There\u2019s no denying that Williams has a settled approach to scoring trumpets, particularly for his Star Wars cues. While it\u2019s been criticised, I feel that some of this is simply because trumpets stand out. It\u2019s impossible not to notice them, so any tried-and-true approach may feel grating at times. The new soundtrack for The Force Awakens has its share of uplifting fanfares, double-tongued and triple-tongued passages, and upsweeps – but fortunately, not mindlessly so. I feel that in this case, Williams doled out these elements sparingly, to prevent them becoming a self-replicating clich\u00e9.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s very important in analysing elements such as these for study to really listen to the whole approach of a composer to an instrument over the breadth of a cue (if not an entire score) to entirely grasp the scope of what\u2019s going on. Too often I\u2019ve heard or read careless comments that seize on one particular feature of an instrumental section\u2019s contribution and propound that such a feature is all that section does for the whole movie. In the case of Williams, no, it\u2019s not at all.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s return to The Falcon track, which is not only a showcase for the brass section in general, but also a grab-bag of signature approaches to trumpet scoring for the Star Wars saga. I\u2019ll outline this track in detail, pointing out how the trumpets function throughout. As you listen, keep in mind once again that the trumpets are panned in stage layout, to the centre-right of the stereo field.<\/p>\n