The Star Wars film's initial musical score was created and led by John Williams, with Herbert Spencer handling the orchestration (he also orchestrated all three movies in the original trilogy). The 87-member London Symphony Orchestra performed the score, which was recorded across fourteen sessions at Anvil Studios in Denham, England, from March 5, 8–12, 15, and 16, 1977.
The movie premiered on May 25, 1977, and by the end of summer, a disco rendition of the Star Wars Theme by Meco rose to the top of the American music charts. In February 1978, Williams was awarded three Grammys, followed by his third Academy Award in April (his second for Best Original Score).
In 1977, 20th Century Fox Records originally released the "Star Wars" soundtrack on LP. For this initial release, John Williams personally chose 74 minutes of music from the total 88-minute score. He re-arranged the order of the cues and used crossfades to create a more enjoyable listening experience. The versions of the cues on this album were remixes by John Neal, made specifically for the album, rather than the film mixes created by Eric Tomlinson. It is known that John Neal created these mixes using the 16-track tapes from the recording sessions.
Polydor later released the original soundtrack on CD in 1986. This CD used the same master recordings as the original LP, featuring the same edited program and John Neal's remixes. The main distinction between the LP and the Polydor CD is the superior audio quality of the CD format compared to vinyl.
The complete score was released in chronological order for the first time in 1997 (by RCA Victor) and again in 2004 (by Sony Classical). Both releases contain the exact same track list. The only difference between the two is that the RCA release includes comprehensive notes on each track by Michael Matessino, while the Sony Classical release does not.
Sony Classical re-released the original soundtrack masters one final time in a different physical format right before they lost the rights in 2016, as part of the "Ultimate Digital Collection". This release used a new, high-quality scan of the OST master, so it still featured the John Neal mixes and original edits. However, the Ultimate Digital Collection was available in lossless quality up to 192 kHz/24-bit on sites like HDTracks, while the Polydor CD was standard CD quality (lossless 44.1 kHz/16-bit). The Ultimate Digital Collection is no longer available for purchase, having been removed after Walt Disney Records acquired the rights.
Walt Disney Records released a three-LP 40th-anniversary box set on December 1, 2017. Because it was released before the 2018 Remastered sets, it likely used the 2016 OST master scans, similar to the Ultimate Digital Collection. However, as an LP release, it lacks high-quality audio and can be considered a reissue of the original 1977 LP. The third LP in this set included a bonus side with a duplicate of "The Last Battle" (different from the cue of the same name) and an etched logo on the other side.
**Woodwind: **3 flutes, 2 oboes, 3 clarinets, 2 bassoons
**Brass: **8 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 tubas
**Percussion: **Timpani, 3 percussion
**Keyboards: **Piano, Celeste
**Strings: **2 harps, 14 first violins, 12 second violins, 10 violas, 10 cellos, 6 double basses
**Cantina Band: **3 saxophones, 1 trumpet, 1 clarinet, Fender Rhodes piano, steel drum, Arp synthesizer, drum kit, and percussion
- Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope soundtrack on Wikipedia
- A New Hope Soundtrack in the StarWars.com Cargo Bay (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope soundtrack at Discogs