How Does John Williams Use Leitmotifs

The famous Star Wars is a movie from the epic space film series directed by George Lucas premiered in 1977. Since there are multiple Star Wars movies in the series, this paper will be focusing on the first movie of the series called Star Wars: A New Hope.

In this film, John Williams revived the technique of using leitmotif –a recurring musical theme or melody associated with a particular person, place, object, or idea that is “characterized by a single harmonic or rhythmic trait” (Brown 15). In films, leitmotifs are melodies or musical phrases inserted into a specific character’s music background specified. It was originally developed by Richard Wagner and commonly used in his¬¬ operas during the Golden Age. These are used by film music composers

to unconsciously direct the attention of the audience from simple details (e.g. character’s arrival on the upcoming scene) to the complex issues (e.g. character development). Moreover, film music or leitmotifs should act as background music and should not distract the audience’s attention from the ongoing scene. Film music composers did not copy Wagner’s style, but simply understood the concept and applied it in a different way. In Star Wars, a unique leitmotif is established in each character. Leitmotifs are very effective in films (in this case, Star Wars) because it gives the audience the emotional understanding of the particular characters and scenes without much explanation of its essence. By listening to these, the audience can follow through the plot line with the possibility of knowing what is coming next. These leitmotifs help captivate the audience’s interest in the plot especially when there is intense music, such as the Darth Vader’s theme. Furthermore, these leitmotifs can successfully help the audience make clear distinctions between the good—for example, Luke Skywalker—and the evil—for example, Darth Vader—characters.
At the beginning of Star Wars, the opening music is the main protagonist, Luke Skywalker’s leitmotif.

It symbolizes the coming-of-age theme as the main focus. Williams composed this leitmotif for Luke Skywalker to reflect his own interpretation of the character’s “brassy, bold, masculine, and noble qualities” (Lerner 99). Most composers connote masculinity through the use of “the martial duple rhythms, the trumpet timbres for the melody and the leaping, disjunct quality of the melody’s shape”. This technique is a very effective way of portraying masculinity in the audience’s observation because it could be compared to other masculine music, found in other forms such as military marches. Even though his leitmotif initiated the movie showing his character’s importance, the leitmotif suddenly decline to a more subtle level as it becomes the most developed theme in the film. For example, when Luke Skywalker surfaced in his first scene in Tatooine—his home, the melody is “carried by French horns, the tempo dropped to a slower speed and rhythmically smoother” which portrays the quality of innocence (Rooney). As his journey goes on, his leitmotif is heard in different forms as it continues to develop. Later on, the same feeling from the opening theme is reverted back when Skywalker rescued and kissed Princess Leia as they escape from the Imperial troopers. In this scene, the melody changes back to the use of trumpets that portrays a triumphant tone in which Skywalker’s true

potential as a man is seen. Eventually, Skywalker’s leitmotif portrayed his victory over the enemy when he destroyed their spacecraft, the Death Star, thus showing “a significant step towards Luke’s achievement of…manhood” (Lerner 101).
Although Luke Skywalker’s leitmotif is the main title theme, Darth Vader’s leitmotif is more prominent within the films.

Darth Vader’s leitmotif is known as “The Imperial March”. ¬¬¬In contrast to Skywalker’s theme, the Imperial March appears to be more “rigid, ponderous, and above all unnatural” (Buhler 48). Williams portrayed the “evil” characters—the antagonists (e.g. Darth Vader)—through the use of “shifting tonality and chromaticism”. Because of the abundant use of tonic chords, the theme cannot be developed which contrasts Skywalker’s theme. Throughout several scenes with the appearance of the Empire or Darth Vader, the leitmotif remains the same which shows no progress or development within the characters whatsoever. This suggests the Empire’s incapability of improvement or destiny for either ultimate success or ultimate failure. However, this rigid quality is only a part of Darth Vader’s leitmotif. His musical characterization also relies on sound effects, and his breathing and mechanical speech (Rooney). In a way, the use of sound effects highlights Darth Vader’s estrangement with the other characters in the film. Additionally, James Buhler—a professor of music theory—states how Darth Vader’s character is emphasized through the use of technology: “what is frightening about Vader is the way everything that is organic and human about him is masked by technology without completely destroying the sense that something is alive in there” (Buhler 41). Therefore, Darth

Vader’s character is explicitly evil as portrayed through the use of leitmotifs and sound effects.
In conclusion, Williams was able to compose music in this film with the use of leitmotifs that helped the audience have an understanding of each character’s personality.
As a result, his music composition for Star Wars won him multiple awards—such as Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA, Saturn, and Grammy Award of composing the “Best Original Movie Score.” Therefore, John Williams’ use of leitmotif for the famous film Star Wars turned out to be a huge success.