Star Wars: "Main Title/Rebel Blockade Runner"

Seite 1

About the Piece:

This piece is the opening piece of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. It plays through the opening "crawl", wherein text moves across the screen, setting the scene for the film.

The set work falls into two parts. The first 29 bars consist of a short introductory fanfare followed by a ternary (ABA1) structure, creating the familiar opening to all the Star Wars films. The second part sets the opening scene for this particular film.

Main Title/Rebel Blockade Runner uses a full symphony orchestra, featuring over 90 musicians. This included:

Two flutes, one piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, one bass clarinet, two bassoons

Four horns, three trumpets, two trombones, one bass trombone, one tuba

Timpani, plus four players to cover: triangle, cymbals, snare drum, large gong, vibraphone, celesta, glockenspiel, piano, harp

16 first violins, 16 second violins, 11 violas, 10 cellos, seven double basses

John Williams avoided the use of electronic effects and synthesisers in the score, which were very popular in film scores of the late 1970's, especially those with a futuristic theme.

Main Title/Rebel Blockade Runner is mostly in 4/4 , with a 3/4 section at the end. The first section of the piece is in B♭ major, modulating into E♭ for the second half of the piece. Although, there are areas of dissonance and bitonality also.

The piece is dominated by various types of homophonic texture. A variety of pedal textures are used also.

Seite 2

Opening Fanfare:

The three-bar opening of the piece is dominated by fanfare-like figures in the brass. There are rapid repeated notes that develop quickly into staccato triplet figures, with free imitation between trombones and trumpets.

An inverted tonic pedal note (B♭) is played tremolo in the violins to show a sense of excitement and anticipation. The staggered entries of the brass instruments and the fast rhythms create excitement also.

After starting on the tonic chord of B♭ major in bar 1, the rest of the opening fanfare is based on intervals of a major 4th above and below B♭. The arrival of A♭ in bars 2 and 3 adds another 4th above what has been played. These entries create quartal harmony – a chord based on 4ths rather than on the more usual 3rds of triads and 7th chords.

Seite 3

Section A:

The main theme (shown below) is a leitmotif used to represent Luke Skywalker, the protagonist of Star Wars. The use of triplets and quartal chords continues into this section. The theme is a heroic fanfare played by the trumpets.

The triplet upbeat acts as a perfect cadence. The chords change from an F (V) to a B♭ (I).

The violin tremolo on B♭ continues, now functioning as an inverted pedal note above the other parts.

The rhythm of the highly syncopated accompaniment, played by timpani and snare drum, is John Williams’ response to the direction in the film script: "War drums echo through the heavens as a rollup slowly crawls to infinity". This is emphasised by punctuating syncopated chords in

the brass, lower strings, and bassoons.

An ascending scale from the violins at the end of bar 7 leads to a repeat of the melody from the previous four bars, but with a slightly different accompaniment. The syncopation has now gone from the accompaniment but it still reflects the melody’s triplets. The inverted tonic pedal idea from the first few bars is replaced by a lower semiquaver auxiliary figure on alternate beats.

Seite 4

Section B:

The melody in section B completely contrasts the main theme. The dynamics drop from fortissimo to mezzoforte and the melody moves to the strings.

The melody is played by all of the strings apart from the double basses and is doubled across three octaves. Important notes of the melody are picked out by the glockenspiel. The melody becomes much more lyrical, moving by step rather than leaps.

The accompaniment becomes more sustained and is mostly played around a pedal note (F). The crotchet pedal notes played by the bass help to create a march-like feel, matching the tone of the piece.

The four-bar melody of section B is given a varied repeat with a different harmonisation, starting at the end of bar 15 and including a prominent contrary motion scale in bar 18.

The phrase ends on dominant harmony in bar 19, extended by a bar with a slight ritardando to prepare for the return of section A.

Seite 5

Section A1:

Section A1 introduces a reprise of the main melody. The melody is doubled by the horn, violin, and viola and the accompaniment becomes much more decorated.

Trills are added, along with decorative parts for high woodwind and violins and ascending scale-like passages from the woodwind. The accompaniment also features punctuating syncopated chords, similar to the first playing of the main theme.

This section ends on a dominant chord that is extended into bar 29, concluding with a short motif for horns and a harp glissando. Avoiding coming to rest on a tonic chord helps to give the music a sense of impetus and forward movement. The harp glissando also provides an effective link to next section of the piece.

Seite 6

Shortened Fanfare and Piccolo Solo:

Fanfare-like material, similar to the introduction, builds up a chord using repeated rhythms. A pedal note played by low brass, strings and timpani starts on the last beat of bar 29 and seems at last to resolve on a tonic B♭ by the end of the next bar, The key changes to E♭ major in this section, with B♭ being the dominant of E♭ major, this point of rest is again denied.

A shortened fanfare touches on quartal harmony but a rapidly rising string figure in bars 31–32 takes the music into a mysterious chromatic realm, strongly contrasting with the mainly diatonic B♭ major of the first 29 bars.

Rapid arpeggio figures from the strings and the diminuendo introduce the piccolo solo. Bars 36–38 use a C major chord ‘inflected’ by notes from C minor – an A♭, and, in the piccolo melody, a B♭. This produces a rich, vibrant effect.

The piccolo solo drops in dynamic to piano, completely contrasting the rest of the piece. This section also features strange, unstable harmonies played by the brass and woodwind families.

The intervals of an augmented 5th (e.g. between A♭ and E, and between D♭ and A) that play during the piccolo solo give the music a mystical character. The instrumentation includes parts for glockenspiel, vibraphone, celesta and harp, whose sounds perfectly match the screen image of distant stars twinkling against the dark, galactic void.

Seite 7

"Rebel Blockade Runner" Leitmotif:

The mysterious atmosphere created by the piccolo solo is interrupted in bar 39 by the strings playing sextuplets above chords of C major in the low brass.

This stark change of mood, which sees the return of ‘war drums’ from the timpani in bar 42 and is accompanied by a loud stroke on a huge orchestral gong, heralds the first appearance on screen of the Galactic Empire’s huge spaceship pursuing the tiny rebel spacecraft. The brass play two chordal figures which represent the Imperial forces.

The time signature changes to 3/4, introducing a harsh triplet rhythm (shown below). There is a lot of dissonance used in this section to represent the chase that's happening on the screen. There is a ritardando to emphasise this effect.

The faster tempo returns at bar 51, allowing the brass and woodwind to play harsh triads.

An ostinato supports the Rebel Blockade Runner leitmotif, whose key of A♭ minor creates a bitonal clash with the constant pedal note of C in the bass line.