AoS3 Star Wars

Question 1

What is a leitmotif?

Answer 1

A specific theme tune for a character or emotion in a film

Question 2

Who is represented by the opening theme of Star Wars?

Answer 2

Luke Skywalker, with ideas of heroism and struggle

Question 3

What is the instrumentation used in Star Wars?

Answer 3

Full symphony orchestra

Question 4

What are the sections in a traditional orchestra?

Answer 4

Strings, Woodwind, Brass and Percussion

Question 5

What does instrumental doubling mean?

Answer 5

More than one instrument playing a particular idea at once, sometimes an octave apart

Question 6

What is similar to the scoring of Star Wars and Killer Queen?

Answer 6

No use of synthesisers - strange, considering the film is futuristic

Question 7

What is a fanfare and why might it be used for this theme?

Answer 7

A brass motif, used to show heroism and bravery and gives the sense of something amazing is going to happen

Question 8

What do the violins start with on their first note?

Answer 8

They are playing a tremolo inverted tonic pedal

Question 9

What is the rhythmic device used underneath the main theme

Answer 9

Syncopation, rhythmic articulation

Question 10

What happens after the main theme is played once?

Answer 10

It is repeated, but this time accompaniments change slightly

Question 11

What is the interval played by the string parts in the second contrasting section?

Answer 11

Octaves - the strings actually play across three octaves

Question 12

What percussion instrument can be heard playing the important notes of the melody line?

Answer 12

Glockenspiel

Question 13

What is it called when all of the accompaniment are playing all chords at the same time?

Answer 13

Block Chords

Question 14

What instrumental device is the harp playing to link into the transition section?

Answer 14

Glissando, or slide

Question 15

What is different harmony wise in the transition section and the main theme?

Answer 15

The harmony in the second section is a lot less stable, dissonant and tonally ambiguous

Question 16

Which instruments play the second leitmotif heard in the piece?

Answer 16

Brass again, the leitmotif for the Imperial Forces

Question 17

What is the difference between a theme and an underscore?

Answer 17

The theme is played usually over credits or for a particular character, however an underscore fits with what is happening on screen

Question 18

What is the effect of the harmonic differences between the sections?

Answer 18

The harmonically unstable second second represents the bad and war hungry side of the film, whereas the beginning is more triumphant and brave

Question 19

What does ritardando mean?

Answer 19

Slowing down

Question 20

What is an ostinato and when is it used?

Answer 20

Near the end, where the brass all play the same rhythmic pattern over and over again.

Question 21

What is the main texture?

Answer 21

Mostly different types of homophony

Question 22

Which type of homophony is mainly used?

Answer 22

Melody and accompaniment, or melody dominated

Question 23

Name two different types of pedal used in the extract

Answer 23

Inverted tonic (intro) and dominant pedal (bars 12-15)

Question 24

What is the structure of the piece BEFORE the transition?

Answer 24

AABA (the two contrasting themes form the structure)

Question 25

What is the tonality at the start of the piece?

Answer 25

Major

Question 26

What is the key at the start of the piece?

Answer 26

Bb Major

Question 27

What is the tonality from the transition onwards?

Answer 27

More unclear and unstable

Question 28

What gives the audience the impression that the song has modulated to C Major?

Answer 28

A C can be heard as a bass pedal

Question 29

What does atonal mean?

Answer 29

Without key

Question 30

What does bitonality mean?

Answer 30

A combination of two keys

Question 31

What word best describes the harmony in this piece?

Answer 31

Tonal, though the conventional cadence points aren’t always used

Question 32

What position are the majority of the chords in?

Answer 32

Root and first inversion

Question 33

What is it called when the harmonies in the fanfare are built on fourths, as opposed to thirds?

Answer 33

Quartal Harmony

Question 34

What type of cadence is used, at the end of the first phrase?

Answer 34

Imperfect, landing on V

Question 35

What is a ‘foreign’ chord?

Answer 35

A random chord (in this case, Db Major) which is out of place

Question 36

What is a cluster chord?

Answer 36

A chord built around closely spaced notes/close intervals

Question 37

What is a tritone?

Answer 37

An interval built on three tones (Devils’ interval - doesn’t sound pleasant!)

Question 38

What is dissonance and why is it used?

Answer 38

Clashing notes or chords to emphasise that bad things are going to happen

Question 39

What is an anacrusis?

Answer 39

Where the melody starts on the upbeat to the bar instead of beat 1

Question 40

Does the main theme (A) use stepwise motion or leaps, or both?

Answer 40

It uses both, with careful balance between the two.

Question 41

What is a triplet?

Answer 41

A rhythmic pattern where three notes are split over the space of two, creating a compound effect

Question 42

Why is the tempo suitable for the main theme?

Answer 42

The faster tempo matches the mood and the genre of the film

Question 43

What is the metre of the piece and why is it suitable for the piece?

Answer 43

4/4 simple quadruple reflecting military nature of the war

Question 44

What rhythmic features are common in fanfares?

Answer 44

Rapid repeated notes and triplets

Question 45

What happens to the pulse in the transition?

Answer 45

It becomes a lot less clear

Question 46

What does homorhythmic mean?

Answer 46

Where everything is playing in rhythmic unison - this part sounds like ‘Mars’ from the Planets