ESB 6: Battle of Hoth Set Theory (Minutes 26-30 with Dominic Sewell)

2022-12-19

We're getting deep into the Battle of Hoth today! This is minutes 26-30 of The Empire Strikes Back with composer/orchestrator Dominic Sewell. The quickie topic is a primer on the anatomy and function of a score. To follow along with the visuals in this episode, I recommend checking out the video version (or just spot checking the areas you want to see): https://youtu.be/oOvHkaciOVk Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 2:10 - What stands out to you about the Battle of Hoth? 8:26 - Who is the greatest 20th c...

We're getting deep into the Battle of Hoth today! This is minutes 26-30 of The Empire Strikes Back with composer/orchestrator Dominic Sewell. The quickie topic is a primer on the anatomy and function of a score.

To follow along with the visuals in this episode, I recommend checking out the video version (or just spot checking the areas you want to see): https://youtu.be/oOvHkaciOVk

Timestamps:

00:00 - Hello there!
2:10 - What stands out to you about the Battle of Hoth?
8:26 - Who is the greatest 20th century composer?
10:30 - Quickie topic: Anatomy and function of a score.
16:05 - Start of these minutes.
18:51 - Contrapuntal fudge.
28:18 - Frank Lehman's breakdown of the Battle of Hoth themes from a-z.
32:46 - Cool things about octatonic scales and John Williams's use of them.
45:42 - Military preparation theme (e)
48:00 - "One is okay, two is memorable, three is too much."
54:05 - Optimistic Walton-esque theme (h)
1:01:07 - Increasing rhythm, momentum, texture before big crescendo.
1:03:35 - Start of 3M3 "The Snow Battle"
1:10:30 - Pitch class sets, Forte numbers, using the pitch-class set calculator. 4-19, 6-z19, 5-32, 8-28, etc...
1:26:29 - “Fingers are not to be despised: they are the great inspirers, and, in contact with a musical instrument, often give birth to subconscious ideas which might otherwise never come to life.” -Stravinsky
1:29:10 - Alpha chords.
1:38:47 - What JW wrote about this cue in the liner notes ("bizarre, mechanical, brutal...")
1:49:10 - "The rub" + Why are minor seconds and major sevenths "the same?"
2:00:14 - "Into the Maw" from Solo: A Star Wars Story.
2:06:13 - Cluster splurge.
2:13:33 - Diverging outline.
2:19:01 - Filigree, frills, and trills.
2:23:41 - 6-20 classic hexatonic set.
2:31:40 - Philosophical question: how do you decide the boundaries of the set you're analyzing?
2:36:46 - The Hoth sequence contains nearly all of John Williams's action hallmarks.
2:45:38 - SWMM Questionnaire

References:

Complete Catalogue of the Musical Themes of Star Wars (by Frank Lehman): https://franklehman.com/starwars/.
Analysis Through Composition - Principles of the Classical Style (book by Nicholas Cook) - https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/3425258
Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis
Orb and Sceptre (William Walton) - https://youtu.be/v6qjUdaDE_Q
Crown Imperial March (William Walton) - https://youtu.be/1M9xZlA2zn8
Dominic's video intro to pitch class set theory: https://youtu.be/Am2KLFMGuvw
Pitch-Class Set Calculator: https://www.mta.ca/pc-set/calculator/pc_calculate.html
List of set classes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_set_classes
Petrushka (Stravinsky) - https://youtu.be/jeSC0vtdn3g
David Matthews piece: The Golden Kingdom song cycle, "Spell of Creation" movement - https://www.fabermusic.com/shop/the-golden-kingdom-p3081
Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain - https://youtu.be/SLCuL-K39eQ
Mickey Mouse (2013) series, music by Christopher Willis - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNdhDq-DF8k&list=PLIUzyJZLGeBM2mB9MaXtfzCxHRZ6s8PIl
Mark Richards's film scoring courses: https://filmmusicnotes.com/all-courses/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Mouse_(TV_series)
The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films: A Comprehensive Account of Howard Shore's Scores (by Doug Adams) - https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/8882617

Check out Dominic Sewell's channel to see more analysis with video walkthroughs of these cues:

3M2 Leia's Instructions (final segment) - https://youtu.be/DThcEWb_CoE
3M3 The Snow Battle - https://youtu.be/fIHn1e521DY
3M4/4M1 Luke's First Crash - https://youtu.be/dfKjTX7gpNs

Cues:

3M2 "Leia's Instructions"
3M3 "The Snow Battle"
3M4/4M1 "Luke's First Crash"

Musical Themes:

2. Rebel Fanfare
18) Descending Heroic Tetrachords
1a. Main Theme (A Section)
13. Droids

Where are we in the soundtrack?:

"The Battle Of Hoth (Ion Cannon/Imperial Walkers/Beneath the"

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STAR WARS MUSIC MINUTE QUESTIONNAIRE:

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

Transporting. Transforming. Transcendental.

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

Dom would like to talk to John Williams about what his teachers taught him.

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

Lord of the Rings - Howard Shore
Doctor Who (TV series) - Murray Gold
The Orville (TV series) - Bruce Broughton (main theme), Joel McNeely, Andrew Cottee, John Debney, and Kevin Kaska
Death of Stalin - Christopher Willis

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Guest: Dominic Sewell