Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (soundtrack)

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Soundtrack
Cover of the original 1977 release.
Soundtrack album by John Williams and London Symphony Orchestra
Released	1977, 1997, 2004
Recorded	March 5, 8-12, 15 & 16, 1977
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	1:45:46
Label	20th Century Records (later by RSO Records, RCA Victor, and Sony Classical)
Producer	George Lucas, Nick Redman (2004)
Star Wars soundtracks chronology
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (soundtrack) (1977) Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (soundtrack) (1980)

John Williams' score for Star Wars (the film was re-titled upon its initial re-release, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) was recorded over eight sessions at Anvil Studios in Denham, England on March 5, 8–12, 15 and 16, 1977. The score was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra with Williams himself conducting. The score was orchestrated by frequent Williams' associate Herbert W. Spencer, who also orchestrated The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The score was recorded by engineer Eric Tomlinson and edited by Kenneth Wannberg, and the scoring sessions were produced by Star Wars creator George Lucas himself and supervised by Lionel Newman, head of the music department at 20th Century Fox.

The film premiered on May 25, 1977 and by late summer a disco version of the Star Wars Theme by Meco became America's number one song. Williams received three Grammys in February 1978 and his third Academy Award (second for Best Original Score) in April.

In 2005, the American Film Institute honored and recognized the original Star Wars soundtrack as the most memorable film score of all time.

Original pressing

The original 1977 release of the soundtrack, entitled Star Wars - Original Soundtrack, included a poster of a painting by science fiction artist John Berkey, depicting the final battle over the Death Star from the end of the film. The album was released as a double LP which was formatted for an autochanger record player; one disc had sides 1 and 4 with the other having sides 2 and 3. This allowed a person to stack sides 1 and 2 on the player, then flip the stack over for sides 3 and 4, allowing the listener to have over half an hour of uninterrupted music before they needed to flip the disc over.

Track listing for the first release on LP

• First release on LP by 20th Century. For the original soundtrack, John Williams selected 75 minutes of music out of the 88 minute score. To provide musical variety, it did not follow the chronological order of the film.

SIDE one

1. Main Title– 5:20
2. Imperial Attack – 6:10 (8-track - 6:25)
3. Princess Leia's Theme – 4:18 (8-track - 4:20)
4. The Desert and the Robot Auction – 2:51

SIDE two

1. Ben's Death and TIE Fighter Attack – 3:46
2. The Little People Work – 4:02
3. Rescue of the Princess – 4:46
4. Inner City – 4:12
5. Cantina Band – 2:44 (8-track, Part I - 1:45)

SIDE three (8-track PROGRAM 3, Cantina Band, Part II - 1:06)

1. The Land of the Sandpeople – 2:50
2. Mouse Robot and Blasting Off – 4:01
3. The Return Home – 2:46
4. The Walls Converge – 4:31
5. The Princess Appears – 4:04 (8-track, Part I - 3:11)

SIDE four (8-track, The Princess Appears, Part II - 1:00)

1. The Last Battle – 12:05
2. The Throne Room and End Title – 5:28

Total Time: 74:58

Track listing for the first release on CD

• First release on CD by Polydor.

Disc one

1. Main Theme – 5:20
2. Imperial Attack – 6:10
3. Princess Leia's Theme – 4:18
4. The Desert and the Robot Auction – 2:51
5. Ben's Death and TIE Fighter Attack – 3:46
6. The Little People Work – 4:02
7. Rescue of the Princess – 4:24
8. Inner City – 4:12
9. Cantina Band – 2:44

Disc two

1. The Land of the Sandpeople – 2:50
2. Mouse Robot and Blasting Off – 4:01
3. The Return Home – 2:46
4. The Walls Converge – 4:31
5. The Princess Appears – 4:04
6. The Last Battle – 12:05
7. The Throne Room and End Title – 5:28

Star Wars Trilogy: The Original Soundtrack Anthology

In 1993, 20th Century Fox Film Scores released a four CD box set containing music from the original Star Wars Trilogy. This release marked the first time that the complete contents of the original double-LP releases of the scores from the first two movies became available on CD. Disc one in the set was devoted to Star Wars, with further tracks on disc four.

Since every cue is recorded several times, usually with varying orchestral differences, the final decisions on what takes of cues are used and/or how they are edited to create the cues used was decided by the music editor Kenneth Wannberg. In the time between the original LP release and the release of the Anthology, this breakdown was lost. Because of this, many takes of cues used on the Anthology are not the same. This is most obvious on the cue "The Throne Room", so the Anthology is technically not an exact replica of the LP, but is nearly so.

1. 20th Century Fox Fanfare with CinemaScope Extension
2. Main Title
3. Imperial Attack
4. The Desert
5. The Little People Work
6. The Princess Appears
7. The Land of the Sand People
8. The Return Home
9. Inner City
10. Mouse Robot/Blasting Off
11. Rescue of the Princess
12. The Walls Converge
13. Ben's Death/Tie Fighter Attack
14. Princess Leia's Theme
15. The Last Battle
16. The Throne Room/End Title

"Bonus Tracks" (disc four of the same set)

1. 20th Century Fox Fanfare with CinemaScope Extension
2. Star Wars Main Title (Alternate)
4. A Hive of Villainy
5. Destruction of Alderaan
10. Cantina Band
12. Cantina Band #2
15. Standing By

Track listing for the complete score

• Now available on RCA Victor (1997) and Sony Classical (2004) presenting the complete score in chronological order for the first time. The two releases present exactly the same track listing. The only difference between these editions is that the RCA release includes complete notes on each track by Michael Matessino and that the Sony Classical release does not include these notes.

Track Listing Disc One

No.	Title	Length
1.	"20th Century Fox Fanfare" (Alfred Newman (1954))	0:22
2.	"Main Title/Rebel Blockade Runner (Medley)"	2:14
3.	"Imperial Attack"	6:42
4.	"The Dune Sea of Tatooine/Jawa Sandcrawler (Medley)"	5:01
5.	"The Moisture Farm"	2:25
6.	"The Hologram/Binary Sunset (Medley)"	4:08
7.	"Landspeeder Search/Attack of the Sand People (Medley)"	3:20
8.	"Tales of a Jedi Knight/Learn About the Force (Medley)"	4:28
9.	"Burning Homestead"	2:50
10.	"Mos Eisley Spaceport"	2:16
11.	"Cantina Band"	2:46
12.	"Cantina Band #2"	3:54
13.	"Binary Sunset (Medley) [Alternate Take]" (contains hidden track "Star Wars Main Title" (complete recording session version))	16:59
Total length:		57:33

Track Listing Disc Two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Princess Leia's Theme"	4:27
2.	"The Millennium Falcon/Imperial Cruiser Pursuit (Medley)"	3:51
3.	"Destruction of Alderaan"	1:32
4.	"The Death Star/The Stormtroopers (Medley)"	3:35
5.	"Wookie Prisoner/Detention Block Ambush (Medley)"	4:01
6.	"Shootout in the Cell Bay/Dianoga (Medley)"	3:48
7.	"The Trash Compactor"	3:06
8.	"The Tractor Beam/Chasm Crossfire (Medley)"	5:18
9.	"Ben Kenobi's Death/Tie Fighter Attack (Medley)"	3:51
10.	"The Battle of Yavin"	9:06
11.	"The Throne Room/End Title (Medley)"	5:37
Total length:		48:16

The Battle of Yavin

1. Launch from the Fourth Moon – 1:12
2. X-Wings Draw Fire – 6:50
3. Use the Force – 2:05

See also

• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
• The Story of Star Wars
• Star Wars music
• FilmScore Monthly Online