How John Williams Made Darth Vader Terrifying

John Williams wrote a leitmotif for every character in Star Wars. It's his music that makes us scared of Vader, even more than George Lucas' character on his own.
Let's explore Williams use of leitmotif as it applies to The Imperial March in the Star Wars Trilogy.
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00:00 - Introduction
00:43 - Character Melodies
02:12 - The Music Theory of Imperial March
05:56 - Classical Inspirations
Credits:
This video wouldn't be possible without the Star Wars universe, it's creators, notably George Lucas and John Williams.
- Thanks to Disney for respecting fan art and fair use of it's copyrighted material.
- Thanks to all the amazing fan art / concept artists for the inspiration for the artwork in this thumbnail.
- Thanks to Frank Lehman for his documentation of Star Wars leitmotifs here: drive.google.com/file/d/1xJ0J...
- And Thanks to Gustav Holst, Richard Wagner and Igor Stravinsky for inspiring the creative team behind the soundtrack.

[@martynramsden]

Wow Josh, this was so good to watch and engaging. You're right the Imperial March probably reigns supreme in the Williams world, but I do wonder if Hans Zimmer's tunes compete too for the ultimate? 😁🎹

[@JoshWalshMusic]

Thanks! Which Zimmer leitmotif is the tops for you?

[@MrFanSoundtracks]

@@JoshWalshMusic Off the top of my head: Pirates theme,Lion king theme and Oogway theme

[@simonclark8290]

For me it's the 'The Battle' from Gladiator. Again, this piece can be said to draw from Mars and has a very strong marching component in it but with many more varied themes throughout than the Imperial March. In fact listening to it again as I write this it comes across as an entire symphony on it's own coming in at just over 10 minutes ;-)

[@JoshWalshMusic]

@@simonclark8290 Oh man, good choice. Not sure it takes #1 for me, but I approve.

[@randomperson2526]

Loved this analysis

[@Kids2Kids]

Although I always recognized Vader's leitmotif, I never realized that each character (and the forest) had one too. I always thought they were just part of the soundtrack. Good stuff!

[@JoshWalshMusic]

There are dozens!

[@radiozelaza]

for marching, I also like Robocop theme by the maestro Basil Poledouris. Though it's for a shorter march...

[@AndrewBMurdoch]

Damn man... so cool. So true... John Williams is in a category of his own. These tunes transport me back to my 9-year-old self!

[@simonclark8290]

IMHO the Imperial march is musically perfect and I've enjoyed listening to it so many times. As I've got older and learned to love classical music more there are layers and layers of richness to be discovered as you describe. Your deconstruction confirms the mastery of composition and orchestration that is John Williams. He will go down in hisotry as one of the greats. Thankyou Josh for this video.

[@JoshWalshMusic]

Thanks Simon!

[@GameStudioLore]

I'd say Hedwigs Theme which was also John Williams lol and the shire music from LOTR would be good shouts

[@JoshWalshMusic]

Oh, Howard Shore LOTR would be a great one for this series. Thanks for the idea!

[@DojoOfCool]

Excellent breakdown of the themes (for educational purpose Amazon).

[@JoshWalshMusic]

Thanks man! Always glad to see you in the comments.

[@AndrewWalshGuitar]

And Howard Shore’s motifs from LOTR.

[@joefiorini]

At least the motif isn’t on the dark side! 😂

[@AndrewWalshGuitar]

Imperial March is the best. Here are a few other fifty-year old contenders, from before you were born: Speak Softly Love (The Godfather) Tubular Bells (The Exorcist) The Pink Panther Dr. Zivago The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

[@JoshWalshMusic]

Tubular bells is classic, but is it a leitmotif? Godfather another classic. Thanks!

[@bobcosmic]

Why can I hear Chopin ?

[@JoshWalshMusic]

Funeral March is definitely in there 😎

[@josephsamulak587]

Do your fingers lift weights?! lol -- I thought they were gonna melt your keyboard they were moving so fast!

[@CStoph1979]

Lol how original. Stole an idea just a few days later eh?

[@JoshWalshMusic]

Sorry… stole from what? 😮

[@randomperson2526]

​@@JoshWalshMusic another yter did this same thing. Your vid was far better than his imo. We need more content of the same thing, and while there are plenty, not in the way you analyze these scores. This was my favorite analysis of the Darth Vader motif.

[@randomperson2526]

They were both working at the same time and happened to release the vids around the same time, these vids take a while to make. Nobody stole so just please chill, mate