ESB 6: Battle of Hoth Set Theory

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Written By Chrysanthe Tan

We're getting deep into the Battle of Hoth today! This is minutes 26-30 of The Empire Strikes Back with composer/orchestrator Dominic Sewell. The quickie topic is a primer on the anatomy and function of a score. 

To follow along with the visuals in this episode, I recommend checking out the video version (or just spot checking the areas you want to see): https://youtu.be/oOvHkaciOVk 

Timestamps:

  • 00:00 - Hello there!

  • 2:10 - What stands out to you about the Battle of Hoth?

  • 8:26 - Who is the greatest 20th century composer?

  • 10:30 - Quickie topic: Anatomy and function of a score.

  • 16:05 - Start of these minutes.

  • 18:51 - Contrapuntal fudge.

  • 28:18 - Frank Lehman's breakdown of the Battle of Hoth themes from a-z.

  • 32:46 - Cool things about octatonic scales and John Williams's use of them.

  • 45:42 - Military preparation theme (e)

  • 48:00 - "One is okay, two is memorable, three is too much."

  • 54:05 - Optimistic Walton-esque theme (h)

  • 1:01:07 - Increasing rhythm, momentum, texture before big crescendo.

  • 1:03:35 - Start of 3M3 "The Snow Battle"

  • 1:10:30 - Pitch class sets, Forte numbers, using the pitch-class set calculator. 4-19, 6-z19, 5-32, 8-28, etc...

  • 1:26:29 - “Fingers are not to be despised: they are the great inspirers, and, in contact with a musical instrument, often give birth to subconscious ideas which might otherwise never come to life.” -Stravinsky

  • 1:29:10 - Alpha chords.

  • 1:38:47 - What JW wrote about this cue in the liner notes ("bizarre, mechanical, brutal...")

  • 1:49:10 - "The rub" + Why are minor seconds and major sevenths "the same?"

  • 2:00:14 - "Into the Maw" from Solo: A Star Wars Story.

  • 2:06:13 - Cluster splurge.

  • 2:13:33 - Diverging outline.

  • 2:19:01 - Filigree, frills, and trills.

  • 2:23:41 - 6-20 classic hexatonic set.

  • 2:31:40 - Philosophical question: how do you decide the boundaries of the set you're analyzing?

  • 2:36:46 - The Hoth sequence contains nearly all of John Williams's action hallmarks.

  • 2:45:38 - SWMM Questionnaire

References:

Check out Dominic Sewell's channel to see more analysis with video walkthroughs of these cues:

Cues:

  • 3M2 "Leia's Instructions"

  • 3M3 "The Snow Battle"

  • 3M4/4M1 "Luke's First Crash"

Musical Themes:

  • 2. Rebel Fanfare

  • 18) Descending Heroic Tetrachords

  • 1a. Main Theme (A Section)

  • 13. Droids

Where are we in the soundtrack?:

  • "The Battle Of Hoth (Ion Cannon/Imperial Walkers/Beneath the"

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STAR WARS MUSIC MINUTE QUESTIONNAIRE:

1. In exactly 3 words, what does Star Wars sound like?

  • Transporting. Transforming. Transcendental.

2. What's something related to Star Wars music or sound that you want to learn more about?

  • Dom would like to talk to John Williams about what his teachers taught him.

3. What's a score or soundtrack you're fond of besides anything Star Wars?

  • Lord of the Rings - Howard Shore

  • Doctor Who (TV series) - Murray Gold

  • The Orville (TV series) - Bruce Broughton (main theme), Joel McNeely, Andrew Cottee, John Debney, and Kevin Kaska

  • Death of Stalin - Christopher Willis

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Guest: Dominic Sewell

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Where else to find SWMM:

Chrysanthe Tan

Composer / Violinist

www.chrysanthetan.com
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ESB 7: Musical Referee
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ESB 5: Weeds of the Reeds