The music of John Williams is probably known to more people than that of any other American composer. Over the last three decades of the 20th century, his scores for major Hollywood films have been heard by millions. Themes from these movies have taken on a life of their own, and it is possible that they will survive the films for which they were originally written. Also, Williams had crossed over into classical music and this work has been well received by serious musicians.
Williams was born at the height of the Great Depression, on February 8, 1932, in Flushing, New York. His father was a professional percussionist, and Williams studied piano from the age of six—later learning bassoon, cello, clarinet, trombone, and trumpet. At eight, he taught himself orchestration using Rimsky-Korsakov’s treatise on the subject as his textbook.
In 1948, Williams moved to California and studied at the University of California at Los Angeles. There he continued learning orchestration, and took lessons in composition from Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.
Williams joined the U.S. air force during the Korean War, and spent his time conducting and arranging music for military bands. After the war he used his GI benefits to good effect, attending the Juilliard School, where he studied for a year in the prestigious studio of Rhosina Lhevinne. In the evenings he played jazz piano in clubs in order to support himself.
In 1956, Williams found work as a pianist with the 20th Century Fox Studio Orchestra. He soon began to write scores for television shows, producing 30 minutes of music every week.
In 1960, Williams wrote his first film score for Because They’re Young. During the 1960s his work was nominated for several Academy Awards, and he finally won his first Oscar for the 1971 film of Fiddler on the Roof. During this period he wrote some of his greatest and most successful scores for films such as The Reivers, Jane Eyre, and Images, and arranged and conducted the music for Goodbye Mr. Chips.
The mid-1970s could be characterised as Williams’ disaster-movie period. He wrote the film scores for several big budget disaster epics including The Poseidon Adventure, and The Towering Inferno. In 1975, a highly successful collaboration began with film director Steven Spielberg, when Williams wrote the score for Jaws. The famous two-note theme from this movie earned him his second Oscar. After the Jaws theme, Williams wrote his famous music for George Lucas’ phenomenally successful Star Wars trilogy.
In the late 1970s he scored blockbusters such as Superman. During the 1980s, Williams continued his association with Steven Spielberg, for whom he scored E.T., and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as well as the “Indiana Jones” series. His success continued with the films The Accidental Tourist, Home Alone, Jurassic Park, again with Spielberg, in 1993, and its sequel The lost World in 1997. He also wrote extensively for TV, notably for NBC news programs and for BBC dramas.
Williams’ work was conservative, and would not have sounded out of place scoring films produced 20 years earlier. He eschewed innovations such as rock or rap, and his themes tended to be memorable and easily hummed, as they were built around short motifs that he quoted in simple variations throughout the film.
In 1980, Williams succeeded Arthur FIEDLER as conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. He began to devote himself to composing music independent of film. Since 1980, Williams has written two symphonies, a large body of chamber music and concertos for bassoon, clarinet, flute, and violin. He has also been artist in residence at the Tanglewood Music Center begun by Sergey KOUSSEVITZKY.
Jane Prendergast
SEE ALSO:
FILM MUSIC; JARRE, MAURICE; MANCINI, HENRY.
Darby, William, and Jack Du Bers. American Film Music (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1990).
Close Encounters of the Third Kind; E.T.; Fiddler on the Roof Jaws; Jurassic Park; The Poseidon Adventure; Star Wars; The Towering Inferno.