“Without John Williams, bikes don't really fly, nor do brooms in Quidditch matches, nor do men in red capes, There is no Force, dinosaurs do not walk the Earth, we do not wonder, we do not weep, we do not believe.” Spielberg on John Williams This man made the soundtracks that defined the childhood of billions. A true legend.

There's no way Star Wars would ever have been as successful as it was without John Williams.

The more I listen to Duel of the Fates, the more I realize it is Williams' crowning achievement. He essentially has the entire orchestra battling itself to show the battle going on screen, not only between the combatants, but inside characters like Obi Wan. Freaking brilliant.

John Williams is like J.R.R Tolkien of music, influenced a whole genre of music while doing something so daring yet so brave

"try and imagine what it was like to experience this for the first time" I don't have to. I was there. I was 8, and had never seen a movie with an orchestral score, as they were not popular at the time. I was so moved I started taking piano lessons so I could learn to play this stuff. I even wrote John Williams a letter telling him how much St5ar Wars changed my perception of music. The best part is John wrote me back. I still have it, a handwritten and signed letter of thanks

In my opinion John Williams' Star Wars scores were some of the best of his career.

The Duel of Fates is and forever will be one of the greatest pieces of music every produced.

Fun fact: the music at 19:29 is actually a heroic version of the Imperial March. It symbolized Luke carrying his father's spirit with him into the battle.

I’ve always understood Williams’ score to *be* the Force.

This video is criminally underviewed! Brilliant work again ⚡️

Princess Leia‘s Theme would even impress Mozart. It’s absolutely angelic. Hard to hear without getting touched at the absolute center of your heart.

This is, unequivocally, the most comprehensive synopsis on the significance of John Williams and his contributions to music and society at large that I’ve ever come across.

the prequels need an episode on their own for the other pieces like Anakin's betrayal. amazing video

Hearing Leia’s theme always brings a tear to my eye

This dude’s narration is legendary.

"A good composer does not imitate; he steals" - Igor Stravinsky

Hi! I'm an opera singer, and I know Strauss' Elektra quite well. My mouth literally FELL OPEN when you made the connection between the Agamemnon melody and what Williams did in the Battle of Crait. Mind blown! ✨LOVE this video!

With most music I like trying to guess the time signature when I listen. With John Williams music, I've just given up. He's a master of forcing you to stop paying attention to the technicalities of the music and just enjoying it instead.

"Try and imagine"... I was there. 13 years old, theater debut. 22 times in 2 weeks. John Williams wrote the music of my LIFE. He is THE master composer of the last century who will be counted as one of the greatest ever for centuries to come.

I teared up a few times hearing Leia’s theme. And I literally cried when Luke met Leia for the very last time. I have never cried so happily before.

I'm not a musician, can't even read music beyond a few notes, but watched this whole video just because you do such a good job making the music sound so impressive. You do a really good job making the viewer feel that they're watching a masterwork, even for someone who does not understand 3/4 of what you're saying. Great effort.

I genuinely think the prequels have the best overall scoring. But damn what episode 4 built is incredible. Leia's theme is excellent

Two hundred years from now, how will John Williams be viewed? I’d like to think he’ll be ranked among those composers from whom he drew inspiration. For me, he’ll always be the greatest composer of my lifetime. Thank you for this video.

John William’s work is a beautiful piece of art. I might not be the biggest fan of the sequels but you can’t deny that the new themes he created are equally beautiful to the original ones. I especially like Rey’s theme.

Bruh. This video is an absolute masterpiece

When I saw this in my feed I was like, "oh great, another williams video." Thank you for totally surpassing my expectations. This was absolutely the most insightful and enjoyable Williams analysis that I have seen in ages!

All you need to hear is that first high note in the main theme and you immediately know which universe you’re in. John Williams is an absolute legend. I had the privilege to go to 2 concerts in my life, one when I was very young and one in Hollywood 2021. He is the greatest composer of ALL time.

"try and imagine what it was like to experience this for the first time" Like a lot of other people commenting on this site, I don't have to imagine it. I was there. It was the summer of 1977 when the first "Star Wars" movie hit theaters and my father took me to go see it. I was 9 years old. Take your self back to the summer of '77. Nobody had ever seen anything like this before. The movie just blew people's minds. Williams' score was recognized as an instant masterpiece. Starting with "Star Wars", Hollywood really mastered the art of the summer blockbuster: Star Wars, Alien, E.T., Superman, Indiana Jones, Terminator, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and so on. All through my youth, in the late 70's and the 80's it seemed like every summer there was at least one blockbuster movie that you had to go see, and, more often than not, it was John Williams who wrote the score for it. I saw them all when they first hit theaters. This seems like an appropriate place to share this memory. What I remember about all those movies in that period - late 70's through the 80's - is that, with any other movie and with any other composer, when the movie was over and the music came up and the credits rolled, you just got up and left. That was it. But with John Williams - and I have a distinct recollection of seeing this with movies like E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind and the Empire Strikes Back among others - when John Williams scored a movie and the movie was over, the music would come up, the credits would roll and the audience would get up out of their seats AS IF they were about to leave. But almost nobody left. Maybe 10% of the audience would trickle out of the theater, but the other 90% would just stand there, not moving, watching the credits roll and listening to Williams' music. It was incredible to watch. People would just stand there - 5 minutes, 6 minutes - watching the credits roll, drinking in every note of Williams fabulous score just as a tribute to him. Then, finally, the last notes of the score would play, the credits would end, the houselights in the movie theater would come up, everyone would applaud and THEN everyone would make their way out of the theater. I never saw any other composer in that period or since who got the kind of street cred that John Williams did. The only one even remotely in his league was Jerry Goldsmith - Goldsmith got a little bit of that audience respect too, as I recall, but not like Williams. It was just amazing to watch, people standing there 5, 6 minutes in a darkened theater, staring at the screen, saying nothing because that would spoil the moment, just drinking in the music and paying their respects to the Maestro who composed it. I've never seen anything like it since. Well, that's my memory of the great JW from my childhood. I hope you emjoyed it.

My understanding of the narrator goes something like this, "????????????????????," but he his voice is so pure and beautiful that it mixed beautifully with John William's music.

It’s so strange, yet beautiful, that music can get someone excited. I love it. It gives me great pleasure. I have previously dismissed film-score composers as lesser than the Classical composers but, I realise that this was an ignorant opinion. This video changed my mind.

I grew up in Buenos Aires Argentina and was 16 years old in 1977. My cousin Walter came to my house terribly exited because he had just seen The Star Wars movie at our local cinema and wanted me to come with him to see it again. It was a must in his opinion and though I had seen no advertising nor heard of the movie (anywhere) I trusted his taste and went along that same day (Saturday). It had subtitles as we spoke only Spanish and though we had no musical formal training, we just loved it! Even up to this day (Nov 2021) I vividly remember the score and visuals as fresh as it had had happened yesterday, that is the power of John Williams music!

Thank you for talking about that scene between Luke and Leia in TlJ. It's an incredibly powerful musical moment. That Luke and Leia theme is incredible!

John Williams made me expand my musical tastes more than any other artist or composer. He made a 10 year old kid who listened to Kiss open his mind to classical music with the soundtrack to a silly science fiction movie which is still a huge part of that 10 year old’s universe 44 years later. When I heard Duel of the Fates for the first time, I realized that he wasn’t just one of the greatest movie soundtrack composers ever, but I believe he belongs in the pantheon of greats alongside the likes of Bach, Beethoven, Wagner, and Tchaikovsky.

It brings me sorrow that I will never get to experience the resolution at 11:54 for the first time again

In 1977 My dad took my sister and I, plus my best friend to see Star Wars at the Cinema 150 in downtown Seattle Washington. I was 15 years old and somehow I felt my life wouldn’t be the same after seeing that movie. Not sure that my life actually changed but it definitely took my ability to suspend disbelief into the next level and I experienced a freeing of my already large imagination to an almost limitless level. I think, for a non drug user like myself, it was like being given a hit of heroine. I’ve craved ever more incredible movie experiences ever since. Avatar was one of those hits just like Star Wars in 1977. So was the movie Stargate, and the Lord Of The Rings movies.

I have listened to this opening score 100 times(still get chills). And people don’t like Darth maul, but he has he the best musical introduction. I loved the first prequel. Ewan Megregor as obiwan was great.

Because of Duel of the Fates and Leia's Theme, I kept having to restart because I kept listening to the music instead of you.

That moment when you realize that not only Darth Maul stood up from every collapse he had and rebuild himself over and over but also his god damn theme song does so as well

We sensed that John Williams was brilliant all along. And yet, you, good sir, give us the whys a and hows of it all in a voice that is as expansive and yet precise and rhythmic as that which you explain. Thank you

I just watched him live at Carnegie Hall last month. It was an incredible experience. I was waiting to see him for over 45 years. It was worth the wait.

I'm blown away by your cinematic-level editing, insight and care you put into this analysis. I don't know music, but you left me with goosebumps and a desire to learn a whole lot more. Do you have a Patreon? Let us donate $$!!

"Try to imagine what is what like to experience this for the first time..." I was just a couple rows back in a large dome theater in 1977 when I experienced it for the first time. Blew my 9 year old mind! That music I had never experienced, the Imperial destroyer rolling right over my head! The first album I ever bought with my very own money, just a few weeks later, was the double album Star Wars sound track. I am writing this on the 4th of July. I heard John Williams conduct the LA philharmonic 25 years ago on the 4th at the Hollywood Bowl. Listening to the Star Wars score while fireworks went off overhead (I was in the back parking lot - tickets were sold out) is one of my most memorable experiences!

I’m fortunate to have developed skills that allow me to “hear the music” that I’d see in a written score. Your description of what’s happening musically, as the score is shown, deserves high praise. I also agree with your opinion, that “Tie Fighter Attack” ranks near the top of all John Williams’ Star Wars cues … As brilliant as his craft and skill is, the heart and soul of John Williams’ music has been a gift to the world for the past 50 years … his influence is as profound as any of history’s greatest composers. I personally feel blessed to have heard, enjoyed, and learned from his contributions to the world, as I live in the same moment in time as JW.

Shoutout to the many individual live professional musicians of the ever epic London Symphony Orchestra for literally decades of perfect recorded performances captured for these films.

If they had been 22 minutes explaining "The Force Theme" I would have seen them more than delighted. That soundtrack makes me cry. Is incredible.

For me, Star Wars music is some of if not the best pieces of music ever. I remember watching The Last Jedi in theater back in 2017 and getting chills from the epicness of the soundtrack throughout the whole movie, especially in Crait. Williams is a true master.

That poem that goes with Duel of the Fates matches up so good with what’s happening in the story. Couple this with Dave Filoni’s explanation of the severity of the scene and it’s one of the best in cinema.

I don't have to imagine being there there in the theater hearing Star Wars for the first time. That day in May 1977 at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood will be with me for the rest of my life. My eternal thanks, John Williams. You take me back to being 10 years old every time I hear the open theme for Star Wars. And thank you for the explanation of the music.

You just helped me realize how much I adore Princess Leia's theme. Hearing it alongside the score gave me pause. Near teary-eyed for a few seconds. Then, you enlightened me to the nuances of Luke's appearance on Crait, with an evocative ending that, not referencing previous material, was an unexpected move by Williams. Superb video, thanks for reminding me and/or reaffirming why he's my favorite composer.

Not only is your analysis great; the way you present it is almost poetic.

Man, I don’t know what it is about this video. But I felt strangely motivated listening to you dissect Williams like this. Incredible video man.

John Williams made so many people love star wars and they didnt even know it

19:05 - Damn. Even just watching it here, hearing Luke & Leia's theme, knowing Carrie Fisher is gone, is making me weep.

Across the stars in my opinion is one of the most beautiful and heartwarming themes I’ve ever heard. You can sense the passion and the love within it and it really lets you feel what they are feeling in the moment.

I think everyone, myself included, vastly underestimates the impact a musical score has on the films (and even TV shows) we love, and how much these sounds truly move us.

Leia’s theme is among the best in a sea of amazing music. So complex and rich and melancholic, it gets me every time.

John Williams Main Themes are incredible and part of my regular lineup. However, the scores he did for fight sequences I found to be to classical in nature: being very erratic as stated in this video at 7:09 . That aside he is truly original in his compositions and I have a tribute to him in 1 of the vids on my channel. He's as Absolute - SUPER MAN!!!

This is an exceptional breakdown. That analysis of TLJ of John Williams not only recalling but inventing just shows why he's a master of his craft.

I’m so happy you chose to analyse Leias theme, it’s one of my favourite melodies of all time

I had the great pleasure and privilege of experiencing this in the theatre when it first came out. I was 16. We all knew even before the first showing that this was going to be something special. I still remember the opening credits as is scrolled across the screen and that musical score! Amazing.

That insight on “The Spark” regarding Luke’s appearance is insane. The sequel trilogy’s music is so often cast aside for reusing older themes but I’ve always felt it doesn’t get nearly enough credit for the new, even non-thematic material that Williams created for it.

Less than 5 minutes automatically earned a subscription for me. Analysis like this, specifically for Williams’ music, is exactly why I studied music in college. Sadly, my own theoretical education did not grant me sufficient understanding and comprehension to notice these things myself. What I wanted more than anything was to find out what it was about my favorite music that made it my favorite music. Well done, amazing content.

Luke's Theme on a French Horn is one of the most beautiful, mournful pieces of music ever. Yet, at the end of _A New Hope,_ it becomes one of the most triumphant pieces ever written in a minor key, especially with that chordal fanfare at the beginning. Off Topic: That high note on the violin at the very end of the epilogue in _Schindler's List_ makes me cry every time. P.S. My friend recently commissioned me to write a piece closely reminiscent of John Williams' _Superman_ theme. It was my most challenging and enjoyable composing project ever.

When you see the 6 lines of sheet from duel of the fates, each showing different instruments, it just makes you appreciate the amount of work Williams had to put in just for one song

I may not love the film overall like some do, but that meeting of Binary Sunset, Luke and Leia’s Theme, and Han Solo and the Princess in TLJ brings me near, if not fully, to tears every time. John Williams has never dropped the ball.

Also God that last line of yours. "And transports us to a galaxy far. Far away." Just put me to fucking tears I love it.

It's pure genius. You don't even have to understand the terminology and technical things about the score to understand that it's unworldly. That it's beyond the norm and very complex. The way he shifts and balances, slows down, speeds up. The emotions that it invokes in you, it's so human.

I get chills still. He is a master.

I remember hearing the opening for the first time. I was six years old, and my dad had just told me that I should watch this movie(episode IV). I already was into science fiction, so when he showed me Star Wars for the first time I was absolutely enthralled. I still remember watching the original(unedited) trilogy with my dad as one of the highlights of my childhood.

Holy crap that was an incredible video. This deserves 100 times the views it has. New subscriber for sure

John Williams is the greatest composer of this generation. Just like the greats, he used the styles of those before him and made them his own. What sets him apart from those greats, is that he used his music not just to paint a visual, but to make the already-made visuals in front of you a part of the music. You cannot hear the Imperial March or the Force Theme and not think of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, respectively. It takes a genius to make music that paints its own picture, but it takes a master to take another person's picture and make his own music synonymous with said pictures.

I was 8 back in 1999 when I saw The Phantom Menace. My first time watching Star Wars in a theater (I was already obsessed with the original trilogy lol) Hearing Duel of the Fates during the final duel literally made me shake with anticipation and excitement. I went and purchased the movie soundtrack on cassette later that week. The magic of John Williams has been a blessing in my life ever since. I listen to him jus about every day ♡♡♡

i understood all of about 3 words in this video. But it was a wonderful excuse to listen to the best of John Williams and have a little cry over how beautiful it is

The track “A New Hope and End Credits” in the ROTS soundtrack brilliantly pulls the prequels score and ANH score together seamlessly for such an epic conclusion. It’s one of my favorite tracks.

Playing any John Williams piece is always so fun even as an amateur orchestra

He's a music genius. He understands what emotions need to be shown with music through the movie .

You know, a lot of YT "Content" around Star Wars is just ... well, just for clicks, just for bashing, just for certain types of people. But this, this is a great exception; a video that's just swimming in passion and shared knowledge. This honestly earned my like and my subscription. Thank you for this.

John Williams and Howard Shore: how lucky we are to hear what they've written!

You can not imagine how mind-blowing it was to sit in a dark theater in 1977 with this orchestra hit starting the movie which changed your life forever. That was not the usual music in cinemas in the 1970s. It blows you away. You read the text which you can't really understand. A few seconds later, the biggest starship in history goes over your head. You can not imagine how big the "oh sh*t" was, that came out of the mouth of hundreds of people sitting there with you at the beginning of the biggest adventure in movie history. If you aren't there, you can't.

There are a lot of Williams assessments online, but this video essay is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Well written analysis, great audio mix and editing, this whole piece is really impressive. I’m a new fan!

That Agamemnon quote as an indication of it being a projection is absolutely next level stuff. JW is on an entirely different wavelength. How do you not have all the subscribers? Your work is some of the best music content on the internet.

As a huge fan of Star Wars and John William's work... I ended the video like "thats why I love UKposts". Your job is so underrated, thank you!

Thanks UKposts Algorythmus for this video! I have absolutely no idea about music and can not read a single note, but the music of Star Wars you just have to love and is definitely one of the best film music there is! Super insight about the structure of this great music, top video!

For me music is in my veins. I grew up in a house with a mad musicians, my father ended up creating his own studio. From that I grew up with many forms of music and got a chance to experience the emotion in which all respond to. John Williams for me at least, is a surgeon with a scalpel in each hand conducting the flow within.

Wow. I can't get my head around the enormous effort this must have taken. Watched it for your analysis, going to have to immediately re-watch it to fully take in all of your incredible editing skills. This has inspired me to want to dig out some old scores and get to work myself. Thank you so much, can't wait for the next one!

I enjoyed this so much that my heart is pounding in my chest. Bloody music. It’s so amazing, inspiring and beguiling but the more you learn the less you feel you know 🤦🏻‍♂️ Thank you!

I don’t want to hype this but honestly this is one of the best videos I’ve ever seen. The commitment to detail and insight is mind boggling

A thank you to John Wiliams always seems like it isn't enough. The joy of his music is equal to Beethoven and often exceeds it because he is here today continuing to compose gifts to us all.

The amount of time Williams interweaves between different time signatures all the while introducing new motifs is masterful.

I am not an emotional person, yet this video made me tear up in pure enjoyment to be able to hear these masterpieces analyzed in such a nice way and brining back so much nostalgia from years past. I am not a musician nor did I understand many of the ideas presented, but hearing it is more than enough to understand the genius of the man

I wish I could go back and hear the intro for the first time every and fully appreciate it. Also, as much as everyone disagrees on the movies themselves, the one thing all star wars fans can agree on is how absolutely magnificent the score is. John Williams cannot miss

If this video got copyright claimed by star wars or Lucasfilm or something, I'm commuting a crime. This is such a great homage to John Williams ! I loved this vid. One of my fav ALL TIMES !

Thank you for including Princess Leia's Theme. It's probably one of the greatest classical modern movie themes in music history.

Great layering of movie, score, music and explanation. Very intense!

Ever since I was two years old and saw the first Superman Movie scored by John Williams, I was forever affected by John Williams and his unknown (then unknown) muse. But over the years, I was further amazed by his Star Wars and E.T. scores. E.T. probably the most personal score for me, because I was in wonder as a child over E.T., and had to see it many times in theaters. Only in recent years, after my friend Katie died of brain cancer, and left me her two cats, did I one day afterwards felt driven to look up and listen to 'E.T. and Me', the music cue where E.T. and Elliot are exploring Elliot's room and learning materials. The harp being an eternal device to suggest ancient interpretation . . . and here comes Katie's oldest of the two cats, with his brown fur, and Stark blue/grey eyes to chirp at me as I lay on the couch (reminding me of E.T.), exhausted from work, and sad over my lost friend. Loki came to comfort me as I listened to 'E.T. and Me', and I looked down at his E.T.-like face, and remembered another John Williams moment from HOOK as I said Loki's name with favor, and love. It was the moment when Robin Williams said the word "daddy" in HOOK (another John Williams score) as he held and gazed upon his original teddy-bear from a precious memory recollection, of his initial life as a baby. Suddenly the genius of John Williams in my memories overcame me as I pet this little companion left to me by the bestest friend that I ever had. Life is no coincidence, and neither is John Williams's genius. It binds us and penetrates us all, just like The Force. And perhaps that's what John Williams is trying to tell us, in the end . . . that there IS a Force that connects us all. "Be EXCELLENT to each other".

He’s come a long way since Lost in Space. John will be remembered as on of the greats.

It’s really satisfying to see someone articulate exactly how the score from the Crait battle contributes to the narrative. The whole set piece feels like a distillation of everything that makes the Star Wars series great and the underlying music really contributes to that

You speaking to Dual of the Fates got even more dramatic and intense with the music in the background :D

This may be one of the greatest videos on this platform. Even my collegiate choral conductor loves this video.

I don’t have to try and imagine it... I lived it! I was 7 when episode iv was released. I was completely gushing with excitement from that first big chord! Then the giant star destroyer that flew across the screen accompanied by that amazing music. I was hooked. I couldn’t get enough John Williams.