A long time ago…in 2017…I wrote a piece detailing why “The Imperial March” is my absolute favorite musical score in the Star Wars franchise. This admission came as little surprise to many of my trove of followers/readers as I have often professed my cultish admiration for The Empire Strikes Back (ESB) on this site. It stood to reason that The Imperial March would top my list considering the fact that the iconic anthem for the Galactic Empire/Darth Vader was first introduced in Episode V. Plus, given my “Casterfoian” obsession with the Empire, it stood to reason that I would likewise adopt the score as my all-time favorite.
While my unadulterated affection for all things ESB stands firm, and “The Imperial March” continues to receive constant replays on my Spotify account, there are never-the-less many other pieces of Star Wars music that have been elevated to the top of my musical mind. Hardly a shock – I am positive you can say the same if you happen to be a Star Wars fan – I wanted to take the opportunity to share a musical composition from each Star Wars film that I hold near and dear to my heart. For the sake of brevity, I have only chosen one from each film and decided to forgo long-winded explanations detailing why I love each piece, in large part because music is so damn personal it would take some of the fun out of it. Still, I may do a post for each at some point if the Force moves me to do so. We shall see.
Enjoy and be sure to comment with your own “faves” list!
A New Hope – “Tales of a Jedi Knight/Learn About the Force”
The Empire Strikes Back – “Yoda’s Theme”
While my heart will always be dedicated to “The Imperial March,” I decided to share another score from ESB in this particular list to mix things up a bit.
Return of the Jedi – “Leia’s New/Light of the Force”
The Phantom Menace – “The Droid Invasion and the Appearance of Darth Maul”
**Surprise! You were expecting “Duel of the Fates” weren’t you? Here is the deal: I love “Duel of the Fates” with a crazy passion but I likewise love “The Droid Invasion and the Appearance of Darth Maul.” I had to pick one and so I went with my gut. Besides, just listen to how the piece shifts when Maul is introduced! Holy frick that is haunting!!!!
Attack of the Clones – “Across the Stars”
Revenge of the Sith – “The Birth of the Twins and Padmé’s Destiny”
The Clone Wars – “Battle of Christophsis”
The Force Awakens – “The Jedi Steps”
**I don’t care much for sentimentality but I readily admit that this piece gives me the feels. Like “Tales of a Jedi Knight/Learn About the Force”, “The Jedi Steps” packs an emotional punch by forcing me to imagine the Jedi Order, now a dying remnant, who once served and protected the galaxy far, far away. Between hearing this piece, and watching Rey literally walk the steps of the ancient Jedi, I was brought to tears in my first viewing of The Force Awakens.**
Rogue One – “Your Father Would Be Proud”
The Last Jedi – “The Spark”
Solo: A Star Wars Story – “Savareen Stand-Off”
*Leave a comment with your thoughts about my list or share your own favorites!!!*
The Imperial Talker 
TLJ was definitely lacking but the Spark left me wanting more.
Rogue One is not worthy of mentions.
Droid Invasion is legit. My brother and I used to act out like we were battle droids to that music.
ANH track you picked is spot on and obviously the best.
And…those titles from the OT! Those are new – the old tracks were named differently. Or, maybe the tracks I remember were wrong. This is my memory of the tracks that are still cemented in my brain – https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Trilogy-Soundtrack-Anthology/dp/B000002VI7
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I may not have loved TLJ but I certainly appreciate the music of John Williams. The Spark is a good piece, and fits the scene very well.
Hahahahaha I love your dislike of Rogue One. The more I experience the film, the more I enjoy it. For all of our similarities this is certainly a fascinating difference.
😉
Droid Invasion is soooooooo good. It probably got more plays on my TPM soundtrack cd back in the early 2000s than Duel of the Fates. I continue to love that you and I have essentially the same adoration of TPM. 🙂
ANH has such great and iconic music, but I HAD to go with that one. It is such a common leitmotif in the franchise now.
I think the OT titles/tracks have gone through a series of name changes. Hardly a surprise, especially with the change of mediums over the years.
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At least you don’t mind my loathing of Rogue One – but I am VERY excited about the Cassian show, so everything happens for a reason right? We got a horrible movie but maybe we’ll get a great TV show.
Don’t listen to Duel of the Fates while driving…I found it makes me reckless and speed. That’s the only advice I have for the track!
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Your loathing for Rogue One is fascinating considering your interest in Cassian. While I really liked Rogue One, I found Cassian to be a bland foil for Jyn. I didn’t hate the character, I just didn’t think he was all that interesting. Perhaps the TV show will give me more reason to like him, although I have to admit that I won’t be going out of my way to get the new Disney streaming service. It just isn’t worth the time or energy right now.
I am shocked, shocked I say, that you drive recklessly and speed when listening to Duel of the Fates! You! Kiri! Never!!!! This is unthinkable, nay outrageous!!! I plan on driving this afternoon and listening to Duel of the Fates to disprove this absurd falsehood!
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Omg I’m 100000% paying for Disney+!! I’m hoping they put all their movies on it and leave them there forever. Omg heaven. Imagine if you can’t find Cars anywhere for your son except Disney+! Or Toy Story 1234567! So worth every penny. I’m going to try and sign up with my good friend and do a family thing. You should do that with Mike.
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I have the “kids package” as part of my cable subscription at the moment, and perhaps we will eventually get the Disney service. But until he is older we won’t need it anyway. Still, you raise valid points, and will take your parental wisdom into consideration 😉
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The Cleveland Orchestra just announced they are playing the ESB score live with the movie next summer. It’s already on my calendar 😁
Lots of good choices 🙂 I think my pic for TFA would be Rey’s Theme. I bought the TLJ soundtrack last year but then never listened to it haha. I’ll have to get on that. I was pleasantly surprised by the Solo soundtrack but don’t know it well enough to pick a favorite.
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Wait a tick…do you live in Cleveland? And/or the Cleveland area? I ask because I am originally from NW Pennsylvania. Regardless, that’ll be awesome to see! I had a chance to hear the Nashville Orchestra do a Star Wars concert years ago. Really enjoyed it.
As for the Solo soundtrack, I took the time to listen to it from start to finish and “Savareen Stand-off” is the only track that really jumped out at me. Sure, there is some other fun tunes, but I just really liked that one in particular, probably in part because it announces the return of Enfys Nest whom I really like.
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Yup, Cleveland area, closer to Akron actually.
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I hit send before I could comment that I also really liked Enfys Nest. 😀
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Haha not a problem! That is wild you are from that area! Small world.
Glad to hear you also liked Enfys Nest. The film as a whole didn’t necessarily wow me, but she is definitely a character I hope we get more of (hence the post I wrote about her a while back).
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Ah, I only just saw Solo last month so I’ll have to go back and read your post about her.
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What’d ya think of it? Personally, I thought it ended up being a lot better than I had anticipated. I was skeptical about anyone new playing Han Solo, and while I am not necessarily convinced the film was necessary, it at least didn’t really do any damage to the character. Alden Ehrenreich did a decent enough job as Solo to add some interesting elements to the character, but I honestly felt like other characters in the film (Lando, Qi’ra, Enfys, Val) were more intriguing.
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Those are pretty much my thoughts exactly! It was an enjoyable film, but didn’t really add all that much. I liked Enfys, Qi’ra, and L3; Lando was great as anticipated. Rio Durant was awesome and they killed him way too soon!
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You know, I absolutely would have enjoyed seeing Rio and Val more in the film. I was genuinely shocked they died so early. In fact, it would have been more interesting if Val and Beckett had their roles reversed. It could have been more interesting, at least to me, to see Solo learning from Val – a badass woman – than Beckett – a sorta interesting dude.
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Jeff, I am pretty much in agreement with you over the ones concerning Episodes 1 – 8 (I haven’t seen any of the animated series and I don’t remember the music from Solo and Rogue One).
As far as TESB is concerned, there is a particular theme I am fond of: It’s “The Heroics of Luke and Han” and this is because of the lovely musical depiction of the escape from Hoth at the end of the piece.
Nice post. Take care!
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The soundtrack to Rogue One is fantastic! You should give it a listen when you get a chance. As for Solo, I don’t particularly love it or hate it, but I genuinely enjoyed the piece I included (Savareen Stand-Off). As for The Clone Wars, I decided to included it because it is, technically, one of the Star Wars films but always seems to be forgotten by fans.
As for your choice from TESB, I absolutely concur! It is a splendid piece of music and I actually considered it but just had to go with Yoda’s Theme.
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Oh, I would go with Yoda’s Theme any day, if I had to choose just one theme from each episode.
Thanks for the Rogue One tip!
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Hi IT,
Rockin’ literally! Yes, the right songs really set the stage. Music is another big chunck of any film.
Fun stuff!
Gary
On Tue, Dec 4, 2018 at 8:19 AM The Imperial Talker wrote:
> Imperial Talker posted: “A long time ago…in 2017…I wrote a piece > detailing why “The Imperial March” is my absolute favorite musical score in > the Star Wars franchise. This admission came as little surprise to many of > my trove of followers/readers as I have often professed my c” >
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