ANH 12: So Long, Alderaan

A NEW HOPE
Written By Chrysanthe Tan

This chunk of A NEW HOPE (Minutes 56-60) begins with the Millennium Falcon blasting off at lightspeed and ends with Obi-Wan sensing the destruction of Alderaan. Ralph Attanasia joins me, and together, we tackle Tarkin's malicious trills, Leia's British accent, Han's Imperial Slugs advertisement, the sweet chaotic Force theme, and more.

Timestamps:

  • 00:00 - Hello there!

  • 01:30 - Peter Cushing in Star Wars is like Michael Caine in The Muppet Christmas Carol. Malicious trills

  • 05:09 - Garindan's voice is John Wayne sped up

  • 07:45 - Bumbling stormtrooper music

  • 09:32 - Peter and the Wolf-ness?

  • 13:25 - "Baby's first mono-myth"

  • 15:00 - Imperial Troops Ostinato (incidental motif) and "Imperials (motif)"

  • 18:44 - Docking Bay 94 escape music is loud, chaotic elements competing, Force theme ratcheting up

  • 20:08 - Force theme maneuvering on the fly

  • 22:58 - Alternate Binary Sunset thoughts

  • 29:37 - Inside the Millennium Falcon

  • 31:58 - "Our passengers must be hotter than I thought." Han, what?

  • 33:07 - Imperial Cruiser Pursuit (incidental motif described by Frank Lehman as "nervous minor horn chords succeeded by chromatic figure in strings"

  • 33:52 - Were you obsessed with lightspeed?

  • 38:35 - Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (if you know, you know)

  • 38:47 - Brass sextuplets, instruments that are hard to multitask with

  • 45:28 - Han says "Go strap yourselves in" and it sounds funny in the mix?

  • 46:09 - Death Star motif

  • 49:03 - Bond chord (minor major 9th)

  • 56:00 - Metaphor fail, not shadowboxing

  • 58:02 - Leia's British accent

  • 1:02:07 - One of the biggest mistakes of the prequels

  • 1:03:35 - Dies Irae? Maybe? (Paging Alex Ludwig)

  • 1:07:33 - Pronouncing "Dantooine"

  • 1:09:07 - Rolling R's in "Rebel friends"

  • 1:12:37 - Death Star power up sound

  • 1:13:24 - Disturbance in the Force

  • 1:15:54 - No music with lightsabers...except?

  • 1:22:21 - "Forget your troubles with those Imperials slugs"

  • 1:23:37 - Dejarik

  • 1:27:05 - Asking Ralph to clarify something he said on Star Wars Minute podcast

  • 1:33:33 - SWMM Questionnaire

  • 1:40:11 - Dunning Kruger

  • 1:45:41 - Ukulele Force

Things Mentioned:

Themes:

  • 5) Imperial Troops Ostinato

  • 6a. Imperials (Motif)

  • 14) Imperial Cruiser Pursuit

  • 3. Force

  • 13) Dies Irae - possible

  • 5. Death Star

  • Note: I use the theme names and numbers established in Frank Lehman's Complete Catalogue of the Musical Themes of Star Wars. You can download it free at his website: https://franklehman.com/starwars/.

Soundtrack: "The Millennium Falcon/Imperial Cruiser Pursuit," "Destruction of Alderaan," "Mouse Robot/Blasting Off"

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STAR WARS MUSIC MINUTE QUESTIONNAIRE:

1. In exactly 3 words, what does Star Wars sound like?

  • Sweeping expressive proclamations

2. What's something related to Star Wars music or sound that you want to learn more about?

  • Ralph wants to know what he doesn't know about the music, then learn that which he doesn't know.

3. What's a score or soundtrack you're fond of besides anything Star Wars?

  • Beetlejuice (composed by Danny Elfman)

  • The Addams Family (composed by Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Marc Shaiman and Saxie Dowell).

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Ralph Attanasia:

Star Wars Music Minute:

Xanthe:

Chrysanthe Tan

Composer / Violinist

www.chrysanthetan.com
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