Star Wars: The Last Jedi (soundtrack)

In July 2013, Kathleen Kennedy announced at Star Wars Celebration Europe that John Williams would return to score the Star Wars sequel trilogy.[2][3] Williams confirmed his assignment for The Last Jedi at a Tanglewood concert in August 2016,[4] stating he would begin recording the score "off and on" in December 2016 until March or April 2017.[5] On February 21, 2017, it was confirmed that recording was underway, with both Williams and William Ross conducting the sessions.[6][7] In lieu of a traditional spotting session with director Rian Johnson, Williams was provided a temp track of music from his previous film scores as a reference for scoring The Last Jedi.[8]

The score introduces several new themes interwoven throughout the film, including identities for the character Rose Tico, the interactions between Rey and Luke Skywalker on Ahch-To Island, and the Resistance's desperate escape from the First Order.

The score also reprises numerous themes and motifs introduced in The Force Awakens, including those for the characters of Rey, Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron, and Snoke, as well as the "March of the Resistance". Themes introduced in the original trilogy return as well, including "Luke's Theme", "Leia's Theme", "The Rebel Fanfare", the "Force Theme" and a small quote of the "Death Star motif" from A New Hope; "Yoda's Theme", "The Imperial March", and "Han Solo and the Princess" from The Empire Strikes Back; and, "Luke and Leia" and "The Emperor's Theme" from Return of the Jedi, and the Star Wars prequels. Excerpts of the "TIE Fighter Attack" cue, first heard in A New Hope and reprised for Return of the Jedi, are also included.[9] "The Emperor's Theme" is the only returning theme to not be included within the official soundtrack presentation (it was later made accessible through the digital "music only" version of the film); it occurs in the film when Snoke tortures Rey for information.

The score briefly quotes "Aquarela do Brasil" by Ary Barroso in its "Canto Bight" track as a reference to the 1985 Terry Gilliam film Brazil. It also contains a brief quote of Williams's own theme for The Long Goodbye (co-composed by Johnny Mercer) during Finn and Rose's escape, although this was not included in the official soundtrack release.[10]

On March 13, the digital release of The Last Jedi came with an exclusive "music only" version of the film, which features the film's complete score without any dialogue or sound effects to interfere. The complete score contains the music from every single scene of the film, and features over 70 minutes of previously unreleased music. However, the film's presentation of the score is heavily edited and does not always reflect the original form of Williams' compositions.