"Duel of the Fates" was composed by John Williams and recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and the London Voices for the Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace film soundtrack. The symphonic piece is played with both a full orchestra and a choir. The lyrics are based on a fragment of an archaic Welsh poem Cad Goddeu (Battle of the Trees), and sung in Sanskrit.[1] The translation was loose and Williams arranged it by ear, while rearranging the syllables, so the pronunciation of the Sanskrit is not accurate and the meaning of the stanza is lost in the actual singing.
The piece is mainly polyphonic and is in the keys of E and G minor. It has a tempo of roughly 152 bpm, and a duple meter with a time signature of 4/4. The composition is four minutes and fourteen seconds long.
Although Williams conducted "Duel of the Fates" to appear as a concert suite in the end credits (rather than the film), Williams did record similar cues using the ostinato motif, and in one instance, a 'cut down' version, labelled the "Great Duel". John Williams stated the chorus was introduced to give a religious, temple-like feel to the epic lightsaber duel.[3] Williams compared the setting of the battle to a pagan altar, and that the duel itself "seems like a dance or a ballet, a religious ceremony of some kind, probably ending in the death of one of the combatants".[4]
Appearances in Star Wars
The music had its debut during the final lightsaber duel between Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. The beginning portion used on the soundtrack is replaced with the beginning of a separate track titled Qui-Gon's Noble End;[5] however, the full version of the original recording is used during the film's end credits.[6]
The piece "Battle of the Heroes", which was played in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, during the battle sequence between Yoda and Darth Sidious in the senate chamber on Coruscant, and the simultaneous battle between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar, had a piece of "Duel of the Fates", but rewritten in a tragic mode.[citation needed] Lucas had expressed in a documentary of The Phantom Menace that he wanted to use “Duel of the Fates” in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith as he liked the feeling of the work. However, he decided not to use it mainly because it did not match the tragic mood of the duel between Obi-Wan and Vader. [citation needed] “Duel of the Fates” makes an appearance during the Yoda/Sidious fight scene. For this instance, John Williams re-recorded the choir and layered it over the vocal-less recording from Episode I.[citation needed]
A special of Lego Star Wars called "The Empire Strikes Out" features a short section of "Duel of the Fates", in which Darth Maul hums along with the music while declaring how "awesome" he is.
Another Lego Star Wars special, entitled The Yoda Chronicles: Menace of the Sith, also featured "Duel of the Fates". Count Dooku plays the music on a radio during a demonstration of the Sith clone Jek-14's power. Darth Maul complains that "Duel of the Fates" is his theme song, to which Asajj Ventress replies "Can somebody say diva?".
"Duel of the Fates" can also be heard softly in the background when Maul appears in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
A reorchestrated version of the song can be heard in The Clone Wars episode "The Phantom Apprentice" while the characters Ahsoka Tano and Maul duel.
Elements of the song were used in the teaser trailer for Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Reception
Despite only being slightly used in the film The Phantom Menace, the theme "Duel of the Fates" has gone on to define the music of the prequel trilogy.[9] It was so loved by fans that it went on to be blended into the theme "Battle of the Heroes" in Revenge of the Sith.[10]
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