Musical score The musical scores for all the " Star Wars " films were composed by John Williams . The music for the films are especially distinctive as it has been known to paint musical pictures of such accessibility and precision , and Williams ' s invaluable contribution to the triple - trilogy and story films stands as an unsurpassed feat in the history of film scoring in terms of breadth , thematic - development and cultural impact . The scores utilize an eclectic variety of musical styles , many culled from the Late Romantic idiom of and his contemporaries that itself was incorporated into the Golden Age Hollywood scores of and . While several obvious nods to , , and exist in the score to " " , Williams relied less and less on classical references in the latter five scores , incorporating more strains of modernist orchestral writing with each progressive score . The reasons for Williams ' s tapping of a familiar Romantic idiom are known to involve Lucas ' s desire to ground the otherwise strange and fantastic setting in well - known , audience - accessible music . Indeed , much of the trilogy ' s success relies not on advanced visual effects , but on the simple , direct emotional appeal of its plot , characters , and , importantly , music . " Star Wars " is often credited as heralding the beginning of a revival of grand symphonic scores in the late 1970 s . While to ascribe this feat single - handedly to Williams is premature , the popularity and impact of the scores was a major contribution . One technique in particular has had a particular influence : Williams ' s revival of a technique called " leitmotif " , which is most famously associated with the operas of and , in film scores , with Steiner . A leitmotif is a phrase or melodic cell that signifies a character , place , plot element , mood , idea , relationship , or other specific part of the film . It is commonly used in modern film scoring , as a device to mentally anchor certain parts of a film to the soundtrack . Of chief importance for a leitmotif is that it must be strong enough for a listener to latch onto while being flexible enough to undergo variation and development . Soundtracks . The " Star Wars " score was recorded in eight sessions at Anvil Studios between March 5 and March 16 , 1977 by the London Symphony Orchestra . The orchestrations were made by Herbert Spencer , who also made the orchestrations for Episode V and VI . The movie was premiered on May 25 , 1977 and by late summer a disco version became America ' s number one song . Williams received in February 1978 three Grammys and his third Academy Award in April . First released on LP by " 20th Century " , John Williams selected seventy - four minutes of music out of the eighty - eight - minute score for the original soundtrack . To provide musical variety , it did not follow the chronological order of the film . Now available on " RCA Victor " ( 1997 ) and " Sony Classical " ( 2004 ) presenting the complete score in chronological order for the first time . The two releases present exactly the same track listing . The only difference between these editions is that the RCA release includes complete notes on each track by Michael Matessino and that the Sony Classical release does not include these notes . " The Empire Strikes Back " score was recorded in eighteen sessions at the Anvil Studios and the Abbey Road studios in December 1979 and January 1980 by the London Symphony Orchestra . Between " Star Wars " and " The Empire Strikes Back " , Williams had also used the London Symphony Orchestra for " The Fury " , " Superman " and " Dracula " . The score won another Oscar nomination for Williams . The soundtrack was first released as a seventy - five - minute double LP ( released five days before the premiere of the film ) , but the first compact disc release ran only half the length of the 2 LP set . Re - recordings of the score even included music that was not on the CD soundtrack ! The " Return of the Jedi " score was recorded at the Abbey Road studios in January and February 1983 by the London Symphony Orchestra . The score won another Oscar nomination for Williams . Because of the decrease of popularity for the vinyl format , " Return of the Jedi " , which is the longest score of the Original Trilogy , was only release on one LP instead of two like " Star Wars " and " The Empire Strikes Back " . " Shadows of the Empire " . Now available on Sony ( 1999 ) as a 2CD Ultimate Edition presenting the score as heard in the film ( as opposed to the score as originally recorded and intended ) or with only 1CD presenting the major highlights , albeit out of film order . " " . Now available on Sony ( 2002 ) with only 1 CD not presenting the complete score . Now available on Sony ( 2005 ) with only 1 CD not presenting the complete score . It is the first soundtrack to have been released with a bonus DVD . The 70 - minute DVD , entitled " " , presents the major themes of the saga . Accusations of unoriginality . While immensely popular , many musicians in the classical music community have accused many of Williams ' s scores — especially from the " Star Wars " saga — as being unoriginal . Notably , the scores do seem to draw upon elements of composer such as , , and , of course , operas . The Wagnerian parallel is most easily drawn , with the saga ' s , heavy use of brass , heroic themes , and perfect intervals . To be fair , Williams was most likely trying to capture a feel that he felt other composers had succeeded to acquire , and it is not beyond the imagination that George Lucas actually requested a score similar to that of other composers .