THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK VINYL OST NOW AVAILABLE FROM VARÈSE SARABANDE RECORDS

Varèse Sarabande Records is re-issuing the long out-of-print LP The Empire Strikes Back – Symphonic Suite from the Original Motion Picture Score by Academy Award®-winning composer John Williams. Out of print since 1980, the record is pressed on 180-gram black vinyl and housed in a gatefold jacket featuring the original Star Wars paintings and notes. Available now from VarèseSarabande.com along with two limited exclusive versions: “Imperial Grey Marble” (Newbury Comics), and a Canadian exclusive on “Cloud City Orange” available only at Sunrise retail shops.

Originally released to supplement and not compete with the 2-LP Motion Picture Soundtrack, this 1-LP release skillfully combines a “Symphonic Suite” that John Williams created for concert performance with new arrangements of other cues from the film score. The Empire Strikes Back has become not only one of Williams’ most iconic scores, but one of the most iconic film scores of all time. The LP comes in a gatefold jacket with the original iconic Star Wars paintings by William Stout, images of John Williams, and notes from author Ray Bradbury, composer and critic Christopher Palmer, and from the maestro himself.

“The Suite, which I had specially written and adapted for concert performance […] had been skillfully augmented with other music from the film to form a unified whole. A great orchestra and Gerhardt’s opulent sound and dramatic phrasing combine to make a fine addition to a rapidly growing list of great recordings of film music.” – John Williams

In a career that spans five decades, John Williams has become one of America’s most accomplished and successful composers for film and for the concert stage. Mr. Williams has composed the music and served as music director for more than one hundred films. He has also served as music director and laureate conductor of one of the country’s treasured musical institutions, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and he maintains thriving artistic relationships with many of the world’s great orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. Williams has received a variety of prestigious awards, including the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honor, the Olympic Order, and numerous Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards. He remains one of our nation’s most distinguished and contributive musical voices.

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Varèse Sarabande is one of the leading and most prolific producers of film and television soundtracks. The label was formed as a merger between Varèse International Records (named for composer Edgar Varèse) and Sarabande Records (named after a musical dance form). The label’s iconic logo—a frequent curiosity of fans around the globe—is actually an inkblot created by blowing a straw on a piece of paper with India ink.

Initially a classical label, Varèse Sarabande released its first album of film music in June 1978. Since then, Varèse Sarabande has released thousands of soundtracks and new recordings of classic film scores conducted by celebrated composers with the world’s best-known orchestras.

The label upped the ante for fans by creating the Varèse Sarabande CD Club—releasing exclusive limited-edition deluxe soundtracks featuring rare and long-requested titles. The CD Club ran initially from 1989–92 and was restarted in 2001, and Varèse continues to create Deluxe Editions of cherished scores that might otherwise never see a release.

Since joining Concord in 2018, Varèse Sarabande continues to release new television and film scores, high-quality vinyl and Deluxe Edition soundtracks.

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