AN 'EMPIRE' AT 45: MUSIC BY JOHN WILLIAMS!

John Williams as the keeper of the Star Wars musical flame...

Bringing back the traditional orchestral movie soundtrack in a big way that no one truly expected, John Williams' score for the original Star Wars was an unmitigated triumph, of which the its 1977 released double album soundtrack (from Fox Records) was a must-have purchase for worldwide fans and the general public alike. Hearing Williams's music for the film was just as perfect as seeing it for the umpteenth time on the big screen, being so evocative, exciting and memorable, especially rich in character themes that would become iconic over nearly fifty years. 

Williams with friends Ken Wannberg and Lionel Newman, plus director Irvin Kershner, at a lively spotting session for Empire's score.

Going through a scene and timing it for the creation of his music, Williams with Wannberg in California, late 1979.

Empire’s complex, beautiful score would once more be recorded in the UK, with Williams conducting the 129 musicians in the London Symphony Orchestra. Recording for the December 1979/ January 1980 sessions are handled in three batches, split between Anvil Studios, where the Star Wars score had been recorded, and EMI studios at Abbey Road. Williams is supported by his regular team of friends - engineer Eric Tomlinson, orchestrator Herbert Spencer, music editor Kenneth Wannberg, and supervisor Lionel Newman, the Head of 20th Century Fox's music department. Gary Kurtz, Lucas and Kershner, plus Robert Watts, are on hand to watch the recordings. It is estimated that the score will cost a quarter of a million dollars to record (taking into account the fees of the arrangers, the musicians, the copyists, and the sound-recording crew), but the money will later be re-couped by sales of the film's soon-beloved RSO two-disc record, to be released by May, 1980.

Recording music for the film's fateful finale duel with the LSO.

Lucas, Kershner, Kurtz and Robert Watts attend the music recordings in London.

For The Empire Strikes Back, Williams had the then rare and genuinely exciting opportunity to revisit the George Lucas fantasy universe that had so enamoured itself to audiences, adding further new unforgettable themes to its saga, alongside incredible musical accomplishments with the stalwart LSO.

 

Japanese edition of the classic 2-LP soundtrack.

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: THE MAESTRO OF A UNIVERSE!

Together again! George Lucas and John Williams.

With Lucas back in the writing/directing duties for EPISODE I, it was a given that his ultimate collaborator in bringing the sweeping musical scope to the Star Wars saga would also return in John Williams. Williams had seen a raw temporary cut of the movie, mixing live-action with animatics, by October the previous year, with recording of the composed music beginning from January 1999, and back in the UK.

Over the sessions period (normally at weekends), the unbeatable London Symphony Orchestra were reunited with Williams to bring the new Prequel saga to life, with music engineering duties once more be handled by Williams longtime friend and SW veteran Eric Tomlinson. Meanwhile, in the recording booth area, an impressed and enthused Ewan McGregor, as well as Anthony Daniels and other key production team members, would be guest visitors to the recordings, taking place at the prestigious Abbey Road Studios in London.

"The challenge for me was to write music as effective as in the first trilogy but that would also be wedded to the tapestry of the earlier films so that it would sound like a natural outgrowth."

John Williams - Empire magazine - 1999

Using the talents of the London Voices choir as part of the 'Duel of the Fates' theme for EPISODE I.

"My first impression upon watching these things that George comes up with is that it's always fantastic, but then I think about how difficult it's going to be. It's a phenomenal thing, the opportunity to create a whole glossary of musical themes, and keep adding them to the body of work of a much larger piece."

John Williams - Premiere magazine - 2002

"There is a stanza in the poem (Robert Graves' "The Battle of the Trees' - translated into Sanskrit for Williams epic 'Duel of the Fates') which is roughly translated as "Under the tongue root a fight most dread/Whilst another rages behind the head." And for no conscious or sensible reason, the idea of a fight, something more raging and imagined in the head more than anything else, seemed to be a good mystical, cryptic piece of business (for EPISODE I)."

John Williams - Empire magazine - 1999

CLASSIC IMAGE: GALACTIC SLAUGHTER!

The Separatist enemy is approaching their position in one of the vast jungle scapes of Felucia, but the true 'enemy' is actually behind Jedi Knight Aayla Secura, as her once loyal Clone Troopers, whom she'd fought alongside for years in a supposed battle for peace, suddenly turn and murder her in a hail of blaster fire. A shocking but not unexpected moment from Revenge of the Sith.

The ominous, almost religious toned and apocalyptic Battle of the Heroes theme for the finale lightsaber battle between Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi, set on the fiery climes of Mustafar, is regarded by fans as the finest track of the John Williams composed and conducted 2005 released soundtrack for EPISODE III. But Anakin's Betrayal, featuring the stabbed-in-the-back slaying of the Jedi heroes across the galaxy as part of the Emperor's Order 66, must also surely be of consideration as one of the great tracks of the entire Prequel Trilogy, loaded with sadness and grim inevitability as the Clone Trooper slayers begin their work, heightened once more by the established class of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Relive this entire skillfully operatic score of tragedy but eventual hope for the future in remastered format, as Revenge of the Sith, alongside the other Prequels and the entire Classic Trilogy, get welcome re-releases from Walt Disney Records, available in stores/online at nice prices, and each containing a collectible mini-poster.

Get it here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Wars-Revenge-John-Williams/dp/B07BFB2SR6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529165508&sr=8-1&keywords=revenge+of+the+sith+cd

'STAR WARS' AT 40: MUSICAL EXCELLENCE!

At the famous EMI recording studios of Anvil Studios, Denham, John Williams conducted score for the epic Death Star battle, brought to vivid, dizzying and exciting life by the renowned London Symphony Orchestra, is mixed and recorded, part of ninety minutes of music score recorded across fourteen intense and wonderful sessions in March 1977, that would surprise, thrill and delight George Lucas, now truly seeing his artistic entertainment vision come to life via Williams' superb themes and sweeping romanticism, watching and hearing alongside Gary Kurtz and Carrie Fisher (who attended at least one day of the recording and was notably played back the Princess Leia theme by a very happy Lucas).

Originally, Lucas was to have used Gustav Holst's 'Planets' suite themes with the film, in the same kind of way that Kubrick used classic music so successfully with 2001: A Space Odyssey. But once Lucas had been introduced to his new friend in John Williams via Steven Spielberg, the opportunity to do an all-new symphonic score for the film, with a wonderful accompanying swashbuckler feel/quality to it, was ultimately too good an idea to pass up. Certainly, when ILM were under strain in late March/April 1977 to complete the film's effects, their spirits were soon raised when Lucas played them parts of the previously recorded, highly impressive and emotive soundtrack.

Mark Hamill recalls the original score: http://variety.com/2018/film/news/mark-hamill-on-star-wars-music-composer-john-williams-1202659494/

John Williams winning his Academy Award in 1978. Image: OSCARS.ORG.

BEHIND THE SCENES: THAT WILLIAMS MAGIC!

Reunited with the London Symphony Orchestra at the acclaimed Abbey Road Studios, John Williams- the lifeblood of the STAR WARS music score imperative- brings his supreme talents to bear during the recording of the romance, intrigue and drama of EPISODE II, during January 2002. In my book, a STAR WARS film without that personal stamp of John Williams doesn't bear thinking about.

Its nice to know that AFICIONADO's previous Imperial Spies rumour (reported 8th October: STAR WARS AFICIONADO WEBSITE: STAR WARS SEQUEL NEWS: THE LAST ROUND-UP?!) of Williams conducting a very special piece of new music for an upcoming teaser trailer for EPISODE VII looks set to be on the cards after all: Williams to Begin Work on STAR WARS: EPISODE VII in Two Weeks (*UPDATED*) | JOHN WILLIAMS Fan Network - JWFAN

AFICIONADO REVIEW: 'EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE 3D' - MUSIC BY JOHN WILLIAMS. CD RE-ISSUE 2012

STAR WARS: EPISODE I – THE PHANTOM MENACE

Music composed and conducted by John Williams

Re-released on CD and available for online download by SONY CLASSICAL

Reviewed by Scott Weller

Way back in 1995 when STAR WARS creator George Lucas announced to an overjoyed world that he was returning back to his beloved fantasy universe for what would be three eventual Prequels, fans thoughts, imaginations and expectations of what was to come, of what we’d finally, longingly see on the big screen went into creative, salivating overdrive with the endless possibilities such new storytelling would present (who didn’t want to behold epic Jedi battles, the previously mentioned mystery of The Clone Wars, and evocatively realised alien worlds populated with incredible heroes, beautiful heroines, the nastiest of villains and the most weird and wonderful creatures and droids ever imaginable?) alongside the much anticipated and what would surely be truly ambitious and thought-provoking back story that conclusively, and powerfully, showed us the final cataclysmic events that destroyed a once mighty Galactic Republic into an evil Empire, and saw in the corruption of the innocent, concurrently watching helplessly the young Jedi hero, and champion protectorate, Anakin Skywalker, go the way of Lucifer, God’s most loved angel, in succumbing to dark temptation and a thirst for power: in this case, becoming the fearsome Sith Lord, Darth Vader.

Even with all this promise of incredible visionary storytelling, however, an equally as important question in co-relation to it was being asked across the globe: what was the all-defining music to the new epic mythos, once again by the also returning and accomplished film score composer extraordinaire, John Williams, going to sound like? The truth was that the collective gestalt that is STAR WARS fandom, along with anticipating movie-goers and excited film industry pundits, couldn’t wait to hear what the score legend/maestro was going to musically accomplish this time alongside Lucas’s big screen endeavours-especially as Williams rich work on the previous STAR WARS Classic Trilogy had been of such symbiotic importance that things wouldn’t be the same on the Prequels without his key input and, even more importantly, his finely tuned sense of additional character and story building contribution skills. That timeless and wondrous extra voice skill of his that communicates, enhances and heightens the emotional resonance of what’s shown to audiences embracing the silver screen.

Williams musical work, backed up by the first rate talent that is the London Symphony Orchestra, on the original STAR WARS Classic Trilogy was a rich and incredibly exciting affair for fans across the world soon blown away by the likes of fantasy realms and characters never seen before in any kind of reality- the music accompanying it being an intoxicating collection of stirring and memorably absorbing themes and joyous artistic expression. The original first movie in 1977 had an accomplished joie de vivre score that was a romantic, swashbuckling brew that stirred the heart and the imagination to make us all feel young and happy again, The Empire Strikes Back was an ever richer tapestry of old and new themes, and also at times a much darker and more percussive based score full of foreboding, danger and revelation to come, alongside the Wagnerian militaristic theme for the merciless, quenching villainy of Darth Vader, whilst Return of the Jedi, the finale chapter of the original trilogy, mixed lots of the classic motifs from the previous two films alongside quirky fun and action with the likes of gross-out alien gangster Jabba and his cronies and the spirited forest dwellers of Endor, leading into the subtle and building emotional crescendo of clashing ethos and lightsabers between father and son, Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, as they are both manipulated and emotionally abused by the dark powers of the evil Emperor Palpatine, his lethal and callous personality realised through Williams music by an effective blend of subtle low key orchestral accomplishment and the malevolent murmurings of a male choir.

Building and expanding on such a tremendously rich and varied body of prior work would surely be an incredible but satisfyingly inspirational challenge for the composer with the arrival of EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE (now re-released on CD from SONY CLASSICAL, to tie in with the re-release of the movie in theatres, and in 3D!) but the end result, different to the Classic Trilogy in a more mature almost operatic way, still embraces the best of the STAR WARS tradition, more than ably speaking for itself in its story setting, character revealing build-up and identity, ultimately paying rich creative dividends and warm emotional satisfaction to both STAR WARS fans and lovers of beautiful orchestral music with continual airings.

George Lucas and John Williams re-unite in 1999 to record the EPISODE I score in London. Image: LUCASFILM.

It’s a new baptism of fire musically for Williams, who presents the equally fresh looking and even bigger in visual scope saga with a richly accomplished and intriguing score, full of imagination and enthusiasm towards the packed to the brim CGI universe being unleashed on viewers senses, alongside a new pantheon of characters appearing on screen that would soon become a vital part of the entire collective STAR WARS saga, and which, over time, would become equally iconic in many important respects to those characters we’d previously loved with that first amazing trilogy 15 years previously. Williams makes a worthy film like EPISODE I just that little bit better.

This premiere tale also provides him with a rare chance to explore his back catalogue of old themes (including the stirring and unforgettable main STAR WARS opening (which always gets the hairs at the back of my neck raised!), The Force/Obi-Wan Kenobi /Yoda themes) and use them in new ways, subtly for a lot of the time in EPISODE I as ground establishing genesis pieces, alongside key on-screen moments from Lucas (small and large) that will build and address the importance of what’s to come later down the line for our Prequel heroes and villains when ultimately watched in numerical order alongside the classic films. There’s also a lot of fun to be had listening to Williams new scores incorporating or adapting classic prior motifs, too: look out for the clever re-arranging of the evil Emperor’s theme from JEDI as a now child choir singing, celebratory composition for the films finale scenes of joy and hope for the people of the newly liberated Naboo (amusingly titled Augie’s Great Municipal Band), whilst the Prequel Trilogy’s star character Anakin Skywalker, the gifted and cherubic lad who soon turns the tide in that battle, has a lovely melodic theme of eagerness and youth, a decomposition and instinctual rearranging/reconstruction of the Darth Vader/Imperial March theme, that now impresses with its warmth and beauty, but also shows subtle hints at the darkness to come…

Other fine themes adding greatly to the saga include a bold and majestic one for Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (though, ultimately, this is far too short a piece to hear than I’d have liked: it deserved a full length orchestral composition) and the incredible, Sanskrit language incorporating Duel of the Fates –the timeless continuing clash of good and evil, most notably by the Jedi against the now returned Sith sect, which would become the staple element of the Prequels (and reused to great dramatic effect and importance in its final chapter: REVENGE OF THE SITH). Duel is easily one of Williams modern classics for the new STAR WARS saga, and as good as anything he had prior composed for the Classic Trilogy.


Duel music video: john williams - duel of the fates - YouTube

John Williams and the LSO return to the STAR WARS main theme in early 1999.

Amongst the other attentive music sections there’s the action and adventure of themes like The Droid Battle (incorporating the frenzied vertigo of the space battle atop the Neimoidian Droid Control Ship in orbit over Naboo), there’s also the continued and admired opportunities by Williams to enrich the beauty and evocative sweep of the STAR WARS visual narrative, helped by the music in such themes as The Swim to Otoh Gunga (showing us the Gungan’s ethereal underwater cities) and The Arrival at Naboo and Queen Amidala and the Naboo Palace which includes in its music mixing the stately grandeur of the city world of Coruscant, the heart of the Republic about to collapse under the soon towering greed and underbelly created by the resurrected Sith.

Previously appearing in the Classic Trilogy, the wild desert world of Tatooine also has some eerie and fascinating compositions and, amongst the best of all the tracks on the disc, is the stirring and totally hummable The Flag Parade Pod Race musical motif, which wonderfully captures the exhilarating and heart pounding build up to the Boonta Eve Classic and the later triumphant victory of Anakin Skywalker.

The boy who will become...The classic teaser poster art for EPISODE I from 1998.

With the bonus edition CD re-release including a movie dialogue version of Duel of the Fates, the landmark soundtrack’s return to official availability is a welcome move by SONY/LUCASFILM, and one which we hope is successful enough to also see in more complete soundtrack releases of the STAR WARS legacy with EPISODEs II and III in the not too distant future.

No doubt your old CD copy bought in 1999 (with the then unforgettable spoiler music titles (remember “Qui-Gon’s Noble End”!?)) is showing signs of wear and tear from constant play, so why not indulge yourself with a pristine new version of the soundtrack and start your love affair with Williams beautiful Prequel Trilogy music all over again?

STAR WARS AFICIONADO RATING: 4 out of 5

Get the EPISODE I soundtrack from AMAZON here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Wars-Episode-Original-Soundtrack/dp/B006TWPUQC/ref=sr_1_15?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1331227490&sr=1-15

BEHIND THE SCENES: MASTERS OF MUSIC!

January 1980: In London, film composer par excellence John Williams is re-united with the superior London Symphony Orchestra as they record over two hours of iconic music and themes for STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. In this image they enhance the stirring sequence where our Rebel heroes escape Bespin and Imperial Stormtrooper fire.


With thanks to Chris Baker for the image.