#bet you didn't think I'd use my HL certification in music theory this way Dr O

[colorofitall]

Welcome! This is an ongoing series of indefinite length on how Ludwig Göransson’s score for The Mandalorian ties nicely into John Williams’s history of leitmotifs in his Star Wars score. (And other cool stuff I notice.)

If you read through any analysis of John Williams’s score for any of the Star Wars movies, you’ll see lots of references of leitmotifs or themes. He loves to drop bits of music that represent people or themes into all parts of his scores. Other film composers do this too, but John Williams is a *master* at this.

So. We have a great main theme (which is Din Djarin’s theme). It runs at the credits. It’s really neat and it’s likely going to end up on every middle school band kid’s wish list of “Shit I Wish My Director Would Let Me Play Instead of John Phillips Sousa”. But the series doesn’t open with this theme; instead, we get a lot of random music instead.

Except…

Did you know that through the first half of Chapter One’s score, we get bits and pieces of Din Djarin’s theme; but we don’t hear the full theme until he’s up on the blurg, riding across the prairie like a cowboy? Neither did I. Until I listened to the score full blast while driving up to Rural Clinic™. The things one does to stay sane in a pandemic.

Full disclosure, if you’re reading this, I’m assuming you’ve seen the whole series. Spoilers abound. I’m too tired to hide stuff, so…

I’m using the episode score released onto Apple Music for this analysis, because, honestly, it’s hard to catch some of the musical notes with the rest of the action going on. I don’t have a copy of the written score, nor do I currently have a piano to transcribe this stuff myself, so I’m literally going off of my ears here. Be kind.

Okay. We open with “Hey Mando!” and that beloved bass recorder tune (Sidebar: so I knew there were bass and tenor flutes, but a bass recorder? WTH? But it makes sense if you want to have a recorder choir…) which is our first introduction to Din walking in to get his bounty. But instead of resolving into the rest of the theme as the music suggests, the theme cuts off and we get some bad ass fight music instead. Cool cool cool. We also get the very opening part of the theme (the two deep piano notes) at about 1:40, but I’m cutting Göransson a little slack here because that’s the title card theme music, and it has to show up. Again, it’s just a little piece of the theme, but not the whole shebang.

In the next piece of the score, “Face to Face” (which is where Din drops off his *numerous* bounties and meets Greef and the Client), we get to hear the bass recorder again, (at about 0:40) but this time, we get more of a variation on the main theme before it cuts off again.

Can I break here and mention what a fabulous use Göransson makes of bass instruments as a whole? I mean, that was an awesome use of the bassoon! Anyway…

Again, we get the deep bass piano opening notes from the main theme at the start of “Back for Beskar” which is Din returning to the Covert. It’s a nice match with the tone of the score here, and I’ve been wondering for a while if the deeper bass notes used for Mandalorians as a whole is a nod to Boba Fett’s original theme from Empire Strikes Back. You also get a little of foreboding bass recorder as well at 1:20. I’ll talk more about this piece and the next piece a little later because they showcase their own themes as well.

The next part of the score is “HammerTime”, which is when we get to see the Armorer work her magic. At about 0:45, the strings you hear at this point are playing that same awesome bass recorder line at the beginning of the “The Mandalorian” theme (just speeded up a bit). I also want to talk about all the hammering going on in this piece, and the blending in of the electric guitar which adds to the techno-vibe of the Mandalorians as well.

We finally get to “Blurg Attack”. Which makes sense for a title since they’re like sharks with feet. It starts out as a fun little attack piece but start listening at about 1:00 and you’ll softly hear the big brassy part of the main theme, but (I think) on French horn (or baritone).

Last but not least, “You Are a Mandalorian”. Does anyone else like Kuiil and how unimpressed he is with Din? We get the whole opening of the main theme right at the beginning of the piece, and just like at the beginning of the whole episode, the theme just drops out halfway with no resolution (lol Din gets bucked off, drop your heels dude and sit deep in your seat).

So throughout this episode, we’ve gotten little pieces of the theme throughout all of the action, showing all the separate parts of Din. There’s a part of Din that’s a bad ass bounty hunter, and a part of him that hangs out with not so nice people to get the work he needs, and a part of him that’s a super awesome beroya who’s invested in the foundlings of his tribe, and a part of him that’s still a scared little boy.

And as he rides out to find the fifty-year-old bounty who’s going to tie all these disparate parts of him together, finally we get to hear the whole theme.

Going through bit by bit: the violin parts from “HammerTime” (which echo the bass recorder from “Hey Mando” and “Face to Face”), the deep piano notes from “Back for Beskar”, and the brassy theme from “Blurg Attack”. Fun fact here is that those deep piano notes are also the lead-in notes for the main brassy theme.

And then the theme resolves finally. Load of stress off my back at least (Think of music resolving as that feeling you get when you know that a musical phrase is completed, and unresolved themes make me ITCH.)

I’m not covering Bounty Droid or The Asset here – I think they tie in better to later episodes and I will try to get to those later. Also for fun, listen to “The Mandalorian”. It’s the end credits theme and since it’s a little more sparse, it’s easier to hear all the parts come together.

And if you’ve read this long…

Two other fun things to note here. We get introduced to two other themes in this episode. One theme I think of as “The Forging” theme, and the other theme I think of as “The Mandos” (in order to keep it separate from our protagonist’s theme.) “The Mandos” first shows up at about 1:20 into “Back for Beskar” (Din returning with the first piece of beskar that becomes best paldron). The main theme you hear in this piece is the theme we will hear again during Din’s recollection of how he was brought to the Mandalorians; specifically, as he watched the Mandalorians kick the snot out of some Separatist droids.

“The Forging” theme starts at the beginning of “HammerTime”. (god some of these pieces have the BEST names). Recognize it? We’ll hear it again at the beginning of Din’s recollection of how he was brought to the Mandalorians; specifically, as his parents were running with him and placing him in the bunker. It’s important to note here that the theme starts *before* Din has a flashback to the Separatist raid. That’s why I think of it as “The Forging” and not “Din’s Trauma Extravaganza”. We can think of forging as a physical activity, i.e. “make or shape (a metal object) by heating it in a fire or furnace and beating or hammering it.” (Thanks OED!), but we can also think of a person being forged. And in my thoughts, the Separatist raid is part of what forges Din into the person he is during the series. So, it’s nice to have an explicit link between the Armorer’s forge and Din’s memories of his finding.

Enough analysis of the use of themes?

Enough. Bye bye!

 Side note: I did not realize the Blurrg were a thing in Star Wars: Rebels as well. Two-legged shark guys look just as weird when they’re drawn!