Comments on: Celebrating Star Wars Themes, Part 4 of 6: Duel of the Fates

By: Moray N

Moray N — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 14:34:06 +0000

Thanks for this elegant analysis, as ever, Mark.
As a format note, I would personally have preferred some notation in here too. I always admire the exceprts of score with the annotation to follow your commentary, and, while the youtube links are helpful, you can only listen to one at a time, whereas it’s easier to move between visual cues of the score more quickly and easily. The analysis of the Star Wars main theme, Force Theme and Imperial March had this, and I found it extremely easy to follow, with your narrative.

Many thanks for the effort, and superb site.

By: Tomer

Tomer — Thu, 02 Feb 2017 23:11:48 +0000

Great theme, and great analysis, as always. But I still think the prequels are mediocre…

By: Andrew K

Andrew K — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 02:26:51 +0000

As far as thematic connections, is the “Force Theme” not included heavily throughout “Duel of the Fates”?

If you take the “Force Theme,” change the key, and speed it up, you get the melody first heard at 00:24. Take that melody, play it backwards, and speed it up, and you’ll get the ostinato first heard at 00:15 and then continuously in the background.

That would really make the piece symbolize a “duel.” We have the modified “Force Theme” playing against the “Force Theme” backwards (“The Anti-Force Theme” since there are other themes to represent the dark side). Does anyone else notice that?

By: T. Webb

T. Webb — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 02:39:58 +0000

Thanks for your insightful analysis. “Duel of the Fates” was — and still is! — a jaw-dropping addition to the amazing canon of music Williams composed for this series. Wow, I’m still in awe of this piece!