Edexcel GCE Star Wars

STARTER ACTIVITY
1. Theory Worksheet
2. On the back, draw

the best self-
portrait of you on
C CLASS Easter day.
SUMMER
2021
Individual Revision
Hari Jeffrey Theo George
What are the What is the name
If a melody is said What does legato
given to a melody
to be diatonic, three main mean?
that is sung or played
which scale is it sections of sonata at the same time as
based on? form? an existing melody?
Amelie Marie Jess Tabby

What are the What is What is the What does
three primary syncopation? structure of putting a dot after
chords? ternary form and a note do to the
binary form? note?
Checklist of EVENTS
• Brandenburg • Killer Queen
• Samba e
• Star Wars • Afrocelt
• Defying Gravity
• Beethoven
• Purcell
Main title/Rebel Blockade
Runner
Space Opera
• Dramatic science fiction film focusing
on adventure and space warfare (not
opera in the musical sense!)
What other films did John
Williams compose for?
John Williams!
Describe the style of the
composition
• Films are set in distant galaxy
concerning the epic struggle between
good and evil
• Lucas was keen that the visual impact of

a strange, distant galaxy should be
balanced nu familiar, accessible music.
• Williams responds by using a large

symphony orchestra playing in Romantic
style, as oppose to using futuristic
elements of 60s rock music (for example)
Describe John Williams’ style? Any
specific traits he frequently uses?
John William’s stylistic features
• Large Symphony Orchestras

• Brass fanfares
• Soaring violin melodies
• Vigorous battle music
• Triumphant marches
• Leitmotifs
What is a leitmotif?
(I know you know but just

checking)
William’s leitmotif
• More sophisticated than Schwartz,
more Wagnerian
• In The Ring when a hero is courageous
his leitmotif appears in a grand style;
when a hero is in love it is played
romantically; when a hero dies, his
leitmotif becomes a funeral march
Analyse Luke Skywalker’s
leitmotif
How do we know this is a

hero’s motif?
Heroic Quality:
Loud dynamic
Trumpets
Focuses on 2 most important notes of Bb major- tonic (Bb)
and dominant (F)
Motif starts with strong rising intervals
Triplet (bar 5) leaps to 7th rather than falling a step to Bb
Triplets- often a feature of heroic music. Here they add to
march like quality
Syncopated accompaniment to these bars helps create the
overall mood of excitement.
Skywalker motif non heroic
Blockade Runner
Blockade Runner
Heard whenever Rebel Alliance
is trying to outrun the spaceships
of the Evil Empire
Quite Wagnerian- very short,

being in essence just an interval
of a minor 3rd
Resources
• Scored for a full Symphony orchestra of nearly
90 players!
Tutti: Everyone
play (ie bar 21)
Orchestration
Would film music composers orchestrate their

own scores?
Orchestration
Would film music composers orchestrate their own scores?
Not normally no.
SW was orchestrated by Herbert

E Spencer.
Williams provided a sketch of how
he wanted his music orchestrated.
Music is thickly scored, much doubling
in parts, few solo lines, no use of electric
guitars, synthesisers or effects.
WHAT HAPPENS ON SCREEN?
TABLE OF EVENTS ACTIVITY
Headings: Bars
Time
Music
Film
What is happening at each big

moment; musically and on the screen?
Group discussion
• Bars 1-3: Opening fanfare
• After startig on tonic chord
of Bb major in Bar 1 the rest
of the opening fanfare is based
On intervals of a 4th above and
below Bb.
Together these intervals span a 7th
Quartal
Harmony
• The arrival of Ab inn bars 2 and 3 adds another 4th to those shown here.
• The overlapping brass entries on these 4 notes creates quartal harmony- a
chord based on 4ths rather than on the usual 3rds of triads and 7th chords
• Excitement is created by the different rhythms of the loud
and overlapping brass entries (with trumpets imitating
trombones), the fast triplets, the bright major key and the
violin tremolo on a high Bb
• What rhythmic device occurs on beat 2 of bar 3?

What rhythmic device occurs on beat 2 of bar
3?
• Conflicting rhythm
- Simultaneous duplet and triplet on beat 2 of bar 2 = cross
rhythms
SYNCOPATION!!!
Section 1 (ABA1 structure, bars 3-29
• The fanfare is anticipating the main Star Wars leitmotif which
starts on last beat of bar 3
• It too emphasises triplet rhythms and intervals of a 4 th and 7th
while various other accepts (SUCH ASS?????) Give the melody its
heroic quality.
• The harmony alternates between the key chord of Bb
major and quartal harmony (same chords used as in
fanfare)
• Violin trem on Bb continues, now functioning as an
inverted pedal above the other parts.
• The rhythm of the highly syncopated accompaniment, hammered
out by the timpani and snare drum is John Williams’ response to
the direction in original film script
‘War drums echo through the heavens as a rollup slowly crawls to

infinity’
• An upward rushing scale from the violins at the end of bar 7 leads
to a repeat of the melody from the previous 4 bars, now rescored
and reharmonised.
• See how the violin trem becomes a more decorative trill-like figure
in bar 8?
• Syncopation has now gone from the accompaniment but it still
reflects the melody’s triplets, including a brief moment of
imitation in bar 9:
B section (bar 11)
How does this section contrast with the

melody of A section?
• Quieter dynamic
• A more lyrical melody, mainly conjunct movement
• Different instrumentation (strings playing in octaves and less
heavy brass)
• Sustained accompaniment (initially over a dominant pedal on F)
What do you call
this melodic
technique?
What do you call
this melodic
technique?
Contrary motion
scales
Contrary motion is motion in opposite
directions. That is, when one of the lines
moves up, the other line moves down (that
is, in inversion). If the voices always move
by the same intervals (in opposite directions)
they are said to be in strict contrary motion.
How is 4 bar melodic idea of
section B (pic A) treated
when heard again (at end of
bar 15, pic B)?
4 bar melody of section B is given a
varied repeat with different
harmonisation (starting at the end of bar
15)
Including prominent contrary motion

scale in bar 18!
How can you tell section B is
finishing off (bringing back
section A)?
Phrase ends on dominant harmony in bar 19
This is extended by a bar with slight ritardando to prepare

for the return of section A
Dominant
(5th)
Tonic
Repeat of section A starts on the
last beat of bar 20
How is it similar? How is it

different? (Listening, not from
score!)
Horns double the melody
Trills are affef
Decorative parts for high woodwind and violins (not printed

in score)
Direction similie (bar 22) means that the syncopated

accompaniment should conitinue to be articulate in the
previous bar (ie with accents and staccato in similar places)
Once again this 8 bar section comes to rest on a dominant

chord (extended into bar 29) concluding with a short motif
for horns and a harp glissando
So far every phrase in the
piece has ended on a
dominant chord (imperfect
cadence). Why do you
think this is?
So far every phrase in the
piece has ended on a
dominant chord (imperfect
cadence). Why do you
think this is?
Avoiding coming to rest on a
tonic chord helps to give the
music a sense of impetus and
forward movement
Section 2 (bar 29(4)- end)
Last beat of bar 29: A pedal played by low brass, strings and
timpani
At last resolves on the tonic (Bb) by the end of the next bar-
but Bb becomes the dominant of Eb major (note the change
of key signature, again denying any point of rest.
What relation is Eb major to Bb major?
Subdominant!
Atmospheric music is interrupted in bar 39 by busy string
figures above chords of C major in low brass
The beginning of a 22 bar pedal on C that continues until

the end of the set work is embedded within these chords.
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 across the sky
Bar 44: From the change to ¾ time onward, the aerial battle
is underpinned by a dissonant note cluster (C-Db-F, joined
later by G) hammered out in a strictly chordal texture by the
entire orchestra. The section ends with a dramatic
ritardando in bars 47-50 .
The pedal on C continues to the end of the extract, using the
rhythm of bars 48 and 49 as an ostinato in bars 51-58. The
ostinato supports the Rebel Bockade Runner leitmotif,
whose key of Ab minor creates a bitonal clash with the
constant pedal C in the bass.
The tonality of the first part of the set work was Bb major,
but this second part is often atonal, although with
suggestions of C minor created by the long pedal on C
Congratulatio
ns you
finished Star
Wars!!!!!!

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STARTER ACTIVITY

2. On the back, draw

Amelie Marie Jess Tabby

• Star Wars • Afrocelt

• Lucas was keen that the visual impact of

• Williams responds by using a large

• Large Symphony Orchestras

(I know you know but just

How do we know this is a

Quite Wagnerian- very short,

Would film music composers orchestrate their

Not normally no.

SW was orchestrated by Herbert

TABLE OF EVENTS ACTIVITY

What is happening at each big

• What rhythmic device occurs on beat 2 of bar 3?

‘War drums echo through the heavens as a rollup slowly crawls to

How does this section contrast with the

Including prominent contrary motion

This is extended by a bar with slight ritardando to prepare

How is it similar? How is it

Trills are affef

Decorative parts for high woodwind and violins (not printed

Direction similie (bar 22) means that the syncopated

Once again this 8 bar section comes to rest on a dominant

The beginning of a 22 bar pedal on C that continues until

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