I’m sure he would have, had he been given more than four weeks to compose the score. I’d like to hear what he could come up with given a proper schedule.
Definitely agree. I was listening to the Rouge One soundtrack in the car the other day and it feels to me just like the movie does: a lead-in to A New Hope. Giacchino I think did a fantastic job producing a Williams-esque score that transitions into A New Hope in the time he had.
As for the Imperial March, I’m glad that he gave us the reference without outright stating it. In A New Hope, we had a very different Imperial/Darth Vader Theme and the Death Star’s motif and I was thrilled to hear Giacchino reference these throughout the film because to me, these themes represent a more consolidated and confident Empire that is in control (still evil but more low-key, refined, and bureaucratic. If you listen closely, you can hear some of the DNA of the Imperial March within the original Imperial/Vader theme, too), and the power and menace of the Death Star. For me, the Imperial March has always been the theme of a driven Empire, an angry Empire, which is what we see in Empire and Jedi. They’ve been knocked for a loop by the end of A New Hope and it’s time to take off the gloves of refinement and go to war, which is why I was very happy that Giacchino went back and pulled more from A New Hope when scoring the Empire as it’s a time before Skywalker and the loss of their superweapon; the drive we see in Empire and Jedi isn’t there yet, and so there shouldn’t be an Imperial March yet either.
Its reference during the hallway scene is perfect to me because it’s our first real glimpse at a driven Vader with the Empire behind him, so it makes sense to give us a hint of a taste of what’s possible and what’s to come.
+1