Struggling to answer questions for GCSE Music: Star Wars? Well, struggle no longer – this is the place to be!
Struggling to revise for the GCSE Music Star Wars questions, and not sure where to start?
Panicking because there are only a few months left until the exam?
Not to worry, this is the place to be!
As a grade 9 ex-GCSE music student myself, I know all the best tips and tricks for doing well in your exam. I have tried to make all this information as concise as possible so you can get the best value for your time spent reading. Using this guide to John Williams’s Star Wars, you can boost your grades with as little effort as possible!
Make sure you write EVERYTHING down and learn it thoroughly. Reading alone will not help you absorb this information!
This article is all about GCSE Music: Star Wars.
GCSE Music Star Wars
To start with, here is a link to John William’s music for Star Wars: A New Hope.
I’m tentatively assuming most of the people reading this will already have the GCSE Anthology of Music recommended by Edexcel. If not, here is a link to where you can buy it.
Unfortunately, the anthologies are very expensive. However, if you are lucky, you can find a second hand one on amazon or ebay.
The music for Star Wars is, of course, not yet of copyright, so you won’t find it online anywhere. Legally, that is!
Context of Star Wars
Star Wars: A New Hope was a film released in 1977 under director George Lucas. John Williams, one of the most important film composers of all time, wrote its music.
Several sequels followed A New Hope, meaning that although it was the first film released, it is the fourth chronologically. The series is still immensely popular today, and is in fact one of the most widely loved of all time.
If you still haven’t seen Star Wars by now, you haven’t lived! For those poor people, here is a quick breakdown of the plot.
Briefly, Star Wars is set in a fantasy universe where both humans and aliens live. The evil Galactic Empire rules most of the empire, and it is in the process of building a brutal weapon called a Death Star. Our hero is Luke Skywalker, who comes into conflict with the evil Sith Lord Darth Vader. This happens when he tries to bring plans for the Death Star to the Rebel Alliance, which opposes the empire.
For GCSE music, we study the score for Star Wars, which means we are studying film music. Here are some important features of film music:
- Music reflects on-screen action
- Lots of unrelated sections and sudden shifts in mood
- Use of leitmotifs (more on this later!)
Structure of Star Wars
Film music is often structured in a very different way to traditional symphonic music. There are lots of separate sections and sudden shifts in mood. This helps to reflect what is going on on screen. That this is film music also means we have to always know what is going on on screen. Remember, everything Williams wrote was for a reason! Of course, if you are lucky enough to own the film or even to be able to rent it on Amazon etc., that will be very beneficial!
Here’s a breakdown of what happens in the bit we study.
Star Wars begins with a black screen and the words “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away“. At this point the music hasn’t yet begun.
As soon as the words “Star Wars” appear on screen, the music bursts into life. We begin with a short, 3-bar introduction which sets up the mood of the entire film.
The main theme arrives in bar 4. This coincides with the beginning of a written explanation of the events prior to the film. We will call this theme A, and it represents Luke Skywalker. More on this in the melody section!
In bar 12 Williams introduces a new theme, which we will label B. This B section contrasts with the A section which surrounds it.
In bar 30, a new section begins. We will call this the link section, and a transition follows at bar 33.
From this bit onwards, we will name every section after something happening on screen. For clarity’s sake, I have put the name of each section in bold.
At bar 37, we have yet another new section. On screen there is a star-filled sky, so that is what we will call this section. We have another new section just two bars later, in bar 39, which we will call the appearance of planets, as, you guessed it, that’s what’s happening on screen!
In bar 42 a spaceship appears. Well, it actually appears a few bars later than that, but there is a new section at bar 42 so that’s what we will call it!
Bar 44 brings us a larger spaceship in pursuit, firing at the other spaceship. The bit we study ends with a final section at bar 51, called battle continues, action switches.
Instrumentation of Star Wars
As we discussed above, instrumentation is very important in film music. At the time, the most popular instrumentation in film music was the newly-invented synthesiser. Unusually, however, Williams scored Star Wars for a full symphony orchestra, although brass and percussion are most prominent, perhaps reflecting the film’s themes of war and heroism. Here are some interesting orchestration moments:
- The introduction is a fanfare, which basically means it uses lots of brass instruments – trumpet, French horn, trombone and tuba
- Notice the timpani in bar 3 – you guessed it, drama and excitement!
- In bar 4 there is a “tutti” marking. This means everyone – all instruments in the orchestra
- The strings play the B theme in bar 12. This means it contrasts greatly with Luke Skywalker’s theme
- The piccolo has the melody in bar 37, which gives the music an ethereal, magical tone
- Listen out for the glockenspiel in bar 14 – it isn’t marked in the score but you can hear it in the recording
Williams also uses different instrumental techniques to create an atmosphere. Here are some examples:
- The violins use tremolo (very quick notes that sound like trembling) at the very beginning. This adds to the sense of excitement
- Note the 8va marking about the violins in bar 1 – this means that they play an octave higher than written
- A magical harp glissando in bar 29 leads us into the link section
- In bar 33, the strings section uses pizzicato (pizz.). This means plucking the strings rather than using the bow
Texture of Star Wars
The overall texture of Star Wars is melody and accompaniment. At the beginning and end of the set work, this accompaniment is very thick and chordal, so we will call this melody dominated homophony.
Towards the middle of the music, the texture thins out a lot. This helps create a mysterious atmosphere.
Here are a few other points of interest with regard to texture:
- The B theme is played across three octaves to reinforce the melodic line
- Bars 18 and 47-50 use a homorhythmic texture, which means the instruments play the same rhythms but different notes
Phew, that was nice and easy at least!
Dynamics of Star Wars
Star Wars uses a massive dynamic range to convey the drama and excitement of the film. Here are some key features of the dynamics:
- We begin with a dramatic ff (fortissimo) marking accentuated by lots of accents
- The B section is marked mf (mezzo forte) to create contrast with the main theme
- You can find hairpin markings throughout (e.g. bar 17). These indicate a gradual change of dynamic
- In bar 36 we see our first p (piano) marking, reflecting the shimmering beauty of the stars on screen
- In the last bar, we see a pp (pianissimo) marking, allowing the music to drift into the ether
And yet another short and sweet section!
Melody of Star Wars
For Star Wars, Williams makes use of something called the leitmotif. This is a recurring theme which represents a character and pops up when they are on screen or mentioned in the script. German composer Wagner was highly influential in their development, using them primarily in operas.
The leitmotif we need to know about for this set work is called Luke Skywalker’s theme, and it’s the A section in the score. It represents heroism, adventure and excitement, themes which we associate with Luke’s character. Here’s some information about that theme:
Here’s a picture of Luke Skywalker’s theme. It uses a mix of conjunct and disjunct movement, and it has a few massive leaps. These include the powerful perfect 5th at the beginning and the minor 7th the following bar.
Here’s a picture of the B theme. It begins with an anacrusis (upbeat), and it is more conjunct than our A theme. However, it still has one massive leap of a minor 6th in the middle and a few more towards the end.
Here are some more general points about the melodies elsewhere in the set work.
- In bar 32 the strings play an altered ascending sequence
- Bar 34 gives us descending broken chord patterns
- In bar 51 we have a new theme which we will call the rebel fanfare leitmotif. It is very simple, and it characterised by intervals of a minor 3rd
Rhythm, metre and tempo of Star Wars
Star Wars changes tempo a lot to match what is happening on screen. However, these tempo changes are generally indicated by BPM markings rather than tempo markings.
There are two main tempos in the music. The first is at the beginning, where the tempo marking is 100 BPM; the second is in bar 51, where the tempo increases to 160 BPM.
However, Williams bends the tempo around quite a bit within this two main tempos. For example, there is a poco rall. marked in bar 3, and a rit. in bar 20. We also have a very long, drawn-out rit. in bars 47-50. These serve to increase the drama and excitement.
Our main metre is 4/4, which stays the same until the very end. In bar 44 we moved to 3/4, coinciding with a change in action on screen.
The introduction is characterised by LOTS of triplets! This helps to create a fanfare-like feel. There are also some dotted notes, which help to establish are war-like, heroic atmosphere.
Both the A and B themes begin with an anacrusis (upbeat). The accompaniment for our A section is unusually syncopated and uses lots of off-beat chords.
The shimmering sextuplets of bar 32 announce the arrival of our star-filled sky a few bars later.
In bars 50 and 60 Williams writes a fermata, or pause. This adds yet again to the drama of the music.
Harmony of Star Wars
The introduction to Star Wars begins with a tonic triad in the brass to firmly establish our key. In fact, you can hear block chords frequently in the music.
Williams uses lots of pedal notes to create drama throughout. This includes the inverted tonic pedal (which means a pedal higher than the rest of the music) in bars 1-6. We also have a dramatic dominant pedal in bars 12-14. However, you can find an even more dramatic dominant pedal in bars 42-60, which sounds ominous and threatening.
It is worth noting how few conventional cadences there are – after our two main themes are completed, we barely have any!
In bar 18, the instruments move in opposite directions. This is contrary-motion.
In the link section (bar 30), Williams uses something called quartal harmony. This means that chords are built on intervals of a 4th rather than of a 3rd. This is rather unusual and adds to the eerie, mysterious atmosphere of this section.
The “larger spaceship in pursuit” section uses lots of dissonant chords. These include a prominent tritone in bar 44. In the middle ages this interval was called the “diabolus in musica“, or the devil in music, and it universally represents evil. It was actually supposed to summon the devil!
In bar 51 the bass instruments play an ostinato pattern, which they repeat every bar.
Tonality of Star Wars
The tonality of the beginning of this set work is Bb major. This is a bright, happy key reflecting themes of excitement and adventure.
However, at bar 30 we have a sudden shift in mood. We are now atonal, which means we aren’t really in a key at all. This creates a mysterious, eerie character.
Bar 36 brings us a brief moment of C major. However, we are back to atonality very quickly!
Edexcel says that the section from bars 51-60 is bitonal (Db major and Ab minor at the same time). To be honest, I don’t really agree with this analysis, as the two keys always sound at different times (the former in bars 52-56 and the latter in bars 56-60), but I have included it anyway just to be on the safe side.
Coda
And there we have it! A rather detailed dissection of everything you need to know for GCSE Music: Star Wars, from harmony and texture to structure and context.
This article was all about GCSE Music: Star Wars.
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