Many
people were understandably upset (myself included) when we learned that John
Williams would not score Rogue One, though he thankfully remains committed to
Episode VIII, and we assume, IX. After all, there has never been a Star Wars
installment without Williams, from the familiar fanfare to the trademark themes
and leitmotifs. But Rogue One always set out to be something different, not part
of the trilogy proper, but an addendum, showing us the behind-the-scenes work
that led to the heroics of Luke, Han, and Leia. To add to our collective
confusion, the composer tapped to provide this installment, Alexandre Desplat,
was replaced at the last minute with the uber-busy film composer, Michael
Giacchino, fresh off his magnificent score for Doctor Strange. If we believe the
press, Giacchino had a mere four weeks to score the entire film—no laughing
matter for an epic that spans over two hours of screen time. However, I wonder
whether or not that was simply to lower expectations for the score and deflect
criticism of a non-Williams work? Either way, what we hear in the film—and on
disc or MP3—are simply the notes, no matter how they were composed. After all,
Mozart wrote the famous overture to Don Giovanni in the hours before its first performance,
and his even more famous Symphony No.36 in a week. So why not a film score in
four?
