Thematic analysis of leitmotifs in the music of John Williams from the original Star Wars trilogy

Abstract

Ovaj rad bavi se tematskom analizom lajtmotiva u glazbi originalne trilogije Star Wars. Sadrži kratak povijesni pregled razvoja lajtmotiva, od baroka do 20. stoljeća te kao se lajtmotiv implementirao u holivudsku glazbu. Također, rad sadrži biografiju skladatelja Johna Williamsa koja će obuhvatiti same početke njegovog djelovanja u Hollywoodu te njegov rad do danas. Analizirani su lajtmotivi poznatih likova originalne trilogije, a poseban naglasak je na analizi glazbe unutra pojedinih scena kako bi se prikazala njena promjenjivost i prilagodba emotivnim stanjima likova i radnji. Zadnji dio rada bavi se implementacijom lajtmotiva originalne trilogije u glazbu novih trilogija te kako je glazba pomogla predvidjeti radnju.This paper deals with the thematic analysis of leitmotifs in music of the original Star Wars trilogy. It contains a brief historical overview of the development of the leitmotif, from Baroque to 20th century and how it was implemented in Hollywood music. Also, the paper contains a biography of the composer John Williams, which will cover the beginning of his career up to the present day. Analysis will contain leitmotifs of well know characters from the original trilogy while the special emphasis is on the analysis of leitmotifs inside certain scenes to show changeability and adaptation to the emotional states of characters as well as the plot. The last part of this paper deals with the implementation of leitmotif from the original trilogy in the music of new trilogies and how it helped predict the plot