John Williams’ Devotion to Star Wars Proves Why He’s the Greatest Composer Living

One of the most underrated and appreciated aspects of any project is its sound design. Music and sound effects are what bring any film to life, and despite this, they receive the least credit when making a film. Even though, in a way, this department is supposed to hide in the shadows, John Williams still managed to shine in the Star Wars franchise.

Over the years, he has worked as a composer for every iconic project in the franchise, as well as others outside of its world. The best example of his genius would be the 1983 film, Star Wars: Return of the Jediwhere he had to team up with two other legends, Ben Burtt and Randy Thom.

During the film’s production, it appears that one scene in particular became a little too funny for Burtt simply because of Williams’ seriousness.

The Sound team of Star Wars Took their job very seriously

Ben Burtt and Randy Thom are still very active in the world of Star Wars, who still handles sound design for some of Hollywood’s most beloved projects. They once gave an interview to Star Wars himself and talked about all their iconic projects, and of course, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi was one of them.

When it comes to creating an entirely new world, you often have to completely immerse yourself to truly create anything substantial. It seems that Burtt and John Williams knew this very well, as the former revealed during the interview. There was a specific section near the end of filming with Burtt who was supposed to create the Ewok celebration song from scratch.

Speaking of the Ewok celebration song, I wrote all of those lyrics in Ewokese. I had a big cue card with verses on it.

Although it would sound strange to the American ear and could almost be comical, he took his work very seriously, writing complex lyrics for the play. However, Williams has taken her dedication to a completely different level.

John Williams took his dedication to another level

During the interview, Ben Burtt revealed that John Williams involved the London Symphony choir in the song Ewok. It’s safe to say the former didn’t expect such dedication, as his lyrics and vision for the song were quickly flown to England, and the composer took it upon himself to bring it to life.

And that cue card was taken very seriously in England, and I received those cassettes when we got the music back. John asked the London Symphony choir to do the Ewok song, in that perfect, classic style, as if it were Handel’s. Messiah.

Ewok’s vocals were sung perfectly by some of the best singers in the world, and everything went smoothly. It was the best thing a sound designer could ask for, and even so, Burtt had a hard time ignoring how hilarious the situation was.

I couldn’t help but laugh while listening to it, it was so precise and so perfect.

Even though the entire piece was perfect and exactly what the film needed, Burtt couldn’t help but find it funny because of how seriously everyone took the project.