Music for Stage and Screen AOS 3

WB 6

John Williams: ‘Main title/Rebel Blockade Runner’ from

Star Wars IV: A New Hope

Section A: Musical contexts

To understand more about John Williams’s score for Star Wars IV: A New Hope it is helpful to explore the wider
context of film music in the 20th and 21st centuries.

1 Explain the purpose of using music in films. Give an example of a sequence from a film (other than Star
Wars) where music plays an important part and describe how this is achieved.

Write your answers here:

The purpose of using music in films is to

My example: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
This music adds to the sequence in the following ways:

2 Music can be used effectively in films of all genres to convey different emotions or moods (such as love,
anger, excitement, power, fear). Using the internet or YouTube, look at some of the Wallace and Gromit
animations. Choose two contrasting emotions and give an example of each from two different Wallace and
Gromit clips.

Write your answers here:

Mood 1 .……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Identify the film clip or sequence. Describe the scene:

Mood 2 …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Identify the film clip or sequence. Describe the scene:

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3 Watch the clip from the film ET, directed by Steven Spielberg, in which the boys on bicycles are being
chased and then take off into the sky - see Firefly. The John Williams score that accompanies this clip is
called the ‘Flying Theme’.

John Williams: ‘Flying Theme’

Write a few sentences to describe how the music depicts the scene where the bicycles take off and magically
fly into the air.

4 Which four of the following are typical features of film music?

• underscoring

• only piano used to accompany the film

• cues

• main title (theme)

• ternary form

• film score

• always in major keys

• no harmony

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WB 6

John Williams: ‘Main title/Rebel Blockade Runner’ from

Star Wars IV: A New Hope

Section B: Film features in ‘Main title/Rebel Blockade Runner’

1 Name three brass instruments that play in the opening fanfare section of the piece.

a _________________________________________________________________________________

b _________________________________________________________________________________

c _________________________________________________________________________________

2 The opening fanfare uses chords that contain notes in intervals of fourths. What is the name given to this
type of harmony?

______________________________________________________________________________

3 Listen to the main Star Wars theme. Give two features of this famous melody.

Hint: think about the intervals used and any rhythmic features.

a _________________________________________________________________________________

b _________________________________________________________________________________

4 The Star Wars theme is structured in three sections – A, B and A1.

a What name is given to this structure?

_________________________________________________________________________________

b What does the 1 after the second A mean?

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_________________________________________________________________________________

5 Listen to the Rebel Blockade Runner theme that follows the main title theme. The music at this point is
much more static and has a ‘spacy’ feeling. How is this achieved in the music? Make two points.

Hint: think about the instruments used, dynamics, etc.

a __________________________________________________________________________________

b __________________________________________________________________________________

6 Several key features of this piece of film music are listed below. Give a brief definition of each of the
following:

a fanfare ___________________________________________________________________________

b pedal ____________________________________________________________________________

c added sixth chord __________________________________________________________________

d cue ______________________________________________________________________________

e glissando _________________________________________________________________________

f link ______________________________________________________________________________

g codetta ___________________________________________________________________________

7 Explain what you understand by a march in music, and how this can be applied to the main title theme of
Star Wars.

Write your answers here:

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 Music for Stage and Screen AOS 3
WB 6

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 Music for Stage and Screen AOS 3
WB 6

John Williams: ‘Main title/Rebel Blockade Runner’ from

Star Wars IV: A New Hope

Section C: Wider listening

In this section you will compare features of Williams’s ‘Main title/Rebel Blockade Runner’ from Star Wars IV:
A New Hope with Howard Shore’s ‘The Prophecy’ from The Lord of the Rings.

1 Listen to both extracts of film music one after the other carefully and then complete the following boxes,
listing both similarities and differences you can hear between the two works. One example of each has
been given to get you started: They both use an orchestra. Only one starts with a fanfare.

2 Discuss your findings in class with your teacher.

Hint: think about the musical elements in your answers: pitch, melody, texture, tempo, sonority (timbre),
instrumentation, harmony, rhythm and metre.

Similarities:
● Symphony orchestra used in both

Differences:
● Only one piece opens with a fanfare (Williams)

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13 Thinking about what you discovered and learned in questions 1 and 2, decide for yourself which of the
two pieces you prefer and why. This weighing up of the quality and effectiveness of both pieces is
called evaluation, and you need to support your choice with good musical reasons. This will be
expected in question 9 of the listening paper. For example, you might prefer the John Williams piece to
the Howard Shore because it is catchy and memorable as a main title theme.

I prefer the piece ………………………….………. composed by……………………………..

My reasons for choosing this piece over the other are:

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