I love that theme (hated the movie). But I always thought it was closest to the music that plays under Luke and Vaders final duel in Jedi.
The Emperor's Theme (sung by somber male chorus in ROTJ) got its own major-key revamp at the end of TPM. I used to think "Augie's Municipal Band" with the "ya-ya" children's chorus, from "Phantom Menace," was pretty substandard for Williams, but I gained new appreciation for it when I learned that it is in fact a major-key-reinterpretation of the Emperor's Theme from "Return of the Jedi." This new insight remakes an otherwise irritating piece into a clever and deliberate bit of musical foreshadowing, to match the knowing smirk on Palpatine's face in that final scene of Episode I.
I'll admit I was mostly just poking fun at the notion of "crishendoing like a waltz," but while we're on the subject of "Across the Stars" I've always thought it was a clever, romanticized minor-key re-working of the Luke Skywalker theme. I've never found any evidence anywhere from Williams himself that this was intentional, though. Has he ever mentioned it in an interview?
I love that theme (hated the movie). But I always thought it was closest to the music that plays under Luke and Vaders final duel in Jedi.
Luke's theme, you say? Hmm. Interesting. I'm trying to hear it.
I always thought "Across the Stars" was an intentional 'inverse' of the main Star Wars (Luke's) theme...I mean, it mostly goes up when the one goes down notewise, and vice-versa. (I'm no musician, so that's the best I can explain it)
Just like Indiana Jones & the Crystal Skull's "skull" theme is the same as the "ark of the covanent" theme from Raiders, just inverted, at least to my ears.
The music closest to the Final Duel from Jedi is one of the themes from ET. (not the flying one).
The music in the background certainly sounds very much like Williams and sounds like a piece for the villains - very much inspired by the Imperial March, which makes sense given the plot rumors.
Print copies of the TFA novelization won't be released until January 5. This is reportedly because, if the novel were released concurrently with the film, the books would be sitting in warehouses before the film's release and someone might leak their contents, spoiling the surprise of the film. One would imagine that something similar might be going on with the soundtrack. So I find the report credible. I was really hoping the soundtrack would be released before the film. So, if the report is proved true, I will not be thrilled with Disney. The good news, though, is that the novel will be released digitally the same day as the film. Perhaps the soundtrack will do the same, with a digital release on the 18th and an album release a couple weeks later.
A new mini-clip from The Force Awakens... see here
I don't know if I'd call that a theme per se but it is dramatically nice. I'd arch an eyebrow if I was told it wasn't Williams.
We do not know for sure if Williams was involved in the creation of that Instagram teaser. Something interesting, though: The Orphan Music Facebook account claims (https://www.facebook.com/OrphanMusicServices) that it and composer Felix Erksine "contributed music" to the teaser. This does not necessarily mean they scored the whole thing, though. Maybe Williams did most of the music and Orphan and Erksine just added, say, some extra percussion or sound effects.
A new mini-clip from The Force Awakens... see here
I don't know if I'd call that a theme per se but it is dramatically nice. I'd arch an eyebrow if I was told it wasn't Williams.
We do not know for sure if Williams was involved in the creation of that Instagram teaser. Something interesting, though: The Orphan Music Facebook account claims (https://www.facebook.com/OrphanMusicServices) that it and composer Felix Erksine "contributed music" to the teaser. This does not necessarily mean they scored the whole thing, though. Maybe Williams did most of the music and Orphan and Erksine just added, say, some extra percussion or sound effects.
Print copies of the TFA novelization won't be released until January 5. This is reportedly because, if the novel were released concurrently with the film, the books would be sitting in warehouses before the film's release and someone might leak their contents, spoiling the surprise of the film. One would imagine that something similar might be going on with the soundtrack. So I find the report credible. I was really hoping the soundtrack would be released before the film. So, if the report is proved true, I will not be thrilled with Disney. The good news, though, is that the novel will be released digitally the same day as the film. Perhaps the soundtrack will do the same, with a digital release on the 18th and an album release a couple weeks later.
Couldn't they simply change the track titles or not include the spoiler track in the release (wow, did I just say that)? It's not like the music itself is going to spoil anything. Disney would be losing out if they waited weeks after the film's release to release the soundtrack. Making people wait until January for a Star Wars score by John Williams is not a smart move.
Disney would be losing out if they waited weeks after the film's release to release the soundtrack. Making people wait until January for a Star Wars score by John Williams is not a smart move.
I don't put much credence in the "spoiler" reasoning, which even the Number One Fan of John Williams is only suggesting "one would imagine" is the case. This "information" didn't even come from the "Somebody on Facebook" who is an expert merely because he's one of the billion people who has a Facebook account.
The movie opens on Friday, December 18th, exactly one week before Christmas (also a Friday). Album release dates are also Fridays now. So to get the album out before Christmas means a release date of the 18th or possibly the 11th. Possible, certainly, but also in the middle of the Christmas crush.
Since the music industry now makes as much money from digital downloads as they do from physical CD sales, a download release concurrent with the film makes sense.
