Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (soundtrack)

The first score to Star Wars was composed and conducted by John Williams and orchestrated by Herbert Spencer (who orchestrated all three films of the Original Trilogy). Recorded over eight sessions at Anvil Studios in Denham, England by Eric Tomlinson from March 5, 8–12, 15 and 16, 1977, the score was performed by the 87-piece London Symphony Orchestra.

The film premiered on May 25, 1977 and by late summer a disco version of the Star Wars Theme by Meco became America's number one song. Williams received three Grammys in February 1978 and his third Academy Award (second for Best Original Score) in April.

Track listing for the first release on LP

 * First release on LP by 20th Century of the original soundtrack. John Williams selected 74 minutes of music out of the 88 minutes score.

Side One

 * 1) Main Theme – 5:20
 * 2) Imperial Attack – 6:10
 * 3) Princess Leia's Theme – 4:18
 * 4) The Desert and the Robot Auction – 2:51

Side Two

 * 1) Ben's Death and TIE Fighter Attack – 3:46
 * 2) The Little People Work – 4:02
 * 3) Rescue of the Princess – 4:46
 * 4) Inner City – 4:12
 * 5) Cantina Band – 2:44

Side Three

 * 1) The Land of the Sandpeople – 2:50
 * 2) Mouse Robot and Blasting Off – 4:01
 * 3) The Return Home – 2:46
 * 4) The Walls Converge – 4:31
 * 5) The Princess Appears – 4:04

Side Four
Total Time: 74:58
 * 1) The Last Battle – 12:05
 * 2) The Throne Room and End Title – 5:28

Track listing for the first release on CD

 * First release on CD by Polydor.

Disc one

 * 1) Main Theme – 5:20
 * 2) Imperial Attack – 6:10
 * 3) Princess Leia's Theme – 4:18
 * 4) The Desert and the Robot Auction – 2:51
 * 5) Ben's Death and TIE Fighter Attack – 3:46
 * 6) The Little People Work – 4:02
 * 7) Rescue of the Princess – 4:46
 * 8) Inner City – 4:12
 * 9) Cantina Band – 2:44

Disc two
Total Time: 74:58
 * 1) The Land of the Sandpeople – 2:50
 * 2) Mouse Robot and Blasting Off – 4:01
 * 3) The Return Home – 2:46
 * 4) The Walls Converge – 4:31
 * 5) The Princess Appears – 4:04
 * 6) The Last Battle – 12:05
 * 7) The Throne Room and End Title – 5:28

Star Wars Trilogy: The Original Soundtrack Anthology
In 1993, Twentieth Century Fox Film Scores released a four CD box set containing music from the original Star Wars Trilogy. This release marked the first time that the complete contents of the original double-LP releases of the scores from the first two movies became available on CD. Disc one in the set was devoted to Star Wars, with further tracks on disc four.


 * 1) 20th Century Fox Fanfare with CinemaScope Extension
 * 2) Main Title
 * 3) Imperial Attack
 * 4) The Desert
 * 5) The Little People Work
 * 6) The Princess Appears
 * 7) The Land of the Sand People
 * 8) The Return Home
 * 9) Inner City
 * 10) Mouse Robot/Blasting Off
 * 11) Rescue of the Princess
 * 12) The Walls Converge
 * 13) Ben's Death/Tie Fighter Attack
 * 14) Princess Leia's Theme
 * 15) The Last Battle
 * 16) The Throne Room/End Title

"Bonus Tracks" (disc four of the same set)


 * 1) 1. 20th Century Fox Fanfare with CinemaScope Extension
 * 2) 2. Star Wars Main Title (Alternate)
 * 3) 4. A Hive of Villiany
 * 4) 5. Destruction of Alderaan
 * 5) 10. Cantina Band
 * 6) 12. Cantina Band #2
 * 7) 15. Standing By

Track listing for the complete score
Available on RCA Victor (1997) and Sony Classical (2004) presenting the complete score in chronological order.

The one true difference between these two releases is the omission of a booklet and the replacement with special screen-savers. The pre-special edition release of the score (1997) contained extensive notes, where as the 2004 release did not.

Digitally remastered and re-edited from the original master tapes, this set is meant to be the definitive collection of the original Star Wars score. However, the original releases do, occasionally, take from alternate takes of cues.

One such example is the "The Throne Room." Listening carefully to the new release you find that the Horn player plays a duplet into the second horn note, where as on prior releases, the horns play a triplet.

Disc one

 * 1) 20th Century Fox Fanfare (Alfred Newman, 1954) – 0:23
 * 2) Main Title/Rebel Blockade Runner – 2:14
 * 3) Imperial Attack – 6:43
 * 4) The Dune Sea of Tatooine/Jawa Sandcrawler – 5:01
 * 5) The Moisture Farm – 2:25
 * 6) The Hologram/Binary Sunset – 4:10
 * 7) Landspeeder Search/Attack of the Sandpeople – 3:20
 * 8) Tales of a Jedi Knight/Learn About the Force – 4:29
 * 9) Burning Homestead – 2:50
 * 10) Mos Eisley Spaceport – 2:16
 * 11) Cantina Band – 2:47
 * 12) Cantina Band #2 – 3:56
 * 13) Archival Bonus Track: Binary Sunset (Alternate) – 2:19
 * contains the hidden track "Star Wars Main Title (Complete recording session version)" 11:56

Total Time: 57:35

Disc two
Total Time: 48:16
 * 1) Princess Leia's Theme – 4:27
 * 2) The Millennium Falcon/Imperial Cruiser Pursuit – 3:51
 * 3) Destruction of Alderaan – 1:32
 * 4) The Death Star/The Stormtroopers – 3:35
 * 5) Wookiee Prisoner/Detention Block Ambush – 4:01
 * 6) Shootout in the Cell Bay/Dianoga – 3:48
 * 7) The Trash Compactor – 3:07
 * 8) The Tractor Beam/Chasm Crossfire – 5:18
 * 9) Ben Kenobi's Death/Tie Fighter Attack – 3:51
 * 10) The Battle of Yavin – 9:07
 * 11) Launch from the Fourth Moon – 1:12
 * 12) X-Wings Draw Fire – 6:50
 * 13) Use The Force – 2:05
 * 14) The Throne Room/End Title – 5:38
 * Although most likely a typographical mistake, the word "Battle" in track ten is spelled with only one "t" on both the CD inlet and back cover.