Across the Stars

(Feel to listen to the track while you read!)

I played clarinet for 7 years while I was in middle school & high school, and my sophomore year I was lucky enough to be one of the few band students asked to play with the orchestra at their concert where we played seven Star Wars pieces (well…it was originally meant for band students in the middle audition band, but my friend didn’t care and handed me the sheet music in the hallway so I could participate in her place. I was already in the top audition band and I would end up having to miss chemistry multiple times for rehearsals…)

One of the songs we got to play though was Across the Stars. One of John Williams’ most iconic pieces from Star Wars, it symbolizes Anakin & Padmé’s love they have for one another, despite the Jedi being forbidden from falling in love.

The music starts particularly quietly, only utilizing the violins, violas & harp. It’s delicate, uncertain. An oboe joins them playing the main melody which is in a minor key. The oboe is an incredibly plaintive sounding instrument, often described as sounding mournful & melancholy. This is only emphasized by the melody being composed in a minor key – a unique choice for a love theme which would typically be written in a major key to give a happier impression. This is because Anakin & Padmé’s love for one another is unique in that they’re unable to love each other freely. It’s more about longing than it is about truly and openly feeling their love for one another.

As the oboe continues the melody and eventually finishes the motif, the strings (viola & cello) underneath become more active. They start to play less sustained notes and start to play repeated phrases of minor chords each beat. This is incredibly reminiscent of Imperial March, where the iconic motif is composed of a minor chord when all 3 notes are played together. The melody then repeats itself with the violins joining along the oboe. They continue to gain momentum as the french horn section also joins along before reaching a crescendo, the highest point in the music so far. It’s passionate and nearly breaking containment.

As we reach the middle of the theme, the main melody leaves and we’re met with a descending motif, as if Anakin and Padmé are being pulled down, drowning, away from their aspiration to share in their love, only for them to flutter along with the notes back to the top of the surface regaining that little sliver of hope. Subsequently, after that motif finishes, we’re met once again with the lower strings that previously heard swirl, instability for the rest of the melody to place itself within. A lone oboe plays the familiar theme, while the horn section plays a flourish reminiscent of other Star Wars scores, typically relating to epic battles and the Empire. Anakin and Padmé’s lives are represented in these overlapping moments: unrest in the Republic Senate, Anakin as a Jedi and fighting in battles across the galaxy, all interlaced with their love for one another. These continue in a call and respond before the string section regains the melody and plays out triumphantly, this time the wind section holding the swirling portion of the score playing underneath.

Finally, at measure 92 (3:43) we reach the ultimate crescendo of the piece. The string and woodwind section are united in playing the melody while the horn section blasts their flourish motif beneath. The orchestra is just as desperate to maintain a grasp on what could be as Anakin & Padmé are. We then dive again into the descending melody accompanied with more instability from the string section followed by the horn section pulsating a droning note, akin to Empire score moments once again.

We finally, at the end of the track, are met again with the harp and subsequently oboe playing the melody, a final plea in the name of love, quiet yet resolute. The harp plays a final minor chord, ending the piece sorrowfully. Despite Anakin & Padmé’s best efforts, they will not succeed finding their happy ending.

There’s one moment I love in Across the Stars that’s only featured in the last 1:30 of the end credits. The melody is played on the harpsichord before a french horn plays a portion of Anakin’s Theme (a reminder of who Anakin was) before we’re met with the Across the Stars melody played by a flute (a reminder of who Anakin is now), then the end flourish heard in Princess Leia’s theme and the contrabass playing Imperial March as a solo (a reminder of who Anakin is to become).

It’s absolutely incredible how John Williams is able to use musical instruments and various combinations of 12 notes on a page to masterfully tell an emotional story depicting these two star-crossed lovers in a galaxy far, far away.

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