"Brilliant" With a Capital "B" And That Rhymes With "G" And That Stands For "Giacchino"
A lot of people fanboy over movies or TV shows or particular performers or athletes. I do that, too.
But I also severely fanboy over movie music composers.
John Williams is the greatest that has ever lived. This is not up for debate. Admittedly, there was a time - during my Hans Zimmer heyday - when I turned aside from Williams, criticizing his work as too derivative and similar to his previous compositions. But like the prodigal son I repented and returned. I'm not sure there will every be another like Williams, ever.
Among his greatest works are the musical sounds of the collective Star Wars score. Again, not up for debate. To date, Williams has scored every Star Wars movie (theatrical release, so the Ewok movies don't count) except two: Rogue One and Solo, Disney/Lucasfilm's standalone entries. But if you didn't know better, you'd be forgiven for thinking Solo was the only one without his name attached.
That's because Michael Giacchino is a dang genius*. Warning: there are a lot of links to YouTube music clips here.
I was on the Giacchino fan bus for some time before Rogue One came out. While unaware of him by name, I fell in love with his music starting in 2004 with LOST, especially this theme:
Seriously, if you just want to push "play" on that video, skip the ad and listen to it while reading, it might be the best decision you make.
LOST - which happens to be my favorite TV show of all time - was an absolute exhibition for Giacchino's talent for just going straight for the strings of your heart and plucking them like a harp. He's got a gift for coming up with the perfect combination of notes and instruments to play them, and when that all comes together, you can't help but feel your soul alight with fire and emotion and pure feeling.
I submit into evidence:
- "Married Life" from Up
- "Labor of Love" from Star Trek
- "Your Father Would Be Proud" from Rogue One (more on this one later)
Giacchino does in these moments what not every movie music composer is able to do: he captures the emotions and feeling and absolutely visceral essence of the corresponding movie moments so purely that you can't help but be transported back to your chair in the theater where you watched that moment for the first time, feeling everything all over again as if it were a new, first experience.
Try it. Watch the beginning of Star Trek, dry your eyes as you watch the birth of Captain Kirk and sacrifice of his father, then pause the movie, and go listen to the track "Labor of Love" by itself. You might need tissues again.
What Giacchino did with Rogue One takes it up several notches. A lot of composers can make a soundtrack that goes well with a movie and captures the feeling of that movie. But Giacchino - and John Powell - had the added challenge of entering their work into a musical liturgy so well-established that the slightest variance might be perceived as blasphemy.
See, we all know the Star Wars music. By heart, in a lot of ways. They're in our commercials, our sporting events, our TV shows - everywhere. So Giacchino, as the first non-Williams to score a Star Wars movie, really had a challenge.
Oh, he also had just about a month to do it.
A quick Google search shows scoring a film can take at least two months or more. But Giacchino had only a few weeks after the previous composer had to drop out due to scheduling issues.
So his completing it is already a feat. But......folks.....just listen to it. The whole thing, the entire soundtrack.
It's so gloriously Star Wars. It's not just a soundtrack with Star Wars themes woven into it. John Powell does that very well in Solo. It's a great and entertaining soundtrack, and fits the movie like a perfect glove. One of my all-time favorite Star Wars tracks will now forever be "Reminiscence Therapy" because it seamlessly and delightfully incorporates some of my favorite-ever Star Wars music motifs ("Here They Come" and "Asteroid Field," if you're curious).
But Giacchino's score for Rogue One goes beyond that - where Solo's score is like a family friend who's been around so long it can fit in seamlessly, Rogue One's score is actual offspring, born of and infused with the DNA of Williams' Star Wars ethos.
It's got plenty of Williams motifs knitted in - the Death Star, the Force theme, the Force theme again, and more.
But there's more. There's Giacchino originality that links Rogue One with the original trilogy:
The triumphant music when the title shows up, reminding us of the famous "dah DAH dah-dah-dah DAAAAAAH dah" Star Wars theme itself.
The "Imperial Suite", a perfect second movement to the opus that started with Williams'....what's the superlative version of "iconic?...."Imperial March."
And then you've got what Giacchino came up with that is unique, that is his own flavor and variety, but which still feels so deeply Star Wars:
The mystical "Guardian of the Whills" suite, which connects us to a piece of Jedi/Force lore so distant, so ancient that I'd wager most Star Wars fans - especially newer ones - don't recognize it.
"Hope," encapsulating one of the movie's greatest moments which takes us from fear and horror to the stirrings of hope.
And to top it off - "Jyn Erso and Hope Suite," a microcosmic vista of the movie's central character. It starts with a violin - alone and isolated like Jyn - then builds into a deep, rich, orchestral tidal wave before ending quietly, peacefully, akin to Jyn's heart and mind at her end, knowing she's done what she set out to do: give hope to the galaxy.
I cannot overstate how much I love this soundtrack. And I cannot overstate how much it is absolutely deserving of a place alongside - perfectly adjacent to - Williams' body of Star Wars music. In my mind, it's not a one-off like the movie.**
It belongs in that soundtrack pantheon with full honors.
*And he comes up with the BEST pun names for his tracks. Even unofficially for Rogue One.
**In a lot of ways I feel like Rogue One is one of the most Star Wars-y movies of all the Star Wars movies. Maybe more on that later.
But I also severely fanboy over movie music composers.
John Williams is the greatest that has ever lived. This is not up for debate. Admittedly, there was a time - during my Hans Zimmer heyday - when I turned aside from Williams, criticizing his work as too derivative and similar to his previous compositions. But like the prodigal son I repented and returned. I'm not sure there will every be another like Williams, ever.
Among his greatest works are the musical sounds of the collective Star Wars score. Again, not up for debate. To date, Williams has scored every Star Wars movie (theatrical release, so the Ewok movies don't count) except two: Rogue One and Solo, Disney/Lucasfilm's standalone entries. But if you didn't know better, you'd be forgiven for thinking Solo was the only one without his name attached.
That's because Michael Giacchino is a dang genius*. Warning: there are a lot of links to YouTube music clips here.
I was on the Giacchino fan bus for some time before Rogue One came out. While unaware of him by name, I fell in love with his music starting in 2004 with LOST, especially this theme:
Seriously, if you just want to push "play" on that video, skip the ad and listen to it while reading, it might be the best decision you make.
LOST - which happens to be my favorite TV show of all time - was an absolute exhibition for Giacchino's talent for just going straight for the strings of your heart and plucking them like a harp. He's got a gift for coming up with the perfect combination of notes and instruments to play them, and when that all comes together, you can't help but feel your soul alight with fire and emotion and pure feeling.
I submit into evidence:
- "Married Life" from Up
- "Labor of Love" from Star Trek
- "Your Father Would Be Proud" from Rogue One (more on this one later)
Giacchino does in these moments what not every movie music composer is able to do: he captures the emotions and feeling and absolutely visceral essence of the corresponding movie moments so purely that you can't help but be transported back to your chair in the theater where you watched that moment for the first time, feeling everything all over again as if it were a new, first experience.
What Giacchino did with Rogue One takes it up several notches. A lot of composers can make a soundtrack that goes well with a movie and captures the feeling of that movie. But Giacchino - and John Powell - had the added challenge of entering their work into a musical liturgy so well-established that the slightest variance might be perceived as blasphemy.
See, we all know the Star Wars music. By heart, in a lot of ways. They're in our commercials, our sporting events, our TV shows - everywhere. So Giacchino, as the first non-Williams to score a Star Wars movie, really had a challenge.
Oh, he also had just about a month to do it.
 |
| Yes, you heard that right. A month. |
A quick Google search shows scoring a film can take at least two months or more. But Giacchino had only a few weeks after the previous composer had to drop out due to scheduling issues.
So his completing it is already a feat. But......folks.....just listen to it. The whole thing, the entire soundtrack.
It's so gloriously Star Wars. It's not just a soundtrack with Star Wars themes woven into it. John Powell does that very well in Solo. It's a great and entertaining soundtrack, and fits the movie like a perfect glove. One of my all-time favorite Star Wars tracks will now forever be "Reminiscence Therapy" because it seamlessly and delightfully incorporates some of my favorite-ever Star Wars music motifs ("Here They Come" and "Asteroid Field," if you're curious).
But Giacchino's score for Rogue One goes beyond that - where Solo's score is like a family friend who's been around so long it can fit in seamlessly, Rogue One's score is actual offspring, born of and infused with the DNA of Williams' Star Wars ethos.
It's got plenty of Williams motifs knitted in - the Death Star, the Force theme, the Force theme again, and more.
But there's more. There's Giacchino originality that links Rogue One with the original trilogy:
The triumphant music when the title shows up, reminding us of the famous "dah DAH dah-dah-dah DAAAAAAH dah" Star Wars theme itself.
The "Imperial Suite", a perfect second movement to the opus that started with Williams'....what's the superlative version of "iconic?...."Imperial March."
And then you've got what Giacchino came up with that is unique, that is his own flavor and variety, but which still feels so deeply Star Wars:
The mystical "Guardian of the Whills" suite, which connects us to a piece of Jedi/Force lore so distant, so ancient that I'd wager most Star Wars fans - especially newer ones - don't recognize it.
"Hope," encapsulating one of the movie's greatest moments which takes us from fear and horror to the stirrings of hope.
And to top it off - "Jyn Erso and Hope Suite," a microcosmic vista of the movie's central character. It starts with a violin - alone and isolated like Jyn - then builds into a deep, rich, orchestral tidal wave before ending quietly, peacefully, akin to Jyn's heart and mind at her end, knowing she's done what she set out to do: give hope to the galaxy.
I cannot overstate how much I love this soundtrack. And I cannot overstate how much it is absolutely deserving of a place alongside - perfectly adjacent to - Williams' body of Star Wars music. In my mind, it's not a one-off like the movie.**
It belongs in that soundtrack pantheon with full honors.
*And he comes up with the BEST pun names for his tracks. Even unofficially for Rogue One.
**In a lot of ways I feel like Rogue One is one of the most Star Wars-y movies of all the Star Wars movies. Maybe more on that later.
Comments
I wonder why Williams was not asked to score Rogue One and Solo? Because he is clearly still actively composing....