By the time Star Wars appeared in cinemas across the United States, John Williams had composed numerous scores for feature films, including Family Plot, Earthquake, The Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure, and Jaws. While wrapping up Jaws, Steven Spielberg introduced John Williams to George Lucas, who discussed his plans for Star Wars with the composer. Since the release of the uncannily successful Star Wars, Williams' has become a star himself.

Lucas felt the futuristic Star Wars should not have a futuristic soundtrack. Instead, he wanted something "nineteenth century" as a foil to the strange visual images. This was a stroke of genius. Lucas suggested using some existing music for parts of the film, as Stanley Kubrick had done in 2001, but Williams was against this. Williams felt the film should have thematic unity and wanted to create a theme for each character and develop it as the film progressed, something that is impossible with pre-composed music. Although he read the script in 1975, Williams did not begin to compose until early 1977, when he saw a cut of the film. Two months later, the score was finished. It was the first film score for which Williams used a symphony orchestra.

Williams created themes for the primary characters. The first of these is Luke's theme, the brassy, heroic tune with the rising leap of a perfect fifth that has come to symbolize the entire film. Princess Leia's theme is really a description of Luke's perception of Leia—it does not depict Leia herself. The lyrical, delicate idea gives a romanticized picture of Leia, who is actually a tough, no-nonsense, almost aggressive person. Ben Kenobi's stately, subdued manner comes across in his theme, initially performed on English horn. Darth Vader's theme is dark, performed on bassoons and muted trombones. Williams also devised a fanfare for the Rebel spaceship and a theme for the little Jawas. The Death Star also has a brief motive.

Williams bases nearly all the music of the film on these themes, varying them to match the context. For instance, when Luke, Han Solo and Chewbacca rescue the Princess from the Death Star, Leia's music is transformed into what Williams calls a "swashbuckling version" of the theme. When Ben and Luke return to Luke's home to find it destroyed, we hear quiet, pensive versions of both themes. Most impressive is the final battle between Rebel and Imperial forces, in which every theme of the score appears in several forms. The predominance of brass in the soundtrack becomes clear in the final, throne room scene, in which Williams employs all eight horns, four trumpets, three trombones, and two tubas.

Lucas and Williams first discussed the Cantina scenes, containing the only music that actually occurs in the plot. Because of the setting, Williams decided to use a small jazz combo, including a steel drum. Williams wrote an unusual scoring, and after the music was recorded the low pitches were partially filtered out, giving the number a tinny sound.

© All Music Guide