Of all 3 composers we have studied this year, John Williams is my favorite.  Although, it was a tough choice.  Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera is my favorite song of the year but John Williams’s work is hard to compare.  His musical scores are broad and encompass many genres.

Interestingly, after conducting music for the Air Force band he became a jazz pianist in New York clubs.  We learned he was also the Principal Conductor (from 1980-1993) for The Boston Pops Orchestra which is one of the most popular orchestras in America.  Much of the music we study, I buy or borrow from the library, or just listen online. However, it is great to listen to a whole sound track or album when doing other things in school like art or lunch.

I didn’t realize just how wide a variety of music he has composed.

John Williams Scores!:

Listen to his “The Mission” from NBC Nightly News:  Sound familiar?

And Jaws.  Notice how the audience recognizes the score after only hearing one note.  It is mesmerizing to watch the instruments ‘make’ this music.  …Especially the crescendos!  I am convinced John Williams is primarily responsible for the reduced beach attendance in 1975.

E.T.… I read it was a challenge to develop music that would produce sympathy for such a funny looking creature.  He nailed it.

And who (at least from my generation) remembers the 5 notes in Close Encounters of The Third Kind that communicated with the Mother Ship?…

 Star Wars….You immediately know it when you hear it.

Did you know that if you combined all of the orchestra music from all 6 Star Wars movies it would total over 14 hours?!?

And one of my daughter’s favorites…. Harry Potter…

(I heard an interesting commentary of redemptive themes in the story of Harry Potter for those who are a bit squeamish about the content….)

Also worth viewing…

• Superman (good to take to a work out 🙂 )
• Indiana Jones (It always makes me think of caves and snakes)
• Home Alone (for a mischievous Christmas experience)
• Born on The Fourth of July (really beautiful)

Below are just some of his Film Scores, (the most popular, in my opinion, although that could be debated) so you can see what a range of music he has created.

Film scores:  There are 109 in total, here are just a few:

(to see them all, click here)

Heidi (1968)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) Oscar nomination
Jane Eyre (1970)
Fiddler on the Roof (1971) Oscar winner (score adaptation)
The Poseidon Adventure (1972) Oscar nomination
Tom Sawyer (1973) Oscar nomination shared with Robert B. Sherman &
Jaws (1975) Golden Globe, BAFTA & Oscar winner
Star Wars (1977) later retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Oscar, Golden Globe & BAFTA winner
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) Oscar nomination
Jaws 2 (1978)
Superman (1978) Oscar nomination & double Grammy nominations
1941 (1979)
Dracula (1979)
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Oscar & double Grammy nominations, BAFTA winner
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Oscar & double Grammy nominations
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Golden Globe, Oscar & BAFTA winner (soundtrack)
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) Oscar nomination
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) Oscar nomination
Born on the Fourth of July (1989) Oscar nomination
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Oscar nomination
Home Alone (1990) double Oscar nominations
Hook (1991) Grammy & Oscar nominations
JFK (1991) Oscar nomination
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
Jurassic Park (1993)
Schindler’s List (1993) Oscar, Grammy and BAFTA winner
Nixon (1995) Oscar nomination
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Amistad (1997) Grammy & Oscar nominations
Home Alone 3 (1997) Main theme only
Saving Private Ryan (1998) Golden Globe, Grammy & Oscar nominations
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) Grammy nomination
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) Oscar nomination & double Grammy nominations
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) Grammy nomination
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) Grammy & Oscar nominations (soundtrack)
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) double Grammy nominations
War of the Worlds (2005) Grammy nomination
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) Won 3 Academy Award Oscars, 6 Academy Award Oscar Nominations, Grammy Winner, Golden Globe Winner, BAFTA Winner
Munich (2005) Oscar nomination, Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) Grammy award for Best Instrumental Composition and Grammy nomination for Best Score Soundtrack Album
The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn (2011)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
Olympic Fanfare and Theme

Some of his Television themes
For NBC (United States):
NBC News – The Mission
NBC Nightly News
The Today Show
Meet the Press
NBC Sunday Night Football
Amazing Stories
Lost in Space

Awards: (Based on the Original Wikipedia article)

“Williams has also received three Emmy Awards and five nominations, seven BAFTAs, twenty Grammy Awards, and has been inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame and the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. John Williams has won a total of five Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. He has been nominated for 21 Golden Globes and 59 Grammys. With 45 Oscar nominations, Williams currently holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for a living person.”

John Williams was nominated for an Academy Award 45 times, 2nd only to Disney (who we are ironically studying this term as well).

He is a legend in his own time.  This is one composer study we will remember.  What an awesome learning experience that was very easy to do.  I borrowed several CD’s from the library and I play his music each morning as we do school for 12 weeks.  I also read aloud and require a written narration of what I read.  Unfortunately, I was unable to find any living books at the library on John Williams but there is scads of information about him on-line.

P.S. Jessica’s dream is to re-make the film, Eragon , that directly follows the book series, and we decided that John Williams would be an excellent choice to write the score for the film. 🙂   Can you imagine him developing music for dragon riders?  Hmmmm…….

Checkout our Henry Mancini Composer study!