Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the film score to the 2005 film of the same name released by Sony Classical on May 3, 2005, more than two weeks before the film's release. The music was composed and conducted by John Williams, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices in February 2005, with orchestrations provided by Conrad Pope and Eddie Karam. The score was Williams' sixth score in the saga. Shawn Murphy recorded the score. Ramiro Belgardt and Kenneth Wannberg served as music editors; Wannberg served as music editor for the previous Star Wars scores. A remastered version of the soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records on May 4, 2018.
The album would be Williams' final Star Wars score to be recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra.
A music video titled A Hero Falls was created for the film's theme, "Battle of the Heroes", featuring footage from the film. In the U.K., "Battle of the Heroes" was released as a CD-single and reached 25 in the UK Singles Chart in June 2005.
The soundtrack also came with a collectors' DVD, Star Wars: A Musical Journey, that features 16 music videos set to remastered selections of music from all six film scores, set chronologically through the saga.
This album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005.
Overview
The musical score for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the Star Wars saga's sixth installment, was recorded over fourteen days at Abbey Road Studio with the London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices starting on February 3, 2005, and ending on February 17, with one morning allocated specifically for vocal recording.
"Battle of the Heroes"
"Battle of the Heroes" is the theme for the climactic duel between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, written upon the request of George Lucas. Lucas wanted a piece that would function as a tragic version of "Duel of the Fates" in the film's final fight scenes.
The concert suite begins with a soft and tense ostinato by the violas in tremolo. Stopped horns join in to present an initial statement of the theme, immediately followed by pulsing beats with mezzopiano double basses and cellos. The ostinato builds as the harp and trombones make their entrance. Suddenly, the horns, 1st violins, and choir play the theme at a louder dynamic level. The ostinato still plays beneath it all. Twice, the theme is interrupted by brief flurries of chaotic "action music". At a key moment, the "Force Theme" makes a forceful entrance in a C minor key. After the piece's main theme is heard several more times, "Battle of the Heroes" culminates in a fortissimo tutti of repeated D minor chords. This false ending is followed by the viola ostinato again. Solo flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, and horn in unison deliver a melancholic interpretation of the theme's third over the ostinato, which slowly dies away before landing on the tonic. The timpani rumble as the entire orchestra crescendos into a final D minor chord.
The theme is played during the climactic duel between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi; during use, Darth Sidious and Yoda also duel. At the beginning of the battle, a cue titled "Heroes Collide" ("Anakin vs. Obi-Wan" on the original soundtrack) is heard. This cue juxtaposes fast-paced variations of "Battle of the Heroes" with the "Clash of Lightsabers" cue from The Empire Strikes Back. Later in the duel, fragments of the theme return twice in a cue titled "The Boys Continue". (This cue is not heard on the original soundtrack, although both of its "Battle of the Heroes" variations can be heard in various video games.) After "The Boys Continue" (and a short, quiet cue titled "Rev. Yoda to Exile"), a cue simply titled "Revenge of the Sith" plays as Anakin and Obi-Wan exchange blows on a river of lava. This is basically a re-recording of the concert suite on the soundtrack album, but without the extended opening and ending. There are also a few minor differences in the orchestration, and the rhythm of the final tutti chords is different.
The music video A Hero Falls has been featured on DVD and StarWars.com. Set to "Battle of the Heroes", it contains video clips from Episode III (with dialogue and sound effects). The music video can be found on the Star Wars: A Musical Journey DVD, included with the Episode III soundtrack album, as well as on the Episode III – Revenge of the Sith DVD.
In the UK, the theme was put on general release as a CD single and reached No. 25 on the UK Singles Chart in June 2005.