GALACTIC SPECTACULAR: RETURN OF FILPHIL (THE MUSIC OF STAR WARS)
Music composed by John Williams
Music conducted by Nobuki Okumura
Performed by the Film Score Philharmonic Orchestra
Music director: Nobuko Toda
Choir director: Tomoyuki Izumi
Concert master: Masanori Kaneko
Master of ceremonies: Satori Ito
March 1, 2025
Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall
Kanagawa, Japan
PART 1: NOT JUST ANOTHER STAR WARS CONCERT
Star Wars (SW) concerts are a dime a dozen – a random search on Google will show that a large number of concerts with SW programs are happening all over the world at any given time.
I’m extremely fortunate to have seen John Williams conduct his own SW music live on three occasions with different orchestras around the world. I also saw Keith Lockhart conduct the Boston Pops in an all-SW program in Tokyo in 2023.
With these things in mind, I felt there was little reason to seek out any more SW concerts, especially those not conducted by the great man himself.
But when it was announced that the Film Score Philharmonic Orchestra (FilPhil) would be putting on a concert of SW music – something that they seem to have done with great success in the past – I promptly changed my mind.
Their Jerry Goldsmith tribute concert last year not only blew my mind, but also my expectations, and put FilPhil firmly on my concert-going radar.
So I knew with certainty that their SW concert would be fun, full of passion and characterized by their strong commitment to quality and musical authenticity.
Now, having come back from their SW concert last weekend, I can confidently say that my expectations were once again exceeded as I was not only treated to an exceptional performance by the orchestra and choir, but also left feeling an even greater appreciation for both John Williams’ iconic music for SW, as well as the orchestra that brought his music to life.
Of course, the performances were not perfect and I would have liked to have heard more classic music from the original trilogy in the program. But you just cannot fault the tireless passion and dedication of the FilPhil who truly poured their heart and souls into the concert and left everyone in the audience wanting for more.
PART 2: HERE THEY COME… TO KAWASAKI!
The concert was held at the gorgeous Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall, a famed concert venue located within walking distance from JR Kawasaki station.
Hearing that there would be a special pre-concert performance, I arrived at the venue thirty minutes before opening time and waited outside the hall entrance with a growing number of SW and John Williams fans.
I couldn’t help but smile when a mild-mannered Japanese man dressed as Lando Calrissian walked by, followed by a fully clad Storm Trooper, two adorable girls dressed as Ewoks, and a stunning young woman turning heads in that iconic black corset dress worn by Princess Amidala. I also spotted scores of people carrying cute baby Yoda plushies!
PART 3: A SPECIAL PRE-CONCERT PERFORMANCE
A special pre-concert performance of SW music by two different ensembles was held about 40 minutes before the concert proper.
The first ensemble, consisting of seven performers (two trumpets, two French horns, two cellos and one double bass), performed two pieces composed by Kevin Kiner for the spin-off TV shows STARS WAR: THE BAD BATCH and ASHOKA.
I’m embarrassed to say that I was not familiar with Kiner’s music for these TV shows at all as I don’t do streaming nor do I watch much TV!
Star Wars: The Bad Batch
Enter The Bad Batch
To be honest, this piece didn’t make much of an impression as it was difficult to identify a recurring and hummable theme. But I can’t fault the players here – they did their best to give the music life and energy.
Ashoka
Ahsoka – End Credits
This piece was much easier to appreciate as it had strong, easily identifiable themes. It was both solemn and heroic with the double bass driving the piece forward. Bravo to the brass players who managed to squeeze a great deal of mileage out of this short, but busy piece.
Star Wars
A Long Time Ago… Musical Highlights from Star Wars
It was now time for the second and bigger ensemble to perform and they immediately delighted the audience with their suite of highlights from John Williams’ SW scores from episodes I, II, III and V.
Despite there being no percussion instruments, this thirteen-player ensemble (plus conductor) performed each piece at a brisk pace with their tremendous climax from “Yoda and the Force” creating a true goosebumps moment. All credit to whoever arranged this fantastic crowd-pleasing suite!
Update (March 6): FilPhil have just released a list of all the pieces played during this suite! Feast your eyes on this:
PART 4: THE CONCERT PROGRAM
The concert proper started promptly at 6 p.m. with MC and famed film and media personality Satori Ito coming out on stage to outline the night’s program as well as give a few background notes about each piece.
Here is the full concert program in English:
PART ONE – THE SKYWALKER LEGACY
- Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope – “Main Title”
- Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope – “Princess Leia’s Theme”
- Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi – “Luke and Leia”
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace – “Anakin’s Theme”
- Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back – “The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)”
- Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens – “Rey’s Theme”
- Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker – “Rey and Ben”
- Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker – “The Rise of Skywalker”
PART TWO – A LONG TIME AGO, A BATTLE IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY
- Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith – “Battle of the Heroes”
- Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope – “Here They Come”
- Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back – “The Asteroid Field”
- Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens – “Scherzo for X-Wings”
- Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi – “The Forest Battle”
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace – “Duel of the Fates”
PART THREE – A LONG TIME AGO, ON A STAR FAR, FAR AWAY
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace – “The Flag Parade”
- Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones – “Across the Stars (Love Theme from Attack of the Clones)”
- Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi – “Parade of the Ewoks”
- Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker – “Psalm of the Sith”
- Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker – “Speeder Chase”
- Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens – “The Jedi Steps & Finale”
PART 5: PART ONE OF THE CONCERT – THE SKYWALKER LEGACY
Esteemed conductor Nobuki Okumura kicked off the evening with a spine-tingling performance of the 20th Century Fox Fanfare by Alfred Newman. Accompanied with stage lighting effects to mimic the Fox logo sequence, it was a fitting way to get the night started.
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
Main Title
The orchestra’s performance of the truly iconic “SW: Main Title” was right on the money – the tempo was just right and it was played with confidence and thrilling strength. I could even spot a few members in the orchestra smiling throughout the piece – I mean, who wouldn’t?
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
Princess Leia’s Theme
Ah, the solo flute – innocent, plaintive, and full of beauty. And then that gorgeously longing French horn line with the strings gently see-sawing away… pure magic performed with the utmost of sensitivity. The music here effectively evoked images of a lonely princess far, far away, intent on achieving her destiny to someday save the galaxy.
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
Luke and Leia
Another stunning performance featuring flute and French horn. This piece was just dripping with emotion, speaking oceans about the relationship between Luke and Leia. As the piece continued to build, the feelings of affection soared, leaving the audience in a state of deep rapture.
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
Anakin’s Theme
A piece perfectly capturing the heart and soul of the young Anakin Skywalker, the music was innocent, sometimes playful, but always played with great sincerity by the orchestra. You could really feel the warmth and love from the string section.
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme)
The stage lights changed to a deep red as the strains of the iconic “Darth Vader’s Theme” filled the auditorium. It was menacing, martial and mean to the bone – a perfect representation of the character and his evil deeds.
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens
Rey’s Theme
Oh how I love this theme! Seeing it performed live was such a treat with those opening prancing flutes, short replies by the reed instruments, and comforting sound of the celeste. The strings later swelled to evoke Rey’s strong sense of purpose and destiny.
Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker
Rey and Ben
The Rise of Skywalker
When the concert program was announced months before the concert, I recalled not seeing the track “Rey and Ben” on the original soundtrack album. After some quick internet sleuthing, I discovered that “Rey and Ben” is from the “STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER – Suite for Orchestra,” which is part of the official John Williams Signature Edition series of score books.
According to the highly detailed concert program, this and “The Rise of Skywalker” include parts of “Farewell” from the original soundtrack.
While they were given impeccable performances, the themes never really connected with me…
And to be honest, I have never been much of a fan of the music from episodes VIII and IX because I find the themes to be much less memorable than the ones in the original and prequel trilogies (sorry John – don’t hate me!!)
I would have happily swapped these two pieces from episode IX for ‘The Throne Room/End Titles’ from episode IV, which in my opinion fits the theme of this part perfectly – Luke Skywalker has created his “legacy” by rising from obscurity to become a hero that saves the galaxy.
(Realistically though, I understand that “The Throne Room/End Titles” would not have fit in the program this early during the concert as it really is a piece that is best left to the end of the concert)
PART 6: PART TWO OF THE CONCERT – A LONG TIME AGO, A BATTLE IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY
After a short intermission, Ito returned to the stage and beckoned the concert’s music director, Nobuko Toda, to come out on stage to discuss part two of the concert: the battle music.
It was also the beginning of an informal class on “Music Theory 101,” where Toda would describe – before each piece was performed – how they were structured in musical terms. She explained things in a simple and easy-to-understand manner that even a musical dunce like myself could understand. It really was a nice addition to the concert that helped me appreciate the music on a much higher level.
Now, before the second part kicked off, a full male and female choir made its entrance and perched itself on the balcony below the pipe organ.
And if my eyes weren’t deceiving me, there was a young girl in the choir dressed in white sporting those unmistakable Princess Leia hair buns. Upon seeing this, my heart most definitely melted… surely, I wasn’t the only one?!
Anyway… 😊
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
Battle of the Heroes
What a way to start the second part of the concert!
The orchestra and choir immediately took charge to provide a truly overpowering performance of “Battle of the Heroes.” The music was full of urgency and a strong sense of tragedy to mark Anakin’s downfall and move to the dark side of the force.
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
Here They Come
“Wow” is all I can really say about the performance of this tremendously exciting piece.
A highly visceral piece of music that effortlessly conjures up images of the Millennium Falcon in combat with enemy TIE fighters, I was on the edge of my seat as the orchestra took us through a truly blistering performance. Top marks to everyone for bringing this to life and making us feel as if we were sitting in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon itself!
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
The Asteroid Field
Another breakneck performance that left the audience gasping for air! The frantic strings, brass and percussion played to perfection and had us in raptures when the theme that plays when our heroes escape from the TIE fighters in the asteroid field made its glorious appearance.
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens
Scherzo for X-Wings
The brass and string sections certainly had their work cut out for them during this piece, but boy, did they deliver the goods! My lasting memory of this performance was watching a percussionist banging away on his tambourine during certain parts of the piece – a small detail, but one that I thought was cool!
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
The Forest Battle
Before this piece played, Toda wanted to highlight and quickly demonstrate the unique sounds created by two percussion instruments that would be played during the piece: the woodblocks and tuned cowbells. Yes, that’s right – tuned cowbells!
And with that, the piece began.
Now THIS is what film music is all about. And THIS is the piece that should be showcased to anyone doubting the quality of the FilPhil and its performance of SW music.
The piece immediately evoked a strong sense of danger as the music steamed forward.
The fun and adventurous theme for the Ewoks soon entered accompanied by the unmistakable sounds of the woodblocks and tuned cowbells.
With the strings swirling, the brass pounding away, and the percussion section going into overdrive, the piece kept building and building into a tremendous climax that ended in pure ecstasy and delight – it just doesn’t get better than that!
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
Duel of the Fates
The deep and demonic sounds of the chorus immediately filled the auditorium, forcefully demanding the attention of the audience.
The piece then powered forward with the strings frantically building and building. It is then that the choir came crashing through, knocking us all senseless with its sheer power and volume. With the stage lights lighting up the left side of the stage in red and the other side blue, we all felt as if we were in the thick of the battle as the trumpets and choir traded blows.
Just thinking about this performance again gives me goosebumps!
PART 7: PART THREE OF THE CONCERT – A LONG TIME AGO, ON A STAR FAR, FAR AWAY
Following a well-deserved intermission after the sonic assault of the battle music in the second part of the concert, Ito returned to explain that this final section would focus on the many locations in the SW universe.
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
The Flag Parade
Things immediately got off to a bang with the thunderous parade music for the iconic pod race. Brass and percussion marched along as members of the choir returned to the stage bearing tall flags. It was a nice touch that added to the festive feel of the music.
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
Across the Stars (Love Theme from Attack of the Clones)
Gorgeous, oozing with passion and tinged with an inescapable sense of tragedy, it was impossible to not be swept away by this timeless theme.
Harp provided the opening rhythm as a lone and desolate theme on the oboe entered. Flute soon joined, followed by the full support of a warm bed of strings. You really can’t help but swoon during this piece!
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
Parade of the Ewoks
The theme for the Ewoks returned to the absolute delight of the two girls dressed as Ewoks seated on the balcony.
This was another glorious performance by the orchestra that saw the reappearance of those fun tuned cowbells. At one point, I believe I saw recorders make an entrance too!
Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker
Psalm of the Sith
Speeder Chase
“Psalm of the Sith” was suitably menacing and full of darkness, but it was hard to latch on to a memorable theme. I think I need to give the soundtrack another listen.
“Speeder Chase” on the other hand impressed with its precise performance and bustling pace. I remember seeing one of the percussionists hold up her arm while spinning an instrument that made a unique rattlesnake-like sound – I thought that was pretty neat!
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens
The Jedi Steps & Finale
We had now come to the end of the night’s program with a stunning performance of “The Jedi Steps & Finale.”
This piece of music and the scenes it accompanies is textbook filmmaking – it keeps you on the edge of your seat, rewards you with the return of one of SW’s most beloved characters, then makes your anticipation soar for the next instalment of the series (which unfortunately happened to be episode VIII – a terrible misfire of a film).
Anyway, back to the music and its performance.
Opening delicately with celeste, strings and flute, the piece soon gave way to the cellos playing that hesitant, yet forward moving theme. As the piece progressed, and Rey approaches Luke with a rising sense of trepidation, the brass continued to build into climax. The orchestra then softened as a lone French horn came in with that TRULY iconic “Binary Sunset” theme – I just CANNOT describe how incredible it was hearing this live.
The orchestra then launched into a spirited performance of the end credits, a glorious and perfect piece to end the concert with.
I was again left in utter awe as the celeste wrapped up the end credits to the gentle caress of the orchestra… it was spine-tingling, deeply moving, and just perfect.
PART 8: ENCORE – DUEL OF THE ROGUE
There had to be an encore, and I had no idea what it would be.
I was somewhat confused as the encore opened with cello backing a mournful violin solo. As the piece continued, it suddenly dawned upon me, “No way… could it possibly be?” But my suspicions were soon confirmed and I was absolutely OVER THE MOON to realize that I was now hearing “Jyn Erso & Hope Suite” from Michael Giacchino’s tremendous score for ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY!
I absolutely, positively adore Giacchino’s score for ROGUE ONE, and this performance was stunning on every level. If those violin and cello solos weren’t perfect enough, I was truly blown away by the final bars of this performance. Just like the original soundtrack recording, the piece ended with the quiet, serene and almost angelic cooing of the female choir. As the piece edged even closer to its end, the full choir and orchestra joined to produce the most hopeful and perfect ending you could ever hear…
What I’ve written above just doesn’t do the performance of this piece justice. You HAD TO be there.
A second encore followed, and of course it was a repeat performance of their powerful take of “Duel of the Fates.” While it was great to hear this again, I just couldn’t get ROGUE ONE out of my head…
PART 9: ONE FINAL PIECE
As with every FilPhil concert, the evening came to a close with a spirited performance of John Williams’ arrangement of “Tribute to the Film Composer.”
It sure would be nice to hear a “Tribute to the (Japanese) Film Composer” someday… perhaps at their next concert?
PART 10: THE RISE OF FILPHIL
Despite being only the second performance of the FilPhil that I’ve seen, my opinion of the FilPhil, its repertoire, and its organizers continues to grow.
At last weekend’s concert, the FilPhil more than just satisfied its audience – it boosted their appreciation for the music and inspired them to want to come and see the orchestra perform again, and again… What more could you really ask for?
PART 11: A MODEL FOR ALL CONCERT PROGRAMS
As with all FilPhil concerts, a lavish and detailed program booklet was produced and distributed for free to all attendees:
Huge props to the person (or people) that wrote the thoroughly researched booklet notes and did the leitmotif page – you really know your stuff!
PART 12: OVER TO YOU
Did you also go to this concert? How did you like it?
And what did you think of my report? Feel free to comment below or reach out to me directly in the “Contact Me” section.
