John Williams on Creating the Score of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Legendary composer John Williams is composing J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and in the latest in a long line of Vanity Fair interviews for the film, Bruce Handy talked with Williams to ask him about composing the film's music.

On whether his creative process differs with Star Wars films versus any other films or series he's worked on:

Very much so. It's all a continuation of an initial set of ideas. It's a bit like adding paragraphs to a letter that's been going on for a number of years. Starting with a completely new film, a story that I don't know, characters that I haven't met, my whole approach to writing music is completely different—trying to find an identity, trying to find melodic identifications if that's needed for the characters, and so on. Which I do here, but here it's an extension of something that's been really organic and continually growing. It's a very, very different process.

On working with Abrams compared to George Lucas:

It's actually very similar. My meetings with George had to do with spotting the film, selecting areas in which music would be played, and pretty much we agreed on all that. He always left me free to write the music. And J.J.'s done the same thing. We've had a few preliminary meetings, and I've played him some music at the piano, which he seemed to like very much. His latest instruction to me was, "Just do your thing." Which is giving me a good sense of freedom, a good free swing at the ball. I don't know how much you know of him, but he is a delightful person. Enormously bright. I've been very impressed with him in meetings with a great variety of people. His generalship is assured and warm and inviting and inclusive. If I can say it, he's a fabulous young man who's future is so brilliant and so promising.

On if we'll hear any of the iconic themes from the original trilogy:

There are some scenes where we do make reference to earlier thematic pieces. We haven't done it yet, but we're planning to do it. It's something that I think will seem very natural and right in the moments for which we've chosen to do these kinds of quotes. There aren't many of them, but there are a few that I think are important and will seem very much a part of the fabric of the piece in a positive and constructive way.

You can check out the rest of the interview at Vanity Fair. For the latest updates on The Force Awakens, click here to Like our Star Wars fan page on Facebook.