John Williams

John Williams

John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...

' score for Star Wars

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...

(the film was re-titled upon its initial re-release, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) was recorded over eight sessions at Anvil Studios in Denham, England on March 5, 8–12, 15 and 16, 1977. The score was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra

London Symphony Orchestra

The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...

 with Williams himself conducting. The score was orchestrated

Orchestration

Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...

 by frequent Williams' associate Herbert W. Spencer

Herbert W. Spencer

Herbert Winfield Spencer was a film and television composer and orchestrator.Spencer gained industry fame when he teamed up with fellow 20th Century Fox orchestrator Earle Hagen in 1953 to create the Spencer-Hagen Orchestra...

, who also orchestrated The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan...

and Return of the Jedi

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth in terms of the series' internal chronology...

. The score was recorded by engineer Eric Tomlinson and edited by Kenneth Wannberg, and the scoring sessions were produced by Star Wars creator George Lucas

George Lucas

George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...

 himself and supervised by Lionel Newman

Lionel Newman

Lionel Newman was an American conductor, pianist, and film and television composer. He was the brother of Alfred Newman and Emil Newman, uncle of Randy Newman, David Newman and Thomas Newman, and grandfather of Joey Newman....

, head of the music department at 20th Century Fox

20th Century Fox

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...

.

The film premiered on May 25, 1977 and by late summer a disco version of the Star Wars Theme by Meco

Meco

Meco is an American record producer and musician, as well as the name of a band or production team based around him...

 became America's number one song. Williams received three Grammys in February 1978 and his third Academy Award (second for Best Original Score) in April.

In 2005, the American Film Institute

American Film Institute

The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...

 honored and recognized the original Star Wars soundtrack as the most memorable film score of all time.

Original pressing

The original 1977 release of the soundtrack, entitled Star Wars - Original Soundtrack, included a poster of a painting by science fiction artist John Berkey

John Berkey

John Berkey was an artist known for his space and science fiction-themed works. Some of Berkey's best-known work includes much of the original poster art for the Star Wars trilogy, the poster for the 70s re-make of King Kong and also the .He worked as a freelance artist from the 1960s, after an...

, depicting the final battle over the Death Star from the end of the film. The pressing was done as a double LP; one disc had sides 1 and 4 with the other having sides 2 and 3. This allowed a person to stack sides 1 and 2 on the player, then flip the stack over for sides 3 and 4.

Track listing for the first release on LP

• First release on LP by 20th Century. For the original soundtrack, John Williams selected 75 minutes of music out of the 88 minute score. To provide musical variety, it did not follow the chronological order of the film.

SIDE one

1. Main Title– 5:20
2. Imperial Attack – 6:10 (8-track - 6:25)
3. Princess Leia's Theme – 4:18 (8-track - 4:20)
4. The Desert and the Robot Auction – 2:51

SIDE two

1. Ben's Death and TIE Fighter Attack – 3:46
2. The Little People Work – 4:02
3. Rescue of the Princess – 4:46
4. Inner City – 4:12
5. Cantina Band – 2:44 (8-track, Part I - 1:45)

SIDE three
(8-track PROGRAM 3, Cantina Band, Part II - 1:06)

1. The Land of the Sandpeople – 2:50
2. Mouse Robot and Blasting Off – 4:01
3. The Return Home – 2:46
4. The Walls Converge – 4:31
5. The Princess Appears – 4:04 (8-track, Part I - 3:11)

SIDE four
(8-track, The Princess Appears, Part II - 1:00)

1. The Last Battle – 12:05
2. The Throne Room and End Title – 5:28

Total Time: 74:58

Track listing for the first release on CD

• First release on CD by Polydor
  Polydor Records
  Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
  
  .

Disc one

1. Main Theme – 5:20
2. Imperial Attack – 6:10
3. Princess Leia's Theme – 4:18
4. The Desert and the Robot Auction – 2:51
5. Ben's Death and TIE Fighter Attack – 3:46
6. The Little People Work – 4:02
7. Rescue of the Princess – 4:24
8. Inner City – 4:12
9. Cantina Band – 2:44

Disc two

1. The Land of the Sandpeople – 2:50
2. Mouse Robot and Blasting Off – 4:01
3. The Return Home – 2:46
4. The Walls Converge – 4:31
5. The Princess Appears – 4:04
6. The Last Battle – 12:05
7. The Throne Room and End Title – 5:28

Star Wars Trilogy: The Original Soundtrack Anthology

In 1993, 20th Century Fox Film Scores released a four CD box set containing music from the original Star Wars Trilogy. This release marked the first time that the complete contents of the original double-LP releases of the scores from the first two movies became available on CD. Disc one in the set was devoted to Star Wars, with further tracks on disc four.

Since every cue is recorded several times, usually with varying orchestral differences, the final decisions on what takes of cues are used and/or how they are edited to create the cues used was decided by the music editor Kenneth Wannberg. In the time between the original LP release and the release of the Anthology, this breakdown was lost. Because of this, many takes of cues used on the Anthology are not the same. This is most obvious on the cue "The Throne Room", so the Anthology is technically not an exact replica of the LP, but is nearly so.

1. 20th Century Fox Fanfare with CinemaScope Extension
2. Main Title
3. Imperial Attack
4. The Desert
5. The Little People Work
6. The Princess Appears
7. The Land of the Sand People
8. The Return Home
9. Inner City
10. Mouse Robot/Blasting Off
11. Rescue of the Princess
12. The Walls Converge
13. Ben's Death/Tie Fighter Attack
14. Princess Leia's Theme
15. The Last Battle
16. The Throne Room/End Title

"Bonus Tracks" (disc four of the same set)

1. 20th Century Fox Fanfare with CinemaScope Extension

2. Star Wars Main Title (Alternate)

4. A Hive of Villainy

5. Destruction of Alderaan

10. Cantina Band

12. Cantina Band #2

15. Standing By

Track listing for the complete score

• Now available on RCA Victor (1997) and Sony Classical (2004) presenting the complete score in chronological order for the first time. The two releases present exactly the same track listing. The only difference between these editions is that the RCA release includes complete notes on each track by Michael Matessino and that the Sony Classical release does not include these notes.

Track Listing Disc One

Track Listing Disc Two

The Battle of Yavin

1. Launch from the Fourth Moon – 1:12
2. X-Wings Draw Fire – 6:50
3. Use the Force – 2:05

See also

• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
  Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
  Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
  
  
• The Story of Star Wars
  The Story of Star Wars
  The Story Of Star Wars was a 1977 record album presenting an abridged version of the events depicted in the film Star Wars, using dialogue and sound effects from the original film. The recording was produced by George Lucas and Alan Livingston, and was narrated by Roscoe Lee Browne. The script was...
  
  
• Star Wars music
  Star Wars music
  The music of Star Wars consists of the scores written for all six Star Wars films by composer John Williams from 1977 to 1983 for the Original Trilogy, and 1999 to 2005 for the Prequel Trilogy. It includes the Star Wars: The Clone Wars music written by Kevin Kiner...
  
  
• FilmScore Monthly Online