The Soundtrack of Her Life

John Williams has scored every step of Princess Leia’s journey. Jon D. Witmer listens back to her iconic, emotional themes to see how they help tell the Skywalker saga.

As Imperial stormtroopers overwhelm the rebel forces on the Tantive IV in the opening minutes of A New Hope, Princess Leia delivers a small data tape to astromech droid R2-D2. Leia turns to leave, and the image is accompanied by a short, muted burst of seven notes, the first two of which are separated by six steps on a musical scale—what’s known as a major-sixth interval. Through the film, this cue will recur in a variety of forms, developing on each occasion and ultimately becoming the theme that we inextricably link with Leia. This idea of having musical themes or “motifs” associated with key characters was central to writer-director George Lucas and composer John Williams’ shared vision for the music of Star Wars. In the vein of classic Hollywood composers…

You're reading a preview of

Star Wars Insider Special Edition 2020 (Digital) - 1 Issue, Star Wars Insider Special Edition 2020

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.