John Williams' theme for Anakin Skywalker bears striking similarities to one of Klaus Doldinger's "Atreju's Quest" from the 1984 movie The NeverEnding Story.

Both share a delicate, youthful innocence and a subdued sense of adventure - or perhaps a sense that adventure is in the not-too-distant future.

Musically, the two share very nearly intervallically  identical openings, and share strong rhythmic similarities.

This resemblance is one aspect I've added to my "Music of Star Wars" presentation for tomorrow's 2-hour version of the program.

Friday, 28 October 2016, 10:00 a.m. - noon
Middlesex Community College, Chapman Hall, 100 Training Hill Road, Middletown, CT
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' ultra-romantic orchestral score. This 60-minute multimedia presentation will showcase the music of all seven movies, citing historical precedents and comparing musical influences with the twofold purpose of (1) illustrating how the music developed, and (2) enlightening listening and furthering enjoyment of the music.​

Tomorrow, August 18, will be the first two-program day since April 12, when I delivered The Beatles: Band of the Sixties at Salem Community College in Carneys Point, NJ in the afternoon and The Beatles' Alter Ego, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band at the Woodbury Public Library in Woodbury, NJ that evening.

Tomorrow, however, will be all Star Wars:

Thursday, 18 August 2016, 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Carmel High School, 520 E. Main St. Carmel, IN
The Music of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Thursday, 18 August 2016, 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Carmel Clay Public Library, 55 4th Ave SE, Carmel, IN
The Music of Star Wars: A Celebration of John Williams' Film Scores

This blog is a comparison of The Force Awakens, For Your Consideration soundtrack with the music actually heard in the film. The timings of the soundtrack (minute:second) are on the left, followed by an equal sign (=) and the approximate corresponding timings where that cue is used in the film (hour:minutes:second) on the right. For coordination purposes, the opening musical hit comes at 10 seconds (in other words, the first 10 seconds are silence, which corresponds to “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...”).

Track 01: The Attack on the Jakku Village Part 1
0:00-5:27 = 0:01:35-0:07:02

Track 02: The Attack on the Jakku Village Part 2
0:00-1:53 = 0:08:07-0:10:00

Track 03: The Scavenger
0:00-1:52 = 0:11:14-0:13:06

Track 04: Lunchtime
0:00-1:12 = 0:13:27-0:14:40

Track 05: I Can Fly Anything
0:00-4:09 = 0:19:55-0:24:04

Track 06: Finn's Trek
0:00-1:35 = 0:25:13-0:26:49

Track 07: Follow Me and The Falcon
0:00-7:09 = 0:28:38-0:35:47

Track 08: The Rathtars
0:00-1:19 = 0:46:00-0:47:19

Track 09: Snoke
0:00-2:07 = 0:49:13-0:51:21

Track 10: You Got A Name
0:00-1:32 = 0:55:46-0:57:18

Track 11: I'm No Hero
0:00-1:06 = 1:03:04-1:04:11

Track 12: The Starkiller
0:00-1:48 = 1:09:24-1:11:12

Track 13: Kylo Ren Arrives at the Battle
0:00-2:15 = 1:11:12-1:13:28

Track 14: The Resistance
0:00-1:35 = 1:15:11-1:16:46

Track 15: The Abduction
0:00-1:35 = 1:17:57-1:19:32

Track 16: Finn and Poe, United
0:00-2:01 = 1:20:45-1:22:46

Track 17: The Bombing Run
0:00-1:33 = 1:39:18-1:40:51
1:33-1:47 = not used in film
1:47-2:02 = 1:41:10-1:41:26

Track 18: On The Inside
0:00-2:50 = 1:42:36-1:45:26

Track 19: Torn Apart
0:00-4:19 = 1:47:30-1:51:50

Track 20: The Ways of the Force
0:00-3:58 = 1:53:50-1:57:49

Track 21: The Journey Home
0:00-2:14 = 1:58:48-2:01:03

Track 22: Farewell and The Trip
0:00-3:49 = 2:01:03-2:04:45

Track 23: The Jedi Steps and Finale
0:00-3:23= 2:04:45-2:08:10
3:23-4:11 = not used in film
4:11-9:58 = 2:11:43-2:17:30


So, what do all these numbers mean?

It means that the For Your Consideration version of the soundtrack contains the music actually heard in the film. There are a few exceptions: Track 17: The Bombing Run is not used in the film from 1:33-1:47; and neither is Track 23: The Jedi Steps and Finale from 3:23-4:11. But EVERYTHING ELSE is used in the film, and exactly as heard on this version of the soundtrack.

Tomorrow I take a break from the Beatles to return to that famous galaxy far, far away:

Tuesday, 17 May 2016, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Irvin L. Young Memorial Library, 431 West Center St, Whitewater, WI
The Music of Star Wars : A Celebration of John Williams' Movie Music
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 will showcase the music of all seven movies, citing historical precedents and comparing musical influences with the twofold purpose of (1) illustrating how the music developed, and (2) enlightening listening and furthering enjoyment of the music.

Tomorrow, for the first time, I will begin a tour with "The Music of Star Wars" (as opposed to with a Beatles program):

Wednesday, 4 May 2016, 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Kenosha Public Library: Northside Branch, 1500 27th Ave, Kenosha, WI
The Music of Star Wars: A Look at 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' ultra-romantic orchestral score. This 60-minute multimedia presentation will showcase the music of all seven movies, citing historical precedents and comparing musical influences with the twofold purpose of (1) illustrating how the music developed, and (2) enlightening listening and furthering enjoyment of the music.

The tour will last 21 days and include 16 speaking engagements in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Wednesday, 13 January 2016, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Hancock County Public Library, Central Library, Greenfield 900 W McKenzie Rd, Greenfield, IN
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' ultra-romantic orchestral score. This 90-minute multimedia presentation will showcase the music of all six movies, citing historical precedents and comparing musical influences with the twofold purpose of (1) illustrating how the music developed, and (2) enlightening listening and furthering enjoyment of the music.
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I've created and uploaded to YouTube a video version of my blog from earlier today.