For a sci-fi fan, is anything more thrilling than a darkened theater, the flash of the yellow

Stars Wars logo, and the first rousing notes of John Williams’ score ringing out? The 85-
year-old composer, who wrote the music for eight of the nine films in the space saga and is
working on Episode IX, is as integral to the success of the Star Wars franchise as the Force
itself. And that’s not just fangirl talk—even serious music critics such as Alex Ross of the
New Yorker have recognized that the films’ music is “superbly crafted and rewards close
analysis.”

Frank Lehman, an assistant professor of music at Tufts who, among other things, studies
film music and the way it shapes a moviegoer’s experience, has analyzed Williams’ music
more systematically than most, and recently updated his “Complete Catalogue of the
Motivic Material in ‘Star Wars,’ Episodes I-VIII,” to include The Last Jedi, which premiered
in December.

Frank Lehman, an assistant professor of music at Tufts who, among other things, studies
film music and the way it shapes a moviegoer’s experience, has analyzed Williams’ music
more systematically than most, and recently updated his “Complete Catalogue of the
Motivic Material in ‘Star Wars,’ Episodes I-VIII,” to include The Last Jedi, which premiered
in December.

Frank Lehman, an assistant professor of music at Tufts who, among other things, studies
film music and the way it shapes a moviegoer’s experience, has analyzed Williams’ music
more systematically than most, and recently updated his “Complete Catalogue of the
Motivic Material in ‘Star Wars,’ Episodes I-VIII,” to include The Last Jedi, which premiered
in December.

He documents 55 leitmotifs—bits of melody repeated in the scores that act as themes,

evoking particular characters, places, or relationships. Luke, Obi Wan, and the Millennium
Falcon have their own themes. Kylo Ren has three leitmotifs to call his own, which Lehman
names “aggressive,” “hesitant,” and “menacing,” reflecting the conflicted nature of the
sequels’ wannabe villain. For the serious student, Lehman also lists less-prominent
“incidental” motifs, such as Ominous Upwards Arpeggio, which shows up in The Empire
Strikes Back, roundabout when Luke loses his hand.

Lehman has written an essay about these and other themes, which will appear in the
upcoming book, John Williams: Music for Films, Television, and the Concert Stage, to be
published by Brepols.

Tufts Now talked with Lehman about Williams and Star Wars, what the scores reveal about
the characters, and the pitfalls of using musicology to predict plot.

Tufts Now: Why is John Williams’ movie music so effective?

Frank Lehman: He focuses a lot of his energy on creating memorable melodies and
themes, going through a lot of different combinations until has exactly the right sort of
phrase structure and melodic contour so that it really becomes an earworm, something that
lodges in your brain and doesn’t let up.