Section
Main Theme Intro (bar 1-3)
Section A (bar 4-7)
Section A repeated (bar 8-11)
Section B (bar 12-20) contrasting section
Analysis- Overview
 Bb maj
 4/4 Quadruple time
 100 BPM
 Fortissimo
 Dominated fanfare-like figures
 Rapid repeated notes develop quickly into
staccato triplets, with free imitation from
trombone and trumpet
 Violins play an 8ve higher
 Triplets- 3 quavers in the time of 2
 Anacrusis
 (bar 3) poco rall
 Trumpet, Horn, Trombone, Tuba, Timpani
 ‘a tempo’
 ‘Tutti’
 Heroic leitmotif/main theme played by high
trumpets
 Punctuating syncopated chords in
brass/lower strings/bassoons with rhythm
emphasised by snare drum
 Demi-semi- quaver run on flutes/violins –
soaring flourishes add brilliance and
excitement
 Bb tonic B
 Bb dominant F
 Trumpets play main theme
 Violins play tremolando chords and
continue inverted tonic pedal from
introduction
 (bar 7) Grace notes and percussion
 Mezzo forte
 Melody played by all strings apart from
double basses- doubled across 3 8ves
 Softer, lyrical and more legato
 Block chords played by lower brass and
lower woodwind
 Dominant bass pedal note played by double
basses, bassoons, and lower woodwind
 Important notes of the melody picked out
in the glockenspiel
 Counter melody in the brass
 Db maj (bar 15) foreign chords
 Dotted quaver- semi quaver in rhythmic
unison (only used once so catches attention
 (bar 18-20) rit. Tempo slows and resolution
from chord V to chord I (tonic) is ‘held back’
and ‘drawn out’
 Contrary motion (treble descends, bass
ascends)
Main theme Section A played twice (bar 21-29)
Link Section (bar 30-32)
Transition Section (bar 33-35)
Star-Filled Sky Section (bar 36-38)
Appearance of Planets (bar 39-41)
Spaceship Appears (bar 42-43)
Larger spaceship firing at the first (bar 44-50)
 Theme played by French Horns and Strings
 (bar 21) Perfect 5th
 (bar 22) Minor 7th
 ‘Simile’ – means similar i.e. to continue in
the same way (staccato and accented)
 Accompaniment is punctuated and
syncopated but this time emphasised with
percussion/timpani
 (bar 29) Harp glissando – effective link to
next section (Rebel Blockade Runner
begins)
 Fanfare-like material, related to the intro,
building up a chord using repeated
quaver/triplet semiquaver rhythm
 Rapid ascending sequential figures in
strings/bassoons/flutes create a panicky
sensation
 Sextuplets played staccato with crescendo
and accompanied by a timpani roll reinforce
sense of urgency
 Rapid arpeggio figures in strings
 Strange/unstable harmonies sustained by
brass and woodwind
 General diminuendo
 Rest of the extract is more concerned with
harmony, orchestral textures and rhythm
rather than statements of real melodic
interest
 Brief piccolo melody contrasts a lot from
main theme. Not tuneful, catchy or
memorable. No repetition and sounds
awkward and disjointed
 Harp plays an ostinato figure
 Vibraphone and celeste
 Much thinner and lighter texture than the
Main Theme
 Scurrying upward figures in strings:
Urgency, tension, panic
 Highly chromatic, becoming more atonal in
contrast to Main Theme: Uncertainty
 Block chords build up and crescendo in
trombones and horns so texture thickens as
more instruments added
Cm though complex chords and dissonance
make it seem atonal (bar 41-60)
 Brass play 2 chordal figures representing
Imperial forces
 Dissonant – Db note clashing with C, and
the Db-G tritone interval
 Low C pedal played fortissimo by bass
 instruments and accompanied by huge
Tam-Tam Gong stroke
 Timpani and bass instruments repeat note
C (tonic of Cm)
 Timpani hammers out an
ominous/threatening etc rhythm
 Very similar to Mars from “planets’ by
Gustav Holst
 Dissonant chords, played in rhythmic
unison, across the orchestra, fortissimo and
accented
 Ritardando and a pause emphasis effect
and heighten tension
Battle continues switching to rebel craft (bar 51-  (bar 51) 160 BPM
60)  Db maj chord (bar 52)
 Db over C so harmony clashes
 The entire orchestra is playing the same
rhythm
 Strings/lower brass and woodwind play
ostinato figure on C
Extra Notes:  Ternary form
 Leitmotifs are recurring musical ideas  Contrary motion- when 2 voices move in
associated with particular ideas, places or opposite direction. Related terms:
characters parallel/similar motion
 Main theme clearly in Bb maj. Therefore,
tonal and most chords are diatonic. In
contrast, from bar 30 onwards the tonality
becomes less clear, with more unstable
harmonies and progressions