John Williams’ Imperial March and Leonard Bernstein’s Tonight both use a full orchestra
with repeating rhythmic patterns in the melodies of their main themes, even when the notes
change. Williams’ piece uses horns and strings for the majority of the main theme along with
heavy dynamic contrast, while Bernstein’s Tonight relies on the two different timbres of the
vocalists to add contrast. During the first interlude of the Imperial March, the instrumentation is
stripped down to light percussion and woodwinds, showing a serious contrast to the main theme.
Similarly, during the music and dialogue section of Tonight, the orchestra strips down to a small
string ensemble, possibly a quartet, and in addition, the tempo slows down. The endings of both
pieces contrast completely. In the Imperial March, the orchestra crescendos back into the theme
and stays strong through the end of the piece. In Tonight, the melody is sung by both vocalists
together in octaves, but is kept light and decrescendos to the end with a tempo that is rubato.
One reason why I love analyzing John Williams’ Imperial March is because I am an avid fan of
Star Wars. This thematic piece mirrors the threat of the Empire towards the Rebels in the
dissonance of the music. Williams’ ability to comprise all of these musical features together into
one piece is outstanding and admirable. A reason why I chose Tonight to analyze is because I
value Bernstein’s modernized take on Romeo and Juliet. Comparing both pieces helped me see
how composers share musical features, but can execute them differently to create a unique piece.