The future of Star Wars music. Which composers would you like to see involved?

With all the announced projects - Rian’s trilogy, B&W series, Favreau’s show, whatever Filoni’s cooking next - I thought it would be nice to have a place for sharing ideas as to which composers we’d like to see involved in Star Wars as well as perhaps discussing the general direction in which non-Williams music should be taken. I know this is the movies section of the forum, but ideas for game/TV composers are welcome too.

My top choice - and perhaps an out-of-the-box one - is Alan Menken. He’s best known for the classic Disney animation songs, but, oh man, his actual scores should not be overlooked. They’re all wonderful and IMO his best work is the epic score for The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The thematic work there is great and the orchestration is outstanding. Menken is a genius and this choice is technically not that crazy. He’s in the Disney family, of course, and he’s done Beauty and the Beast recently. However, somehow he’s not typically associated with live-action and non-musical stuff (perhaps due to his preference, I don’t know). He rarely does films in general these days. The question is whether or not Star Wars is something he’d be interested in. Judging by the choices LFL has been making (Desplat, Giacchino, Powell), they’re aiming quite predictably so it doesn’t seem like Menken is a guy they would reach out to, but who knows. If you're not familiar with his work, please, check out the examples below:

John Williams conducting Beauty and the Beast theme has to be at least some kind of endorsement, right?

The second composer I’d be thrilled about is Howard Shore. I’m sure he's someone the majority of us would be on board with. I mean, who wouldn’t love to have the man behind The Lord of the Rings do Star Wars? LotR is probably my second favourite after Star Wars when it comes to film music. Again, beautiful themes, perfectly utilised across the score, and great instrumentation.

If we’re talking about unrealistic choices from beyond film music (or perhaps realistic in the realm of TV/games), I think Neal Acree would do an amazing job. He’s the guy who scores the World of Warcraft cinematics. Huge Star Wars fan too (see the background in his studio and one of multiple models he's made). Check this out, he’s great:

Moreover, I definitely want to see Michael Giacchino return and be involved big time. He absolutely knocked it out of the park with Rogue One. His music needs no introduction on this forum, but here's Jyn's theme, just for the sake of it:

How about you, what would be your choices? What are the traits you’re looking for in future composers?

Personally, I believe the music of Star Wars needs no reinvention, which is why I want to see composers with old-school approach, who can orchestrate in elaborate ways and work exceptionally well with themes (and obviously can write great ones). There also has to be this hard to define magic. John Williams’ music should forever remain “the Star Wars style,” a sort of genre in which other composers will write. I’m open to new elements as additions but nothing overwhelming.

 

+1. Although I don't think the KotOR score is particularly amazing, The Elder Scrolls music is great. I'd love to hear another take on Star Wars by Soule.

Yeah, I'd be fine with Desplat too, I think it's a matter of time. However, I'm not particularly enthusiastic, because I've always thought his themes are a bit underwhelming. Maybe it's just me, though, I should give his music a closer listen. I will say, though, that it's outrageous how underused Hedwig's theme was in his Harry Potter scores.

I think my favourite Desplat piece is the Godzilla theme, I love it:

 

Sure, Silvestri is another old-school composer who would do great IMO. He's pretty active, so I think it's very likely they'll reach out to him.

Can't wait for that Powell score... He feels like an inspired choice, I hope I'll want him back after I see the movie.

 

Oh, I love that moment too. I actually considered putting this fragment in the opening post. There is a little bit of Star Wars in those fanfares.

Well, I'm not sure about that because as people will come up with their suggestions, the list might get veeery long and require frequent updates... I appreciate your participation in the discussion, though!

Which ones? Do you mean The Old Republic MMO? There was a whole bunch of composers who worked on that game and I'm not sure who did what. Some cinematic trailers used edited music from the prequels.

All talented, but I'm not sure how some of them would do with full scale bombastic orchestra. For some composers it's just not their thing, which is fine. Well, unless we differ when it comes to what Star Wars music should sound like. As I've mentioned in the opening post, I definitely want the music to remain as similar to what we're used to as possible (there's so much you can do with Williams' vocabulary), but I can see how others may want to hear something different. Would be cool to see some fellow Poles involved in major productions, not gonna lie. Gotta check Korzeniowski, I hear the name often, but I'm not familiar with his work to be honest. Shame Lorenc and Dębski haven't made international careers.

 

It's mainly Revenge of the Sith music. Various tracks mixed together. I think David W. Collins edited it for the purpose of this cinematic. There are like two bits I don't recognise, could be original TOR material. You have to brush up your prequels, man!

 

I think it's a no from me... I respect Zimmer, as one should, because he's a successful composer and there's a lot of hard work behind it, but I'm not a fan of his style and don't think he fits Star Wars. I must say, though, it would be interesting to hear what a more classical score by Zimmer would sound like.

Generally, I don't like the modern blockbuster score sound/approach. I'm fed up with it, so I'm not in favour of guys like Zimmer, Tyler, Jablonsky, Djawadi, Junkie XL... Not to sound snobbish, but it's not the level of musical sensibility we're used to in Star Wars. However, if I had to pick one of them it would probably be Zimmer.

 

Yeah, exactly. Zimmer kind of gets a bad rap sometimes while it's his clones who tire the style he's associated with. To Hans' credit, he always tries new stuff and puts a lot of thought into what he's doing.

 

I mainly associate him with Wall-E and it was very nice from what I remember. I have to admit, though, I don't know his music too well. Could you share some examples more or less in the vein of Williams?

I notice that a lot of animation composers seem to fit. And that's also the bread and butter of Giacchino and Powell. Even looking at Zimmer The Lion King seems to be closer to what would fit Star Wars than his other work. I mean, no wonder, Star Wars is a fairy tale after all. It seems to have more in common with classic Disney and Pixar than, let's say, superhero films.