This Christmas

(posted in conjunction with the 12th day of Christmas)

This Christmas

Composed by Donny Hathaway. Released 1970.

Wistful but catchy. Interesting harmonic possibilities.

Not many remakes, possibly because of fairly complex chord progressions
and wide vocal range required.

Wikipedia entry here.

Star Wars Theme

(in conjunction with the recent premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Star Wars Theme

Iconic movie theme
of this epic movie series.
Composed by prolific film composer
John Williams for the first Star Wars movie in 1977.
A full symphonic work. Rich texture. Memorable melody lines.
Bold brassy fanfare with abundance of macho suspension chords and cascading fourths.
Interesting mystique-sounding chords and woodwind lines in second part.
Effective use of all sections of the orchestra.
More information in Wikipedia entry here.

Happy New Year!

A nice summation.

Happy New Year!