FamousStar Wars1977 · John Williams
C♯ minor triad over a C bass (pedal)
The chord the Death Star motif's rising four-note brass arpeggio lands on; first in 'The Escape Hatch' (about 0:08:48), usually as a cue-ending flourish on shots of the Death Star or a Star Destroyer
A C♯ minor chord sitting on a C in the bass, a half step below its own root. It is where the Death Star motif's short rising brass arpeggio lands, when the battle station or a Star Destroyer fills the screen. Read from the bass it is a minor-major seventh chord with the seventh at the bottom, which is why it sounds so hard and cold.
Also called Death Star, Death Star motif
Sources: Frank Lehman, Complete Catalogue of the Musical Themes of Star Wars (updated 19 June 2023), leitmotif 5 'Death Star'