The Evolution of Darth Vader's Theme 

Anakin: Hey, my names anakin, are you a jedi? Qui-Gon: *why do I hear boss music?*

I can’t believe never noticed the subtle Imperial theme in The Phantom Menace. Truly John Williams is the best part of Star Wars, he tells the entire story through sound. Even the originals without his music wouldn’t be nearly as good.

I love how this entire saga is a crescendo of the Imperial March

Needless to say, do not underestimate the score for the phantom menace... It's a low key masterpiece...

I love how the theme mirrors the character himself. At first it's only hints of it hidden under the music of the current moment. But once Anakin outs himself as the Sithlord Vader, it's showing itself in it's truest form.

6:26 Vader: Now go my son. Leave me. Luke: No I got to save you! Vader: You already have. Always breaks my heart! Very powerful scene.

Ever realize when Vader says “Obi Wan has taught you well” when he looks up and sees that Luke has the high ground?

Palps had his own theme, it's just not known as well.

When you wrote "Anakin dies" that hit me :(

it's crazy how the music tells us from the start that something is wrong

When training Anakin, I always noticed this music in the background when he did something sinister. I thought it was nothing (and could never tell where it was coming from) but in retrospect, I really should have been picking up on the hints.

Now that I think abt it, damn this motif is everywhere

no matter what you think of the films themselves, the work of John Williams on all nine movies is Legendary and rivals the scope, detail, beauty and power of anything composed before it. In my opinion, the greatest achievement in movie score history

For some reason Darth Vader sitting at that table in the Cloud City scarred me as a child. My brain could not comprehend how such a nice, safe place could be corrupted.

1:22 Now I understand why Anakin chose the dark side. "Take a Sith, young Skywalker". He simply obeyed...

I like how you made transition between darth vader and when he dies you said anakin which is correct... gj

Wish you had included "Hope" from Rogue One, which is a subtle slower version of the theme. But I can understand using Williams' score only!

2:05 This is the definition of “Why do I hear boss music?”

the very first phantom menace part, and the “with my own eyes” part are some of john williams’ best work. absolute genius.

I love it how you say that "Anakin dies" and not "Darth Vader dies"

Christensen played anakin perfectly in Revenge of the Sith

20 years of repeat viewings of Episode I & I never caught it

Masterful. Putting them all together this way really shows how John Williams conveyed each thing through the music, rather it be the subtle menacing clues from the bassoon in the counsel scene or the dominating presence as in the Imperial March. Especially in the dying scene, where the theme starts out high in the violins with tremolo as Luke is unsure what to expect upon removing his father's helmet, to the gentle flute when they see each other, then finally the harp letting him depart in peace. Even in the scene from V where Vadar is messing with Luke, even the score is overreacting and blunt to reveal how Luke has gotten himself in too deep. Also, the modulations do a great job at conveying different levels of power and urgency.

*Jedi Fallen Order:* "That doesn't look good..." "It's not. It's _him..."_

Honestly would've prefered if ROTS ended on that shot 3:02 It's just so cool and sad. Still an awesome movie

I was always impressed by how Vader's theme is played one last time when Vader dies -- and is played, I believe, on the strings of a harp. Just nine plucks.

I love how subtle it was in phantom menace

3:01 Man I love that shot! The most iconic crossed arms ever

6:45 this little jingle killed me. It sounds like a music box, like the last flickering remains of his life being put out. The only silver lining being that Anakin outlived Darth Vader in the end.

You can also hear the imperial march when Anakin tells Padme about killing the Tusken Raiders in AotC.

1:05 “subtle hints”

0:19 do you hear that? It's typical Vader's theme but not with bass but with piano. It's amazing to see how John Williams made this detail

0:45 I read "Anakin kills the sand"

Love the way it gets more pronounced and sharp and his life progresses

It goes from subtle to incredible obvious as soon as he turns to the darkside. Love it.

The way palpatine says “Vader” gives me chills

The ending of Revenge of the Sith with the "Tragic Vader" part of the score will always be one of my favorite moments from any of the movies. In music, you hear Vader's loss and sorrow transform into acceptance of what he's become.

The written score itself lists the Imperial March as "Darth Vadar's Theme." Yes, Darth Vadar.

I truly love it when a character’s theme is utilized within the very infrastructure of the story. And SW pulled it off the best, with consistent evolution and a sense foreboding menace ever present majority of the times we saw Anakin engaged in central junctures of his life.

One scene I love wit this is from the clone wars in the citadel ark, and when they get back to coruscant it’s playing happy music and they’re just talking about stuff, and then when anakin and tarkin shake hands agreeing on how they did well together and liked working together, it goes from playing the song they were playing and they play 3 notes from this theme and then keep playing the other song, they do this in a really subtle way that you might not even notice but it’s really cool

The first apperance in TESB played by piccolo. I hadn't noticed it until now! Great video, but there're a lot of Imperial March apperances in spin-offs and sequel trilogy also

You know, it's weird to think that Darth Vader never heard his own theme song. Like if we hear it, we will instantly associate it with Darth Vader. But If Anakin himself, heard it he would be like "Hmm nice tune..."

I love the way Rise of Skywalker used the theme. It made it sound like it was a phantom orchestra

I like the fact you said “Anakin dies” attention to detail

It’s 2019 and you didn’t include anything from the sequels. I see you’re a man of culture.

The music in these movies is what made them legendary

The Clone Wars has begun just kinda throws it at you

Maclunkey!

You missed the single most iconic Darth Vader theme of all: Sonny Terry - Whoppin' The Blues.

Could we have a discussion about how The Last Jedi might have overly relied on temp tracks which inhibited the creative expansion of the film's scores? (At least, I didn't notice any new melodies in TLJ. They just seem like a various combination of previous scores)

2:50 the shift between tones really shows how John Williams can convey emotions through his music and almost tell a story

Damn.. does the soundtrack at 2:50 give anyone else chills? It's like a split between Vader's wickedness and the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker's fate..

Best is at the end of Rouge One BAAAAM BAAAAAM BAAAAAAAAAM

There is one moment in TROS when Rey went up to the Death Star Chamber the variation of Anakin's theme of him "Seeing Luke with his own eyes" is played again.

Another thing that's really notable I think you should of included is the theme for the resistance from episode 7, it's actually just the imperial March remixed.

I love this, but my only quibble is that "Vader's Power" already appeared with the 2nd half towards the beginning of "The Empire Strikes Back". I would have thought that'd be the most definitive version of the theme.

People can say what they want about the John Williams / Holst / Dvorak dynamic, but no one can doubt that John Williams' narrative ability through music is top-notch, and the way he organizes his leitmotifs are genius.

I’ve always loved leitmotifs. Such effective ways of getting a theme or story across, making *characters* within music that interact. It’s not just saying, “hey, feel sad,” but, “Anakin is sad, he’s really hurting and doesn’t know what to do. There’s a lot of emotional pain here.” The different emotions and shades of the motifs are so friggin cool! And overlaying or blending two motifs can create even more complete musical stories. While I personally prefer and enjoy The Lord of the Rings’ score by Howard Shore the most of any series, the idea of having nine movies to have to blend together is nuts. I wish more composers made use of leitmotifs. I don’t think it’s an accident that two of my favorites feature them in their works. I can never really dislike the prequels, because at least they gave us wonderful music. Duel of the Fates is epic and Across the Stars is so sweeping. I love them so much. 😭

Your channel has given me such a greater appreciation for movies. Thank you!

I’m surprised people didn’t hear his theme in Episode 1. I was able too since I was a little kid

The Imperial March And Vader's theme are the same thing Though It's More Seen As Vader's theme

Thanks for posting this video. And have a very Merry Christmas and a safe and happy new year too everyone.

Parade for the emperor feels like THE Vader Theme

ik that vaders helmet is based off a samoriai, but I always though it was supposed to be a hood (2:56 you can see side by side how vaders helmet looks like a hood)

2:22 actually this is part of the Battle of the Heroes soundtrack, not on its own Williams added it in, just in case you missed it

2:48 Vader’s last fart

Brilliant. Thanks for all of your work to put this together!

I will now rewatch the six Star Wars movies and clone wars to find EVERY SINGLE TIME the imperial March plays.

I don't think I would've enjoyed any of the main Star Wars movies after Episode V without the great music.

I dont know how you managed to find that piccolo at 3:11, but its damn impressive. Great video

In rouge one corridor scene where darth vader cuts everyone down, if you speed up the music you can hear the imperial march. Its called ”Hope”

Very well done indeed! This video reminds me why I love the original Lucas-Williams saga so much. I also loved the added subtitles, something added but not unnecessary;-)

Death squadrons appearance is the most dramatic I reckon

enjoyed it alot, very nice

Love the video, as a music lover and Star Wars fan, I noticed some of these small details and was hoping someone made a video on it

Videos like this one get demonetised immediately, because they necessarily involve using musical examples. If you'd like to support my work, please visit: www.patreon.com/insidethescore Thanks for watching and enjoy the holiday break, if you have one!

I love how John Williams made sure to include shades of The Imperial March in just about every piece of music he composed for the Prequels

The sad vader theme at the end of rotj 😔 my favorite one, and one of my favorite all time Star Wars moments 😢

The allusion to the same key, same chord progression in the final scene of Rogue One is also remarkable.

The video deserved a Like before the end but the switch from Vader back to Anakin in the subs makes me want to give it a second one. Well done, good sir !

A lot of time I missed it, thank you!

The best bit is when he dies and it goes from major to minor and so on and so forth showing his inner conflict and how it fades away at the end is pure brilliance showing that Vader's arch is complete.

Anakin: enters the pod race Racers: why do we hear boss music

That 03:14 piccolo appearance is subtle; I had to listen to it multiple times before recognizing it.

The "Anakin Dies" version is beautiful!

*Death?* I think it's more than just the *End* Skywalker created something more It created a culture, a universe, *Life* Because there is always A New *Hope* A new *Start* New things to *Love* To *Share* To *Believe In* Skywalker did end But it didn't *Die* Because it's Legacy will live forever

The last occurance in VI (the death) with the harp is the best one in my opinion. Beautiful and melancholic.

3:19 *Vader hears a slight voice in his head* Piccolo: DODGE, DODGE, DODGE, DODGE!!!!! *Vader wakes up from force vision * Vader: wtf...

The Cello-doublebass at 2:42 is my favorite version. SOOOOOOO DARRRK and Cold.

When I was a kid I bought the double LP set of the music of Star Wars soon after the movie came out. I have always loved John Williams scores since then, but never actually played them until finally this year playing in the first violin section of a local semi-pro orchestra that did the official Star Wars suite here in Seattle. The violin parts were pretty challenging but expertly written. JW is a masterful orchestrator so everything was a blast to play. Also on the program was a Prokofiev piano concerto and a Wagner overture. The Star Wars suite is great music and worthy of a place alongside the other great composers whose music has become standard classical repertoire.

This video makes me wanna rewatch all the films again.

I got literal goosebumps from the second clip

This is cool!

Love it

2:40 the purest echo of the dying moments of Mahler’s 6th (“tragic”) symphony. Even in the same key

EPIC VIDEO

Wow! Didn’t know this that’s really neat!

Light and ghostly the music fades until... the music is gone, and the force is balanced once more

the most dark-tragic scene in the darkest movie forever in past and future(?): 1:31 A helpful nice, young guy transforms to the personified darkest figure in movie-history (not only scifi-movies) until darth maul appeared. In compare to vader darth maul isn't that dark!

Vader and his theme are what made Star Wars this popular