Recent re-release of John William's compositions for A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.

Discover great deals on star wars collectibles, characters,toys and video games. A better way to shop online!

star wars music

The music of Star Wars consists of the scores written for all six Star Wars films by composer John Williams between 1977 and 1983 for the Original Trilogy, and 1999 and 2005 for the Prequel Trilogy. more...

Home

Action Figures

anakin skywalker star wars

anakin star wars

battle star wars

darth vader star wars

death star wars

empire star wars

george lucas star wars

pictures of star wars

star wars action figure

star wars action figures

star wars attack of the...

star wars battlefront

star wars birthday party

star wars conventions

star wars empire strikes...

star wars episode iii

star wars jedi knight

star wars kenner

star wars kid

star wars knight

star wars knights of the...

star wars kotor

star wars leia

star wars lightsaber

star wars luke skywalker

star wars millenium falcon

star wars rebel strike

star wars republic commando

star wars return of the jedi

star wars revenge of the...

star wars weekends 2006

Art

Books

Crafts

Music

Toys

Video Games

More broadly, it refers to any music that is used to depict the larger Star Wars Universe, which would include music for Star Wars video games, books and other media. John Williams' scores for the double trilogy count among the most widely-known and popular contributions to modern film music. Williams' work on the Star Wars films stands as an unsurpassed feat in the history of film scoring in terms of breadth, thematic-development and cultural impact.

The scores utilize an eclectic variety of musical styles, many culled from the Late Romantic idiom of Richard Strauss and his contemporaries that itself was incorporated into the Golden Age Hollywood scores of Erich Korngold and Max Steiner. While several obvious nods to Holst, Walton and Stravinsky exist in the score to Episode IV, Williams relied less and less on classical references in the latter five scores, incorporating more strains of modernist orchestral writing with each progressive score. The reasons for Williams' tapping of a familiar Romantic idiom are known to involve Lucas' desire to ground the otherwise strange and fantastic setting in well-known, audience-accessible music. Indeed, much of the trilogy's success relies not on advanced visual effects, but on the simple, direct emotional appeal of its plot, characters and, importantly, music.

Star Wars is often credited as heralding the beginning of a revival of grand symphonic scores in the late 1970s. While to ascribe this feat single-handedly to Williams is premature, the popularity and impact of the scores was a major contribution. One technique in particular has had a particular influence: Williams revival of a technique called "leitmotif", which is most famously associated with the operas of Wagner and, in film scores, with Steiner. A leitmotif is a phrase or melodic cell that signifies a character, place, plot element, mood, idea, relationship or other specific part of the film. It is commonly used in modern film scoring, as a device to mentally anchor certain parts of a film to the soundtrack. Of chief importance for a leitmotif is that it must be strong enough for a listener to latch onto while being flexible enough to undergo variation and development.

Principal leitmotifs

Composed for the original trilogy

First appearance in Episode IV:

Main Theme (Star Wars) (all episodes). Sample (help·info). The anthem of the saga and easily its most recognizable melody, the main theme is variously associated with Luke, heroism and adventure. It is heard in full Korngoldian splendor over the opening crawl at the beginning of all the films, and forms the basis of the end-title as well. The theme is most prominent in the first film (Episode IV) in which strong brass treat it as a fanfare of sorts for Luke. Throughout subsequent films it is relied upon less and less frequently, though this restraint lends it a greater impact. Except for the final scene of Episode III, Williams' use of the Main Theme in the prequels is limited mostly to the title crawl and short, sometimes disguised fragments.;