Overview

From the CD Soundtrack to Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

Includes:

"With the creation of his Star Wars films, George Lucas has contributed an addition to the popular culture that is truly cross-generational. At the recording sessions for the music of The Phantom Menace, we were reunited with the London Symphony Orchestra which had performed so brilliantly on the soundtracks of the three original films. During the first intermission at Abbey Road Studios, several of the younger members of the orchestra approached me to say that when, as children, they had heard the music of Star Wars, they resolved to study music with the goal of eventually playing with the great London Symphony Orchestra. It was thrilling to be reminded that the films and the music have reached so many people all around the world.

In composing the score for The Phantom Menace, I was given the opportunity to add to the collection of music written for these films, and I enjoyed the challenge of trying to write new themes that would comfortably wed to the texture of the original music. This suite from The Phantom Menace contains four new pieces: "The Flag Parade", "Anakin's Theme", in which I placed hints of Darth Vader's "Imperial March" thus signaling the metamorphosis that Anakin is to undergo, "The Adventures Of Jar Jar", and "Duel Of The Fates".

Unlike the music of the earlier films, "Duel Of The Fates" utilizes chorus. For the text of this piece, I have used a portion of the old Celtic poem "The Battle of the Trees", which I discovered in a translation by Robert Graves which appears in his great book The White Goddess. I was captivated by the stanza "Under the tongue root a fight most dread, while another rages behind in the head". This seemed to me to be mystical and ritualistic and very appropriate to accompany the great sword fight in the film.

For translation into a language that would be cryptic and obscure, I first tried Celtic and Greek, before finally, with the help of a scholar at Harvard, settling on Sanskrit. I felt this beautiful old language contained vowel sounds that would be very effective for chorus. I've used single words and syllables which never quite complete the stanza, but which suggest its meaning in a way complete enough for my musical purposes. I think the piece is most effective in its original choral setting, but I also feel that it can produce a very good result if played with orchestra alone.

I must say I feel very fortunate indeed in having the privilege of accompanying George Lucas as he continues on his creative journey through these magical Star Wars films."

John Williams

Score Specs

Duration 14:39

81 pages

10"x14" spiral bound full orchestral study score

Instrumentation