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Can you spot the "Dies Irae" theme hidden in the Star Wars Main Theme?

11/11/2017

2 Comments

 
The "Dies Irae" theme appears several times in the Star Wars soundtracks:
Picture
And with Episode VIII's release next month, I strongly suspect we'll hear it again in the new film, which is expected to be considerably darker than The Force Awakens (much like how The Empire Strikes Back and Attack of the Clones - both the middle films of their respective trilogies - were darker than A New Hope or The Phantom Menace). And while pondering the possibility the other day, I stumbled upon that "dies irae" theme hidden in the Star Wars main theme.
Picture
Notice how the last four notes of the main theme excerpts above are the same pitches as the first four notes of the "dies irae".
Picture
Picture
I have no idea if John Williams did this intentionally or not, but I'm going to cite the similarity every time I do my Music of Star Wars presentation from now on.

And I'll get six chances to do so in the next eight days as I do my Star Wars thing throughout Tampa and Orlando:

Sunday, 12 November 2017, 3:00-4:00 p.m.
Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library, 2902 W. Bearss Ave, Tampa, FL
The Music of Star Wars: A Celebration of John Williams' Film Scores
Often called a “space opera”, one aspect of the Star Wars films that helped make them such a pop culture phenomenon was composer John Williams' iconic music. This 60-minute multimedia presentation showcases music from all seven episodes.
​
Monday, 13 November 2017, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
SouthShore Regional Library, 15816 Beth Shields Way, Ruskin, FL
The Music of Star Wars: A Celebration of John Williams' Film Scores
Often called a “space opera”, one aspect of the Star Wars films that helped make them such a pop culture phenomenon was composer John Williams' iconic music. This 60-minute multimedia presentation showcases music from all seven episodes.
​
Tuesday, 14 November 2017, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
North Tampa Branch Library, 8916 North Blvd, Tampa, FL
The Music of Star Wars: A Celebration of John Williams' Film Scores
Often called a “space opera”, one aspect of the Star Wars films that helped make them such a pop culture phenomenon was composer John Williams' iconic music. This 60-minute multimedia presentation showcases music from all seven episodes.
​
Wednesday, 15 November 2017, 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library, 3910 S Manhattan Ave, Tampa, FL
The Music of Star Wars: A Celebration of John Williams' Film Scores
Often called a “space opera”, one aspect of the Star Wars films that helped make them such a pop culture phenomenon was composer John Williams' iconic music. This 60-minute multimedia presentation showcases music from all seven episodes.
​
Thursday, 16 November 2017, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
New Tampa Regional Library, 10001 Cross Creek Blvd, Tampa, FL
The Music of Star Wars: A Celebration of John Williams' Film Scores
Often called a “space opera”, one aspect of the Star Wars films that helped make them such a pop culture phenomenon was composer John Williams' iconic music. This 60-minute multimedia presentation showcases music from all seven episodes.
​
Sunday, 19 November 2017, 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Orlando Public Library, 101 E. Central Blvd, Orlando, FL
The Music of Star Wars: A Celebration of John Williams' Film Scores
Often called a “space opera”, one aspect of the Star Wars films that helped make them such a pop culture phenomenon was composer John Williams' iconic music. This 60-minute multimedia presentation showcases music from all seven episodes.
2 Comments
Matthew Hallaron
10/10/2018 08:42:19 pm

Another theme that seems to use "dies irae" is the "chime motive" of Rey's Theme. Its first six notes have the same contour - it's the same as dies irae, just diatonically transposed up a third.

Reply
Matthew Hallaron
10/10/2018 09:23:42 pm

Dies irae is also was what John Williams was originally going to use for A New Hope's binary sunset scene, as heard on the "Binary Sunset (Alternate)" track of the soundtrack (also found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYXLmHmTrzU). I find that "what if" really interesting, especially considering how iconic that scene and its music has become, and how many times Williams has now re-approached and reworked it (episodes II, III, VII, VIII).

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