Category: Star Wars

The final installment of the Star Wars saga not only brings closure to the story of the Skywalker family, it also closes off a legacy of around ten solid hours of some of the most memorable music of the past 50 years – and note that I didn’t narrow that down to “film music” either. John Williams returns to cap off the musical story with his intense, dark score for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith, and it’s an appropriate musical summation of both the underrated prequel trilogy and of the saga as a whole.

“Revenge Of The Sith” packs a surprising punch, coming out of the familiar main title music not with a gentle, sinister interlude, but with a tradition-shattering, in-your-face battle sequence that simply does not let up; at nearly eight continuous minutes, it’s breathtaking stuff. (Though it’s also savagely edited – if you’ve seen the movie, you know that we still got the traditional sinister interlude at the beginning.) Stylistically, there’s something about this track that screams “prequel trilogy” at me – it’s from the same sonic continuum as Episode I‘s rousing podracing music (reused for battle scenes in Episode II and, indeed, in this movie) and the final battle from the same movie.

Track 2, “Anakin’s Dream”, opens up with a surprisingly intimate reading of the Anakin/Padmè love theme from Episode II before treading into darker, murkier waters, twisting that theme subtly until it’s disturbingly dissonant.

“Battle Of The Heroes” is to this score what “Duel Of The Fates” was to Episode I, and in fact I seem to remember reading in 1999 that Lucas had earmarked “Fates” for a reprise during Obi-Wan’s final battle with Anakin. And while “Fates” does make a reappearance in the movie – over Yoda’s epic battle with Darth Sidious – I’m glad that Lucas changed his mind on this front and decided that the Anakin/Obi-Wan battle needed something different. “Heroes” and “Fates” are nice companion pieces, but “Heroes” is brimming with an appropriately tragic inevitability, played out on an operatic scale. “Duel Of The Fates” may have been a little catchier with its low, urgent ostinato – “Heroes”, by contrast, has an undulating, long-lined melody that changes subtly over the course of the piece – but a straight reprise of “Fates” by itself wouldn’t have had the same emotional dynamic that this movie needed. And now we can happily sit and listen to the two of them back-to-back.

“Anakin’s Betrayal” has something of the same operatic sensibility as “Battle Of The Heroes”, and something of its tragedy as well, but it’s a much slower build, almost a stately funeral procession. And we’ll get back to that idea a bit later.

“General Grievous” drags us back into fast-paced action music whether we’re ready for it or not, with busy, dissonant, stabbing brass stings, and low, dark iterations of the Force theme shared by both trilogies; musically, it has a lot in common with the chaotic action scenes toward the beginning of Episode II.

“Palpatine’s Teachings” startled me with how Goldsmithian it was; it’s all low meditations on the established themes for the Emperor and Vader, with solo French horns standing out in stark contrast, and menacing strings that almost make it sound like Jerry Goldsmith returned from the other side just to score a cue for the last Star Wars movie. The cue ends with a triumphant restatement of the Coruscant music from Episode I, one of my favorite pieces of music to have emerged from the prequel trilogy, though it’s used here to represent Senator Organa’s ship: it’s become a theme for the last shards of the Republic’s democracy, not merely a particular place.

“Grievous And The Droids” gets us back to some action music which is probably as close as this score gets to the action cues of the original trilogy. “Padmè’s Ruminations” is another more atmospheric track.

“Anakin Vs. Obi-Wan” starts out in much the same vein as “Battle Of The Heroes”, but it is this cue where we get the first full-blooded statement of Vader’s theme (a.k.a. “The Imperial March”, heard here in a form very much like the scenes from Return Of The Jedi in which Vader watches Luke’s torture at the hands of the Emperor. Eventually the music returns to “Battle Of The Heroes”, but not after a full musical notification that we’re reaching the point of full circle (and, plotwise, the point of no return) with the original trilogy.

“Anakin’s Dark Deeds” is apocalyptic, operatic, and quite chilling. I’m not sure what else I can say here or what else really needs to be said. “Enter Lord Vader” is dark, but far more bombastic. There’s a quiet interlude for a mournful rendition of the Anakin/Padmè love theme again, but after that, for all intents and purposes, the music accomapnies the footsteps of evil, concluding in another full-blast iteration of Vader’s theme. The next track (I’m deliberately not mentioning the title here, though it is in the track list toward the bottom of this review) covers one of the movie’s most disturbing scenes with the right doses of horror and sympathy.

“Grievous Speaks To Lord Sidious” opens up with another blast of operatic fury, but then settles into something quieter but still sinister. “The Birth Of The Twins” and “Padmè’s Destiny” brings back the music from Qui-Gon’s funeral in Episode I, but on a far more grand scale – think along the lines of a gigantic Catholic Mass, and you’ll get the idea.

“A New Hope and End Credits” puts us firmly on the road toward the original three films, with gentle, childlike renditions of Luke and Leia’s theme, followed by a lonely restatement of the “Binary Suns” cue from Star Wars as Obi-Wan begins his exile. From there we segue into the traditional end credits which, for the first few minutes, are virtually the end credits from the original Star Wars – the full recaps of Luke and Leia’s themes act as a bit of musical foreshadowing, eventually leading us to “Battle Of The Heroes”. After that, however, Williams starts reaching much further into the original trilogy, bringing us up to the end of the first movie with several repetitions of the Rebel medal ceremony. This last cue is over 13 minutes long – that’s a lot of credits – and while I find the choice of music fascinating and appropriate, it’s really my one disappointment with the CD as a listening experience. With that kind of running time, it just seems as though Williams squandered his opportunity for one final summation of the entire saga, from Phantom Menace through Return Of The Jedi. There was certainly enough time to something more than eight minutes of the medal march. Something marrying Anakin’s themes from the first two prequels with the themes of his children might have been more appropriate. I wouldn’t be griping, except that I’ve always loved how John Williams synthesizes all of the major themes of a given film in his end credit suites – it’s always been where he shows off some of his most ingenious work. With this kind of running time, this is a grand finale that just doesn’t seem grand enough. To be fair, however, the decision to use – and re-use and re-re-use – that theme may have been made by someone other than the composer himself.

With the movie’s music itself, and not just what’s heard here on this CD, there is the same slight gripe that I had after seeing Attack Of The Clones – there’s a lot of material lifted from earlier movies, though I strongly suspect that some of it was spliced in during editing in order to keep the music coming. The score for Revenge Of The Sith is almost continuous – there are very few scenes that don’t have something in them. I suspect we won’t see an expanded release of this score or the score from Clones, simply because so much of it is edited in from the Phantom Menace score. I was surprised – though I shouldn’t have been – to hear the rousing action music from Anakin’s podrace reprised yet again during the escape from Grievous’ ship. I’m not sure if the decision to do stuff like that was made by the composer or by the director, but that kind of “tracking from library,” from my perspective, denied us the chance to hear Williams strut his stuff one last time. Even though I was underwhelmed with portions of Clones, I still think that giving John Williams a chance to create new soundscapes can only be a good thing. To do otherwise turned portions of each subsequent movie into, effectively, a greatest hits album. I know that podrace music is hard to beat for pure, pulse-pounding action, but does that mean we’re not going to give the man a chance to try?

So there it is, the final Star Wars movie score – at least where Star Wars movies made by their creator are concerned. I realize the word “tragic” probably appears 45 times in the above review, followed immediately by you, the reader, saying “well, duh!”, but that just means that the music hit its marks, doing what John Williams’ music does best and serving as a Greek chorus all its own. There are TV projects waiting the wings, and whether or not Williams is involved with those, or if others add their own music to the legacy or merely re-edit or re-interpret Williams’ themes, there’s no way to deny that he’s made an indelible mark on film music, and on the musical consciousness of at least two generations. It’s hard to really calculate the impact he’s had, but it’s easy to say that it’s been a great ride.

1. Star Wars and The Revenge Of The Sith (7:31)
2. Anakin’s Dream (4:46)
3. Battle Of The Heroes (3:42)
4. Anakin’s Betrayal (4:04)
5. General Grievous (4:07)
6. Palpatine’s Teachings (5:25)
7. Grievous And The Droids (3:28)
8. Padmè’s Ruminations (3:17)
9. Anakin Vs. Obi-Wan (3:57)
10. Anakin’s Dark Deeds (4:05)
11. Enter Lord Vader (4:14)
12. The Immolation Scene (2:42)
13. Grievous Speaks To Lord Sidious (2:49)
14. The Birth Of The Twins and Padmè’s Destiny (3:37)
15. A New Hope and End Credits (13:06)

Released by: Sony Classical
Release date: 2005
Total running time: 70:51

This may be the daftest review ever to appear in the many pages of theLogBook.com’s music review section, but here goes. I’ve been carefully avoiding any story spoilers for Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones for something like three years now. I will check out Lucasfilm’s official web site for the movie, but I haven’t been looking for story summaries, spoilers, scripts, or any of that. I was actually honked off at the fairly major spoilers included on the action figure packaging for the new movie. And I debated whether or not to get the soundtrack in advance of the movie.

But if I hadn’t done that, we would’ve missed out on the chance to have this extremely strange chat.

The first track, opening with the traditional Star Wars theme, descends into a repetitive musical motif that spirals downward and then begins again. Remember, I have no idea what’s happening in this scene, so I have no idea how appropriate it is. Nice music, though.

“Love Theme From Attack Of The Clones” is the film’s big romantic statement, and judging by the rest of the disc, seems to serve not only as a theme for the burgeoning relationship between Anakin and Padmè that has been hinted at in the theatrical trailers, but also as a theme for Anakin himself.

“Zam The Assassin and The Chase Through Coruscant” is a lengthy track – over ten minutes’ worth – loaded with action and suspense music. Perhaps the biggest surprise here is the inclusion of wild distorted electric guitar riffs in a few places, which may have some fans up in arms, but not me. It actually sounds kinda cool – it’s not exactly a Force Commander-style remix or anything, but just another voice in the orchestra, and it integrates well. Again, no idea what’s going on in this scene, but a lot of the rumbling action cues remind me a great deal of Williams’ score from Nixon, and that’s not a bad thing. (It’s not as if he’s pulling a James Horner cut-and-paste scoring job on us, either. It’s very different music with a similar stacatto rhythm to it.) Maybe they’re chasing Zam through Coruscant. Guess I’ll find out soon enough, eh?

Other tracks of note include “The Tusken Camp and Homestead”, a track which surprised the heck out of me by jumping full-blast into “Duel Of The Fates” from the soundtrack of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. This is a rare case where I’m pretty sure I do have a good guess as to what happens in this scene, and why that particular motif comes up. And I’m not telling.

“Love Pledge and The Arena” includes some references to such Star Wars chestnuts as the Force theme and something presaging the AT-AT music from The Empire Strikes Back, but the biggest surprise in both this track and “Confrontation With Count Dooku and Finale” is the bold statement of “The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)”. I have absolutely no idea what’s happening here, and the fact that this particular theme appears in this movie makes me wonder just what is happening, and whether or not it would’ve been more appropriate to hold it until Episode III. But I can’t really say until I see the movie.

Overall, I’ve enjoyed the Episode II soundtrack as a listening experience alone. Some fans have railed against such things as the electric guitar and the seeming lack of strong thematic material in what’s on this album, but it’s important to remember that this is just the suite album, and a two-disc Ultimate Edition with the complete score is probably about 6-8 months away, as was the case with the Episode I Ultimate Edition set. Don’t fret over the guitars, either. Did you freak out when Williams used sax and steel drums in the original Star Wars? Of course not – not only did we have no precedent for Star Wars music then, but it was novel and appropriate and wouldn’t have been the same without it. And maybe that’s the case here too. On the virtue of the music alone, I like it.

You may think it’s a waste of your time to read an almost-spoiler-free music review of the soundtrack from someone without a clue as to its context in the film, but we’ll give the complete score release a more thorough review with that in mind when it hits the shelves. And I wanted to experiment with reviewing the music with no preconceived notions of whether or not it fits the scene – reviewing the music purely as a listening experience. And for the record, it’s a good experience.

1. Star Wars Main Title and Ambush On Coruscant (3:46)
2. Love Theme From Attack Of The Clones (5:33)
3. Zam The Assassin and The Chase Through Coruscant (11:07)
4. Yoda and The Younglings (3:55)
5. Departing Coruscant (1:44)
6. Anakin And Padmè (3:56)
7. Jango’s Escape (3:48)
8. The Meadow Picnic (4:14)
9. Bounty Hunter’s Pursuit (3:23)
10. Return To Tatooine (6:56)
11. The Tusken Camp and Homestead (5:54)
12. Love Pledge and The Arena (8:29)
13. Confrontation With Count Dooku and Finale (10:46)

Released by: Sony Classical
Release date: 2002
Total running time: 73:31

Much criticism has been levelled at this double-CD release purporting to offer listeners “every note of music from The Phantom Menace, and for the life of me, I still have yet to figure out why. Not quite two years ago, I got into a pretty public debate with Film Score Monthly’s Lukas Kendall about whether or not we deserved a two-CD set containing Episode I‘s full score in May, 1999. Instead, Sony gave us a single-CD edition, containing several concert versions and suites combining music from unrelated scenes. Now, I was always a big fan of the original Star Wars soundtrack double LP, back in the days before you could actually put the entire score (plus extras) on two CDs – I have some of those concert suites memorized. I don’t object to suite CDs, so long as the original score is available somewhere. So, despite the objections of quite a few really finicky fans, we finally have that full score release for The Phantom Menace.

So what’s their problem? It seems that some listeners are critical of the edits made to the music for the movie, and would rather hear the original session masters as recorded, prior to being chopped up for placement with scenes of the film that they weren’t necessarily meant to accompany. I can buy that complaint, actually. It was neat hearing the huge amount of stuff that was left out of the opening scenes of The Empire Strikes Back. But at the same time, if this is all we get, I’ll be satisfied. (Not that I’m holding my breath, mind you – three seems to be the magic number for Star Wars soundtracks, as all of the original trilogy soundtracks evolved slowly from abridged LPs to expanded Anthology box set releases to Special Edition full score releases. I’m sure that late 2001 or early 2002 will see the release of, at the very least, a single CD with “outtakes and unused music, heard here for the first time ever!”)

While some reviewers have commented on the blatant sound of the edits, I was only bothered by a very small number of the edits in the music. They don’t exactly stick out like a sore thumb…for the most part. A few of them did get my teeth grating, but not a large enough number to have me using the CDs for a frisbee.

If I have but a single complaint about the Ultimate Edition, it’s the packaging. The double-CD set and 64-page booklet are crammed into what I would charitably describe as a flimsy cardboard package which will not, mark my words, stand up to average jewel case wear and tear for very long. I would much rather have had the traditional double-size 2-CD jewel case with a removable booklet. Granted, the booklet is too thick to be squeezed into a slimline double jewel case. The booklet itself is also part of my complaint: it was originally promised to be a lavish exploration of the making of the music, which practically screams “extensive interview with John Williams,” something I was really looking forward to. Instead, the book is a lazy effort, with a large, page-filling color still from the movie to accompany – get this – each track title. The booklet was truly my biggest disappointment for this package. But my jewel cases tend to sit still and gather dust anyway, and Williams has been interviewed elsewhere about Phantom Menace. The music itself is a four-star special, not to be missed.

Some of the highlights omitted by the original single-disc release include the complete pod race sequence (“Anakin Defeats Sebulba”), the ominous “Anakin Is Free” (a rousing choral reading of the Force theme as Anakin turns to leave his mother behind), and “The Racer Roars To Life” / “Anakin’s Midi-Chlorian Count”, a beautiful piece which goes some way toward confirming my theory that the new composition at the end of Return Of The Jedi: Special Edition will be heard in the next two movies as the more mature Anakin’s theme.

Disc one
1. 20th Century Fox Fanfare (0:23)
2. Star Wars Main Title (1:24)
3. Boarding The Federation Battleship (2:31)
4. Death Warrant For Qui-Gon And Obi-Wan (1:18)
5. Fighting The Destroyer Droids (1:44)
6. Queen Amidala Warns The Federation (2:23)
7. The Droid Invasion (1:00)
8. Swimming To Otoh Gunga (0:56)
9. Inside The Bubble City (3:05)
10. Attack Of The Giant Fish (1:37)
11. Darth Sidious (1:04)
12. The Giant Squid And The Attack On Theed (1:18)
13. Qui-Gon And Obi-Wan Rescue The Queen (2:09)
14. Fighting The Guards (1:42)
15. Escape From Naboo (2:04)
16. Enter Darth Maul (1:07)
17. The Arrival At Tattooine (2:28)
18. Street Band Of Mos Espa (1:17)
19. Padme Meets Anakin (1:12)
20. Desert Winds (1:28 bonus track)
21. Jar Jar’s Run-In With Sebulba (1:18)
22. Anakin’s Home And The Introduction To Threepio (2:42)
23. Darth Sidious And Darth Maul (1:12)
24. Talk Of Podracing (2:59)
25. Watto’s Deal / Shmi And Qui-Gon Talk (2:24)
26. Anakin, Podracer Mechanic (1:38)
27. The Racer Roars To Life / Anakin’s Midi-Chlorian Count (1:24)
28. Darth Maul And The Sith Spacecraft (1:00)
29. Mos Espa Arena Band (0:53)
30. Watto’s Roll Of The Die (1:59)
31. The Flag Parade (1:14)
32. Sebulba’s Dirty Hand / Qui-Gon’s Pep Talk (1:37)
33. Anakin Defeats Sebulba (2:17)
34. Hail To The Winner, Anakin Skywalker (1:13)
35. The Street Singer (1:13)

Disc two
1. Anakin Is Free (5:04)
2. Qui-Gon And Darth Maul Meet (1:48)
3. Anakin And Group To Coruscant (4:11)
4. The Queen And Palpatine (0:41)
5. High Council Meeting (2:37)
6. The Senate (1:12)
7. Anakin’s Test (3:41)
8. Qui-Gon’s Mission / Obi-Wan’s Warning (3:47)
9. Nute And Rune Confer With Darth Sidious (0:29)
10. The Queen And Group Land On Naboo (2:19)
11. Jar Jar Leads Group To The Gungans (2:25)
12. War Plans (2:31)
13. Darth Sidious Receives News Of The Gungan Army (0:25)
14. The Gungans March (0:57)
15. The Queen And Her Group Sneak Back To The Palace (0:18)
16. The Battle Begins (0:24)
17. The Republic Pilots Take Off Into Space (1:26)
18. Activate The Droids (0:44)
19. The Gungans Fight Back (0:24)
20. The Duel Begins (0:51)
21. Anakin Takes Off In Spaceship (0:47)
22. The Duel Continues (0:59)
23. The Battle Rages On (1:59)
24. Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan And Darth Maul Continue Battle (1:22)
25. Qui-Gon, Darth Maul And The Invisible Wall (0:14)
26. The Gungans Retreat And The Queen Surrenders (2:18)
27. The Death Of Qui-Gon And The Surrender Of The Gungans (2:28)
28. The Tide Turns / The Death Of Darth Maul (3:24)
29. The Queen Confronts Nute And Rune (1:47)
30. The Funeral Of Qui-Gon (1:18)
31. The Parade (1:24)
32. End Credits (8:14)
33. Duel Of The Fates – Movie Dialogue Version (4:21 bonus track)

Released by: Sony Classical
Release date: 2000
Disc one total running time: 57:13
Disc two total running time: 66:49

Ladies and gentlemen, John Williams is back, and so is the universe of Star Wars. Many fans have been biting their nails over this element of the new movie, perhaps in fear that John Williams has lost his touch…but this film score proves that he has not. If anything, ever since I heard Williams’ music from Oliver Stone’s JFK and Nixon, I have been curious as to what the next Star Wars movie’s music would sound like – that is, if George Lucas ever got around to making the next movie.

In short…does the John Williams score for The Phantom Menace live up to the music from the original trilogy? Yes, it does. Given that this new film takes place a generation prior to the adventures of Luke Skywalker, in a complacent but basically pleasant galaxy that has yet to experience the horrors of Darth Vader or the Empire, the music is in a different vein. The constant military action in the original Star Wars trilogy demanded military music. But this “earlier” age in George Lucas’ fictional chronology, where the Jedi Knights are very much alive and well rather than legends of a bygone era, calls for more mysterious, and in some cases almost majestic music. Now, don’t become too alarmed – there is action music out the wazoo, and there are marches, and listening the The Phantom Menace soundtrack in the car may indeed give you the subliminal urge to dry to drive at hyperspace-worthy speeds.

To sum it up before we break down the entire CD track-by-track, John Williams knew what was expected of his music. The audience – and Lucas – wanted the immortal Star Wars/John Williams sound…as well as new surprises. And The Phantom Menace soundtrack does not disappoint in that regard.

Main Title / Arrival at Naboo: The familiar Star Wars signature theme opens the movie, instantly validating it as a real part of the storyline and turning us all into five-year-olds again, if only for a couple of minutes. Even before seeing the movie, I got chills from listening to this familiar tune segue into a new piece, a chunk of an adventure I had yet to experience. “The Arrival at Naboo” portion of this track follows the Star Wars main title tradition of opening up mysteriously and building up energy toward the end of the cue.

Duel of the Fates: This is the same piece which has been getting radio, MTV and VH-1 airplay. It’s this movie’s the equivalent of “The Imperial March” – a familiar theme which is woven throughout the fabric of the rest of the score, and at least one interview with George Lucas and John Williams has leaked out that this piece may underscore the final duel (we all know which one that will be) in the third prequel…so we can once again count on Lucas reverting back to the Return of the Jedi practice of occasionally tracking his new films with well-worn music. I have a love-hate relationship with “Duel of the Fates” – its primary choral motif is compelling and very memorable, but when the music slumps back into the low, menacing string rumble that seems to take forever to rebuild to the choral refrain, it seems as though the music has stopped short, never quite developing that motif further.

Anakin’s Theme: Wistful and nostalgic, “Anakin’s Theme” all but demands that we love Anakin Skywalker, for who but the most selfless and gentle child in the galaxy could merit such a nice theme tune? I’m a little mixed on this piece – it is very nice, don’t get me wrong, but I’m on the fence about the dubious merits of quoting “The Imperial March” from The Empire Strikes Back – a.k.a. Darth Vader’s theme – when virtually everyone knows that Anakin will become Vader in a matter of a few decades.

Jar Jar’s Introduction / The Swim To Otoh Gunga: Somewhere between Jawa music and Ewok music falls Jar Jar’s loping, comedic theme, very appropriate for his character. This theme literally dives into the flowing, mystical, and very choral music for the underwater trip to the Gungan city. I love this piece – the mysterious choral work reminds me a great deal of one of my all-time favorite instrumental pieces, Holst’s “Neptune” from The Planets. Williams provides music that really does flow over one like water, with appropriate tonal and atonal “undulations,” with an end result very much unlike anything in the original Star Wars trilogy. This is one of my favorite cues from the new movie.

The Sith Spacecraft / The Droid Battle: Opening with a classic terror-movie windup, this cue quickly jumps into a loud, threatening march, punctuated by a string quote of “Duel of the Fates”‘ primary motif.

The Trip to the Naboo Temple / An Audience with Boss Nass: After an opening crash, “The Trip to the Naboo Temple” moves forward with a low, menacing rhythm, worthy of an army of Battle Droids, but things lighten up considerably with some triumphant moments courtesy of our heroes. The music becomes, in turn, light-hearted and mysterious for “An Audience with Boss Nass” (the Gungan ruler voiced by Brian Blessed, who has guest-starred in virtually everything that has even been produced in Britain).

The Arrival on Tatooine / The Flag Parade: Opening up with an uncertain statement of Queen Amidala’s theme and another light-hearted hint of Jar Jar’s musical signature, things quickly get more serious. After a brief pause, a cue from later in the movie – a boisterous march marking the beginning of Jabba the Hutt’s Boonta Eve Podrace – kicks in. I rather like “The Flag Parade” – its combination of military bombast and oppressively heavy progressions gives it an air of a march in the Russian classical tradition.

He Is The Chosen One: A quiet and mysterious piece, this cue accompanies Qui-Gon’s growing suspicion that young Anakin Skywalker is destined for greater things. The Force theme, which was originally associated with Obi-Wan in the first movie’s score, leads into a sweeping flourish, which then decreases in intensity and leads to a restatement of “Anakin’s Theme”, followed by more uncertain “mystery” music. The cue closes out with a triumphant blast from the brass section.

Anakin Defeats Sebulba: This relentless action cue is also from the Podrace scene, right in the thick of the action. Things start out quietly, including another statement of the Force theme, which segues into something that sounds like an extension of “The Flag Parade” (which is placed later on the CD, but earlier in the film). Menacing “trouble” music and several quotations of “Anakin’s Theme” are heard. I’m sure this track will top several fans’ lists of their favorite Episode I musical moments, especially when the accompanying visuals are among the movie’s most dazzling sequences.

Watto’s Deal / Kids At Play: An almost atonal choral introduction leads into a very threatening-sounding passage which includes some ethnic-sounding reed elements. The music becomes only slightly less heavy with “Kids At Play”, which includes another choral moment, this one more mystic than menacing, though the music then proceeds to get much darker and more action-oriented.

Passage Through The Planet Core: Opening with more music reminiscent of Holst’s “Neptune”, things stay dark and murky for almost three minutes until a very nice statement of the Force theme. It seems that the latter 2/3 of this track must include music from other scenes in the movie, because “Anakin’s Theme” and more of Jar Jar’s amusing theme can be heard.

Panaka and the Queen’s Protectors: This swashbuckling number contains, aside from the opening seconds of the main theme, the only restatement of the Star Wars theme within the body of the movie – and you’ll miss it if you blink. Some almost Raiders of the Lost Ark-like moments punctuate the barrage of action music, until a quiet and percussive interruption intrudes, but the heroic antics quickly return, even more light-hearted than before.

Queen Amidala / The Naboo Palace: Unusually, given the title of this track, the music we first hear is very dark indeed, eventually leading to a rather romantic reading of “Anakin’s Theme”, followed by the return of the soaring fanfare heard toward the end of track 1. But this time, the fanfare is followed by some quiet, occasionally sinister music, culminating in a downbeat burst of orchestral fury.

The Droid Invasion / The Appearance of Darth Maul: A percussive intro similar to the opening seconds of track 4 is followed by an angry, oppressive march. But the real treat here is “The Appearance of Darth Maul”, which opens with several wavering, droning, falling notes, and then presents us with a rendition of what we previously knew as “The Emperor’s Theme” from Return of the Jedi, but given an even heavier treatment, with more prominent choral overtones than the previous film’s version of the same theme. It’s now likely that this isn’t the theme for Palpatine, but for the Sith Lords as a whole, since one of The Phantom Menace‘s inferences is that the Emperor, in the original trilogy, was the senior Sith Lord, fulfilling the role that Darth Sidious plays in this movie, pulling the strings as his younger apprentice did the footwork.

Qui-Gon’s Noble End: Possibly the best piece of music on the entire Episode I soundtrack, this number opens up at full throttle and keeps building the energy from there with a dark, militaristic battery of percussion. Of all the cues Williams composed for The Phantom Menace, it is this one which reminds me the most of his best work for the previous Star Wars trilogy. I would much rather have heard this released as a single than “Duel of the Fates”, since this cue takes the “Duel” theme and develops it fully. The silences are scary, and the thunderous full-blast moments are even scarier. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that it ends very quietly. This cue and “The Swim to Otoh Gunga” almost justify the purchase price of the album by themselves.

The High Council Meeting / Qui-Gon’s Funeral: Opening gently, and including a brief statement of Yoda’s theme from The Empire Strikes Back, followed by the only full statement of “The Imperial March” from the same movie (rather than the small hint of it built into “Anakin’s Theme”). This track gradually darkens as it segues, at the two-minute mark, into the funeral dirge for Liam Neeson’s fallen Jedi Knight, including a very effectively mournful statement of the Force theme and some beautiful choral moments, finally coming to a frighteningly uncertain end as the other Jedi contemplate the future of the boy that Qui-Gon brought into their fold before he fell.

Augie’s Great Municipal Band / End Title: I’ve already seen newsgroup and web site reviewers complaining about the two and a half minutes that open this cue, but I think it’s rather cute. A raucously brassy piece with children’s choir accents opens the proceedings, reminding one very much of Return of the Jedi‘s “Ewok Celebration”. Where the Ewok party jam sounded primitive and tribal, “Augie’s Great Municipal Band” comes across as almost Caribbean – the only thing missing is steel drums. The music reaches a brief climax and jumps into the traditional Star Wars end title suite, which adds a small twist to the main theme and then cuts off abruptly just before a “Duel of the Fates” reprise. After the “Duel” reprise ends, we slide into “Anakin’s Theme”, which leads to the biggest contrast to the original trilogy’s end title suites. Instead of crashing into a triumphant flourish as the three original movies did, this suite closes with a quietly menacing reiteration of the “Imperial March” quote from “Anakin’s Theme”. In retrospect, The Phantom Menace‘s musical conclusion is much more like that of Williams’ music for JFK or Nixon.

1. Main Title / Arrival at Naboo (2:55)
2. Duel of the Fates (4:14)
3. Anakin’s Theme (3:09)
4. Jar Jar’s Introduction / The Swim To Otoh Gunga (5:07)
5. The Sith Spacecraft / The Droid Battle (2:37)
6. The Trip to the Naboo Temple / An Audience with Boss Nass (4:07)
7. The Arrival on Tatooine / The Flag Parade (4:54)
8. He Is The Chosen One (3:53)
9. Anakin Defeats Sebulba (4:24)
10. Watto’s Deal / Kids At Play (4:57)
11. Passage Through The Planet Core (4:58)
12. Panaka and the Queen’s Protectors (3:24)
13. Queen Amidala / The Naboo Palace (4:51)
14. The Droid Invasion / The Appearance of Darth Maul (5:14)
15. Qui-Gon’s Noble End (3:48)
16. The High Council Meeting / Qui-Gon’s Funeral (3:09)
17. Augie’s Great Municipal Band / End Title (9:37)

Released by: Sony Classical
Release date: 1999
Total running time: 74:15