John Williams’ Superman Theme

The Superman theme consists of three main components, which are in fact smaller complete
themes in themselves: a fanfare, a march, and a love theme.

The Fanfare

The fanfare is set in a moderate tempo and at a moderately loud dynamic. Together with the
noble brass melody and the subtle but dramatic timpani roll, it is as though a great storyteller
is preparing us to hear a mythic tale of epic proportions, the musical equivalent of Star Wars’
famous “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”.

Structurally, the fanfare begins with two motives that outline a perfect fifth and fourth,
intervals commonly used to denote heroism. The triplet rhythm adds a militaristic quality that
suggests something powerful. Thus, even in these first few bars, Superman’s heroism,
stabilizing presence, and strength are all hinted at.

The perfect fifths and fourths in the fanfare don’t just form note-to-note motives, they also
permeate the fabric of the fanfare at a more long-range level. The fanfare breaks down into
four short pairs of motives – I’ll call each pair an idea:

The music seems to utter the word “Su-per-man!”

The March
After the fanfare introduction come the March that also uses a perfect fourth and fifth at its
start, tonic and dominant notes, a triplet rhythm, and trumpet scoring. This theme is
presented at a loud dynamic in contrast to the start of the fanfare. Clearly, our superhero has
arrived and sprung into action.
Twice the melody rises a step to an elated-sounding A, as though celebrating one’s heroic
efforts. The melody continues to rise by step to B, which desperately wants to move up one
more step to C at the top of the scale, but twice this rise is thwarted as the melody drops
down instead of moving up. It appears our superhero is up against some great force, and
using all his might to try to overcome it. The melody seems to depict the struggle of
overcoming obstacles (good triumphs over evil).

The Love Theme

The melody can be viewed as having grown out of the melody of the fanfare. The two share
some striking similarities in structure—notice especially how the second idea of the fanfare is
reshaped into the love theme.

This similarity not only lends unity to the piece, but subtly suggests two sides of the same
personality: the brawny hero and the gentle romantic.

In the second half of the love theme at 2:42, the bottom notes of the orchestra fall away and
the march’s rhythms yield to an evenly wavering rhythm. Now it is as though Superman’s
feet have left the ground and he is gracefully suspended mid-air with his beloved Lois. This
theme does, after all, perform double duty as both the love theme and Superman’s flying
theme.
The Theme as a Whole
Far from being just a collection of catchy tunes, the structure of the Superman theme as a
whole contributes greatly to its emotional power.

A significant part of the dramatic impact the Superman theme is in the way a couple of its
transitions prepare and build up to the subsequent themes. The first transition occurs just
after the opening fanfare. At this point, the music is suddenly in a faster tempo and starts to
reiterate a new militaristic rhythm at a hushed dynamic. As this rhythm is repeated, the
dynamic becomes gradually louder, and more and more of the orchestra joins in. The effect
is of something astonishing approaching from a distance (Is it a bird? Is it a plane?).

The kinds of chords Williams uses are constructed using fourths rather than the more typical
chords in thirds (called tertian harmony). These chords in fourths are called quartal
harmony. The fourths build up one after the other, almost like a melody, the sound suggests
that what approaches is something of great power. Second, when fourths are heard
simultaneously in a chord, it sounds as though these quartal chords are actually tertian
chords with dissonant notes that need to resolve. The final chord of the passage is a quartal
chord (or in jazz terms, a “sus” chord) on the dominant, all of which creates a great sense of
anticipation, as though something incredible is about to happen.

The march theme enters triumphantly, providing the resolution for the opening fanfare and
releasing the tension of all the quartal chords into the resounding tertian chord of C major.

Much the same thing happens after the B section (or “bridge”) of the march, where the music
attempts to conclude the section three times, the last time leading into another form of
quartal chord on G-flat (here marked as a sus chord with added 7th):

This chord in fact has the same structure as the one heard in the fanfare when the music
begins to speak the name “Su-per-man”, only now it is transposed up a half-step. Compare
the two below:

This achieves is a heightening of the drama of the Superman theme. So crucial are these
linking sections that the theme would lose much of its power were they omitted from the
music.