While favourite scores often come and go as tastes change, I think I'd have to be pretty impressed for any score to displace The Empire Strikes Back as my favourite score.. The middle chapter in Lucas' original trilogy is arguably the best of the Star Wars films and for me has the most diverse, inspiring and operatic; the music tells the story even more strongly than Star Wars, or indeed any other Williams score to date. This is obviously helped by the almost wall to wall scoring and this definitive expanded release contains every note of Williams' music we're ever likely to hear, including several segments that weren't used in the film. Essentially, the album can be regarded as a tone poem based on the film, even though it compliments and enhances the film in every respect.
The leitmotivic elements of the original Star Wars are expanded with themes that are arguably even more memorable than those already in place. The most famous is undoubtedly Imperial March, full of low snapping brass triplets and sharp percussion. It looms over the entire score like the Empire looms over our heroes throughout the film. While strong and imposing, it is occasionally used in a more suspenseful and subliminal way. Yoda's theme is a more delicate affair; a lullaby infused with wisdom and sincerity. However, it still receives some surprisingly dynamic renderings, notably in the frantic escape from Cloud City. Han and Leia's love theme has been turned into a concert arrangement that is actually quite wonderful, but was only done after the original score had been written and recorded and so it is heard only in context. It is one of Williams' most striking and old-fashioned romantic themes and suggest the Hollywood of fifty years previously.
Despite the 2 hour running time, there is never a dull moment, none of the music gives the impression of being merely functional and every minute enhances either the emotion or the narrative - usually both - in some way. The early Hoth scenes are scored with an eerieness that is somewhat unexpected, but a perfect depiction of desolation and a somewhat uncertain beginning. Of course no Star Wars film would be complete without some thundering action and Empire has it in spades and then some. The Battle of Hoth is possibly the most interesting and sustained action cue Williams has ever written. Those who recall it from earlier releases of the score will notice the episodic nature of the structure of the fifteen minute piece, but it still flows perfectly from one moment to another, by turns grave and heroic as the fortunes of the Rebels change.
The middle of the film jumps between the dangers faced by Han, Leia and Chewbacca as they attempt to escape the Imperial Fleet, nowhere more exciting than The Asteroid, a wild scherzo that is almost unimaginably exciting on its own and played with precision and excitement by the London Symphony Orchestra. Although Williams re-wrote the piece into a concert suite, it remains much more compact in its original form and the concert arrangement misses off the gloriously romantic ending as the Millenium Falcon flies into one of the Asteroids. One of the most delicate renditions of the love theme occurs in Han Solo and the Princess, although interrupted both musically and in the film before one of several segues to music accompanying the Imperial Fleet.
Luke faces his own fears on Dagobah as he is trained by Yoda and despite being generally quiet, these scenes constitute some of the most diverse writing of the score. Luke's Nocturnal Visitor is lightly comedic as Luke finds himself in the company of a creature he doesn't for a minute deem to be a Jedi Master. A brisk pizzicato string passage covers Luke's initial training, while the Magic Tree highlights some of Luke's fears very tangiably. Yoda and the Force brings suggests the extent of Yoda's powers as he lifts Luke's X-Wing from the swamp, but even this has a certain restrained dignity.
For the final act on Cloud City, the full dramatic extent of the story is revealed, culminating with the surging music for Han's carbon freezing, the frenzied light sabre duel between Luke and Vader and the final excitement as some of our heroes escape from Cloud City. Unlike the brassy ceremony of The Throne Room sequence in A New Hope, the uncertainty at the end of Empire is reflected by Williams' sobering music, although the expertly arranged end title medley doesn't disappoint, ending as it does with the soaring romance of Han and Leia's theme.
In terms of actual innovation of musical style, I suppose you could argue that Empire doesn't really have a great deal. Even in terms of film music, the entire Star Wars musicology is something of a retrograde step. However, for sheer bravura, technical achievement and an emotive scoring, it is hard to beat. Action and adventure films in the wake of Star Wars attempted to imitate Williams, but rarely even approached reaching the same standards, although the same could certainly be said for the films. Lucas gave Williams an epic canvas to paint his music upon and in return, Williams gave us all one of the a magnificent and memorable score that will probably remain a highpoint of both the Star Wars saga and of Williams' career.
Rating ~ 
Disc 1
Disc 2
* Previously unreleased
**Contains previously unreleased music