TROS 9: Symmetrical Design (Minutes 41-45 with Dominic Sewell)

In minutes 41-45 of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey shoots lightning from her fingers and destroys the First Order transport that she believes Chewie is on. Dominic Sewell returns to the show to discuss symmetry in the Friendship theme, the shroud over John Williams's writing process, mus-emes (musical memes), and more! Timestamps: 0:00 - Hello there! 8:47 - Listening to the beginning of these minutes. 9:41 - Big B buildup reminds Dom of a part from Wozzeck (Alban Berg). 22:02 - Assigning meaning to pitches depending on the context. 27:53 - Music climbing by semitonal increments. Failed climb in the brass. 31:53 - Do you think this score has more in common with Revenge of the Sith and/or Return of the Jedi than any other particular film? 39:22 - John Williams thinking visually (speculation). 45:15 - The shroud over John Williams's process. Broad strokes and modalities. German/Austro-Hungarian versus Russian/French sound worlds. 52:00 - Williams will go down as one of the greatest orchestrators. 59:37 - Octatonic goodness. 1:05:15 - Descant. 1:09:08 - The recording of this film is incredible (close, clear, dry, not swathed in reverb) 1:12:34 - Symmetry in the Friendship Theme. 1:22:14 - Threepio. 1:26:12 - Interesting voicing (clarinet is buried in the brass texture). 1:33:35 - Juxtaposition of two completely different themes. Intrusive thoughts. 1:38:53 - Kamino Kaper tangent. 1:44:43 - Does John Williams explicitly engage with duality in his theme-writing? 1:49:12 - Zimmerfication of Williams? 1:55:39 - Our favorite Rise of Skywalker musical themes. 1:58:50 - A very bold statement about minor 7ths. 2:04:32 - Stuttering, half-step-heavy villain themes. 2:09:41 - Speculating on Williams's revision process. Mythology of Williams. 2:19:35 - SWMM Questionnaire 2:29:47 - Shoutout to Michael Abels (Acolyte good). Things to Check Out: On the Track: A Guide to Contemporary Film Scoring (book by Fred Karlin and Rayburn Wright) - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2097046.On_the_Track Wozzeck, Act III Scene 2 (Alban Berg) - https://youtu.be/702knK1mop0?si=gYcasnwRVZnQV5F5 WOZZECK - The Operatic Equivalent of GUINNESS (David Bruce Composer) https://youtu.be/e8V-x9CSPlA?si=cwcViqXYVzkx7iFJ John Williams on the SmartLess podcast: https://youtu.be/xi-axVKJ3Tc John Williams discussing Alex North, part 1: https://youtu.be/iKq1c-wpVe4?si=R7wcddyIXMcCmvnD John Williams discussing Alex North, part 2: https://youtu.be/rYSmemYleEE?si=vx3qdV6BIuTipBGQ Chrysanthe's review of the Century of Film Music concert (curated by John Williams): https://www.sfcv.org/articles/review/la-phil-classic-film-music-leads-john-williams Shawn Murphy recorded and mixed the scores for The Rise of Skywalker and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. "Dance of the Montagues and Capulets" (from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet) - https://youtu.be/8VY-A7GVLyQ?si=KGxAlZrc97xph2XO Die Walküre: Magic Fire Music (Wagner) - https://youtu.be/bG6p8bLdaQU?si=TztdijWshAO4vdQb Anakin’s Theme and the Musical Aftermath of The Phantom Menace (article by Frank Lehman): https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/2024/07/30/anakins-theme-essay/ Main Title from King's Row (Erich Wolfgang Korngold) - https://youtu.be/tysCiL1-24w?si=_dc2_oIANP9ZMim2 Harold in Italy (symphony with viola obbligato by Hector Berlioz) - https://youtu.be/Q4NC4E5RXik?si=E3DajNGVjgKgKIuK Thematic Transformation and the Limits of Leitmotivic Analysis (Frank Lehman talk) - https://youtu.be/4ZBCNK0PYrk?si=UFbRSzm_-KYONTzj Dominic's analysis of "The Lighting of the Beacons" from The Return of the King - https://youtu.be/tVW249k5uuQ?si=8lc2W3azRxGuCppL Near Miss (film that Dominic scored) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29193907/ Scoring the Screen: The Secret Language of Film Music (book by Andy Hill) - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31386128-scoring-the-screen La Belle Noiseuse by Dominic Sewell; performed by harpist Amy Turk - https://youtu.be/nEqgmi4RJ4s?si=6o3OJHCdUHaWIkNC "The Brahms" chord (coined by Dominic): C-