Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (or in the U.S., Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) was the first in the series of seven fantasy novels that chronicle the adventures and coming of age of J. K. Rowling’s famed boy wizard, Harry Potter. Released in 1997, the novel ignited the imaginations of countless fans and the seven novels together have sold over 450 million copies to date, making Harry Potter the best-selling book series in history.

The Harry Potter films have continued the success of the franchise, collectively earning over $7.7 billion at the box office. John Williams scored three films in the series starting with the first, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (or Sorcerer’s) Stone. Of the several themes Williams composed for the film, the most prominent is “Hedwig’s Theme”. Although this theme may originally have been intended only for Harry’s pet snowy owl named Hedwig, its pervasiveness throughout the film captures much of the general air of mystery and wonder that a child like Harry would feel in becoming part of a world filled with wizards, witches, and magic.

The concert version of Hedwig’s Theme actually incorporates two themes: Hedwig’s Theme and the Flying Theme (or “Nimbus 2000”, the name of Harry’s broomstick). Hedwig’s Theme breaks down into two closely related sections I simply call A and B. In this audio clip, A is heard from the start, B begins at 0:17, A appears again at 0:45, B at 1:01, and A once more at 1:18:

Below is my film music analysis in which I take a look at some of the musical techniques Williams uses to convey the feeling of magic and mystery associated with the world of Harry Potter.

The A Section

Orchestration

Probably the most distinctive feature of the first A section is its orchestration. It opens with a solo that combines synthesized and real sounds of the celeste, a keyboard instrument whose keys strike metal bars that sound like small bells. Because the celeste is not exactly an everyday instrument, it has something of an ethereal sound, all the more so in Hedwig’s Theme since the sound is electronically manipulated and therefore literally unreal. But at the same time, the celeste is associated with the imaginative world of children primarily through the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from Tchaikovsky’s ballet, The Nutcracker, whose fanciful creatures are presented through a young girl’s dream.

Harmony

Harmonically, Hedwig’s Theme is essentially in the key of E minor, but the chord progressions are anything but typical for a minor key. As shown in the example below, the first two bars of the theme outline the E minor chord, and the bass extends the E into bar 5, all of which clearly establishes the key. But in bar 6, we get a very strange chord:

Taken together, the notes of bar 6 are B-D#-F-A#, which is similar to E minor’s dominant seventh chord, B-D#-F#-A. Had Williams given us the actual dominant seventh, the music would have been within the realm of the ordinary. But by substituting F# with F, and A with A#, he instead creates a chord that cannot be fully explained, much like the workings of a wizard’s magic.

As shown in the example below, bars 9 and 10 of the theme return to the original E minor chord along with the same opening melody. But in bars 11-12, the music suddenly heads in a new direction, sounding out three more minor chords that bear no relation to one another. The resulting sound isn’t just unusual. Since the progression is inexplicable, it creates an aura of wonder as well, a perfect musical accompaniment for a world of magic and mystery. Indeed, Williams even writes “Mysterioso” at the start of the score.

Williams has used a series of minor chords before to accompany similarly mysterious circumstances: the opening scene of E.T., when the aliens are collecting samples of the Earth’s plant life and we are unsure at this point whether or not these aliens are friendly, and in Raiders of the Lost Ark as the theme for the Ark itself, whose divine source of power is shrouded in mystery. Hear these two passages below (from the start of each clip).

From 0:30 in this clip:

From the start of this clip:

In Hedwig’s Theme, after the string of minor chords, Williams ends the section with two chords (see above musical example). Most themes or sections of themes usually close with two cadence chords: dominant and tonic, in that order. In Hedwig’s Theme, we do end on the tonic (in the last bar above) but the chord preceding it is not the dominant, it is the dominant of the dominant, which leads us to expect the dominant chord next. Instead, Williams heads straight into the tonic. This ousting of the usual dominant chord shifts the sound of the cadence out of the ordinary world and moves it into the realm of the strange and ethereal.

Melody

Below is the melody for the entire A section of Hedwig’s Theme, which itself divides into two phrases.

While the first five bars are entirely in the key of E minor, the sixth bar introduces a note foreign to it— F natural, which is the lowered form of scale degree 2. As we saw, this note is part of the strange dominant-like harmony of the bar, but at the same time it also creates odd-sounding intervals in the melody. With the previous D# the F takes the minor third we would have had and “squashes” it into a diminished third, and with the following B it “squashes” a perfect fifth into a diminished fifth (or tritone). These same intervals are also heard at the end of the A section in bars 13-15, now with an extra intervening note:

Both of the A section’s phrases therefore end with these strange intervals, which helps impart an air of mystery to the theme.

Another note foreign to E minor that Williams introduces is A#, the raised fourth scale degree (#4), which first appears in the melody in bar 13. Notice that this note comes a half step (or semitone) down from the preceding B, which is scale degree 5. This kind of semitone motion from 5 to #4 in a minor key is another musical feature that has associations with mystery. Saint-Saëns’ famous piece, “Aquarium” from Carnival of the Animals, is a prime example. The melody’s swaying back and forth from 5 to #4 in minor certainly creates a strange and mysterious aura (from the start of this clip):

And even in film, in the well known theme for “Harmonica” from Once Upon a Time in the West, motions from 5 to #4 and back to 5 in a minor key create an appropriate sense of eerie mystery for a character about which the audience and other characters in the film know so little about (hear from the start of this clip):

I would also point out that the melody of the A section uses all twelve notes of the chromatic scale, and so in an abstract way could indicate that wizards and witches can inhabit both the non-magical world of muggles (or non-magical folk, as represented by a “normal” E minor scale) and the supernatural world of magic (as represented by all the other notes outside the E minor scale).

Rhythm and Meter

Many of Williams’ themes for blockbuster action films are marches, which are always set in a two- or four-beat meter. Hedwig’s Theme is different, however, because it is set in a three-beat meter, which creates an entirely different feel. In the moderate waltz-like tempo of the theme, the three-beat meter evokes a feeling of elegance and grace that befits a wizard’s ability to get out of many jams quickly and easily with, for instance, the simple casting of a spell. But at the same time, this triple time creates a lightness and buoyancy in the music, a floating quality that captures the feeling of taking to the air, as wizards so often do.

The B Section

The B section of Hedwig’s Theme shares many of the musical features of the A section: it is exactly the same 16-bar length, it retains the same orchestration in the celeste, and it closes with virtually the same 6-bar passage. Here is the entire B section:

But there are some significant changes in the B section as well. For example, the harmonies at the start of bars 20 and 22 are from a family of chords known as “augmented sixths”, which tend to have an unearthly sound when paired with a sustained tonic note (pedal point) in the bass, as here. Again, Saint-Saëns’ “Aquarium” is another well known example of this.

The melody of the B section differs from that of the A section in that it does not sound the tonic of E minor until the very last note, instead hovering mainly around its dominant note. Since the dominant is the fifth note of the scale, it is, in a sense, “high up” from the “ground” tonic note with which the theme began. Williams’ avoidance of the tonic therefore gives the theme a feeling of being suspended in the air like a wizard on his broomstick.

Repetitions of Hedwig’s Theme

Both the A and B sections are repeated, then the A is stated one last time before the piece moves into the “Nimbus 2000” theme. With the first repetition of A, Williams adds a prominent figure of rapid scales in the strings, harp, and celeste that paints a more vivid musical picture of the sorts of aerobatics that wizards, witches, and their owls engage in. The last repetition of the A section continues this rushing figure in the strings but now sounds the melody more powerfully in the French horns. In the Harry Potter films, this strong scoring of the melody in the horns is appropriately associated with views of the Hogwarts School, which is housed in an impressive and imposing castle.

Conclusion

Hedwig’s Theme is one of the more flexible themes in Williams’ oeuvre as it does not represent a single specific character or thing the way, say, the Imperial March represents Darth Vader and the Empire. Instead, Hedwig’s Theme seems to represent the world of wizards and magic more generally. But even so, because the theme is usually heard in the films when Harry is the focus of attention, it may well be thought of as mainly representing the magical world as seen through Harry’s eyes. This would explain the childlike sense of wonder heard in the ethereal sounds of the celeste, as well as the features that suggest strangeness, mystery, and the magic of flight. Thus, as we have seen throughout this series of posts, Williams creates his effect by aligning many different aspects of the music towards a common expressive goal.

Upon its release in 1993, Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park became what was then the highest grossing film of all time, earning over $900 million at the box office. Its realistic portrayal of dinosaurs through state-of-the-art special effects created such a sensation among the filmgoing public that, when a contest was held to name the new basketball team for the city of Toronto in 1993, fans ultimately chose the name “Raptors” (“T-Rex” was also on the list).

John Williams’ music for the film has become one of his most popular scores, and with good reason. Who could forget its two most prominent themes: the proud trumpet fanfare in “Journey to the Island”, and the more contemplative “Theme from Jurassic Park”. In this post, my film music analysis will take a close look at the construction of the latter theme.

In the film, we first hear the “Theme from Jurassic Park” when Drs. Grant (Sam Neill), Sattler (Laura Dern), and Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) first set eyes on one of the park’s dinosaurs, a brachiosaur feasting on leaves from the treetops. They stare in amazement at the creature, unable to comprehend how such a thing is even possible. And of course at the time of the film’s release, the special effects broke new cinematic ground, so in that way it was easy for audiences to share in the characters’ emotions. But the music also played a large part in eliciting these emotions from the viewer. As he does so often, Williams manages to find the right music to fit this scene. But how exactly? What techniques does he use to give us the sense of awe and wonder that we feel with this scene? Here is the theme in concert version (the portion used in the film begins at 0:47):

Melody

The melody to this theme is based largely on a simple three-note motive: starting on Bb, it moves down to the next closest note, A, then returns up to Bb again (beneath the brackets below):

Although this motive (what is called a neighbor note figure) includes motion from one note to another, the fact that it returns to its starting point creates the feeling that we haven’t really moved at all, especially when it is used in a quick rhythm as it is here. Not only that, but the note that the motive revolves around (Bb) is the key note, or tonic, of the scale the piece is based on. Because the tonic note is usually the end goal of a melody, it is generally a point of rest. Thus, starting with the tonic creates a soothing feeling of calm in the theme. And the repeated use of the neighbor note figure keeps us bound to this tonic, as though we are in a trance with our ears fixed to a single soothing note, just as each character’s (and our own) gaze is fixed in amazement at seeing a living, breathing dinosaur.

This melody is also written in a very singable way. For one thing, it moves almost entirely in scale steps of a second and small leaps of a third:

There are a few large leaps to be sure, especially near the ends of phrases where they provide a sense of climax to the melodic line. There is also the fact that most of the melody uses relatively slow rhythms (compared to, say, the busy accompaniment figures one sometimes hears running behind the melody). With these singable features, it’s as if the melody is a vocal piece written for orchestra. A real song with words at this point in the film of course would have been a distraction from the dialogue. But an orchestral piece written in a vocal style lends the music a beauty that, in this particular scene, we associate with seeing the brachiosaur for the first time.

Rhythm

The rhythm of this theme also helps us understand why the music works so well with this scene. To begin with, the rhythm of the melody is essentially a more elaborate version of the rhythm in the accompaniment. In other words, when the accompaniment sounds a note, the melody also sounds one at the same time:

This kind of rhythmic alignment between melody and accompaniment creates a very chordal texture that is evocative of a hymn. This reference to the hymn style suggests an experience that is not only positive, but profound—certainly an appropriate sentiment for the characters onscreen.

Another important rhythmic feature of the theme is its reliance on dotted rhythms both fast and slow:

This use of dotted rhythms, especially in this relatively slow tempo, infuses the music with a sense of grandeur and majesty that befits the power and sheer mass of the huge brachiosaur we see in this scene.

Harmony

The emotional content of the theme also derives from Williams’ use of harmony. Most of the chords he writes are the major chords found in a major key: I, IV, and V. And in fact minor chords are banished altogether, leaving the music with a warmly positive sound.

At a couple of prominent moments, Williams also makes use of a chord that uses Ab, which is not a part of the major scale of the theme, but an altered form of the seventh scale degree. Hence it stands out as something strange and otherworldly like the dinosaurs themselves. This chord can be heard in the clip below at 1:34 and 2:44 (to give the chord its proper context, listen from 1:26 and 2:36):

As for the triads Williams uses, there is a strong emphasis on the IV chord, particularly in the progression I-IV-I. Now just to explain here, a IV chord is usually part of the progression IV-V-I, which gives the music a certain sense of forward drive as IV suggests that V will follow and in turn V suggests a final point of rest on the I chord. When IV instead goes to I, that forward drive is replaced with a sense of resolution, giving the music the feeling of calm and restfulness. Of course there are other factors that contribute to this calm feeling, but hear how the chords themselves create this feeling in the clip above at 0:47-0:52, 1:08-1:13, and 1:26-1:32.

Orchestration

Williams’ choice of instruments is another factor that contributes much to the emotional expression of the theme. He begins with an emphasis on the middle to low range of both the orchestra and of the individual instruments. For example, as it is heard in the film, the theme opens with strings, winds, and French horns, but there is a complete absence of any high instruments. So while in the strings, the violas, cellos, and double basses play, the violins remain silent, and in the winds, the clarinets and bassoons play while the oboes and flutes do not. There is also an absence of any loud brass instruments (the horns of course have the ability to play remarkably soft). And a little later on, there is also the addition of a wordless choir. (In the recording above, they are actually singing from 1:08, but are most clearly heard at 2:24). These particular instruments create colors that are not only warm and soothing, but add an appropriate sense of awe and wonder to the music. Williams himself even writes “Reverentially” at the start of the theme.

The Theme as a Whole

As a whole, the theme is somewhat unusual in that it uses the same melodic material throughout—it never diverges from that neighbor note motive I mentioned above. So we are completely focused on the same musical idea, just as we are completely focused on the sight of the brachiosaur.

In addition, the entire theme is divided into two large and similar halves, each of which each of which builds in intensity towards its end (or cadence). As noted above, the theme begins in a mid to low register. The melody in particular begins on the Bb just below middle C, but rises into higher octaves as the theme continues. In the recording below, notice the increasingly high register each time the melody begins a new phrase—at 0:47, 1:08, and 1:26. Also with each phrase there is a louder dynamic, more rhythmic activity, and more instruments added to the texture. All of this reaches a climax at the end of each half of the theme in 1:45-1:55 and 3:01-3:12. The first of these climaxes coincides with the brachiosaur crashing back down to the ground after reaching some leaves high up in a tree. This thunderous impact isn’t just a physical one but also an emotional one, as we marvel at the enormous power of this beautiful creature.

Conclusion

As I have remarked throughout this series of posts, the success of John Williams’ themes can partly be ascribed to his extraordinary talent for coordinating musical parameters towards a common emotional goal. In the case of the “Theme from Jurassic Park”, we have seen the parameters of melody, rhythm, harmony, orchestration, and overall form converge, allowing us to share in the awe-inspiring feeling of the characters who are seeing a live dinosaur for the first time. Now hear the music with the film in the clip below with this coordinating effect in mind:

Coming soon… John Williams Themes, Part 6 of 6: Hedwig’s Theme

The march is divided into a large three-part form, of which the first part is Indy’s theme, the second Marion’s theme, and the third an abbreviated return to Indy’s theme. Since we’re talking about Williams’ depiction of the Indy character here (and since the third part largely repeats the first), my film music analysis will focus mainly on the first part.

This first section itself breaks down into a three-part ABA form, the A and B sections using different but related melodic ideas. Williams had initially composed the melodies of both as possibilities for the opening of Indy’s theme. When he approached Steven Spielberg (director of Raiders of the Lost Ark) with the themes, asking which one he would prefer, Spielberg loved them so much that he said “well, can’t you use both?” And so Williams did, one in the A section, the other in the B section (or “bridge”). Below is an audio clip of the entire march. The B section starts at 0:36:

The A Section

Melody

The famous melody that begins the march already suggests much of Indy’s character. First, it is played by four trumpets in unison, and every one of its short motives starts with a militaristic dotted rhythm, both giving the sense that this is a hero’s theme (see the brackets below):

But also notice that in every other bar, there are syncopations (off-beat accents) after the first beat and just before the fourth beat of each bar (most clearly heard in the opening four bars before the melody comes in):

These syncopations add a buoyancy and lightness to the march, and signal some of Indy’s less serious, “fun” side.

Then there’s the melody’s shape as a whole. The first six motives we hear move completely in the upward direction (and even the seventh begins by rising), lending the theme and Indy a very positive feel (by contrast, recall from Part 3 of this series that the Imperial March was based largely on descending motives):

Overall, the highest notes in these motives form a rising contour from C up to F. But also notice that in between each of these high notes, there is a drop down to a lower note. Naturally, the rising contour gives us the feeling of aspiring to something better in the manner of a hero. But the drops in between lower the tension and create a more relaxed heroic sound than would a constant striving higher and higher, as in the Force Theme, for instance (see Part 1 of this series). And certainly this accords with Indy’s confident brand of heroism in that he’s never really fazed by anything (well, anything but snakes!).

The opening motive of the melody includes the upward leap of a fourth, which again suggests a hero, but this fourth is slightly smaller than the fifth that opens Williams’ other heroic themes like those for Superman and Star Wars. Actually, recall from Part 2 in this series that the Star Wars main title theme even involved the “superhuman” leap of a seventh (which is part of the Superman theme as well). And although all three themes are stated in the trumpets, Indy’s theme is in a slightly lower register than the others, and so is not given the same superhero status. Compare them all below:

Raiders March

Star Wars

Superman

The smaller leap of Indy’s theme suggests a hero that is more human and “down to earth”. After all, Indy usually doesn’t overcome his enemies through some kind of superhuman strength or power, but with his ingenuity. (This is emphasized by the fact that he is a university professor by trade.) At the end of Raiders, for example, he shuts his eyes (and tells Marion to do the same) before the spirits from the Ark turn deadly. And in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, he reasons that since Jesus was a carpenter, his cup at the Last Supper (the Holy Grail) would have been one made of wood, not metal. In both cases, it is Indy’s knowledge that saves him from perishing like his Nazi foes.

Harmony

The march begins with four bars of accompaniment that repeat a single C major chord. This major chord not only gives the march a positive connotation from the get go, but because it is the tonic chord of that key, it has a very stable sound and its repetition gives us the impression we are “in good hands” with Indy.

This stable sound continues when the familiar tune starts up, as the bass remains fixed to the C even when the chords overtop change, creating what is known as a pedal point in the bass. At least for these opening bars, it seems as if nothing can shake our hero.

With the sixth bar of the melody, however, we hear a chord (bII, or the “Neapolitan”) that, for the first time, sounds notes outside of the C major key. This presents a challenge to the that key, and because the notes of the chord are “flat” compared to the major key, they have a slightly ominous quality to them. In short, the music seems to be questioning the hero at this point, presenting him with a potential danger that he must overcome.

And overcome it, he certainly does! Not only does the music return to the brighter colors of C major, banishing the gloomy sounds of the flats, but it does so with such panache and style that we are certain of the success of our hero: the trumpets and trombones together sound a loud fanfare that marks the climax of the melody’s eight bars. Not only that, but for the first time in the theme, the motive now takes a downward turn, descending by step, as though Indy is literally overcoming some obstacle. And we hear this descending step four times in a row, leaving no doubt in our minds that Indy will succeed in his adventures.

The B Section

Melody

The B section begins after a repetition of the A section, and starts with the alternative melody Williams had considered for the march’s opening. This section is somewhat more serious in character owing largely to the way in which Williams works out this new melody. Its short motives continually rise to F, but then fall to E:

The melody here can’t seem to get any higher in the scale than the E (of course the melody leaps up to the E an octave higher, but this is still an E and isn’t any higher in the scale than the previous E). In fact, the melody moves even further downward as the melody continues, through Eb, D, and stopping on C.

This is why I say that the B section takes on a more serious character: we actually feel a bit of the hero’s struggle in the music here. In other words, the melody’s motives begin by rising a step, suggesting something positive, but then fall back down a step, suggesting a setback of some kind. As we saw in Part 1 of this series, these kinds of downturns in a rising melody are partly why the Force Theme sounds like so much of a struggle and is ideal for representing the Jedis’ fight against the Empire. In the Raiders March, however, these downward turns are overcome at the end of the B section, where, after falling from F a few more times, the brass finally reach up a step higher than the F to G and blast it out on a long held note:

Harmony

The stable sound of the pedal point we heard at the march’s opening returns to start the B section with a repeated C in the bass. Nearly the entire B section is propped up by this pedal, which again speaks to Indy’s confidence even in the face of the struggles suggested by the rising-falling melody.

At the same time, almost every chord used in this B section is a major chord (some with an added seventh). This injects a strong positive element into the sound of the struggle here despite the more ominous flats appearing in some of the chords (bVII and bVI). Like the march’s A section, the music seems to be saying that the struggles Indy will face won’t be anything he can’t overcome, even if they seem to challenge him at times. Again, we are in good hands here.

The March as a Whole

Over the course of the entire Raiders March, the main Indy Theme (the A section) is stated a total of six times. But these statements are far from exact repetitions. In fact, Williams has scored them in such a way that they actually intensify as the march progresses, making the final statement the most climactic, which not only concludes the piece with dramatic flair, but leaves no doubt in our minds that Indy will always succeed in his adventures. Below is the recording once more along with a summary of what Williams does and doesn’t change with each statement:

Statement 1 (start of march, at 0:07)

• C major
• Thin scoring
  • Melody only in trumpets
  • Accompaniment in trombones, timpani, cello, and bass
• Medium-loud dynamics (mezzo forte)

Statement 2 (immediately after Statement 1, at 0:22)

• C major
• Winds and cymbals added
• Medium-loud dynamics (mezzo forte)

Statement 3 (after B section, at 1:17)

• C major
• Thicker scoring:
  • Melody now in trumpets, trombones, glockenspiel, and all winds
  • Accompaniment in all strings, snare drum added
• Louder dynamic (forte)

Statement 4 (immediately after Statement 3, at 1:35)

• Db major (a half-step higher than C major, more intense)
• Thicker scoring (as in Statement 3)
• Even louder dynamic (fortissimo)
• Melody is now imitated by the trombones, creating a more active texture

Statement 5 (after Marion’s Theme, at 4:28)

• F major (a third higher than the previous statement in Db major, more intense)
• More brilliant scoring:
  • Rapid flourishes added in the winds
  • Accompaniment made heavier with addition of trombones and tuba to the timpani and all the strings
  • Bass drum added to every beat

Statement 6 (immediately after Statement 5, at 4:42)

• Still in F major
• More cymbal crashes added
• Melody imitated in trombones (as in Statement 4)

Conclusion

The Raiders March isn’t just a great tune. Like so many Williams themes, it is an apt reflection of the character it represents. Not only does it capture Indy’s heroism and confidence, but it also incorporates the fun, lighter side of Indy’s personality. It is also fitting that Indy’s music should lack the overwhelming grandiosity of other superheroes’ themes since his victories are more brainy than brawny. His music also portrays him as more of a human, earthbound type of hero than, say, Luke Skywalker or Superman. Instead, this is an untroubled kind of music for an untroubled kind of hero, one who always achieves a clear success. Even so, his adventures and his music are still a source of tremendous excitement.

Coming soon… John Williams Themes, Part 5: The Theme from Jurassic Park

The Imperial March, or “Darth Vader’s Theme”, is one of the most pervasive and well-liked themes in John Williams’ Star Wars scores. Even so, the truth is that it was not until the second film, The Empire Strikes Back, that the theme made its first appearance. The first film did have a theme for the Empire informally known as the “Imperial Motif”, as heard in this clip at 0:51:

But clearly Williams and those in charge of Empire felt that a more characteristic theme would be more appropriate in a film that revolves around the Empire gaining the upper hand against Luke Skywalker and the Rebels. And as Lukas Kendall points out in his notes to the trilogy’s soundtracks, the Imperial Motif “is the only major theme from that score [the original Star Wars] not to return in Empire.” Thus, it seems that the Imperial March was a replacement for the earlier theme.

It is easy to see why Williams stuck with the Imperial March once he hit upon it—it is the perfect musical symbol for Darth Vader and the “evil” of the Empire in general. But even the music on its own seems to have this “evil” and imperial quality. How exactly is this so? One of the things that makes Williams such a master of film scoring is his ability to create meaning with many different features of the music, whether it’s melody, harmony, rhythm, orchestration, or anything else. It’s as if all the musical features are pointing in the same direction, so to speak, towards the character, place, or thing it represents. So how is this true of the Imperial March? Below I suggest some of the ways in my film music analysis.

Here is the complete concert version of the march:

The Opening Riff

The march begins not with the tune itself, but with the accompaniment riff that is its backbone. Not only is this riff some of Williams’ most ear-catching music, it also packs a lot of the cue’s character into a very short span of time. In large part, this is due to Williams’ talent for aligning so many of the music’s features.

Rhythm

Probably the most obvious feature of the music is its rhythm. The march is set in a four-beat time, but the riff is written in such a way that it accelerates through the four beats of the bar:

On the first beat, we get just one note. Then on the second beat, we get a note plus a fast triplet rhythm—things are starting to move faster. Then on the third beat, we again get the note plus triplet, but it flows without stopping into beat four, which now starts with the triplet before coming to a halt. This creates even more rhythmic motion, as though the music just can’t stop until it reaches the end of the bar, then the whole thing starts over again. Combined with the rhythm’s militaristic sound through the triplets and the emphasis on strong beats, the overall effect is one of forward drive, suggesting a powerful and aggressive force that doesn’t let up until it gets what it wants.

Orchestration

How do we know that this is an evil force specifically? A number of reasons. All of the pitched instruments playing here—the strings, horns, and timpani—are at or near the very bottom of their range. The result is a very dark color to the sound.

Harmony

There’s also the harmony Williams uses. With the first three beats, it’s not clear whether the march is in a key at all because we only hear a single repeated note, G. On the fourth beat, however, we hear a chord of Eb-F#-Bb (actually heard as Eb-Gb-Bb), all of which are notes in G minor, so the color of the sound is made even darker by confirming a minor key for the march. Not only that, but the chord itself is a minor version of a chord that would normally be a major chord written as Eb-G-Bb. Because Williams’ use of the chord is not the normal one but its darker minor version, it is an ideal match for the evil Empire and the Darkside of the Force.

Dissonance

The riff is stated four times before the melody comes in. The first two times, we hear the abnormal minor chord described above. But the third and fourth times, Williams adds the note A to the chord, which scrapes against the Bb already in the chord to produce a gritty and biting dissonance. This dissonance evokes the harshness and terror of Vader’s and the Empire’s ways. Thus, even before we hear a note of melody, much of the character of the march has already been established by the meaningful riff that is its accompaniment.

The Main Melody

Rhythm

The famous melody that begins in the fifth bar further enhances the military feel of the march by emphasizing the strong beats and using dotted rhythms. But also notice that a moderately long note is sounded on the first seven beats in a row:

This gives the march a sure-footed character that wonderfully depicts Vader’s unwavering confidence. And since this rhythm is the basic motive for most of the march, the confident tone is carried through the whole piece.

Orchestration

The dark orchestral colour of the opening riff is also continued into the main melody, which is sounded by trumpets and trombones in a mid to low register. Recall that the climactic high note in the first few bars of the Star Wars main title music, by contrast, uses the trumpet at the very top of its range to suggest heroism (see Part 2 of this series). The lower range employed here is in keeping with the more menacing feel of the opening riff. And the use of brass instruments gives the sense of considerable military might.

Harmony

The harmony of the first twenty bars of the march (the portion we hear in the film) also contributes to the dark color of the music. To start with, just about every chord we hear is a minor chord. The brighter, happier sound of major chords are completely banished from the music.

Also, like the opening riff of the march, the harmony Williams uses for the main melody are not your average chord progressions. This is especially clear in the second half of the melody, where the chords are i–#iv–#v–i in G minor. In tonal music, I–IV–V–I is a progression that firmly establishes the key of the music. But in the Imperial March, that progression is subjected to a strange distortion where IV and V are raised up by a semitone. And actually, the #v chord has exactly the same notes as the minor chord we heard in the riff (Eb-F#-Bb is here written as D#-F#-A#). So from this perspective, the chord in the riff is also this strange, distorted #v chord. Notice that both of the distorted chords, #iv and #v, are a very small distance (a semitone up) from being their regular versions:

Had Williams used the regular versions of these chords instead, the march would have had a far more normal (and unremarkable) sound. The infusion of chords that almost sound like normal ones, and minor chords at that, gives the impression of a darkly abnormal, evil worldview. Just for fun, I’ve transposed these distorted chords down a semitone in the recording so you can hear what the march would sound like with the more normal chords. It becomes easier to hear how Williams has distorted the harmonies when this is compared with the original.

Here’s the “normalized” version:

Imperial March – recomposed

Now compare that with the original version:

Clearly, Williams’ original is much, much better.

Melodic Shape

The shape of the melody is also worth noting. Essentially, the melody breaks down into five short ideas as shown below (the last three ideas are repeated):

In the first idea, when the melody finally moves on its fourth beat, it leaps in the downward direction, suggesting a negative influence. And although the melody then rises to a higher note, it immediately leaps down again with two quick notes. These gestures are then repeated, emphasizing the negativity.

In the second idea, the melody rises higher than its original starting point, which allows it to fall from a greater height and give it more impact, a bit like dropping a heavy object from higher up.

In the third idea, we get an even higher note (the highest note in the melody) that takes much longer to fall, gradually making its way down over the third and fourth ideas. But it doesn’t “hit the ground” so to speak, as the fifth idea takes the melody back up to repeat the final three ideas. And this time, it reaches the G it started on, giving the theme a strong sense of finality. Here’s a summary of the melody’s descending motion:

Putting It All Together

When we consider all these musical features together, which is after all how we hear the march, we get a pretty clear picture of why the theme is such a fitting musical representation of Darth Vader and the Empire:

• Rhythmically, the march projects a strong, confident, and forward-driving tone
• Orchestrally, it emphasizes the powerful brass instruments and the menacing sound of the instruments’ low registers
• Harmonically, it focuses on the dark sound of minor chords and presents distorted versions of what would otherwise be normal progressions
• Contrapuntally, it makes use of dissonance to give a fearful sound
• Melodically, the theme is constantly moving in the downward direction, suggesting the heavy hand of the Empire literally bearing down on the Rebels (and us!)

Now consider how this musical blend works in conjunction with the film. When the Imperial March is introduced in its full form in The Empire Strikes Back, we see a huge Imperial Star Destroyer passing overhead, which suggests the power of the Empire “bearing down” on us. Also notice how the angular shape of these ships (which we see in the very next shot) are much like the blade of a knife coming at us and therefore have quite a threatening feel. Smaller Tie Fighters then zip by the screen, adding to the threatening atmosphere with hissing and roaring noises. Finally, as Vader observes his fleet, we do not see his face but only the back of his helmet while we hear his ominous breathing. Here is the scene from the film:

Since the musical elements are suggestive of something evil and powerful to start with, it forms such a strong bond with the evil and powerful aspects in the scene that music and film become welded together. Without Williams’ remarkable alignment of so many of the musical features, it is almost certain that the Imperial March would not be as well known or well liked as it still is today.

Coming soon… John Williams Themes, Part 4: The Raiders March.

With its opening orchestral blast, John Williams’ famous cue tells us that we are in for is a tale that is larger than life, something extraordinary, something from the realm of myths. The cue, which functions both as main title music and as a theme for Luke Skywalker, retains this mythic feel throughout its entirety and yet is surprisingly diverse in its musical material. It begins with an introductory fanfare of fast and overlapping lines, then moves into a “big” tune that is slower-paced and more majestic, then sounds a gentler melody for a middle section before returning to the big tune. Yet somehow it all hangs together incredibly well, drawing us through from start to finish in an engaging and remarkably cohesive way. So besides the superficial consistencies in its loud brassy scoring, major key, and largely consonant chords, how is it that such different sections can sound so unified and keep up the mythic feel of the music? Some answers are suggested by the cue’s melody, harmony, and rhythm, as shown in my film music analysis below.

Melody

Naturally, the overlapping fanfare at the start of the cue builds up our the excitement before the big tune comes in, but more than that, it provides much of the material for the music to come. In terms of musical intervals, there is a predominance of fourths in its melody:

Especially when used in the brass, fourths tend to suggest strength and heroism. So a liberal use of them here already lets us know that this mythic tale involves some kind of hero. But a closer look reveals that the fanfare combines two fourths (and a resulting seventh) into a three-note motive that is repeated several times:

This motive then becomes a part of the big tune:

Of course the tune’s opening leap of a fifth in the trumpets is itself a marker of heroism, but notice that the tune also makes the leap of a seventh that we saw in the fanfare. In these slower note values, this larger leap has a deeper impact on us, especially being at the top of the trumpet’s range on a climactic Bb. If the opening fifth signals a hero, this second larger leap signals a superhero.

The middle section of the main title begins with a melody that may seem quite different from all that has come before. But even here, we are treated to a reordering of the three-note motive:

This time, however, the heavy brass instruments are absent and the melody is made more lyrical by being scored for strings and continuing mainly in stepwise motion. And yet, the three-note motive underpins all of this, suggesting that what we are hearing is the gentler, more compassionate side of our superhero.

This more compassionate setting carries over into the return of the heroic big tune, which is now likewise scored for strings but also combined with French horns, a softer version of the more aggressive trumpets we heard before. It would seem that even during his most heroic exploits, our superhero manages to have a heart.

Harmony

The fanfare of the main title begins with the mythic orchestral blast on the tonic chord of the cue’s key, B-flat major. The harmony of the rapid brass lines that follow is not sounded as a block chord but rather by sounding the notes of a chord one at a time. Grouping all the notes of these lines together, what results is a chord built in fourths, or what is known as a “quartal” chord (in the diagram below, I shift the trombones’ line down an octave to make it more readable):

The fanfare then sounds its last three notes on the chord of the dominant (fifth note of the scale) in B-flat major. Remarkably, the big tune that follows has this very same harmonic outline (as does the tune’s return after the middle section). It begins with a blast of B-flat tonic harmony, which then alternates with the same quartal chord on F before coming to a close on the dominant chord. This dominant chord gives the music a sense of forward drive since what we really want to hear after it is a tonic to close out the phrase. When a phrase is deprived of this tonic closure, we feel that the music must press on in order to attain it. And in fact every phrase in this main title ends on a dominant—we never get to a tonic conclusion. In mythic terms, this could be viewed as a fitting musical reflection of the superhero whose job is never entirely finished.

In addition to the blasting tonic chord, the quartal chord, and the final dominant chord, both sections also have a prominent A-flat just before the dominant, further strengthening the similarity. Compare the harmonic outline of the two below:

Even the middle section, which follows a different outline, contains broken quartal chords in a line given to the winds and piano:

This harmonic connection is another way that we can hear this lyrical section as the softer side of our mythic superhero’s character.

Rhythm

The main title’s opening fanfare sets out the rhythmic basis of the rest of the cue. It consists almost entirely of moderately fast triplets. Although the subsequent big tune slows the rhythm down with longer notes at its opening, the triplets do not disappear. Instead, they are incorporated into the tune, and although Williams writes them in longer note values than in the fanfare, they are actually played at the same speed as the fanfare’s triplets because of a change in the notation. So what we hear turns out to be the same rhythm as in the fanfare. Even the lyrical middle section retains the triplets in the wind and piano accompaniment I mentioned above. Compare all these below (triplet eighth notes in the fanfare are equal in speed to triplet quarter notes in the big tune and middle section):

In the context of a four- or two-beat time like these, triplet rhythms give the music a march-like character. In fact, these triplets are so pervasive that the entire cue might aptly be called the “Star Wars March” since it is essentially a march in all but name. In any case, the implication is of a powerful military aspect to our mythic superhero.

Conclusion

The main title music of the Star Wars films has had a lasting impression on audiences ever since it burst onto the silver screen in 1977. It is perhaps the perfect sonic introduction to the mythical world we are transported to from “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away”. Certainly part of its overwhelming success has been due to its larger-than-life quality through its heavy brass scoring and its memorable, soaring tune. But more than that, the music just seems to “work” incredibly well, firmly holding our attention from start to finish. As I have argued, one reason we feel so glued to this music in the film is that the entire cue is highly unified in both its musical structure and its expressive qualities. In other words, we hear the same melodic motives, the same harmonies, and the same rhythms played again and again but in slightly different guises. But at the same time, these musical aspects are such strong indicators of the mythic superhero that a consistent emotional quality is in fact built into the musical structure. (The cue is given below in case you’d like to hear the cue with fresh ears, so to speak.) Given this powerful connection between the music’s structure and the film’s myth-based world, it would be difficult to imagine any other music working quite as well as this.

The “Force theme”, also known as “Ben Kenobi’s theme”, “Obi-Wan’s theme”, or “May the Force Be With You”, is one of the most beloved of John Williams’ music for the Star Wars saga. It appears in all six films, but perhaps most memorably in the very first, Episode IV: A New Hope, in the cue “Binary Sunset”, where Luke Skywalker contemplates his future while watching a pair of suns set on the horizon:

Hear it in this clip from 2:21:

Emotionally, the theme ranges from the gentle poignancy of cues like this that can bring a tear to one’s eye to a brash militarism that can rouse the spirits and make us root for the good guys. So what is it that gives this theme its emotional qualities and makes it such a perfect fit for what we see onscreen? My film music analysis below gives some ideas.

Melody

Let’s start with the theme’s melody, which divides into four two-bar ideas. In the example below, notice that the goal notes of each idea together form a shape that rises through the first three ideas, reaches a climax, then falls with the last:

Thus, the theme gradually builds to a climax over a long stretch, then more quickly relaxes and comes to an end. Because this is the general pattern of tension found in most action narratives and the struggles they involve, you might call this the “struggle” contour.

But the Force theme goes even further than this in its sense of struggle. In the example below, I show the prominent scale steps the melody moves through, as shown by the numbers with caret marks over them.

After a brief pickup note, the first idea starts with a slow rise from the first note of the scale (tonic), up to the second, then quickly through the third and fourth before sinking back down to the third again. In this quick rise to the fourth note, it’s as though the theme wants to continue its upward motion but is thwarted from doing so.

In the second idea, we get the same rise up the first, second, and third scale notes, and quickly touch on the fifth before falling back to the fourth. Again, the theme seems to want to rise higher to the fifth and beyond, but somehow it just cannot—it’s struggling hard to make its way up the scale.

Finally, in the third idea, we rise from the first, through second, third, and fifth up to an octave (eight) above the first note. Reaching this high note through this kind of slow rise gives it the feeling of a climax, a success of sorts. And in the “Binary Sunset” cue above, Williams emphasizes this climax with a fuller scoring for the orchestra and with the melody in the strings, both of which add to the poignancy of the effect.

Just as we reach this climax, the melody quickly begins to fall again, eventually ending on the tonic we started on. Thus in its first three ideas, the melody suggests a “striving” quality, a long, arduous road towards a success that is tarnished with setbacks both large and small. Surely this is one of the reasons why the theme feels “right” as a musical symbol of not just Obi-Wan’s struggle, but the Rebels’ struggle more generally.

Rhythm

The rhythm of the Force theme is one of its most distinctive features. But notice some of the specifics of its rhythm: it’s set in a four-beat meter, beats 1 and 3 of each bar are almost always emphasized with a note that is a beat or two long, and there are conspicuous dotted (long-short) rhythms and triplet rhythms:

These are all characteristics of a march, so even in its gentle versions, the theme has an underlying military quality. No doubt, this is why it is well suited to represent the Jedis and Rebellion, and also why it is entirely fitting when the theme assumes a more obvious march-like character with a faster tempo and brassier orchestration.

Harmony

The Force theme is set in a minor key, and minor keys usually signal some kind of negative emotion. But it’s not all doom and gloom in this theme. The chord ending the second idea is a more positive major IV chord:

Normally, IV is a minor chord in a minor key, so this change to major gives us a sense of hope within a prevailing negative context, which is precisely the situation of the Rebels in relation to the powerful Empire.

At the end of the theme’s third idea, the climax emerges over another major chord, VI (see above example). Because this chord is found naturally within the minor scale, we have not lost the sense of the negative context. But the sound of the major chord on VI strikes an overwhelmingly positive tone, especially when combined with a loud melodic climax, as in “Binary Sunset”, so tends to sound like a heroic triumph of sorts. This is likely why the chord is frequently heard in the themes of superheroes, Elfman’s and Zimmer’s themes for Batman being other examples.

The final chord (or “cadence”) of most of Williams’ themes gives a sense of punctuation, a sign that we have finished with the theme altogether, or at least with that section of it. The Force theme is no exception, since in its fullest form, as heard in “The Throne Room” march, its ends with a final-sounding tonic chord. In “Binary Sunset”, the theme leads us to expect this same closure on a tonic chord, but trails off before reaching it. Listen again to “Binary Sunset”, starting from 2:36:

Besides the “Throne Room”, the only time the theme does reach a final chord in A New Hope, it is tainted by dissonance, as in the second statement in the cue above—hear its last idea from 3:51 to the end. In every other instance of the Force theme in this film, we only hear its first half. And as we have seen, when the second half is sounded, it either does not resolve or moves to a dissonant chord that sounds equally unresolved. The theme is only completed in the Throne Room march, after the Rebels’ mission to destroy the Death Star has been completed. Thus, the success of the mission is mirrored in the resolution of the music. Hear this final version of the theme below from 0:17:

Orchestration

The two main versions of the Force theme heard in A New Hope are differentiated largely by their orchestration. The gentle statements set the theme’s melody softly in lyrical instruments like the horn, strings, or winds. And they are often accompanied by fast, repeated notes (or a “tremolo”) high up in the strings, which has a shimmering effect that gives the theme a contemplative or vulnerable sound.

In its more aggressive, militaristic settings, the melody assumes a loud and strident tone in the trumpets and/or trombones, and there is usually a heavy accompaniment in the rest of the orchestra that suggests the emotional weight of the situation at hand. The intensity of these statements of the theme are usually bolstered by the use of dissonant harmony, as below in the cue “The Battle of Yavin”, starting at 3:40:

The appearance of these two main types of orchestration correspond with the general shape of the film’s narrative: in the earlier part of the film, it is not certain whether Luke will become the hero the Rebellion so desperately needs—hence the more contemplative forms of the Force theme. But as Luke learns the ways of the Force with Obi-Wan and begins to act more and more like a hero, we hear more of the brassy military form of the theme, especially in the final battle with the Death Star.

Conclusion

The Force theme packs a lot of meaning into a very small space. Its melody has the contour of a “struggle” and strives to reach a hard-won climax. Its underlying march rhythm gives it an appropriately military air, even when it is scored in its gentler versions. Its major chords on IV and VI lend it a feeling of hope and heroism within the larger negative climate of the minor scale. Its lack of resolution to a clean final chord in all but the last statement in “The Throne Room” gives it the sense of struggling towards a goal that is only achieved at the very end of the film. And its differences in orchestration correspond with Obi-Wan’s shaping of Luke into the hero of the story. For all these reasons, the Force theme is a natural fit with Luke, the Force, and more generally, the Rebellion.

No wonder the theme is considered one of the best of the Star Wars films.

Coming soon – Part 2: Star Wars, main title