Info Wanted: Star Wars - A New Score (* unfinished project *)

I’m fairly new to the site, but I mentioned in a couple posts that I am writing a completely new musical score for the original Star Wars. I have started a new thread to discuss my ongoing work.

I’ve been writing for roughly a month, and in keeping in spirit with the original, I’m writing for full orchestra, no obvious synthesizers. I have 30 minutes of music written to this point, not in order, but mainly concentrated towards the beginning.

I admire Williams’s score and believe it to be the best, period, but as with anything, there are parts that could have been done differently. For example:

-Why does Han Solo never have a theme? In four movie appearances!
-The famous Imperial March? Completely absent from the first film.
-Why does the Force theme play during the Throne Room finale? Every other appearance in the film is because a character is using or thinking about the Force.

Those are some of the changes I plan to make in my score. Any suggestions on other things in the score that could be done differently?

Interesting project. The “Imperial March” is absent because it was written for EMPIRE. Could be cool to see it incorporated into ANH. I believe the triumphant rendition of the force theme is present during the awards ceremony because Luke used the force to destroy the Death Star. Not sure Han needs a theme for this chapter…only to play it when the Falcon reappears during the Death Star battle I suppose.

Good thoughts about the awards ceremony, it makes sense in that context. I knew the Imperial March was written for EMPIRE, but looking back at the saga, I think it’s sorely missed in ANH. As for Han, it depends on how much you would want the music to focus on him. I agree his “moment of glory” so to speak is his reappearance in the Death Star battle, but I think a lot could be done with a theme in his escape from Mos Eisley Spaceport, his various actions when the group is on the Death Star, and even a slow rendition when he leaves the rebel base…I’ll have to think on it. Any other suggestions for changes I could make?

A New Hope works musically as a stand alone or the first in the series. Making it the 4th installment and with certain things lacking, such as the Imperial March, it could do with a revisit. I think most of it is fine as it is, but it could use a few changes and some additions to bring it more in line with the rest of the saga. That is one thing I am looking at for my fan edit (a semi-specialized and revisited edit). The other movies don’t need much done to the soundtrack, but A New Hope doesn’t quite fit. Though I plant to stick with Williams music exclusively.

Yotsuya, I like your plan to incorporate Williams’s later work on Star Wars into the first film. I’m a music composition major, so I am actually writing all of my own music, with none of Williams’s themes. I’m sure it won’t be as memorable (who could Really write better than Star Wars), but ANH allowed so much freedom and expression for the music that I wanted my own chance to score a huge film like this. It’s a great exercise considering my major, and will hopefully prepare me for later jobs in film scoring. YHWX, I’ll definitely be providing links to samples to show how my work is going.