According to John Williams, when it came time to score the climactic lightsaber duel in “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” he was looking for something that sounded “ritualistic and/or pagan and antique.” So what did he did he do? Did he set to music a translation into Sanskrit of passages from the Celtic epic “Cad Goddeu?” Or did he just start free associating and making stuff up?
Here’s compelling evidence from an inquiring mind on YouTube:
Ask anyone in London Voices, which recorded the work with the London Symphony Orchestra, and I’m fairly confident that they would tell you this is pretty close to correct.
If you just can’t get enough, here it is on a ten hour loop:
Enjoy “Duel of the Fates” on “Picture Perfect,” as we conclude our multi-part retrospective of the “Star Wars” scores, this evening at 6 ET, with a repeat tomorrow morning at 6; or listen to it later as a webcast at wwfm.org.
Such a mystical corn cob!