John Williams received his 51st Oscar nomination for composing the score for Star Wars: The Last Jedi on Tuesday, breaking his own record as the most-nominated living person. And to celebrate, director Rian Johnson gave fans a glimpse of Williams at work.
Johnson shared a video of Williams conducting at Los Angeles’ Sony Studios on Dec. 15, 2016—exactly one year before The Last Jedi debuted in theaters—and for fans, the song is a familiar one. It’s the theme that opens every single episodic Star Wars movie and the one that, along with the iconic opening crawl to set up the film, signals to audiences that they’re about to watch a Star Wars movie.
“Nothing I can type will set this up well enough, so I’ll just say: John Williams,” Johnson wrote on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/955927310502260737
Johnson described the music in the description as “the opening fanfare” and it is often listed on Star Wars soundtracks as “Main Title” or “Main Theme.” (The exception to this is the Revenge of the Sith soundtrack.) While Williams has conducted Star Wars concerts in recent years—he recently did so at Star Wars Celebration for Star Wars’ 40th anniversary and San Diego Comic-Con in 2015—there’s something a little magical about seeing Williams pick up his wand and hear an orchestra play the music we know so well.
The title really says it all.