In some scenes, Williams’ attitude appears to be that of an old friend who is rejoicing at the prospect of going back to characters that you may have lost track of over the years.
For John Williams’ “ultimate contribution” to the Star Wars franchise, he has cleverly and covertly brought together all the themes associated with the main characters of the saga onto this soundtrack, from Leia to Yoda via Darth Vader. This is the case with Rey’s Theme, which aficionados may or may not recognise in certain scenes of The Rise of Skywalker. After so many years spent working with them, certain melodic phrases that characterise a particular person or decor eventually gain varying degrees of complexity and subtlety. This rare sort of intimate relationship between a composer and their subject matter allows for a thorough use of leitmotif, a technique especially used in Star Wars.
Well, John Williams and Star Wars have been together for 42 years! Out of the twelve films of the series, only 2 were soundtracked by people other than Steven Spielberg’s favourite composer (he was replaced by Kevin Kiner for The Clone Wars in 2008 and by Michael Giacchino for 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story). We all know married couples who have been together for decades that stand the test of time and remain the perfect match. Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
