[REVISED] How John Williams Uses Harmony in the Original Star Wars | Composer Toolbox: Episode 3

[@DavidMcCaulley]

(Sorry for the raspy voice towards the end; I was a little bit sick back when I recorded this). This video was released 17 days early for my patrons at www.patreon.com/DavidMcCaulley! Benefits include early access, priority requests, PDFs of my analyses, and more to come!

[@trevorjensen2706]

David, I apologize for messing you here, for an analysis request, but I couldn't send a message on Patreon for some reason. Can you analyze this cue? The call-response fun at the 1:38 mark is what I'm most interested in. Thanks for all of your work! kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5zFnq19gdt7i5Y

[@jonathanparham]

Thanks for your analysis in these wonderful presentations.

[@lawrenceclemens8494]

Love your videos on film scores! BTW, please consider doing an analysis of Paul Smith's wonderful score for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). I think he was a very underrated composer, and is due a serious reappraisal of his exceptional talents.

[@stevenmartin176]

I would make the argument that in the title crawl (at least when the main theme is heard) that the key is Bb Mixolydian because of that Ab in the harmony

[@musicamaxima]

Steven Martin came here to say that. Wagner mature Siegfried via Korngold.

[@DaMonster]

This is some awesome insight man - I totally agree with that tonal atonal idea

[@PhoenixHammond]

This has always bugged me. Does anyone else in the original text crawl here a B Major chord but then the whole audio slides down a semitone once the trumpets continue?

[@cmarley314]

Phoenix Hammond I hear it too; not even a half step but still noticeable

[@cinemascore-along]

Yeah, it sounds to me like some of the musicians hit that opening chord a little sharp, and it makes me wonder why that take was used in the film (maybe Lucas liked it?)

[@icebearisicebear]

And even in the official dvds this is not fixed. I think this could be due to the recording techniques or whatever by the time.... sounds more atonal than anything in the film

[@icebearisicebear]

they probably edited two different takes together..

[@jessemoog5310]

I always liked that. It made it sound very gnarly and stand even more out.

[@Tyrell_Corp2019]

I think it’s worth mentioning that there are generally two approaches to film scoring. One is in the tradition of Wagner wherein motifs representing characters and situations are employed. The other is a general theme that represents the film as a whole and used in permutations throughout. In the Wagnerian style we find John Williams. In the thematic style we find composers such as Bernard Herrmann. For my money, I’ve always preferred the latter to the former. I find that over time, the former takes on a near comical element. (Almost a lugubrious sentimentality that has traditionally been shunned in serious art). That was one of Stravinsky‘s gripes with Wagner. I couldn’t agree more. Of course we can only tell in 100 years.

[@alexanderdelacruz9249]

Hi David McCaully, am a fan of your channel. Great vid as always.

[@SamVillano]

It’s a bit hard to read the music for my eyes as it races across the screen. I just can’t seem to focus on it.

[@DavidMcCaulley]

Thanks for the feedback; I'll keep this in mind for the next round of videos.

[@itznoxy7193]

There's this button bottom left that looks like two vertical lines. It will pause the video for you.

[@sebastianmorris4316]

Would you look into Signs by James Newton Howard? Great video

[@itznoxy7193]

3:39 those chords sound so ugly on my piano but sound so good in the recording. It's amazing to think that even works, and that Williams who composes on the piano and writes by hand could have known that would sound good.

[@jessemoog5310]

Well he is most likely very good in imagining how it sounds in an Orchestral setting in his head. He didnt compose for the Piano and than Orchestrated it but he composes with the Orchestra in mind and knows very well what sounds good.

[@djfull4442]

I think you could shrink those chords to subdominant and dominant with extras.

[@angelclassicalmusic3931]

Hello, greetings from Mexico, where could I get the scores you use? Thank you?

[@CrystalCountess]

Well done.

[@pete7615]

Please analyze all force themes and compare their different emotions and tones. I especially love the light of the force theme from ROTJ.

[@jasonzurlo1543]

Good video