Music from Episodes
One to Six, by the City of Birmingham Symphony
Orchestra
If you’re gearing up for Star Wars –
Episode 7 at the multi-screen this Christmas, there can be few better ways to
warm up than with a real audio treat to reel in the diehard fans ready for the
next movie instalment.
This was auditory perfection in a
wall of sound from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra covering the full
range from haunting melody to strident marches.
When you’re at the cinema – or even
at home with surround sound – it’s hard to appreciate just how good these score
are. No wonder composer John Williams has so many Oscars to his name.
A warm, if slightly worrying,
welcome from Imperial Storm Troopers in the foyer set the scene for what turned
into a magical evening.
Conducted by Michael Seal, the
80-piece orchestra supported by the 100-strong Nottingham Trent University Choir
wiped the floor with any version you’ve ever heard from the silver screen. The
impressive percussion section was kept busiest, especially through the livelier
sections. And with presenter Marc Silk bringing it all to live with his voice
characterisation, it was a complete performance.
Running first through the themes of
the newer films – that’s episodes one, two and three – after the interval they
moved onto the more familiar tunes (for some of us, at least) of the earlier
films from our youth, those of Episodes four, five and six – Star Wars, The
Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi.
The repertoire included the
spine-tingling main theme, to set the scene from the off, the memorable Cantina
Band number and the epic Ewok forest battle.
The sounds of the whole saga are
down to the genius of Williams, from Leia’s theme to the Imperial March, better
known as Darth Vader’s theme.
He brings the emotions out as we
hear the soundtrack to Anakin and Amidala’s doomed love, and gets our adrenaline
running with a spin through the asteroid field in the Millennium
Falcon.
