Ahsoka

The ever-expanding Star Wars universe reveals a new chapter this August with the first season of Ahsoka on Disney+.

Visually, this trailer presents action sequences of our protagonist Ahsoka, played by Rosario Dawson, along with characters familiar from Star Wars tv series such as _The Clone Wars _and The Mandalorian. Meanwhile, orally, the words that are spoken in the trailer are focused on describing the threat posed by antagonist Grand Admiral Thrawn, who has the potential to fill the power vacuum left after Darth Vader’s death. Almost all the voiceover and dialogue phrases here are short, between two to seven words, and are spaced out with room in between for us to focus on the action sequences.

This trailer’s music, a song by Jamie Evans, is built on a repeating motif of three notes heard in low strings. Imagine the steady descending minor bassline from the Ray Charles classic ‘Hit the Road Jack’, but slower and more ominous. The bassline gradually increases its number of notes by using faster and faster rhythms while keeping the tempo steady, a technique heard often in electronic dance music to build towards a climax. To help this motif build, rising sound effects and synth swells are added. Here, the build leads to the entry of a virtuosic violin pattern at 0.37. Rosario Dawson first premiered as the character Ahsoka in Star Wars series The Mandalorian, and here, the trailer’s music evokes the synthesizer-laden battle sequences familiar to Mandalorian fans.

Gradually a choir is added to the musical build, giving the chords richer harmonies, new melodies and an expanded higher range of notes. The use of a choir here is reminiscent of John Williams’ epic choral composition ‘Duel of the Fates’ from Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

There was a time when all the music of the Star Wars universes had the clear stamp of John Williams, the composer who wrote the iconic music for Episodes 1-9 of the Star Wars films. However, the Star Wars universe now also encompasses many animated series scored by composers such as Kevin Kiner (who is also scoring Ahsoka), as well as multiple popular live action Disney+ Star Wars series scored by composers who bring their own distinctive sounds and aesthetics such as Natalie Holt (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Ludwig Göransson (_The Mandaloria_n, Seasons 1-2), and Nicholas Britell (Andor).

As a result, in 2023, the world of Star Wars need not necessarily be scored with brass fanfares of the type made unforgettable in 1977 with the opening sequence from the first _Star Wars _film. With a tip of the hat to John Williams’ choral and orchestral scores, this trailer’s use of subtle synthesizer and layering string motifs also feels fresh and rooted in the new sound worlds of the _Star Wars _series yet to come.

You’ll find Ahsoka on Disney+ as of August 23rd.

— Jack Hui Litster