As some of you know, Chandler Hatch and I are teaching a class at Tufts now called “Star Wars: How Long Ago? How Far Away?” The idea is to use Star Wars as a gateway to learning how to research in the humanities. (You can read the more highfalutin’ description on the ExCollege website, course EXP-0054-VS, Spring 2017.)
To support the music conversations we’ll be having later in the semester, the first several weeks we’ve been doing music fundamentals — naturally using Star Wars music as the examples.
Yesterday we talked about the orchestra. John Williams’s scores work great for that purpose because he orchestrates as if he were trying to create a 2-hour long “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.”
In fact, I was able to draw most of the examples below from just A New Hope (unless noted). The only instruments for I couldn’t find clean examples were the cellos and the double basses, though I’m sure passages exist for the former. Also, some of the timings below may be slightly off since I was drawing them from my own recordings, not the YouTube videos.
I’d love to add to this list and maintain it as a resource for composers and orchestrators. If you find other passages, comment below or tweet @josephsowa using #starwarsorchestration.
I’d also be interesting in compiling a doubling index, too, along the lines of Rimsky-Korsakov’s, Gardner Read’s, or Peter Alexander’s thesaurus approaches. If enough people want it, I’ll get that one started, too.
Flutes
Princess Leia’s theme, 0’00. Solo flute
The Hologram. 1’27. Flute section
The Dune Sea of Tatooine – Jawa Sandcrawler, 4’02. Solo piccolo
Oboes
Princess Leia’s theme, 0’08. Solo oboe
The Hologram – Binary Sunset, 0’31. Solo oboe
Princess Leia’s Theme, 1’10. Solo oboe then English Horn
The Dune Sea of Tatooine – Jawa Sandcrawler, 1’40. Solo English horn
Clarinets
The Hologram – Binary Sunset, 1’36. Solo, just after the flute section solo
The Dune Sea of Tatooine – Jawa Sandcrawler, 2’04. Section
Bassoons
The Dune Sea of Tatooine – Jawa Sandcrawler, 2’00. High register solo
The Dune Sea of Tatooine – Jawa Sandcrawler, 4’10. Section
French Horn
The Hologram – Binary Sunset, 2’21. Solo
Princess Leia’s theme, 0’14. Solo
Trumpets
Burning Homstead, 0’00. Solo
The Dune Sea of Tatooine – Jawa Sandcrawler, 2’45. Muted section
Trombones
Burning Homestead, 0’54. Trombone section
Tuba
The Dune Sea of Tatooine – Jawa Sandcrawler, 3’15. Solo
Percussion
The Battle of Yavin, 7’37. Timpani
Harp
Across the Stars, 4’37
Violins
Princess Leia’s Theme, 2’22. Section
Princess Leia’s Theme, 3’57. Solo
Violas
Han Solo and the Princess, 2’33. Section (The Empire Strikes Back)
Cellos
Burning Homestead, 1’28. Doubled by French horn
Double Basses
The Hologram – Binary Sunset, 0’00. Doubled with low cellos
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