TLJ 30: Musical DNA of The Last Jedi

Frank Lehman is a music theorist, film musicologist, and John Williams scholar who created the Complete Catalogue of the Musical Themes of Star Wars. Today, he's here to help us understand the end credits and music of The Last Jedi overall. We talk about wild theorizing, erotic themes, and the technical and philosophical ideals that make up the musical vocabulary of Star Wars.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 - Intro and welcome to Frank Lehman, music theorist and film musicologist

• 02:50 - Complete Catalogue of the Musical Themes of Star Wars

• talking about music with non-musicians

• pet peeves, hot takes, justifications

• crafting theories based on music

• 18:55 - What's going on in this end credits music?

• 20:48 - Is the music in these end credits "successful"?

• 26:35 - "Luke in Exile" themes

• 32:00 - violin demonstration overlaying Luke in Exile, Jedi Steps, Rey's themes

• 37:15 - mythically intentional way of writing open-ended music

• 46:xx - pre-existing expectations, idea that meaning comes from incongruity

• 48:26 - underscore, benefits of focusing on 5 cinematic minutes at a time, setting up moods

• 50:24 - "Mirror Cave" (TLJ) in conversation with "Magic Tree" (ESB) example

• 51:48 - about the "Battle of the Heroes" (ROTS) quote in the opening of this film

• 52:40 - rarity of perfect authentic cadences in this style of Hollywood score

• 57:02 - thoughts on Rose's theme, lydian themes in John Williams' history in general

• 1:03:41 - "wonderment" as a musical aesthetic

• 1:07:03 - explicit eroticism in music, Leia, Han and Leia, Q'ira, Jyn, etc...

• 1:10:19 - Rey's theme as a complete departure

• 1:15:27 - more playback of the end credits music

• 1:19:04 - leitmotif vs. incidental motif vs. nonspecific byproduct of a writing style, Ahch-To Arpeggios, Kamino Mystery motif

• 1:22:03 - Kamino callback in The Bad Batch, John Williams's musical fixations and shorthands

• 1:27:04 - visionary aspects of the screenwriting and directing as a possible inspiration for John Williams

• 1:32:54 - Goodbyes

References:

• Things by Frank Lehman

  • Complete Catalogue of the Musical Themes of Star Wars: https://franklehman.com/starwars/

  • "Thematic Transformation and the Limits of Leitmotivic Analysis" - Talk by Frank Lehman given at Society for Music Theory, 2019 - https://youtu.be/4ZBCNK0PYrk

  • "Hollywood Cadences: Music and the Structure of Cinematic Expectation" (paper) https://mtosmt.org/issues/mto.13.19.4/mto.13.19.4.lehman.php

  • Hollywood Harmony: Musical Wonder and the Sound of Cinema (book) - https://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Harmony-Musical-Wonder-Cinema/dp/0190606401

• Music:

  • "A New Home" (The Rise of Skywalker) - by John Williams https://youtu.be/68jxhJYmo7o

  • "The Cave" (The Last Jedi) by John Williams - https://youtu.be/nFzuvgyqyCE

  • "The Magic Tree" (The Empire Strikes Back) by John Williams - https://youtu.be/RW5Fpv7X-4Q

  • "Far From Home/E.T. Alone" (E.T.) by John Williams - https://youtu.be/P312yGJGZgg

  • "Main Titles" (from Space Camp) by John Williams - https://youtu.be/eeq2Vy31t6E

  • "Back to the Future" by Alan Silvestri - https://youtu.be/cgBvhmxun5M

  • "Romeo and Juliet Overture" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - https://youtu.be/_Od7gx3Dc-U

  • "Tristan and Isolde" leitmotifs by Richard Wagner - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL78TsyiiZjhGGJhndz_P-8EbshbYcFDxB

  • Symphony No 9 "New World" by Antonin Dvorak - https://youtu.be/Qut5e3OfCvg

  • "The Firebird Suite" by Igor Stravinsky - https://youtu.be/6wbkKWrUD-A

  • "Marion's Theme/The Crate" (Raiders of the Lost Ark) by John Williams - https://youtu.be/Mp9InE4oDAw

  • "Princess Leia's Theme" by John Williams - https://youtu.be/eyHOUMWw5_M

  • "Han Solo and the Princess" by John Williams - https://youtu.be/zIQLjKJ2Yto

  • "Jyn Erso and Hope Suite" by Michael Giacchino (from Rogue One) - https://youtu.be/w42CTq5QZtI

  • "Lando's Closet" (Solo: A Star Wars Story) (Han and Q'ira's theme) - https://youtu.be/wummwZCt5s0

  • "Hera Syndulla's theme" (compilation from Star Wars Rebels) by Kevin Kiner - https://youtu.be/x7LNzBjCFrA

  • "Finding Kamino" (Attack of the Clones) by John Williams - https://youtu.be/uthJxkZo9vM

  • The Bad Batch land on Kamino (Star Wars: The Bad Batch) music by Kevin Kiner - https://youtu.be/ro0lutauUpU

• Other:

  • Things John Williams: Music for Films, Television, and the Concert Stage by Emilio Audissino - http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9782503580340-1

  • Carolyn Abbate - https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691026084/unsung-voices

  • the "Tristan chord" - https://youtu.be/yT47eZ5LUhY

• Relevant Star Wars Music Minute episodes

  • SWMM 16: Mirror Cave vs. Magic Tree - https://youtu.be/-ztVED0Dos0

  • SWMM 23: Holdo's Resolve - https://youtu.be/qmJDyfQrQjM

Frank Lehman Links:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/fmlehman

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLwccpA85GCgdjAQB53OQXQ

Star Wars Music Minute:

• YouTube: /starwarsmusicminute

• Twitter: @StarWarsMusMin

• Instagram: @starwarsmusicminute

• TikTok: @StarWarsMusicMinute

• Email: podcast@starwarsmusicminute.com

• Merch: to come one day...?

Chrysanthe Tan (Xanthe):

• Twitter: @chrysanthetan

• Instagram: @chrysanthetan

• Spotify Artist Page: Chrysanthe Tan

• Website: chrysanthetan.com

• Patreon: patreon.com/chrysanthetan