Star Wars has been in the world for nearly 49 years, and the music is just as recognizable as the characters in the films or the visuals on the screen. But why is it so iconic? Is it because John Williams is a genius? Maybe, but I think there’s more to it than that.

The Star Wars Music and Visual Connection

I think that the first thing is the connection from the music to the visuals on the screen. In 1977, Star Wars brought groundbreaking visuals to the screen and John Williams combined out of this world music to go with those visuals. Just like he did with Jaws and Jurassic Park (more on that aspect later), the visuals connected to the music in an absolutely perfect way. It takes two mediums, visual, and auditory, and connects them together. And that’s how life works. We see things around us and hear the sounds as well.

Is John Williams a Genius?

An argument could competently be made to this point. Before Star Wars, his previous major hit theme was a little movie about a shark called Jaws. And that theme was simple, ominous and repetitive. A minor second. That’s it. But it created tension, and added to the story of a shark terrorizing a community. In Star Wars, John Williams ramped up his work from the beginning of the movie. He created that iconic introduction, the Force theme, Leia’s theme, The Imperial March (not in the original by the way!) and so many others. Later in 1977, he created the score for the movie Close Encounters of theThird Kind. He went on to create themes and scores for Superman, the Indiana Jones series, E.T., Home Alone, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, the Harry Potter series, along with many more. So, yeah. He’s a genius in my book.

There’s Something Familiar…

When Star Wars was being filmed, George Lucas used something called temp music to fill the spaces where John Williams compositions would go. They were classical pieces, many from Gustav Holst’s work “The Planets”. And so Williams used that music as inspiration to go with his own original compositions. So there’s something familiar but also unique and new about the music. One of my favorite podcasts is “The Soundtrack Show”, hosted by David W. Collins. He breaks down many movie soundtracks, and has done a number of John Williams scores. Here’s a link to his introduction to the Star Wars music.

It All Adds Up

You take the groundbreaking visuals and unique storytelling of George Lucas, add in the genius musicianship and composition of John Williams blending inspiration from classical themes along with his own unique musical voice and you’ve got a recipe for something that is beloved by so many, and known by people who aren’t even fans of the movies or have seen the movies. What do you think makes the soundtracks so iconic? Comment with your thoughts.

Summer Lessons

Harmanny Music Education is offering student centered summer lessons on piano, voice, trumpet, beginning guitar and ukulele. You could even learn Star Wars music if you wanted! You can find out more about summer lessons here.