Back to the Symphony

Exactly one year after the Colorado Symphony Orchestra performed the entire score of Star Wars live in sync with the film, they were back to present The Empire Strikes Back.

This was a can't-miss performance for me. Just as Star Wars fans debate whether the original or Empire was the better movie, I debate which had the better score from John Williams. Yes, it was Star Wars that won him an Oscar and not Empire (though he was nominated, losing to.... Fame?!). Yes, Star Wars was entirely new where Empire reused some established material.

But take a moment here. John Williams created a great deal of brand new music for this film, from the battle of Hoth to the asteroid field sequence to the escape from Cloud City (on the city itself and in space). He created several new themes, including themes for Cloud City, the droids, and the emerging romance between Han and Leia. This is to say nothing of his sweeping, emotional theme for Yoda, which helped lend the odd puppet character some much-needed gravitas.

Plus, of course, the Imperial March. Darth Vader's theme is so iconic and memorable, everyone knows it. It's the most recognized theme from Star Wars outside of the main title itself, and I'd wager many people don't even realize Williams didn't actually compose it until the sequel.

As always, seeing an orchestra perform a John Williams score live is a wonderful treat, giving you a visual aid in discovering just how the music is put together. I'm always fascinated to learn how heavily certain instruments are actually utilized. There's quite a bit more piano than I knew in the Empire Strikes Back score, for instance, though it's largely buried in the audio mix of the official recording. There's also far more piccolo than I'd imagined -- not that it can't be heard, but I certainly thought about it much more when I saw just how often the performer here was working.

Part of the cleverness in a John Williams theme is how he recontextualizes it throughout a movie by passing it around to different sections of the orchestra. Seeing the music performed live turns this into almost a tennis match as you see a musical phrase volleyed around to french horns, flutes, trumpets, and more. I couldn't take my eyes of the performers... though of course, there are few movies I know as well as The Empire Strikes Back. (And it was nice not to have to look much at the goofy Special Edition inserts. The rotoscoping of extraneous windows in Cloud City has not aged well, and looks more dated today than anything that was actually in the movie back in 1980. Except maybe for the guy in Cloud City running with an old giant ice cream maker that's the exact model my family had when I was a kid.)

It seems inevitable that the Colorado Symphony Orchestra will be performing the Return of the Jedi score at some point down the road. And you bet I'll be there. But this film, this experience was a real pinnacle. Once again, I can't recommend enough these wonderful film score experiences, whether you're close to Denver or near another symphony that surely stages similar events.