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Why did John Williams use a march to symbolise Indiana Jones?

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Why did John Williams use a march to symbolise Indiana Jones?

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5

1

John Williams is famous for using certain styles of composition to represent characters (e.g. a military march style in Superman to represent freedom/USA etc.), but why was Indiana represented by the Raider's March? He's a hero, but not in a military or fighting for a government.

Raider's March:

composition filmscore

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edited 2 hours ago

Richard

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WoodmanWoodman

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5

1

John Williams is famous for using certain styles of composition to represent characters (e.g. a military march style in Superman to represent freedom/USA etc.), but why was Indiana represented by the Raider's March? He's a hero, but not in a military or fighting for a government.

Raider's March:

composition filmscore

share|improve this question

edited 2 hours ago

Richard

42.1k693179

asked 3 hours ago

WoodmanWoodman

353210

add a comment | 

John Williams is famous for using certain styles of composition to represent characters (e.g. a military march style in Superman to represent freedom/USA etc.), but why was Indiana represented by the Raider's March? He's a hero, but not in a military or fighting for a government.

Raider's March:

composition filmscore

share|improve this question

edited 2 hours ago

Richard

42.1k693179

asked 3 hours ago

WoodmanWoodman

353210

share|improve this question

edited 2 hours ago

Richard

42.1k693179

asked 3 hours ago

WoodmanWoodman

353210

share|improve this question

edited 2 hours ago

Richard

42.1k693179

asked 3 hours ago

WoodmanWoodman

353210

edited 2 hours ago

Richard

42.1k693179

edited 2 hours ago

Richard

42.1k693179

asked 3 hours ago

WoodmanWoodman

353210

asked 3 hours ago

WoodmanWoodman

353210

1 Answer
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5

Interesting question! Williams's choice certainly isn't as obvious as, say, the military march for Darth Vader. Although I can't find a definitive statement from Williams himself, I think there is a clear analytic way to make sense of his choice.

There is a branch of music analysis called "topic theory." In short, topic theory looks at conventional musical signs that signify some kind of emotion or background. A group of trumpets quickly articulating arpeggios, for instance, would be a "fanfare" topic that signifies royalty, the hunt, etc. Similarly, a "march" topic could signify the military, patriotism, or some type of quest towards something to be achieved or conquered.

With this in mind, I think we can see explanations for each of these three listed ideas:

1. Indiana Jones did serve in World War I, so a military topic is very fitting.


2. Similarly, a patriotic topic is also fitting. (I even see some web results that make the claim that he's a great American patriot.)


3. And of course so many of his stories are about quests to find some item or defeat some entity, which of course matches the march topic very well.

In other words, I don't think a march is limited to just the military or currently fighting for a government. Once we acknowledge a broader view of what the march topic may signify, it becomes much more clear why Williams may have chosen to write the theme as a march.

For anyone interested in topic theory, you may want to check out The Oxford Handbook of Topic Theory.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

RichardRichard

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5

Interesting question! Williams's choice certainly isn't as obvious as, say, the military march for Darth Vader. Although I can't find a definitive statement from Williams himself, I think there is a clear analytic way to make sense of his choice.

There is a branch of music analysis called "topic theory." In short, topic theory looks at conventional musical signs that signify some kind of emotion or background. A group of trumpets quickly articulating arpeggios, for instance, would be a "fanfare" topic that signifies royalty, the hunt, etc. Similarly, a "march" topic could signify the military, patriotism, or some type of quest towards something to be achieved or conquered.

With this in mind, I think we can see explanations for each of these three listed ideas:

1. Indiana Jones did serve in World War I, so a military topic is very fitting.


2. Similarly, a patriotic topic is also fitting. (I even see some web results that make the claim that he's a great American patriot.)


3. And of course so many of his stories are about quests to find some item or defeat some entity, which of course matches the march topic very well.

In other words, I don't think a march is limited to just the military or currently fighting for a government. Once we acknowledge a broader view of what the march topic may signify, it becomes much more clear why Williams may have chosen to write the theme as a march.

For anyone interested in topic theory, you may want to check out The Oxford Handbook of Topic Theory.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

RichardRichard

42.1k693179

add a comment | 

5

Interesting question! Williams's choice certainly isn't as obvious as, say, the military march for Darth Vader. Although I can't find a definitive statement from Williams himself, I think there is a clear analytic way to make sense of his choice.

There is a branch of music analysis called "topic theory." In short, topic theory looks at conventional musical signs that signify some kind of emotion or background. A group of trumpets quickly articulating arpeggios, for instance, would be a "fanfare" topic that signifies royalty, the hunt, etc. Similarly, a "march" topic could signify the military, patriotism, or some type of quest towards something to be achieved or conquered.

With this in mind, I think we can see explanations for each of these three listed ideas:

1. Indiana Jones did serve in World War I, so a military topic is very fitting.


2. Similarly, a patriotic topic is also fitting. (I even see some web results that make the claim that he's a great American patriot.)


3. And of course so many of his stories are about quests to find some item or defeat some entity, which of course matches the march topic very well.

In other words, I don't think a march is limited to just the military or currently fighting for a government. Once we acknowledge a broader view of what the march topic may signify, it becomes much more clear why Williams may have chosen to write the theme as a march.

For anyone interested in topic theory, you may want to check out The Oxford Handbook of Topic Theory.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

RichardRichard

42.1k693179

add a comment | 

Interesting question! Williams's choice certainly isn't as obvious as, say, the military march for Darth Vader. Although I can't find a definitive statement from Williams himself, I think there is a clear analytic way to make sense of his choice.

There is a branch of music analysis called "topic theory." In short, topic theory looks at conventional musical signs that signify some kind of emotion or background. A group of trumpets quickly articulating arpeggios, for instance, would be a "fanfare" topic that signifies royalty, the hunt, etc. Similarly, a "march" topic could signify the military, patriotism, or some type of quest towards something to be achieved or conquered.

With this in mind, I think we can see explanations for each of these three listed ideas:

1. Indiana Jones did serve in World War I, so a military topic is very fitting.


2. Similarly, a patriotic topic is also fitting. (I even see some web results that make the claim that he's a great American patriot.)


3. And of course so many of his stories are about quests to find some item or defeat some entity, which of course matches the march topic very well.

In other words, I don't think a march is limited to just the military or currently fighting for a government. Once we acknowledge a broader view of what the march topic may signify, it becomes much more clear why Williams may have chosen to write the theme as a march.

For anyone interested in topic theory, you may want to check out The Oxford Handbook of Topic Theory.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

RichardRichard

42.1k693179

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

RichardRichard

42.1k693179

answered 3 hours ago

RichardRichard

42.1k693179

answered 3 hours ago

RichardRichard

42.1k693179