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 Posted:   Jul 30, 2024 - 9:25 AM   
 By:   maurizio.caschetto   (Member)

This year, the Star Wars prequel trilogy celebrates its 25th anniversary—the first episode of the saga (titled "The Phantom Menace") was rolled out theatrically across the world throughout the whole summer of 1999. To celebrate the milestone anniversary, The Legacy of John Williams is dedicating a whole week of special features on the website and its YouTube channel to the three prequel scores by John Williams.


An in-depth essay by Star Wars music expert Frank Lehman focusing on the musical treatment of Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace and how it transformed throughout the following episodes:

https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2024/07/30/anakins-theme-essay/


A 3-part "visual tone poem" video trubute to John Williams' Star Wars prequel scores, focusing on the brilliant musical storytelling quality of the three scores.

Part One: "UNREST IN THE GALAXY" - A Symphonic Narrative from The Phantom Menace



(Part 2 and 3 will be posted in the following days)

 
 Posted:   Jul 30, 2024 - 9:37 AM   
 By:   W. David Lichty [Lorien]   (Member)

I'm surprised - and very pleased - at your choice of visuals.

 
 Posted:   Jul 30, 2024 - 9:58 AM   
 By:   Tom Servo   (Member)

This looks amazing, I can't wait to watch the entire thing! I adore Williams' music for the prequel trilogy and am also a massive fan of the movies themselves.

 
 
 Posted:   Jul 30, 2024 - 11:17 AM   
 By:   Thor   (Member)

This looks amazing, I can't wait to watch the entire thing! I adore Williams' music for the prequel trilogy and am also a massive fan of the movies themselves.

Me too. I even wrote a brief defense article of TPM in the first year of Celluloid Tunes (in 2000), when the negative hooplah was at its loudest. The article isn't particularly good or focussed, but I was 22 at the time. The music is brilliant, of course, and has never been the target of scorn that way.

 
 
 Posted:   Jul 31, 2024 - 5:44 AM   
 By:   maurizio.caschetto   (Member)

This looks amazing, I can't wait to watch the entire thing! I adore Williams' music for the prequel trilogy and am also a massive fan of the movies themselves.

Thank you! Watch out for Part 2 and 3 coming in the following days.

 
 Posted:   Jul 31, 2024 - 6:32 AM   
 By:   Captain_Kaos   (Member)

This looks amazing, I can't wait to watch the entire thing! I adore Williams' music for the prequel trilogy and am also a massive fan of the movies themselves.

Me too. I even wrote a brief defense article of TPM in the first year of Celluloid Tunes (in 2000), when the negative hooplah was at its loudest. The article isn't particularly good or focussed, but I was 22 at the time. The music is brilliant, of course, and has never been the target of scorn that way.


I had never problems with Episode I. The movie is good, especially if you compare it to the disastrous VII, VIII and IX. Jar Jar was a little bit annoying, but recently watched Episode I to VI I still enjoy them. Maybe here and there Lucas overshot, but I like them anyway.

 
 
 Posted:   Jul 31, 2024 - 6:40 AM   
 By:   Prince Damian   (Member)

And yet it feels much longer!

 
 
 Posted:   Jul 31, 2024 - 9:10 PM   
 By:   Soundtrack Fanatic   (Member)

A very Happy 25th Anniversary to George Lucas' epic Star Wars Prequel Trilogy... And to its magnificent music from John Williams!

I absolutely LOVE and ADORE The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith... I always have and I always will...The ENTIRE Prequel Trilogy is simply MAGNIFICENT... And I say this as a 1ST GENERATION Star Wars Mega-fan, who saw Star Wars: A New Hope in the theatre in 1977 when I was 10 years old... And as someone who holds the Original Trilogy films... Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi... as simply the three GREATEST films of ALL TIME that have EVER been made. The Prequel Trilogy films can proudly stand along side them as the most impressive of cinematic achievements as well!

I was SO EXCITED in 1999 when The Phantom Menace was coming out... The media "hype" was incredible ("off the chart", actually!), and that "mania" brought me RIGHT BACK to the good vibes and memories that I had as a kid back in the late 70's - early 80's during the initial "SW Mania" phenomenon... I was now 32 years old, and had waited 16 long years for this moment, and it was FINALLY here... Well, it exceeded my every wish... I had an absolute BLAST! The groundbreaking SFX, the incredible world-building, Jake Lloyd's charming innocence, the epic Pod Race, Darth Maul and his double-bladed lightsaber... I even loved Jar Jar!

And then came the enthusiastic anticipation in 2002 for the release of Attack of the Clones, which was equally exciting and palpable... It ALSO did NOT disappoint... Another jaw-dropping spectacle, brimming and oozing with originality, and I was blown away.... Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, and Ewan McGregor were all great... That Geonosis Arena Battle was worth the price of admission ALONE! And "Hey", even Dracula himself, the great Christopher Lee, was in the movie... How "cool" was THAT?

And talk about the EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER that Revenge of the Sith was when it came out in 2005... It was SO VERY heartbreaking to watch, even though I ALWAYS KNEW that it was going to end like that (basically, a "space-age" Greek Tragedy!)... But "WOW"... It was also SO VERY satisfying at the same time... Simply BRILLIANT... Order 66, the tragic downfall of the Jedi... And how about that "bonkers" lightsaber battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan on Mustafar?... That was simply BEYOND epic!

And do I even NEED to bring up the ABSOLUTE PERFECTION of the three John Williams scores? He effortlessly slipped right back into that galaxy (as if he had just written the previous three scores the day before!), creating NEW musical masterpieces with NEW themes just as ICONIC as those he had composed 20 years earlier... Just to name a few... Anakin's Theme, Duel of the Fates, Across the Stars, Battle of the Heroes... Simply AMAZING... It is baffling to me how these three scores were NOT Oscar nominated for Best Score... UNBELIEVABLE... Additionally, hopefully one day SOON, there will be COMPLETE expanded releases of these remarkable scores... I'm so SICK and TIRED of having to listen to them in their COMPLETE form via some shady, bootleg CD-R!

So, 28 years after it all started in 1977 with Star Wars: A New Hope, George Lucas' epic six-part Space Opera of Luke Skywalker, and of his father Anakin Skywalker, had masterfully come full circle to its triumphant end in 2005... And what a ride it was!

Unfortunately, over the past 25 yrs, the Prequels have had to endure MORE than their share of, shall we say, "BANTHA POODOO". I have NEVER understood the backlash by some to the Prequel films... The venomous hatred was sickening...The reasons as to "WHY" this backlash happened has been discussed endlessly for years now... Detractors harp on supposed "terrible acting, writing, and directing", and the addition of Jar Jar Binks... None of which I agree with... Let me suggest what the REAL problem was...

First, I feel that I must unfortunately put the blame on, and APOLOGIZE for, that segment of MY OWN generation that brutally trashed them at the time... I think that "SOME" SW fans of MY generation unfortunately went into these movies with unrealistic expectations, as they went in with their OWN "fan fiction" in their heads (that they had been "concocting" for 16 years!) as to WHAT the story SHOULD be, instead of accepting and appreciating what was PRESENTED before them...

Secondly, Lucas ALWAYS said that these films were made for "12-year-olds", and I think that the problem was that "some" fans of my generation (that were now 20 years older than they were in 1977) REFUSED to let that "young at heart / inner-child" part of themselves come out in 1999, 2002, and 2005, and instead rejected all of the "so-called" goofy, corny, old-fashioned, childlike aspects of these films... which, by the way, were JUST AS PREVALENT in the Original Trilogy (that they "say" they love!)...

And I don't think I will EVER be able to forgive them for TAINTING the NEXT (younger) generation's PERCEPTION and OPINION of these films with their vile, unwarranted hatred, unfortunately amplified in large part by that "great new marvel" known as the Internet, essentially bullying and manipulating them into second-guessing their OWN feelings. Again, on behalf of my generation, I apologize.

All I know is that for ME personally, I saw The Prequel Trilogy films in the theatre between 1999 - 2005 when I was a 32 - 38 year old adult... I absolutely LOVED them then, and still absolutely LOVE them now at 57... And I'm also SO glad that I didn't need to spend DECADES "wrestling with them" and "processing them" to get to that conclusion, as so many of my age that say they "LIKE them NOW" seemed to have to do... I, and COUNTLESS other SW fans like me, have NEVER had a SINGLE problem with loving the Prequel films... I guess that I, and the other countless SW fans LIKE me, should ALL just consider OURSELVES so VERY lucky!

I had the good fortune to see Jake Lloyd in 2012 and Hayden Christensen in 2017, both at SW Celebration... Both were really nice, approachable, down-to earth guys, and they most certainly did not deserve all the negativity that was thrown their way over the years... Happily, the SW fan base seems to be embracing the Prequels recently, and that's a great thing (Christensen got a rousing standing ovation at SWC 2017!). Lloyd has had personal health issues to deal with recently. but we wish him well, and hopefully one day soon, he will be able to return to the convention circuit, where I'm sure a rousing standing ovation will be waiting for him as well.

I am ESCTATIC that the Prequels seem to FINALLY be receiving their proper due... It makes me, as a 1st Gen SW fan of 47 years now, so VERY happy... BTW: I went to a 25th Anniversary screening of TPM when it was out this past May, and I had a BLAST once again!... I understand that it did "Boffo" Box Office as well... That's GREAT for a 25 year old film... It is STILL strong with the Force!

I will always be thankful to George Lucas for taking me to his galaxy far, far away... Words can never express the utter joy and happiness that his SIX STAR WARS FILMS have given me, and continue to give me to this very day... I'd thank him for showing me how to remain "young at heart", no matter HOW old I get... And in particular, I'd thank him for that life-altering day in the summer of 1977, when a 10-year-old "me" walked into that movie theatre to see Star Wars: A New Hope for the very 1st time... The day that opened my young eyes to what TRUE filmmaking was all about... The day that changed me FOREVER... Thank you, Mr. Lucas.

Also, I will always be thankful to John Williams... From the moment in 1977 that his iconic theme first blasted through the theatre speaker system, and "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" and that opening crawl came on the screen... And as that gigantic Star Destroyer appeared, flying over my head, towering above me as I sat in my theatre seat... and kept going... and going... and going... accompanied by Williams' glorious score... At that VERY moment in time, I was NOT ONLY instantaneously mesmerized, transfixed, and transformed by the TRUE power of FILM, but ALSO by the TRUE power of FILM MUSIC... Thank you, Maestro.

 
 
 Posted:   Aug 1, 2024 - 3:45 AM   
 By:   Rick15   (Member)

25 years.

My God.

That’s half of my life hating what George did to Star Wars.

I feel my hate. I’ve let the anger flow through me.

OMG!! I’m a Sith Lord!

 
 
 Posted:   Aug 1, 2024 - 3:53 AM   
 By:   Thor   (Member)

Great, enthusiastic post, Soundtrack Fanatic! I'm with you!

 
 
 Posted:   Aug 1, 2024 - 10:14 AM   
 By:   maurizio.caschetto   (Member)

And here's Part Two of the visual tone poems series:



Part Two: “IN LOVE AND WAR” – A Narrative Suite for Orchestra from STAR WARS: EPISODE II – ATTACK OF THE CLONES (2002)

“When we think about love stories, I think of Romeo and Juliet, or Tristan and Isolde, or these kinds of things where the lovers are separated by rank, or by religion or family or class, and that's the case here also–that forbidden aspect that prevents the lovers from being completely together until they share love eternal, if you like, the idea of love beyond time. So it's a love theme, but it also has a tragic aspect to it that extends it into time beyond death.” – John Williams

For the second episode of the STAR WARS prequel trilogy, ATTACK OF THE CLONES, director George Lucas asked composer John Williams to write a love theme that would accompany and support the romantic relationship of Anakin Skywaker and Padme Amidala as star-crossed lovers, torn between the duty towards their respective public life and an intense inescapable romance, while turmoil in the galaxy becomes more urgent as forces of evil are gathering strength and young Skywalker slowly begins to be lured by the power of the Dark Side…

John Williams supports ATTACK OF THE CLONES with a new stirring symphonic score, for the first time based almost completely around a single new theme, called “Across The Stars,” to enhance the passionate love story of the two protagonists. While not the first love theme of the STAR WARS series (a love theme for the romance between Han Solo and Princess Leia appears in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK), “Across The Stars” is closer to the tradition of the “liebestod” by opera composers of the 18th and 19th century (mainly Richard Wagner), as it recurs several times throughout the film narrative punctuating the key moments of the relationship, but at the same time augmenting the chemistry between Anakin and Padme, with an approach that echoes also film scores of early Hollywood films from the 1930s and ‘40s. “In earlier films, love stories may have been more idealistic,” said John Williams in 2002. “We can now have passionate scenes that are very explicit physically, but in the earlier decades all that had to be imagined. So the task and opportunity for the composer might have been to provide the erotic aspects that couldn’t be shown.”

In addition to the romantic aspect of the story, Williams also supports the action and the drama, again writing intense “kampfmusik” for the climactic battle sequences. In this regard, the score of ATTACK OF THE CLONES is a unique element in the canon of STAR WARS music, balancing some of Williams’ lushiest love music with highly dramatic battle music.

This suite has been created editorially by juxtaposing and conjoining some of the cues as presented on the various soundtrack releases, as if to present it as a coherent concert suite; it focuses on the key moments of the story to create a symphonic musical narrative that can be appreciated also as “pure” music. The visuals are designs and illustrations done by some of the concept artists who worked on the film (Doug Chiang, Iain McCaig, Ryan Church, Erik Tiemens) and they’re used here to create a sort of “visual tone poem” in the style of classical works such as Pictures at an Exhibition.

The music is splendidly performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Williams

 
 
 Posted:   Aug 2, 2024 - 11:23 AM   
 By:   maurizio.caschetto   (Member)

And here's the third and final video tribute for the Star Wars prequels 25th anniversary. Hope you all enjoy!



Part Three: “TRAGEDY OF A JEDI” – A Narrative Suite for Chorus and Orchestra from STAR WARS: EPISODE III – REVENGE OF THE SITH (2005)

“Revenge of the Sith is certainly the darkest one of all of them. I’ve had to work the music to accompany the scenes of where Anakin is turning from the honorable ways of the Jedi and is becoming lost in this imperial dark side of things. As with most of the Star Wars material, it’s more like an operatic musical function than perhaps most film scores." – John Williams

 
 
 Posted:   Aug 4, 2024 - 5:13 PM   
 By:   townerbarry   (Member)

And when is Mike Matessino going to tackle All Nine Star Wars Scores? The Ultimate Star Wars Box Set Collection? Now That is the New Holy Grail of All Holy Grails Event. Will Disney Allow This? Now I remember one of the Podcast of The Legacy of John Williams …That the discussion of what I am writing about was a known fact at Disney. All the Star Wars Music from all Nine Films..including alternates and rejected cues and redo’s and on and on.

The one Star Wars Film score I would love to hear all cleaned up is The Return of the Jedi. The Sail Barge, The Forest Battle ( The Concert Version is Excellent) The Original Lapti Nek.

 
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