We’ve heard Dies Irae to signpost troubles in Star Wars scores before (Luke as he discovers his Aunt and Uncle’s burning bodies in A New Hope, and during the Jedi slaughter in Revenge Of The Sith), but nothing as widespread as its usage here in Rogue One in Jyn’s theme. The fact that her theme opens with a minor sixth interval – the same as the heartbreaking ‘Across The Stars’ from Attack Of The Clones – only ramps up the constant claustrophobic sense of foreboding. There’s just nothing euphoric or upbeat – Luke staring to the horizon to the famous ‘Binary Sunset’ cue from A New Hope, for instance – to break the tension as the soundtrack races at the same frantic pace as the action on screen.
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Rogue One is at heart a war movie and more about conflict than character, and so its music is aggressive, pacy, militant, and dark. Heroine Jyn Erso’s theme, for instance, is quite literally built around the melody from Dies Irae, the latin hymn frequently cited by film composers to describe a day of judgement, a day of wrath or some very real future danger – highly appropriate to sonically represent the daughter of the Death Star’s key architect. Rogue One is easily my favourite Star Wars suite since 1999’s terrific score for The Phantom Menace. Giacchino, like Edwards, has absolutely nailed it, delivering a score that is faithful in orchestration style and thematic construct to John Williams’ scores for the original movies, especially A New Hope, but one that never descends into anything like pastiche.
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Whatever the reason given (and “scheduling difficulties” was the official explanation offered by Lucasfilm) Desplat’s replacement Michael Giacchino ( Lost, Star Trek Into Darkness) apparently had only four and a half weeks to compose his Rogue One score. His musical challenge: to answer the same question no doubt also then burdening director Gareth Edwards – how to break new ground in the Star Wars franchise with these standalone movies, without alienating a passionate fanbase? It’s still a bit of a mystery why Academy Award winning composer Alexandre Desplat ( The Grand Budapest Hotel, The King’s Speech) was suddenly removed from his duties on Rogue One in September 2016, just three months before the movie opened. This is Elliot’s first post for the Manor!)
At Celebration Europe 2016 I got to spend some good quality time with these two wonderful Star Wars fans and have been good friends with them ever since. (I met Elliot Marsh and his wife Felicia at Celebration Anaheim in 2015 and managed to stay in contact despite them living across the pond in England.
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