony, often octave doubling
  • Some imitation in the intro; pedal note & ostinato textures (51-60)
• Melody


  • Melodies are memorable-main Star Wars theme is made up of 2 ideas
  • (A) contains a rising perfect 5 idea, creating heroic feel, appropriate for Luke Skywalker, its 4 bar uses an auxiliary note figure
  • Theme (B) in bar 12, is again a 4-bar idea, less forceful on strings, providing contrast
  • Final 10 bars-a second leitmotif, built of min 3's (52-9), Rebel Blockade Runner
• Rhythm/metre/tempo


  • Fast 4/4 metre, March style reflects the 'military' nature of the wars between the rebels and the Imperial forces
  • Opening 3 bars use rapid repeated notes & triplets to create feeling of expectation
  • The Main Theme (A) is often accompanied by syncopated block chords
  • Bar 33-pulse becomes less obvious
  • Chords from 44-50 create drama by mixing quavers, triplets and crotchets with rests, along with a rit.
• Main Title/Rebel Blockade Runner from Star Wars, Episode IV A New Hope by Williams (b.1932) p. 66
• Williams is one of the greatest film composers of all time. Films include Jaws, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, 3 Harry Potter films and Jurassic Park
• Star Wars repopularised the use of grand late-Romantic orchestral scores
• The opening theme is associated with Luke Skywalker and with ideas of heroism and struggle
• This passage is reminiscent of Mars from Holst's Planets