Music from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (Star Wars, 1)

Rating:
Summary: Another awesome John Williams score!
Review: Mr. Williams has once again composed a rousing score entirely appropriate for the newest Star Wars film. As a pianist and an avid John Williams fan, I looked forward to this book of piano solos with great interest. The score itself has less discernable and memorable themes than in the original trilogy, but it is a masterpiece nonetheless. Anakin's Theme is beautiful, and igeniously utilizes the same chord structure and other elements of Darth Vader's Theme (the Imperial March) in a bit of musical foreshadowing. It makes for a beautiful piano solo as well. Duel of the Fates, while a great piece in its own right, doesn't translate as well (in my opinion) to the piano. With the absence of the driving choir and pounding brass, the theme loses some of its effectiveness. My main gripe is the absence of the Droid Invasion theme, which was one of my favorites on the soundtrack, and which I would have loved to be able to play on the piano (I'm not good enough to learn it by ear). Instead, the publisher includes the goofy and juvenile Augie's Great Municipal Band. I didn't care for the carnival-style celebratory march on the CD, and it sounds even worse on the piano. Also, the Main Title theme omits the first few bars of music heard on the soundtrack. But these gripes aside, this is all-in-all a satisfying compilation. Second or third-year piano students should be able to play most of the pieces.