Hello and welcome to this week's installment of Cue by Cue. Happy 47th Star Wars Anniversary!
Today we're going to be listening to 4m2A The Force. This is another straightforward cue, with no revisions or anything.
This cue is just 14 bars long, and was orchestrated by Herbert Spencer.
Here's what the top of the conductor's score looks like:
Now let's listen to the cue together:
At 0:00 the cue begins with a muted Imperial theme statement on the bassoon, as Ben explains how Luke's father was killed by Darth Vader, along with the rest of the Jedi. The theme continues with some harp flourishes beginning at 0:19, as Ben elaborates on his seduction by the Dark Side of the Force.
Then at 0:30, right as Luke asks "The Force?", Ben's theme kicks in on the horns, as Ben vaguely explains what The Force is. The cue slowly fades out from here, as attention turns to R2....
This cue was recorded on March 11, 1977, the fifth day of the recording sessions. Curiously, it appears to have been recorded multiple times non-consecutively on the same day. It was both the third and sixth cue recorded that day. Six takes were recorded, numbered 93-94 and 106-109. According to the 1997 take log, the performance edit used just take 109. Why it was recorded in two blocks like this is anyone's guess.
This cue has been officially released on just one album:
3) In 1997 on RCA Victor's 2-CD Special Edition set
More specifically, 4m2A The Force can be heard:
From 1:39-2:40 of disc 1 track 8 "Tales of a Jedi Knight/Learn About the Force" on the 1997 album.
The 1997 set features a clean opening and ending, is not brickwalled, and features the same take as the film, so I'd just recommend the 1997 set for this cue. The above video uses the 1997.
In the film, this cue segues straight into the next cue, which starts around when Leia's hologram appears. Fortunately, the album did not replicate this segue.
That's all I have for today, thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any comments or questions.
Next week we'll be discussing 4m3 The Princess Reappears. See you then!