The Music of Star Wars, Episode II: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

The Music of Star Wars, Episode II: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

So the good guys won and it was pretty great. However, we all saw Darth Vader get knocked into space instead of dying on the Death Star with Grand Moff Tarkin and friends. So the Rebellion, still a relatively ragtag operation in comparison to the Empire, has really pissed off Vader and his boss. The Empire Strikes Back will take us to new and beautiful places, and with it comes more timeless music from John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra. Put the angry tweets down, I’m not going to cover this entire score. There is so much to this film that I’m just going to try to nail down important cues and motifs.

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The Music of Star Wars, Episode I: Star Wars (1977)

The Music of Star Wars, Episode I: Star Wars (1977)

With Star Wars episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker in theaters this December, I thought it was appropriate to take a look back at the iconic saga. This is not a look back at the films themselves as much as highlighting the nine scores composed by John Williams, the most important character in the galaxy. I will be working in film release order, not narrative order, as there are aspects of the prequel scores that are obviously influenced by the original trilogy.

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