Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (soundtrack)

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Film score by John Williams
Released May 3, 2005
Recorded February 3-8, 2005
London Symphony Orchestra
Studio Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre Classical
Length 1:11:53
Label Sony Classical
Producer John Williams
John Williams chronology
The Terminal
(2004)		 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
(2005)		 War of the Worlds
(2005)
Star Wars soundtrack chronology
Episode II: Attack of the Clones
(2002)		 Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
(2005)		 Star Wars:
The Force Awakens
(2015)

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the film score to the 2005 film of the same name released by Sony Classical on May 3, 2005, more than two weeks before the film's release. The music was composed and conducted by John Williams, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices. The score was Williams' sixth score in the saga. Shawn Murphy recorded the score. Ramiro Belgardt and Kenneth Wannberg served as music editors; Wannberg served as music editor for the previous Star Wars scores.

A music video titled A Hero Falls was created for the film's theme, "Battle of the Heroes", featuring footage from the film. In the U.K., "Battle of the Heroes" was released as a CD-single and reached No. 25 in the UK Singles Chart in June 2005.[1]

The soundtrack also came with a collectors' DVD, Star Wars: A Musical Journey, that features 16 music videos set to remastered selections of music from all six film scores, set chronologically through the saga.

This album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005.[2]

Overview

The musical score for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the Star Wars saga's sixth installment, was recorded over five days at Abbey Road Studio with the London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices starting on February 3, 2005, with one morning allocated specifically for vocal recording.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Common Sense Media[4]
Empire[5]
Filmtracks.com[6]
Movie Wave[7]
ScoreNotes[8]
Soundtrack.Net[9]

The musical score for Revenge of the Sith has received mixed to generally positive reviews. Rob Theakston of AllMusic said, "Revenge of the Sith holds a place on the mantle with some of the classic scores that made Williams a legendary film composer. It's also a fine closing masterpiece to a series of movies filled with some of the most important musical moments in modern cinematic history."[3] Danny Graydon of Empire called it "a triumphant climax to a modern music masterpiece." Specifically pointing out "Battle of the Heroes" and "Anakin's Dark Deeds", Graydon said, "The operatic finale of this score emboldens the tragic, doom-laden atmosphere of the saga’s pivotal moment, yet is typically brisk and exciting, deftly utilising themes from the entire series."[5]

Film music scholar Royal Brown was less enthusiastic about the music and its relation to the overall film series, saying, "By the time we get to Revenge of the Sith it's not as fresh as it was. Not because Williams is doing anything wrong, but because he's pretty much locked into a particular requirement for this particular kind of movie."[10] Filmtracks.com provided a similar consensus in its editorial review describing that when "compared to its peers, Revenge of the Sith is, despite its great strengths in its individual cues of immense melodrama, the weakest of the six scores when compared amongst each other."[6] Morag Reavley of BBC Music said that the soundtrack "strikes back with all the familiar notes. They just don't sound quite as startling any more."[11]

Track listing

All music composed by John Williams.

No.TitleLength
1."Star Wars and the Revenge of the Sith"  7:31
2."Anakin's Dream"  4:46
3."Battle of the Heroes"  3:42
4."Anakin's Betrayal"  4:04
5."General Grievous"  4:07
6."Palpatine's Teachings"  5:25
7."Grievous and the Droids"  3:28
8."Padmé's Ruminations"  3:17
9."Anakin vs. Obi-Wan"  3:57
10."Anakin's Dark Deeds"  4:05
11."Enter Lord Vader"  4:14
12."The Immolation Scene"  2:42
13."Grievous Speaks to Lord Sidious"  2:49
14."The Birth of the Twins and Padmé's Destiny"  3:37
15."A New Hope and End Credits"  13:06
Total length:1:11:53

Star Wars: A Musical Journey

Star Wars: A Musical Journey is a bonus DVD included with the soundtrack album. The DVD, which runs just over an hour long, contains a collection of music video clips from the Star Wars film series set to selected themes from Williams' scores. Each clip features an optional introduction by actor Ian McDiarmid, and the music has been remastered in Dolby 5.1 surround sound.[12] This program served as the foundation for Star Wars: In Concert, almost containing an identical soundtrack.

Star Wars: A Musical Journey contains the following chapters. Each video consists of clips from the movies that seemingly fit the music score composed by Williams:

  1. "A Long Time Ago" —
    "20th Century Fox Fanfare" / "Star Wars Main Title"
  2. "Dark Forces Conspire" —
    "Duel of the Fates" (from The Phantom Menace)
  3. "A Hero Rises" —
    "Anakin's Theme" (from The Phantom Menace)
  4. "A Fateful Love" —
    "Across the Stars" (from Attack of the Clones)
  5. "A Hero Falls" —
    "Battle of the Heroes" (from Revenge of the Sith)
  6. "An Empire is Forged" —
    "The Imperial March" (from The Empire Strikes Back)
  7. "A Planet that is Farthest From" —
    "The Dune Sea of Tatooine" / "Jawa Sandcrawler" (from A New Hope)
  8. "An Unlikely Alliance" —
    "Binary Sunset" / "Cantina Theme" (from A New Hope)
  9. "A Defender Emerges" —
    "Princess Leia's Theme" (from A New Hope)
  10. "A Daring Rescue" —
    "Ben's Death" / "TIE Fighter Attack" (from A New Hope)
  11. "A Jedi is Trained" —
    "Yoda's Theme" (from The Empire Strikes Back)
  12. "A Narrow Escape" —
    "The Asteroid Field" (from The Empire Strikes Back)
  13. "A Bond Unbroken" —
    "Luke and Leia" (from Return of the Jedi)
  14. "A Sanctuary Moon" —
    "The Forest Battle (Concert Suite)" (from Return of the Jedi)
  15. "A Life Redeemed" —
    "Light of the Force" (from Return of the Jedi)
  16. "A New Day Dawns" —
    "Throne Room" / "Finale" (from A New Hope)

References

  1. ↑ "Battle of the Heroes - Star Wars". Official Charts Company. The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on December 20, 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  2. ↑ "John Williams - Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". Amazon.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Theakston, Rob. "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  4. ↑ Kamen Goldmark, Kathi. "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Soundtrack Music Review". Common Sense Media. Archived from the original on December 27, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Graydon, Danny. "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - Empire Review". Empire. Bauer Media Group. Archived from the original on June 26, 2006. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (John Williams)". Filmtracks.com. Filmtracks Publications. April 15, 2005. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  7. ↑ Southall, James. "Williams: Revenge of the Sith". Movie Wave. Archived from the original on May 6, 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Revenge of the Sith". ScoreNotes. Archived from the original on November 23, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  9. ↑ Goldwasser, Dan (May 6, 2005). "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith Soundtrack (2005)". Soundtrack.Net. Autotelics, LLC. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  10. ↑ Freymann-Weyr, Jeffrey (May 22, 2005). "John Williams and the Music of 'Star Wars'". NPR. National Public Radio, Inc. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  11. ↑ Reavley, Morag (2005). "John Williams Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Review". BBC Music. BBC. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  12. ↑ Vukcevic, Filip (May 6, 2005). "Star Wars: A Musical Journey". IGN. Ziff Davis. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2015.

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