The Empire Strikes Back: Greatest Score? (with Frank Lehman) | Ep20

Dr. Frank Lehman, film music scholar and professor at Tufts University, returns to chat with David Lane about a score that is often lauded as the greatest of all time, The Empire Strikes Back composed by John Williams. This episode is a discussion along with musical examples of the themes, harmonies, and orchestration choices that make this a masterpiece, along with a comparison to the 1st Star Wars series, and a little on the legendary performance from the London Symphony Orchestra. May the force be with you as you join us as we tackle this ultimate Jedi of scores!

If you missed it, be sure to catch the 1st episode with Dr. Lehman, where we discussed John Williams more generally as well as some other scores here: https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit/episode/7d49eeaa/episode-8-the-craft-of-john-williams-with-frank-lehman

Frank's marvelous catalog of Star Wars themes and analysis is located here: https://franklehman.com/starwars/

Do you have something to add to our discussion? Let me know by telling me directly at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit or you can send me a written message at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/contact

Musical Excerpts. All tracks by John Williams and from The Empire Strikes Back except where noted.

18:39 King's Row Main Title (Erich W Korngold)

19:30 Theme from Ivanhoe (Miklos Rozsa) 27:14 Darth Vader Motif from Star Wars 29:02 The Imperial March (2 clips) 34:16 Yoda's Theme 34:47 Yoda's Death (Return of the Jedi) 37:10 Yoda and the Force 39:58 Han Solo and the Princess 40:51 Princess Leia's Theme (Star Wars) 42:20 Rescue from Cloud City 43:55 The Rebel Fleet/Finale 45:12 End Credits 46:36 Droids Theme 47:25 The Wampa's Lair 48:28 Main Title (Luke's Theme) 48:53 Force Theme 49:50 Rebel Fanfare 51:25 Lando's Theme 52:41 Boba Fett's Theme/Attack Position 53:18 Darth Vader's Trap 54:17 Dark Side Motif/Magic Cave 54:46 Yoda and the Force 56:04 The Asteroid Field (2 clips) 59:54 City in the Clouds 1:01:11 Mynock Cave 1:02:16 End Credits (Raiders of the Lost Ark) 1:02:30 End Credits (Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade) 1:04:48 Mynock Cave 1:08:22 The Battle of Hoth (5 clips) 1:15:08 Carbon Freeze (2 clips) 1:18:48 Hyperspace 1:22:37 End Credits

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