The motif is picked up again in militaristic style at the beginning of Imperial Attack, played alternately by French horns and strings over a rhythmic bass pulse. This is the first instance in the score where a melody is passed from section to section of the orchestra, a technique that occurs several times throughout the work with every major theme. The frenzied music for the shootout is actually an undeveloped version of the Imperial theme, and is followed by the return of the Rebel Fanfare, which builds to foreboding brass at the entrance of Darth Vader. in the scene where stolen Imperial technical data is stored into the memory banks of astro-droid R2-D2, themes for Ben Kenobi and Princess Leia Organa are introduced in succession, "I think of Ben Kenobi's theme as reflecting both him and also the Jedi Knights and the Old Republic that he remembers," comments Williams. "It also serves to represent the Force, the spiritual-philosophical belief of the Jedi Knights, and the Old Republic. Like the Princess' theme, it has a fairy tale aspect rather than a futuristic aspect. There is a lot of English horn in Ben's theme which is often heard under dialogue. At other times, the melody becomes the heroic march of the Jedi Knights." Princess Leia's theme is briefly restated her capture, and the Darth Vader (Imperial) theme is introduced fully when R2-D2 leads his interpreter counterpart C-3PO into an emergency escape pod. "Long ago, Darth Vader betrayed Ben Kenobi and the Jedi Knights," John Williams explains. "Now Vader represents the bad side of the Force. For his theme I use a lot of bassoons and muted trombones and other sorts of low sounds." After the launch of the escape pod, scored with a grand passage for strings and brass, the Princess is taken to Darth Vader, allowing nearly every section of the orchestra to play his theme in turn. The piece concludes with the introduction of the four-chord Death Star motif as the Imperial Star Destroyer pulls out of orbit over Tatooine. This indicates the warship's destination and musically identifies the major threat of the film. However, since the Death Star has not yet become a visual reality, the first statement of the motif fades away on an unresolved chord, setting the tone for the ensuing desert-based action
31 окт 2024
