John williams- star wars

• What is a leitmotif?

  A specific theme tune for a character or emotion in a film
• Who is represented by the opening theme of Star Wars?

  Luke Skywalker, with ideas of heroism and struggle
• What is the instrumentation used in Star Wars?

  Full symphony orchestra
• What are the sections in a traditional orchestra?

  Strings, Woodwind, Brass and Percussion
• What does instrumental doubling mean?


  More than one instrument playing a particular idea at once, sometimes an octave apart
• What is similar to the scoring of Star Wars and Killer Queen?

  No use of synthesisers - strange, considering the film is futuristic
• What is a fanfare and why might it be used for this theme?

  A brass motif, used to show heroism and bravery and gives the sense of something amazing is going to happen
• What do the violins start with on their first note?

  They are playing a tremolo inverted tonic pedal
• What is the rhythmic device used underneath the main theme

  Syncopation, rhythmic articulation
• What happens after the main theme is played once?

  It is repeated, but this time accompaniments change slightly
• What is the interval played by the string parts in the second contrasting section?

  Octaves - the strings actually play across three octaves
• What percussion instrument can be heard playing the important notes of the melody line?

  Glockenspiel
• What is it called when all of the accompaniment are playing all chords at the same time?

  Block Chords
• What instrumental device is the harp playing to link into the transition section?

  Glissando, or slide
• What is different harmony wise in the transition section and the main theme?

  The harmony in the second section is a lot less stable, dissonant and tonally ambiguous
• Which instruments play the second leitmotif heard in the piece?

  Brass again, the leitmotif for the Imperial Forces
• What is the difference between a theme and an underscore?

  The theme is played usually over credits or for a particular character, however an underscore fits with what is happening on screen
• What is the effect of the harmonic differences between the sections?

  The harmonically unstable second second represents the bad and war hungry side of the film, whereas the beginning is more triumphant and brave
• What does ritardando mean?

  Slowing down
• What is an ostinato and when is it used?

  Near the end, where the brass all play the same rhythmic pattern over and over again.
• What is the main texture?

  Mostly different types of homophony
• Which type of homophony is mainly used?

  Melody and accompaniment, or melody dominated
• Name two different types of pedal used in the extract

  Inverted tonic (intro) and dominant pedal (bars 12-15)
• What is the structure of the piece BEFORE the transition?

  AABA (the two contrasting themes form the structure)
• What is the tonality at the start of the piece?

  Major
• What is the key at the start of the piece?

  Bb Major
• What is the tonality from the transition onwards?

  More unclear and unstable
• What gives the audience the impression that the song has modulated to C Major?

  A C can be heard as a bass pedal
• What does atonal mean?

  Without key
• What does bitonality mean?

  A combination of two keys
• What word best describes the harmony in this piece?

  Tonal, though the conventional cadence points aren't always used
• What position are the majority of the chords in?

  Root and first inversion
• What is it called when the harmonies in the fanfare are built on fourths, as opposed to thirds?

  Quartal Harmony
• What type of cadence is used, at the end of the first phrase?

  Imperfect, landing on V
• What is a 'foreign' chord?

  A random chord (in this case, Db Major) which is out of place
• What is a cluster chord?

  A chord built around closely spaced notes/close intervals
• What is a tritone?


  An interval built on three tones (Devils' interval - doesn't sound pleasant!)
• What is dissonance and why is it used?

  Clashing notes or chords to emphasise that bad things are going to happen
• What is an anacrusis?

  Where the melody starts on the upbeat to the bar instead of beat 1
• Does the main theme (A) use stepwise motion or leaps, or both?

  It uses both, with careful balance between the two.