The Star Wars Leitmotif Challenge
2 videos • 712 views • by Violin Merchant A long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away.... John Williams created some of the most indelible music ever to accompany a film and, though many have argued that he borrowed many of his ideas from other classical works (The Rite of Spring for instance) it cannot be denied that most of the film viewing public can recognize the Main Title and Imperial March immediately upon hearing them. The beauty of the numerous thematic cues (called 'leitmotifs' but more colloquially known as 'themes') lies in the fact that they can be utilized in a number of emotional situations. The power of the leitmotif is that it is the musical identity of a character, an idea, or even an entire film. Thus, music can tell a story in much the way a book, a play, or a film can.... THE CHALLENGE: Using Music Notation software (like Finale or Sibelius) or even an instrument if you can, create an arrangement of one or more of the leitmotifs (themes) found in the six Star Wars films. There are no limitations on the number of instruments you can utilize or the amount of time the piece includes. Furthermore, the style of the piece (whether it is classical or otherwise) is completely up to you. I only ask that, rather than directly regurgitating a pre-existing cue or track, you write something unique and new that elaborates and expands upon John Williams' original material. DIRECTIONS To submit, make a video of your composition (if Notation Software users need any help with this I will be more than happy to assist) and upload it to Youtube with the prefix " SW MUSIC CHALLENGE- " then give the name of your piece. Make your tags the following- "SW STAR WARS MUSIC COMPETITION VIOLINMERCHANT." If you could then send me a personal message with the video linked then you will be infinitely more secure that I will see it and consider it. This is a celebration and I can't really offer a whole lot in the way of tangible prizes, but I will pick what I feel to be the most impressive expansion of Willams' ideas and will post the video on my channel with a video foreward explaining why I chose the piece and comparing it to Williams' original score. I look forward to hearing what you guys come up with! Sincerely, The Violin Merchant P.S. the tentative deadline for this competition will be April 1st but I will adjust this if more submissions are required or are pending.