Revenge Of The Sith OST

This is the summary of the tracks in Revenge Of The Sith OST:

EPISODE III SOUNDTRACK REPORT: Revenge of the Sith

The Revenge of the Sith Soundtrack enters new territory. It's a very operatic piece, more similar to THE PHANTOM MENACE than ATTACK OF THE CLONES. Themes from the other five episodes are interwoven together to create the demise of Anakin Skywalker.

The battle scenes are adventurous with percussion beats that are very 'congo' sounding in their nature. There is also more choral work in this recording than any other episode. If I could break the main score up into smaller sections, it would be; Force Theme, Battle of the Heroes and Padme's tender motifs.

It does suffer from some repetition but that is about the only bad thing I can think of.

01 - Star Wars and The Revenge Of The Sith 7:31

The normal opening crawl is short-lived, unlike other episodes. Whereas normally the scroll fades into infinity, the last part is cut off by a very adventurous yet dangerous motif – the space battle over Coruscant. After this brief motif, we are first introduced into the one of the most constant Themes on the soundtrack - The Force Theme (which is under-scored with a militaristic beat similar to the Droid Invasion Theme from EPISODE I) which continues for quite a while; no doubt following a long camera shot into battle. The rest of the track continues in this fashion.

02 - Anakin's Dream 4:46

A beautiful Viola solo accompanied by a harp opens Anakin’s Dream. Across the Stars soon can be heard underneath the solo before the darker string section hits, and uncertainity arises, only to once again fall into the Love Theme. After more dark cues, the Force Theme echoes things to come.

03 - Battle Of The Heroes 3:42

The new major Theme for Star Wars. The theme consists of a busy bass line with choral pieces intertwined.

04 - Anakin's Betrayal 4:04

Sections of the Love Theme again can be heard with strings and horns interwoven.

05 - General Grievous 4:07

A 'congo' sounding piece that no doubt will sound fantastic on screen.

06 - Palpatine's Teachings 5:25

This track reminds one of the soundtrack of the Dark Crystal. A deep male voice 'chants' with a metallic sound over the top. It then moves into the Love Theme which flows into Vader's Theme. Followed is a variation on the Force Theme - kinda interesting. After some more dark music, a brilliant Arrival at Coruscant theme from EPISODE I ends the piece.

07 - Grievous and the Droids 3:28

Standard fight music here. Very much reminiscent of the EPISODE I 'Droid Invasion' piece.

08 - Padme's Ruminations 3:17

Deadly eerie. It doesn't sound like it should be in Star Wars. A long note held on a double bass glides as Amazonian-like flutes and a synthesised female's solo flows over top. This is just very eerie.

It is soon followed by a movement in the lower strings section that reminds one of Palpatine's Chambers in RETURN OF THE JEDI. Horns pulse every now and then.

09 - Anakin vs. Obi-Wan 3:57

Battle of the Heroes starts off this piece before we quickly get into Vader's Theme. Back to Battle of the Heroes; first solo, then the string section picks it up. There is then another familiar theme (the one which was played during the teaser trailer as Vader rises). We then have a busy string section before more Vader's Theme - followed again by that 'familiar' theme. Enter the Chorus and another section of Battle of Heroes that crescendos into strings and soon the Force Theme with a pumping base raises its head, followed again by Battle of the Heroes.

10 - Anakin's Dark Deeds 4:05

Begins quietly then leads to a wall of chorus (very Lords of the Rings-ish). After a 'fight' like music, it enters on a really soft section that echoes the way Padme is represented in this score. The ending is so sad to the track before before brass finishes it off.

11 - Enter Lord Vader 4:14

A soft introduction is soon met with variations of the Battle of the Heroes Theme. There is a small part of this that reminds of the music from the Rebels in the Original Trilogy. A miliatristic section soon ends with Vader's Theme and another playing of the Force Theme which is followed by the Emperor's Theme.

12 - The Immolation Scene 2:42

A dark and omnious piece.

13 - Grievous Speaks to Lord Sidious 2:49

Most have heard this on Starwars.com. The end of this piece is a variation on the Love Theme which is dark.

14 - The Birth Of The Twins and Padme's Destiny 3:37

A lilting bass line from Across the Stars is over-scored by a harp and glockenspiel. It is then followed by a majestic version of Qui-Gon's Funeral Theme (which may have just become the Naboo Funeral Theme) and is played about three times in total.

15 - A New Hope and End Credits 13:06

This is the longest piece of music on the soundtrack. A beautiful segue into Leia's Theme is followed by the Force Theme. The Force Theme is repeated and grows (but don't expect a big finale) before we enter the End Credit sequence.

Leia's Theme follows the standard Star Wars End Credit Theme. Battle of the Heroes takes off where Leia's Theme finishes. The Throne Room Theme then hits in at the end of BotH. The middle section of the The Throne Room is extremely legato compared to the ending in A NEW HOPE. After this part is finished its back into the main section.

It sounds like it is about to finish as in A NEW HOPE when it suddenly enters a really delicate version of the Force Theme. The Theme then shifts up and plays again before entering the Throne Room Theme once more. This plays out until the finale Star Wars Theme.

Post Notes: The Score Begins
February 03, 2005

When theater lights darken this May, and the rolling drums and fanfare of the 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm logos fade out, fans will brace themselves for that first triumphant blast of brass that signals the start of Episode III. The famous main title theme is not what started off today's scoring sessions at Abbey Road Studios -- like the filming process, scoring is rarely ever done in movie-sequence. The first piece of music recorded for Revenge of the Sith was instead something six reels into the story.

Composer John Williams has written over 40 distinct cues for the Episode III score, to be performed over the next few days by the London Symphony Orchestra. The recording order is delineated on an oversized printout, marking the title of the cue and the reel where it resides. These titles are more for internal use -- they rarely ever make it to the liner notes of soundtrack albums since these cues are often combined and edited to make playable tracks. My guess is that cues like "Boys Into Battle" and "Palpatine's TV Set" will likely get renamed before readied for public consumption.

Today starts with "Padmé's Visit," the music that accompanies a tense and dramatic encounter between Anakin and Padmé. The young lovers have shed the starry-eyed innocence of Episode II, worn down by witnessing years of warfare and deception. Though the love theme from Attack of the Clones appears in this cue, there's a sense of desperation behind it, of time ticking away. Anakin's troubled nature is signaled by the creeping approach of the Imperial March -- Darth Vader's theme from The Empire Strikes Back. The deep bass tones that lurk behind the love theme color the drama.

The next cue jumps to the early moments of film, to the first lightsaber duel in a movie packed with many. It's the three-way rematch that sees Anakin and Obi-Wan once again square off against Count Dooku. The frenetic on-screen action is accompanied by aggressive combat music devoid of any familiar character-based themes. The percussive music, accented with cymbal hits, underscores the lightsaber attack, but it isn't particularly timed to each hit. To do so would be impractical, given the intensity of the sound design that will accompany this lightsaber action.

An angry roll of timpani accompanies the fight's denouement, silencing the orchestra in its wake. Then come some tentative strings, exploring the uncomfortable silence that follows.

"Can the clicks be louder," asks Williams of the control room. The assembled musicians all wear headphones that play a "click track," a series of timed clicks meant to keep them all in the same beat. "They sound a bit wooly," says Williams.

Shawn Murphy, the Scoring Engineer complies. He sits in the control room, carefully listening to the orchestra as they are recorded. He makes notes on any irregularities in the music, citing measures that need to be revisited.

After each take, Williams comes into the control room along with principal musicians to hear what the microphones captured. From there, they can make adjustments for subsequent takes. Together, Murphy and Williams gauge each performance and determine how much to re-record. Rather than wear down the orchestra by re-recording entire cues, they often target specific trouble spots, prompting the orchestra to replay certain measures to be edited into the surrounding music. Still, sometimes the entire cue is re-recorded.

The next selection for the day is "Palpatine's Seduction." Even in the heavily soundproofed confines of the control room, I can still feel the low vibrations. The music covers a conversation between Anakin and Palpatine within the Chancellor's office. We in the control room hear none of the dialogue. The picture, played on a regular television monitor in the booth and on a relatively washed out screen on the scoring stage (projection in a fully lit room will do that) has graphical pops and streamers atop the image in sync with the click track.

Perhaps my ears are playing tricks on me, but I think I can hear a little refrain of Shmi's tragic last moments in this scene. A strong connection stirs between Anakin and Palpatine, as voiced by the strings. A bass drum is responsible for the tremors. By scene's end, the Emperor's theme rises -- played here without a choir -- with the luring strings continuing underneath, finally culminating in a growing cymbal roll that accompanies the scene-wipe that takes us to Utapau and Obi-Wan's continued hunt for General Grievous.

"I love the dark stuff," says George Lucas, relishing the tones prevalent throughout this score.

Next up is "Heroes Collide," the much anticipated start to the duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin. A new theme, carried mostly by the brass section, follows the two Jedi as their duel takes them from an outside landing platform to the inside of an industrial facility. The music alternates between sweeping strokes and fast punctuation -- not unlike the lightsaber duel itself. As is common in the final reels of a Star Wars movie, the action intercuts from one story to another. Those concerned about the action being compromised by cutting away needn't worry -- what's playing opposite this duel is a confrontation just as big and anticipated, though it doesn't last as long, so the remainder of Obi-Wan and Anakin's battle plays through uninterrupted.

At one point in this cue, the music sounds almost exactly as it did in The Empire Strikes Back, when Darth Vader begins pummeling Luke with equipment tossed telekinetically. In both that Episode V moment and this Episode III moment, we hear a grandiose presentation of the Imperial March with sharp brass accents.

Closing your eyes, you can still track the progress of the battle. The music holds to accommodate dialogue during the fight. When lightsabers lock and opponents stare at each other over crossed blades, the strings vibrate brilliantly, building the tension and drama. At one point during in the duel, Obi-Wan and Anakin are caught in competing Force pushes, outstretched hands locking a few centimeters apart. Here, the elegant Force theme emerges from the frantic fighting, but it sounds pained, echoing the struggle.

Shawn notes that the sound quality of the loud percussion affects that of the rest of the orchestra, so William conducts the next take without percussion. As it turns out, even this huge stage is too small to contain the powerful drums. They may be recorded later, under different circumstances.

Lucas points out that this portion of the fight seems to be lacking an expected ingredient: the Duel of the Fates from The Phantom Menace. "That comes later. In the big duel," says Williams.

According to the schedule, those were the only four pieces slated for today, but the orchestra continues, and four more cues are performed. "Another Happy Landing" is a short piece of music, the first cue to occur after the hectic pace of the chaotic space battle. Now, we can take time to peacefully introduce Coruscant and its skyline with a pageantry reminiscent of the first majestic introduction of the city-planet back in Episode I. "Yoda's Fall" is a very brief piece, less than a minute in length, that underscores a specific action.

Next is "Revisiting Padmé," which covers the reunion of the lovers, Anakin and Padmé, in the film. It contains the familiar love theme from Episode II, but there's an interesting juxtaposition in tone. Proof that music greatly affects the perception of a scene, I remember seeing this sequence un-scored and feeling one way about it. In the rough cut, creepy temp music was inserted to an otherwise tame scene of tender exchanges. Here, in the final score, it's not so much creepy, but there is an undercurrent of dark uncertainty. Padmé brings a purity to it, in the form of a unblemished woodwind recitation of the love theme that crescendos to the next wipe.

"So, people, what I'm proposing what we do for the remainder of today is 7M1," says Williams. It's title is, currently, unprintable for the sake of the spoiler-free majority that reads these reports. That's the case with almost everything that happens in the 7th reel. And, true to the film's end, it is tragic and emotional.

Disclaimer: Of course, a dozen people can listen to the same piece of music and come away with a dozen different impressions, but I can't think of how else to report what I heard than by expressing what I felt. Please keep that in mind when reading these Post Notes from scoring.

Spotted today: Hayden Christensen couldn't resist the opportunity to witness the scoring session -- a first for him. Also visiting today is Director and Jedi Master Frank Oz, who will soon return to the backwards-patterned speech to record some loop lines for Yoda this weekend.

Oh, another thing: The main title isn't part of the planned scoring sessions -- a pre-existing recording of the famous Star Wars theme will be used instead.


© Lucasfilm 2005.

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