Check it out... if you seek a score that will satisfy your
expectations of John Williams, Star Wars,
and the sci-fi/fantasy genre with its brawn, beauty, and a dash of nostalgia,
for The Force Awakens will remind you
of what can be achieved with a film score.
Skip it... if you are either too impatient to be rewarded with
Williams’ craftsmanship over the course of numerous listens, or if you are so
patient that you are willing to wait up to 20 years (or more) for the eventual
release of the complete score, despite the excellent arrangement of highlights
on the commercial album.
Whatever
his faults as a director, one has to give credit to J.J. Abrams, not only for positioning
himself to revive two of the biggest movie franchises in Hollywood, but also
for eagerly taking on those challenges with the baggage of having to placate
multiple generations of rabid fanbases if he didn’t get it right. It can be
argued that he may not have succeeded at that second task, but between the
continuing virility of the rebooted Star Trek
series and the 2 billion dollar box office pull for Star Wars: The Force Awakens (“Episode VII” only in the title
crawl), it’s hard to call his efforts a failure at the first.
The Force
Awakens
was an endeavor in which almost every major decision had to go right, and that
comes all the way down to the music as well. Whereas Trek’s revolving door of composers allowed Abrams to bring aboard
regular collaborator Michael Giacchino, Star
Wars has always been defined by the music of John Williams. While that
clearly cannot be the case for all eternity, when the offer to score his
seventh entry in the Star Wars
series, thirty-some years after his Oscar-winning classic, Williams, 82 at the
time, eagerly accepted. Approximately three hours of music was recorded, two of
which were used in the film, and just over one hour was included on the
soundtrack album.
With
almost every aspect of the film received with overwhelming adulation, the score
naturally had a warm reception, debuting at #5 on the US top 200 albums chart,
a rarity for a score album, and picked up an Academy Award nomination (the
fourth for the franchise’s music and the 50th for Williams). While
the major film awards groups bestowed their accolades on fellow octogenarian
Ennio Morricone’s score for The Hateful
Eight, a vast majority of film music critics declared The Force Awakens the best score of 2015.
So
why, after this much time, am I finally reviewing it? Because after three
consecutive reviews of the original trilogy, I was a little Star Wars-ed out. I’m just as surprised
to hear myself say that as you are. I saw the film, put the score on loop for a
week, and then didn’t touch it for a few months; I needed the hype to die down
and see if it was still that good in a relative vacuum. Short answer: yes, it
is still as good as I remembered. In addition to my needing a break, Williams’
music is so dense, layered, and intricate, that repeated listens were needed to
fully digest and fully grasp. In fact, I’m still finding new things to
appreciate with each listen. Plus, everyone's seen the film by now, so I'm free of the burden of spoiler warnings.
The
most obvious thing Williams gets right is the integration of the old franchise
themes. Nostalgia is a huge factor in this film, but the music is never too
heavy-handed with the allusions. The opening act, while bereft of familiar
themes, nonetheless maintains the textures of the universe Williams has curated
for so long. The opening “Attack on the Jakku Village” features liberal
employment of militaristic brass triplets and resounding timpani pulses, much
like the densely layer battle music he’s written in the past, as well as an
exuberantly fiendish embrace of the minor key, particularly at the 4:19 mark
with the introduction of the villainous Kylo Ren and his primary theme. While
it’s quite a menacing, brassy motif, Kylo’s theme stomps its melodic foot so
hard that occasionally you might giggle at it, betraying the petulant, wannabe-Vader
nature of both theme and character.
As
we shift over to Jakku, a planet that’s Tatooine in all but name, Williams once
again utilizes a snaking oboe to establish the sprawling desolation of the
desert, while “Rey Meets BB-8” gives us yet another cute little theme for a
cute little character (I’ve lost track of how many of those the Star Wars series has). The theme for the
dashing Poe Dameron, introduced in “I Can Fly Anything,” is as swooping and
sweeping and swashbuckling as “The Asteroid Field” and “Sail Barge Assault”
from the original trilogy.
The
first musical bridge to the rest of the Star
Wars universe comes when Rey and Finn are pursued by the First Order TIE
Fighters and escape on the Millennium Falcon. It’s a scene brimming with
nostalgia, and the sequence is propelled across two cues (“Follow Me” and “The
Falcon,” nonsensically ripped apart from each other on album) by the theme for
Finn (appearing first at 1:11 into “Follow Me”). The brass pulses in his theme,
combined with the off-kilter 11/8 rhythms and complete with Rebel Fanfare flourishes,
are a terrific callback to the syncopated brass blasts of “TIE Fighter Attack”
from A New Hope, even concluding on
the same post-explosion twinkling as the end of “The Battle of Yavin.” Williams
takes the nostalgia factor one step further by re-appropriating the fanfare for
the long-gone Rebellion as a motif for the Falcon, becoming one of the old
familiar touches throughout the score.
The
title theme, traditionally reserved for Luke and generally awesome moments, is
deployed overtly just twice outside of the opening and closing, both milking
the sentimentality to great effect. The first instance is when Han and
Chewbacca board the Falcon, and the second appearance is cleverly weaved into
the trench run sequence, once again echoing its kindred scene in A New Hope. (Sidenote: the album track
“Scherzo for X-Wings” is a concert arrangement of this cue.)
Other
old themes cameo alongside familiar characters. “Han and Leia” opens with a
soft quotation of Leia’s theme, followed up with the bittersweet love theme
from The Empire Strikes Back, sounding
muted, restrained, and as weary and cautious as the two characters it has long
united and divided. The world-famous Imperial March, present in every Star Wars score save for A New Hope, appears twice. First and
most obviously on solo bassoon when Kylo Ren talks to Vader’s helmet (not
included on album), and more subtly in “The Ways of the Force” in the low brass
at 1:00 (It’s hard to catch, but you won’t un-hear it once you find it). While
not a direct allusion, “Snoke” features heavy throat-singing reminiscent of
both the Emperor’s theme in Return of the
Jedi as well as the “Palpatine’s Teachings” scene from Revenge of the Sith. Whether this is foreshadowing of who Snoke is
or merely a general “bad guy” texture Williams likes to employ remains to be
seen. (Now you can craft tinfoil theories based on the music!) Regardless, it’s
also noteworthy that, unlike the prequel scores, the choral presence is limited
to this one idea in The Force Awakens.
Less
obvious on the first listen are the quality of the new themes Williams
introduces. After playing around with the villain’s theme in “Kylo Ren Arrives
at the Battle,” Williams tenders a secondary motif for him, introduced in “The
Abduction” that emphasizes his connection with the Dark Side. Just three
descending pitches (though the first one is repeated 4-6 times) built around
the same intervals as the Imperial March, this motif captures the raw,
unbridled, nearly unstoppable power the nascent Sith lord carries within him.
Around this same point in the film, Williams introduces (after a small tease in
“Rey Meets BB-8”) his theme for the Resistance (Did “The New Rebellion” not
test well with audiences?). One suspects that Williams could write a march in
his sleep at this point, but he sets the Resistance March apart from its Droid
and Nazi cousins by developing it into a fugue. It’s difficult to determine
what the crisscrossing melodic lines accomplish, save for turning the concert
arrangement from a karaoke staple to a barbershop quartet standard, but it’s
appropriately bombastic, militaristic, and defiant.
Two
minor but attractive themes appear in the second act, both connected to the
“Totally not a Death Star” Starkiller Base. The first is a searing string elegy
appearing in “The Starkiller,” as the superweapon destroys an entire star
system. This death motif reappears in the potent and pivotal “Torn Apart.”
Another motif for the First Order’s base is a frosty motif on strings used in
establishing shots. It bears similarity to Memoirs
of a Geisha, but is sadly left off both the album and the “For Your
Consideration” promo.
The
absolute standout of the new themes is that for the primary protagonist Rey. It’s
heard in its concert arrangement in “Rey’s Theme,” the first half of which
informs “The Scavenger,” when Rey is introduced onscreen. A xylophone represents…something
I still haven’t figured out, but the 7 note idea is neat and reminds me vaguely
of something out of Korngold’s The
Adventures of Robin Hood. It’s followed by a steady and determined 5 note
ostinato passed through the orchestra and, with cello counterpoint, builds to
the main phrase (1:30 in “The Scavenger,” :33 in “Rey’s Theme”), a magical melody
that Williams easily toggles between adventurous, tragic, resolute, and
yearning throughout the score. That final mood is how “The Scavenger” closes
out as Rey hopes for a more interesting life. With the exception of Ben Kenobi
in A New Hope and Emperor Palpatine
in Return of the Jedi, Rey’s musical
introduction might be the best in the series.
After
appearing again in “That Girl With the Staff,” underscoring her first
interactions with Finn, Rey’s theme takes a backseat until they arrive at
Takodana in “Finn’s Confession.” Here, it’s filled with wonder and awe, echoing
Rey’s amazement at seeing such a verdant world. In between these statements of
Rey’s theme, the Force theme makes a couple appearances (only in the film) as
Han tells Finn and Rey about Luke, his disappearance, and other old stories. The
theme’s solemnity reflects the poor current condition of the Jedi, feeling like
a relic from a(n even longer) time ago.
At
its heart, The Force Awakens is about
the growth of Rey and its eventual union with the Force Theme as it, well, Awakens,
and the two themes finally converge in “Maz’s Council.” Following Rey’s vision
with the lightsaber (arguably when the Force Officially Awakens), the Force
theme emerges as Maz urges Rey to take the lightsaber. However, a part of Rey’s
theme (perhaps a motif of destiny?) bursts forward with great distress while
Rey hits the Force’s snooze button and flees the cantina for the woods. Following
the menacing appearance of Kylo’s secondary motif in “The Abduction,” iterating
while he pursues and captures Rey, the heroine’s theme makes a curious but
poignant and full-throttled performance as Kylo takes her aboard his ship and
Han and Finn look on in horror. While it seems odd that Rey’s theme is
performed here, Williams plays the emotions of the scene, which are better
served by the tragically melodramatic rendition of Rey’s theme than any
devilishly triumphant version of Kylo’s.
The
first album appearance of the Resistance March (soon after given its concert
arrangement) occurs as an interlude in “Han and Leia” before the estranged
couple continues their conversation. The love theme gives way to Kylo’s
secondary theme as they talk about their son, poisoned by the Dark Side. When
Leia insists he can be redeemed, just like Vader, the Force theme closes out
the cue. Kylo’s stomping main theme re-appears in “On the Inside” with some
choral augmentation (perhaps his resolve strengthened by Snoke’s council?)
amidst some classic brassy Williams action music as he pursues the escaped Rey
and her rescuers through the Starkiller Base.
As
he so frequently has done in his prior scores for the series, Williams ups his
game for the final act, starting with “Torn Apart.” The death motif returns as
Kylo admits his pain to Han, with a hopeful, rising undercurrent of potential
redemption in the lower strings. However, layers of brass build, starting at
1:28, with a repetitive string ostinato (first hinted at in “Snoke”) climaxing
as Ren kills his father (in the film, the ostinato appears afterwards
triumphantly). In the shocking aftermath, the elegiac death motif resurfaces,
with a hint of the love theme in a minor mode at 2:14 when we see Leia sense
Han’s death. Wave after wave of brass attacks crash as Chewbacca and the
Stormtroopers begin shooting at one another, building to a powerfully ecstatic
rendition of Kylo’s main theme, followed by the Force theme after Finn and Rey
run from the base. Ren’s theme reappears softly as he confronts them in the
snowy forest, followed by a tender version of Rey’s theme when she’s knocked
unconscious. If I haven’t made it completely obvious, this cue accentuates the
emotions of the sequence splendidly, and is one of the highlights of the score.
In
“The Ways of the Force,” dissonant strings build to a defiant rendition of the
Force theme when Rey uses her growing power to summon Luke’s lightsaber.
However, instead of employing this potent bit of music, the scene is tracked in
with the variation on the Force theme heard in “Burning Homestead” from A New Hope. While it serves the scene
quite well, it’s a highly distinctive variation on the motif, which made it a
bit distracting for me.
In
any case, the rest of the cue continues the streak of excellence and belongs in
the pantheon of lightsaber duel music. Instead of offering up a mere Clash of
Lightsabers, or a simple Duel of the Fates, or a quaint Battle of the Heroes,
we are treated to a sequence in which two characters, representing the Light
Side and the Dark Side of the Force, fight one another, and their respective
themes fight each other musically. Rey’s theme attacks and subsides when Kylo’s
two motifs press his advantage. Ren’s main theme recapitulates twice, each time
softer, before the Force theme responds and grows in volume, leading to a
counterattack from Rey’s theme. A buzzing dissonance as the two combatants are
deadlocked gives way to a combo attack of the Force and Rey at their most
triumphant, but a fading low string tremolo closes the cue in an unresolved
fashion when Kylo and Rey are separated by a chasm. It’s quite clear that there
is unfinished business between these two when they cross laser blades again.
The
bulk of our heroes’ themes come together to wrap the story up in the
penultimate “Farewell and the Trip.” Among the highlight chains is the
victorious statement of Poe’s theme seguing effortlessly into the Force theme,
augmented with bright, heartwarming trumpets. Equally powerful is a delicate
solo cello playing Rey’s theme as she bids farewell to the unconscious Finn,
followed immediately by Leia’s theme when the Resistance general, on her own
once again, wishes Rey good luck. This is succeeded by a lengthy buildup
featuring bits of Rey, the Rebel/Falcon, and the main themes before concluding
with Rey’s theme, now boldly advancing to her next adventure. In about five
minutes, Williams merges old and new seamlessly together in an immensely
satisfying coda to the film.
But
Wait! In the grand tradition of infomercial stars, Peter Jackson films, and
Columbo, There’s More! One mystery that has still eluded me is the opening
melody to “The Jedi Steps and Finale.” The theme plays as Rey climbs the
mountain at the end, a series of descending notes, which slowly rise in
intensity and volume, leading to a dramatic swell as Luke finally appears
before seguing into a final statement of the Force theme and launching into the
credits. Williams just dangles it before the audience at the very end of the
film, then dangles one final morsel for those willing to sit through all the
credits (or those listening on album). After excellent arrangements of the
themes for the four new characters (featuring Poe and Finn’s themes in
counterpoint! Is Williams shipping them?) and the March of the Resistance,
Rey’s theme is reprised in counterpoint with the Force theme. Here, Williams
shows his hand, revealing how they were connected this whole time, and how they
come together harmoniously, before a final quotation of the Rebel fanfare
followed by Luke’s theme twinkling softly on xylophone at
the end.
This
final stroke of brilliance leaves me eager to hear the Jedi Steps motif
developed, find its place in the Star
Wars tapestry, figure out how Rey’s theme grows in the coming films, and hear
it do battle with Kylo Ren’s theme again in unique ways. As long as I can
remember, the music of Star Wars has
felt like a fully-formed, pre-existing world. Of all the impressive
accomplishments of The Force Awakens
as a film and as a score, perhaps the most impressive is how alive the series feels, and how I find
myself legitimately excited to see and hear the next installment. “The WVIII
for VIII” continues with great fervor.
9.6
____
Additional notes about release: none.
Track Listing
| 1. | Main Title and the Attack on the Jakku Village | 6:25 |
| 2. | The Scavenger | 3:39 |
| 3. | I Can Fly Anything | 3:10 |
| 4. | Rey Meets BB-8 | 1:31 |
| 5. | Follow Me | 2:54 |
| 6. | Rey's Theme | 3:11 |
| 7. | The Falcon | 3:32 |
| 8. | That Girl with the Staff | 1:58 |
| 9. | The Rathtars! | 4:05 |
| 10. | Finn's Confession | 2:08 |
| 11. | Maz's Counsel | 3:07 |
| 12. | The Starkiller | 1:50 |
| 13. | Kylo Ren Arrives at the Battle | 2:00 |
| 14. | The Abduction | 2:23 |
| 15. | Han and Leia | 4:41 |
| 16. | March of the Resistance | 2:34 |
| 17. | Snoke | 2:03 |
| 18. | On the Inside | 2:06 |
| 19. | Torn Apart | 4:19 |
| 20. | The Ways of the Force | 3:14 |
| 21. | Scherzo for X-Wings | 2:32 |
| 22. | Farewell and the Trip | 4:55 |
| 23. | The Jedi Steps and Finale | 8:51 |
| Total Album Time: | 77:08 |
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