TROS 23: Mufasa Is Dead (Minutes 111-115 with Christina Ward)

Star Wars Music Minute

In minutes 111-115 of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey Force-transfers her lightsaber to Ben, Palpatine sucks the life out of the Dyad, and Lando shows up with a massive Citizens' Fleet ready to join the fight. Christina Ward (from The Band Batch) returns to the show to analyze Palpatine's vocal delivery from an operatic speak-singing perspective. We also discuss Disney villains, Verdi's Macbeth, purposely-ugly music, and more!

Timestamps:

• 0:00 - Hello there!
• 11:42 - Orchestration during Sith Whispers.
• 24:53 - Palpatine's misogyny.
• 33:35 - Magical, childlike twinklies.
• 35:15 - Breathing of Rey and Ben.
• 38:10 - Additional details from the novelization. Do they make a difference?
• 46:51 - First Thrawn reference.
• 53:35 - "Really Bad Feeling" motif.
• 59:05 - Coordinated "stab" from the orchestra.
• 1:00:13 - Rey's Chimes theme and types of motion in music.
• 1:09:33 - Emphasized sound of the lightsabers being dragged.
• 1:22:24 - Mystery Motif, ascending minor arpeggios with a flat 6. Bernard Herrmann's influence.
• 1:31:58 - Analyzing Palpatine's vocal delivery: rhythmic structure, pitch, speak-singing (sprechstimme).
• 1:37:59 - Verdi, recitative, characterful singing, Disney songs.
• 1:41:06 - Sprechstimme in the work of Schoenberg, Berg, Schreker, and other early 20th century composers.
• 1:48:46 - Palpatine's line ("The Jedi are dead") almost sounds like singing.
• 1:51:20 - Comparing this scene to Jeremy Irons's performance as Scar in The Lion King.
• 2:01:07 - Notation of "Sith Whispers" according to Frank Lehman.
• 2:05:21 - Verdi's Macbeth and purposely ugly-sounding music (witches chorus).
• 2:19:21 - Critiquing Poe's leadership.
• 2:29:33 - Giving us a victory so we can have a tragedy.
• 2:37:41 - SWMM Questionnaire

Things to Check Out:

• Sprechgesang: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprechgesang
• Types of motion: https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/mt21c/TypesOfMotion.html
• Verdi "Macbeth" - Che faceste? Dite su! (Witches) - https://youtu.be/PMbxBDIWOFs?si=mAzWmo8OIcv_D1oC
• Scar Becomes King (begin at 0:50): https://youtu.be/f9nAcuRioTc?si=svWk96lTzuFs5LjS
• Lion King Stampede (first 9 seconds): https://youtu.be/x__EVvWUT3A?feature=shared
• Football Crowd Chants 'Defence' into Medium Cheer Take 3 (0:02-0:08 'crowd shouting defense'): https://youtu.be/ASDL034oxS0
• TROS 10: Dialogue Is the Melody (Minutes 46-50 with Camila Quiñones) - https://www.starwarsmusicminute.com/podcast/tros-10-dialogue-is-the-melody
• Complete Catalogue of the Musical Themes of Star Wars (by Frank Lehman): https://franklehman.com/starwars/

Musical Themes:

• 41b. Kylo Ren 1.5 (Redeemed)
• 45) Sith Whispers
• 61b. Knights of Ren (Slow Form)
• 3. Force
• 110) Really Bad Feeling
• 52a. Tension (Basic Motif) (arguably, perhaps)
• 45a. Rey A (Theme A-Phrase)
• 46a. Rey B (Chimes)
• 34b. Mystery (Form 2)
• 18) Descending Heroic Tetrachords
• 1a. Main Theme (A Section)
• 1b. Main Theme (B Section)

Where are we in the soundtrack?:

• FYC 19. "Coming Together"

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STAR WARS MUSIC MINUTE QUESTIONNAIRE:

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

• New answer: Growing bacteria culture.
• ESB answer: Heartfelt. Direct. Dramatic.
• Solo answer: Droids. Hopeful. Dramatic.

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

• New answer: Will there continue to be pop collaborations in Star Wars, like with "Twin Flame" (Victoria Monét) in The Acolyte.
• ESB answer: What the aural representation of Chiss brainwaves, particularly Sky-walkers, would be.
• Solo answer: What are the thematic relationships that tie the dark side with Imperialism, musically speaking? Similarly, what musical relationships tie the light side with rebellion and goodness?

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

• New answer: Bleach (anime series composed by Shirō Sagisu)
• ESB answer: Ms. Marvel (composed by Laura Karpman) and Moon Knight (composed by Hesham Nazih)
• Solo answer: Dune (music composed by Hans Zimmer, sound team led by Mark Mangini and Theo Green)

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Guest: Christina Ward

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xtverse.studio/

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