JOHN WILLIAMS
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Born February 8th 1932
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Father was a drummer
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Moved to L.A. At 16 years old
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Dreamed of being a concert pianist
John was born in Long Island, New York on February 8th 1932 as a son of a percussionist. Dad spent some time
working for CBS radio while working on the side in a band called the Raymond Scott Quartet. John moved to L.A.
When he was just 16 and pursued his dream of being a concert pianist.
JOHN WILLIAMS
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Attended Los Angeles City College
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Attended UCLA
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Served in the Air Force as a conductor
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Attended Juliard after Air Force
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Trained under Robert Van Eps, Mario
Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and Madame Rosina
Lhevinne
He has attended some of the finest schools consisting of Los Angeles City college, UCLA, and later on Juliard. He
served in the military Air Force as a conductor, and has been trained by some of the finer instructors consisting of
conductor Robert Van Eps, composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and the revered pianist Madame Rosina
Lhevinne.
JOHN WILLIAMS
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Worked Jazz clubs in 50's
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Decided to compose in 50's
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Went to Hollywood and worked on many
projects with Hollywood Studios
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Married Actress Barbara Ruick
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Had 3 kids, 1 daughter and 2 sons
John was no stranger to working through the ropes as he performed in several Jazz clubs to pay for his education and
make a small living. John finally decided in the mid 50's that he was going to compose music. He started off as a
pianist with Hollywood studios, working on projects like “Peter Gunn”, “South Pacific”, and much more popular
because of the book status, “To Kill a Mockingbird”. John worked several positions within the film industry where he
met and married actress Barbara Ruick. They had three children before Barbara passed away in 1974. His daughter
became a doctor, and his two boys followed dad's musical trend and became rock musicians.
JOHN WILLIAMS
John's best part of his career started when he was introduced to a somewhat new
director Steven Spielberg who ask John to work with him on the score for “The
Sugarland Express.” Just one year later, Spielberg reunited with John for the time
honored cinema classic “JAWS”. Spielberg loved introducing John to his friends,
especially his other director friends like the ever so popular George Lucas. This little bit
of work for Spielberg and his new found friendship with Lucas would be the catapult in
John's career as he went on to do works for blockbuster movies like “Star Wars”, “E.T.”,
“Jurrasic Park”, “JFK”, and “Saving Private Ryan” just to name a few.
The rest as they say is history. John has won numerous academy awards for his work,
including a life time acheivment award, has worked with several orchestras and
symphonys world wide, and conducted and performed with the best musicians and
artists known to modern history.
E.T. FLYING THEME
One of my most fondest memories as a child was
seeing E.T. In the movie theaters. John scored this
whole movie, but I want you to listen to the Flying
theme.
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0:01 right off the bat, the vivace tempo carries
quick and lively sound. You can hear the flute in the
background playing a small counterpoint.
0:14 We hear a crescendo into Theme A. This is
strong with the string section, particularly the violin.
The flute still plays the background with a flurry of
off beat notes complimenting the main theme.
:32 Theme A repeats with a small variation at the
end which bridges right to the next theme.
Lisen here:
http://app.rhapsody.com/artist/john-williams/album/et-the-extra-terrestrial-geffen
E.T. FLYING THEME
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:49 Theme B Starts, The strings turning the main
theme over to the woodwinds. The flute intros this
theme, while a rando comes from the brass as
well, with a strong emphysis from the baritone If
you listen close to the background you can here
what seems to be the bells or the vibe.
1:10 Theme A repeats by woodwinds rather than
strings, but the strings are keeping a background
harmony.
1:30 Theme C comes into play. The strings and
brass carry this one out.
1:46 We hear another buildup in the music, almost
a fortissimo which is a small repeat of Theme B
with a slight variation.
1:57 The whole orchestra comes together for a
Theme A ritornello.
2:15 Another orchestral repeat of Theme A
2:29 A fanfare coda begins with a few Sauzaphone
punches and a trumpet solo about 2:57.
Hymn To The Fallen “Saving
Private Ryan”
Saving Private Ryan was a fantastically written movie,
based on some true historical facts. (loosely)
However, the music score is a perfect example of
incidental music in today's film industry. The tone
is quite solemn and patriotic as it is played first, at
the beginning of the movie when Private Ryan
visits the graves of the men that died on their
mission to bring him home. The scene was set in
Arlington Cemetery, and the power of the music
more than carried the moment.
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Listen here:
http://app.rhapsody.com/artist/johnwilliams/album/saving-private-ryan-geffen
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:01 Theme A opens with a snare drum tribute to the
military march. A soft timpani drum thuds in the
back.
:08 The strings chime in behind the snare to
declare the tune of theme A.
:11 The trumpet section plays a unified solokeeping with the solemn mezzo piano dynamic, yet
grave tone
Hymn To The Fallen “Saving
Private Ryan”
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:25 Voices, a favorite instrument of Mr Williams,
begin the Theme B
:40 Theme B repeats a few times here, but note the soft
timpani in the background that picks up in dynamic and
tempo a bit at about :55.
1:30 Theme A repeats with the snares and the
woodwinds rather than the trumpets. Then the brass
ensamble follows in @1:45.
2:02 A Heavy build up in dynamics starts and continues
to crescendo
2:37 Theme A repeats with the snares, but is short lived
2:45 Theme B again repeats with strings in control, and
a solo trumpet counterpoint in the background. Voices
are reintroduced to the piece as well.
3:57 Theme B repeats, but with a louder more forte
dynamic and the voices are leading the charge with a
full symphonic accompaniment.
Hymn To The Fallen “Saving
Private Ryan”
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4:36 Theme B repeats with a vocal burst, and then
scales down in both tone and dynamic
4:55 Theme A snare drum repeats followed by the
hollow timbre of the clarinet and bassoon.
5:20 Theme A snare drum and trumpet repeat
5:37 The coda begins with an extended snare drum
and a drawn out and fading trumpet, until it is just
the snare, thumping out tribute to the fallen.
5:58 A final note softly played by the symphony
with the snare drum still rasping, and then it fades
into silence.
Cantina Band from Star Wars
IV
The cantina band scene is one of the most
memorable scenes in movie history. It was the
introduction to many variations of alien lifeforms.
George Lucas had no trouble creating his images
of a diverse alien galaxy. One of the reasons this
scene is so popular was the funky and catchy tune
played by the cantina band. It was played by a
band of what we all know today as the typical alien
form. The big cranium, the hairless body, the big
black bulging eyes. The instruments were meant
to look alien, but have many similarities to ones we
have today, like the bassoon, the clarinet, and the
oboe. This was a good example of source music.
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:01 Theme A opens with an upbeat tempo of brass
and woodwinds. Note the maraca shaking in the
tempo line. In the back ground a deep tuba or
souzaphone pumps a single baseline.
:15 Here the steel drums come into theme A as
they play a counterpoint to what seems to be a
high alto saxaphone.
Listen here: http://app.rhapsody.com/artist/john-williams/album/star-wars-episode-iv-a-new-hope
Cantina Band from Star Wars IV
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:30 Theme B rolls in here with a strong deep bass
clarinet. Note the intruption of the whiny rasp of the
trumpet, symbolic of the 1950's jazz era.
:44 Theme A repeats with the alto Saxaphone
1:13 Theme C starts with mostly percussion like the
prominent timbre of the steel drum, which takes a solo
piece a few seconds in. A few more jazzy trumpet
rasps mix in.
1:43 more woodwinds and brass jump into the Theme
C maintaining the New Orleans style Jazz genre.
1:56 Theme B repeats quickly with the full symphony
support.
2:10 A variation of some sort is played here, bringing a
build up in dynamics in preperation for a finish
2:30 The front intro of Theme A repeats here, and
brings the piece to a close with a funky sound I can
only guess was created by a synthasizer.
JOHN WILLIAMS
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John has done many great works in his 80 plus
years of life so far, and still works to this day. It
was hard to pick just 3 pieces from such a great
artist with a vast amount of fabulous and famous
work. He is a true icon in Hollywood, and will
remain so forever. With these few selected works
you can see his diverse abilities to bring you into
the story with the emotion that he easily envokes
with the music. He is a hidden but respected “Main
Character” in every movie he scores. He is the
best at what he does, and works with the best in
the industry for good reason.
SOURCES
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www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/bio This is the biography of John Williams from IMDB (internet Movie
database) Much of the Biography info provided in the project was obtained here.
www.johnwilliams.org This is John's work page run by either him or his publicist. It indicates concert dates and
such. It also colaberates much of the biography information.
www. Rhapsody.com This is source of all of the music and links provided within the slides.