A Certain Point of View, Too

Music Album Review: ‘The Empire Strikes Back (Symphonic Suite from the Original Motion Picture Score’ (Gerhardt/National Philharmonic Orchestra)

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by

Alex Diaz-Granados
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Cover art by William Stout. (C) 2006 Varese Sarabande

The Empire Strikes Back (Symphonic Suite From The Original Motion Picture Score)
Composer: John Williams
Performed by: The National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Charles Gerhardt
Label: Varese Sarabande
Genre: Film Scores, Symphonic Music
Year Released (This edition): 2006

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
(C) 2006 Varese Sarabande

For those of us who grew up with the original vinyl and cassette editions of John Williams’s score for The Empire Strikes Back, the transition to compact disc was bittersweet. Polygram’s early CD release, while welcome, felt truncated—its reordered tracks and omissions dulled the emotional arc that Williams had so carefully constructed. It was less a symphonic journey and more a fragmented echo.

Then came the 13-track Symphonic Suite, a revelation in both structure and spirit. This edition, performed with reverent precision by Charles Gerhardt and the National Philharmonic Orchestra, restores not just the music but the emotional architecture of the score. It’s not merely a reissue—it’s a reimagining.

The suite opens with Alfred Newman’s iconic 20th Century-Fox Fanfare, immediately grounding the listener in cinematic tradition. From there, it unfolds with selections that span both the familiar and the freshly interpreted: “Main Title/The Imperial Probe,” “The Asteroid Field,” “Yoda’s Theme,” and “Han Solo and the Princess” are all present, but they breathe differently here. Williams, Gerhardt, and producer George Korngold offer alternate arrangements that deepen the emotional resonance and provide new narrative textures.

Take “The Imperial March,” for instance. Instead of launching straight into Vader’s militaristic motif, this version begins with the haunting material associated with Han Solo’s carbonite freezing—a subtle but powerful choice that reframes the march as a lament before it becomes a threat. Similarly, “Han Solo and the Princess” is rendered with gentler transitions and richer orchestration, allowing the love theme to unfold without the abrupt intrusion of Vader’s motif. Leia’s theme from A New Hope is woven in gradually, like memory surfacing through grief.

Throughout the suite, Williams’s leitmotifs are treated not as static cues but as living memory—refracted, reshaped, and emotionally recontextualized. Gerhardt’s interpretation is not just technically accomplished; it’s emotionally literate. The orchestra plays not just notes, but longing.

For listeners who cherish Williams’s work—not just as film music but as symphonic storytelling—this release is essential. It honors the original while offering something new: a suite that feels like a conversation between past and present, between cinema and concert hall, between memory and rediscovery.

Track Listing:

  1. 20th Century-Fox Fanfare
  2. Main Title/The Imperial Probe
  3. Luke’s First Crash
  4. Han Solo and the Princess
  5. The Asteroid Field
  6. The Training of a Jedi Knight and “May The Force Be With You”
  7. The Battle in the Snow
  8. The Imperial March
  9. The Magic Tree
  10. Yoda’s Theme
  11. The Rebels Escape Again
  12. Lando’s Palace, The Duel (Through the Window)
  13. Finale