Now that Star Wars: The Force Awakens has hit theaters, Walt Disney Records releases the original motion picture soundtrack for the film. The album features a new score conducted and composed by five-time Academy Award-winning composer John Williams and liner notes by the film’s director, J.J. Abrams. However, be forewarned that the track listing could be considered as containing spoilers.
John Williams’ ubiquitous Star Wars “Main Title” theme has become part of popular culture since it was first heard accompanying Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977. It is no surprise that Williams’ orchestral compositions for Star Wars are among the most beloved and recognizable themes in cinematic history, from the classic “Main Title” theme introduced in Star Wars: A New Hope to the ominous “Imperial March” from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back to the stirring “Duel of the Fates” from the prequel trilogy.
After creating the scores for all six of the previous Star Wars films, Williams returns to compose and conduct his signature sweeping music for The Force Awakens. “I’ve loved doing the Star Wars films with all their fanfares and flourishes,” says Williams. “I actually feel as though I am still in the galaxy far, far away. I really never left it, having worked on all of the films. I’m happy to be continuing to be part of the whole fun of doing it.”
Williams continues, “This is new. This is different. But it’s wed perfectly with the corpus of what Star Wars is. I’ve been lucky in my working life, especially with situations like Star Wars. It’s been a challenge, and fun and it’s been a privilege. I don’t think there’s anything quite like it in the history of film.”
The Force Awakens will be the first Star Wars score to be recorded in the United States as all the previous films in the saga were scored at Abbey Road with the London Symphony Orchestra. For the recording of the score in Los Angeles, Williams worked with members of the highly regarded freelance orchestra with which he’s recorded numerous film scores over the years. The music for The Force Awakens was recorded over several months while working in tandem with the film’s editorial and special effects teams on the West Coast.
Audiences can expect to hear quotations from earlier Star Wars themes as Williams musically explores the story in the new film. For Williams, incorporating the previous themes is part of the fun of scoring film after film in the Star Wars saga and helps create what he calls “the fabric of the films.”
Director J.J. Abrams comments, “Of the many unreal opportunities working on The Force Awakens provided, none was more thrilling than collaborating with John Williams. His mastery of his craft has never been more evident than on this soundtrack, which embraces his earlier, classic Star Wars themes while creating soaring, powerful new cues that, amazingly, integrate seamlessly. How he does it, no one will ever know!”
Williams, whose career spans over six decades, has won five Academy Awards® and he has scored some of the most popular and critically acclaimed films of all time, including Jaws, the Indiana Jones franchise, the first three Harry Potter films, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Lincoln, Schindler’s List, and countless others.
The soundtrack for Star Wars: The Force Awakens is now available wherever music is sold (http://smarturl.it/swtfa).
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