While the music of the Star Wars galaxy was directly influenced by the classics – crafted by the maestro John Williams as he soaked up the majesty of those legendary compositions to craft iconic work of his own – so the music of the GFFA can be interpreted through the filter of those classics. Back in 2009, the late virtuoso musician Richard Grayson improvised a Beethoven-styled version of The Imperial March.
“How about Darth Vader’s theme as Beethoven?” an audience member at the Crossroads School asks.
Grayson considers the melody for a moment, and almost immediately an entire piano sonata flows from his fingertips.
Beginning with the main melody in the right hand, Grayson reshapes Williams’ evocative movie theme with all the qualities that make up Beethoven’s piano works.
Suddenly, Darth Vader’s theme is transformed into a set of Romantic variations containing broken chords reminiscent of the ‘Moonlight’ Sonata, and all the emotional inflections and virtuosic writing that defines LVB’s timeless piano scribblings.
Star Wars: Vintage Collection Action Figure: Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary: Death Star Droid @ ForbiddenPlanet.com
