John
Williams - Twentieth Century Mozart
Discussing The Artist and The Phantom Menace Soundtrack
Review by Toryn Farr
5/11/99
I've been listening to the TPM soundtrack pretty much non-stop since I bought it, and I'd
like to give you a SPOILER-FREE assessment, but first I must talk about John Williams.
This is going to be one of those Harry-Knowles-esque reviews where I share a bit of my
life with you, but be patient - the review is coming. In the program notes included with
my CD, John Williams mentions that several orchestra members told him they decided as
children to make playing with the London Symphony Orchestra their life's goal because of
his music. I know for me, a defining moment of my life was sitting in a small theater in
Tuscaloosa, Alabama in May of 1977, at age 14, and letting his powerful end credits music
wash over me like a wave of raw passion. As the house lights came up and the ushers moved
in to start sweeping up the detritus of a packed house, I was paralyzed. I had played
Tchaichovsky, I had played Mozart, I had played Bach and Dvorak and Beethoven and
everything else since I was 5 years old, but never in my life had I heard anything that
moved me the way the end credits of Star Wars did. A direct result was that I started
actively seeking out more classical music to listen to - Holst's "The Planets"
and other choices people recommended "if you like Star Wars." A whole world
opened up to me. And perhaps an indirect result was that I put myself through college on a
music scholarship.
But John Williams' contributions to society can't just be measured in the number of people
he's inspired to love classical music, or to make it their life's work. In a more basic
way, he has CREATED many of the films that have shaped our popular culture and made us who
we are. Sure, Spielberg directed Jaws, and Lucas directed Star Wars, but without Williams'
music, do you believe they'd have been mega-hits? I don't. I just saw some footage from
The Phantom Menace without Ben Burtt's sound and without John Williams' music. The scenes
are lifeless; the sentences of dialogue just fall flat like deflated balloons. Without
Williams, Star Wars would be terribly diminished. So would ET. You name it -- Indiana
Jones, Superman, Close Encounters, Amistad, Empire of the Sun, Jurassic Park, Saving
Private Ryan, Schindler's List, and about two dozen others - these movies were great in
large part due to the genius of John Williams. At an awards ceremony a couple of years
ago, Spielberg did a segment on Williams' music and what it had done for Jaws. He showed a
clip from the movie with and without the music and let everyone realize how all the fear,
the emotion, the dread of Jaws came not from the images but from the
"dah-dum...dah-dum...dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum" of LSO's strings.
Sometimes you hear the artsy-fartsy program directors of major symphonies complaining that nothing has been added to the permanent repertoire of orchestras since the 1950s and Dvorak. A big reason is that what modern symphony composers are writing these days is plain unlistenable. The musical elite don't consider Williams' music of consequence, because 1) it's attached to films and 2) it's popular (and we know that if the unwashed masses like it, it can't be "art"). However, if you look back through history, all of the composers we consider masters had to write music that appealed not to an educated elite but to their rich and often ignorant patrons and yes, to the masses. Mozart churned out reams of sonatas and symphonies and everything in between for - gasp - money! So did all the other famous Dead White Guys whom we revere as demi-gods of music.
So yes, I believe Williams is our Twentieth Century Mozart.
I believe future generations will put "Leia's Theme" right alongside "Fur
Elise" in their books of classics. God has given John Williams a golden gift, and I
am thankful he is sharing it with the world.
That said, let's get down to the business at hand and talk about The Phantom
Menace soundtrack. It's really not fair to evaluate a soundtrack without having seen it in
the context of the images to which it is supposed to be attached. Yoda's Theme from ESB is
great, but how can you separate the pure music from the image of Luke's spaceship rising
from the Dagobah swamp? With that in mind, I have to say right now that, although this is
a fine set of musical numbers, I'm sure I'll like it a lot better when I can put the
pictures with the sounds.
THE GOOD NEWS
The soundtrack opens with the Main Title exactly the same as the other movies, for which I
am grateful. I love how Lucas insisted on having this continuity. After a minute, though,
the music fades into another theme, and I picture the camera panning down from a
star-swept sky to perhaps, a spaceship and a planet below? Can't wait to find out! Most of
the soundtrack has a very familiar feel to it, as it should. John Williams' trademark
French-horn riffs are everywhere. He even kept the "leitmotif" angle by having
themes for certain people and places, although these are not as hummable as those of the
original trilogy. Anakin's theme is truly beautiful and haunting, with a melancholy,
wandering line that fades ever so subtly into notes from the Imperial March. When I
realized what I was hearing, albeit in altered form, it sent chills down me. Jar Jar's
theme is whimsical, fun, and from what I've seen of the character, very fitting. I can
listen to it again and again without growing tired of it; hope I can say the same for the
character himself!
Williams has added a new element, though, by utilizing many more choral passages in this
soundtrack. The only choral work I can recall from the original trilogy is that powerful
moment at the end of ROTJ when Luke very briefly turns to the Dark Side in his duel with
Vader. Here, the chorus is employed to stunning effect, as most of you have no doubt heard
in the Duel of the Fates track. I didn't like the false ending about three-quarters of the
way through, but I'm sure once I see the movie I'll appreciate the reason for it.
I really like the uptempo, high brass and the constant, driving undercurrent of strings in
Duel of the Fates which seems to crop up again and again throughout the soundtrack. It has
a sense of urgency to it that I believe will match perfectly the pace of the action in the
lightsaber duels. The music for the vast battle scenes is just as urgent, with lots of
percussion, driving brass, and woodwinds scurrying around in the high ranges. At one point
there seems to be a kind of military tattoo on bongo drums - very interesting and a little
bit threatening. The soundtrack includes theme music for some of the places we'll go in
TPM. I won't spoil it by naming them, although most of you have already heard of the
planet and city names by now. Suffice it to say that each theme is beautiful and evocative
of that "sense of wonder" we all feel when travelling in that galaxy far, far
away, and most of them have a sense of urgency and movement which should make even the
dullest of scenes (as if!) seem exciting. At one point there seems to be a
point-counterpoint conversation going on between the low strings and the high woodwinds
which may mirror an argument in the film. We'll see.
Some of the tracks were just "there" for me; they were nice tunes but nothing to
make you tap your toe. On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the Force
Theme from the earlier movies worked into some of Anakin's tracks. The stuff on
Tatooine even manages to sound...desert-like, somehow. The Queen's Protectors get some
heroic, fast music, and Darth Maul gets mournful, haunting choral work including bits of
the Emporer's Theme - fittingly demonic. A very solemn, requiem-like piece near the end
uses the chorus again to great effect. Just before the end credits we hear Augie's Great
Municipal Band, a rolicking celebration tune full of weird sounds like whistles and crowds
of children laughing over snare drums, a children's choir, and other odd bird-like
instruments. The first time I heard it I thought it was freaky,but now I really, really
like it and wish it was longer. The end credits are the same as the other movies, ending
with a reprise of Duel of the Fates and Anakin's Theme.
Other good stuff: The CD comes with a foldout poster which is pretty cool.
THE BAD NEWS
The track titles on this CD are going to totally spoil the movie for a lot of unsuspecting
people. Imagine if the ROTJ soundtrack had titles like "Leia Strangles Jabba"
and "Boba Fett's Ignoble End" and "Vader's Funeral Pyre." I don't know
what Lucas was thinking when he authorized this, but it shows a lack of consideration for
the fans. Also, there is reportedly nearly two hours of music in the movie, yet here
we are given only a little more than half that. I suspect we'll be seeing a more complete
soundtrack (hopefully with some more thorough liner notes andmaybe a translation of that
Sanskrit the chorus is singing). From several of the track titles it seems clear they've
combined two pieces into one. I wonder if we'll have to wait until the DVD in 2005 to get
the whole thing?
THE FINAL WORD
Overall, I have to say that while this is a very enjoyable CD, it didn't blow me away. I
am reserving final judgement until I see the movie at least, say, ten times . . . I'll
check back with you then on the message boards!
(Toryn Farr knew everything about Star Wars before it even came out thanks to Starlog Magazine. She's been trying to keep her know-it-all reputation ever since.)
For our visitors who don't mind movie spoilers, we have further review of the soundtrack available by clicking here. Please note this further review will give away major plot points of the story.
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