Ep.46: John Williams – Top 6 Movie Scores

August 13, 2023 Peter Jans

Intro

Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.

Today's episode will take us back to the movies for some of the best music scores in history. Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park and Superman are just a few of the classic movies that John Williams has put his Midas touch to, which has earned him an astonishing 52 Academy Award nominations and winning five.

Today’s mnemonic is on his top 6 movies scores.

So, with no further ado, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Williams_tux.jpg

Wikipedia Summary

John Towner Williams KBE (born February 8, 1932)[1][2][3] is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career that has spanned seven decades, he has composed some of the most popular, recognizable and critically acclaimed film scores in cinema history. Williams has won 25 Grammy Awards, five Academy Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. With 53 Academy Award nominations, he is the second most-nominated individual, after Walt Disney. His compositions are considered the epitome of film music, and he is considered among the greatest composers in the history of cinema.[4] Williams has composed many of his film scoring works for frequent collaborators Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, and other directors such as Chris Columbus, Oliver Stone, Richard Donner, Irwin Kershner, Sydney Pollack, Alfred Hitchcock, Mark Rydell, Mark Robson, Jean-Jacques Annaud, and Robert Altman.

Williams has been associated with director Steven Spielberg since 1974, composing music for all but five of his feature films, and George Lucas, with whom he has worked on both of his main franchises. His early work as a film composer includes The Killers (1964), How to Steal a Million (1966), Valley of the Dolls (1967), and Goodbye Mr. Chips (1969). He has received five Academy Awards for Best Original Score for his work on Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Jaws (1975), Star Wars (1977), E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982), and Schindler's List (1993). Williams has composed for many popular films including the Star Wars saga, Superman, the first two Home Alone films, the Indiana Jones films, the first two Jurassic Park films, and the first three Harry Potter films. Other memorable film scores from his collaboration with Spielberg include Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Hook (1991), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Catch Me If You Can (2002), War Horse (2011), Lincoln (2012), and The Fabelmans (2022).[5]

Williams has also composed numerous classical concertos and other works for orchestral ensembles and solo instruments. He served as the Boston Pops' principal conductor from 1980 to 1993 and is its laureate conductor.[6] Other works by Williams include theme music for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, NBC Sunday Night Football, "The Mission" theme used by NBC News and Seven News in Australia, the television series Lost in Space and Land of the Giants, and the incidental music for the first season of Gilligan's Island.[7] Williams announced but then rescinded his intention to retire from film score composing after the release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in 2023.[8]

In 2005, the American Film Institute selected Williams's score to 1977's Star Wars as the greatest film score of all time. The Library of Congress entered the Star Wars soundtrack into the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[9] Williams was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl's Hall of Fame in 2000, and he received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2004. His AFI Life Achievement Award in 2016 was the first to be awarded outside of the acting and directing fields. He has composed the score for nine of the top 25 highest-grossing films at the U.S. box office (adjusted for inflation).[10] His work has influenced other composers of film, popular, and contemporary classical music.[11]

Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Williams_with_Boston_Pops-1.jpg

Mnemonic

John Williams – Top 6 Movie Scores Mnemonic - Jaws Races JETS

(Picture Jaws racing against jets out in the Pacific as they fly off a jet carrier)

1. Jaws (1975)

2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

3. Jurassic Park (1993)

4. E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982)

5. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

6. Superman – The Movie (1978)

Five Fun Facts

1. The Williams family isn’t short of talent. His father Johnny was a jazz percussionist. His brothers Donald and Jerry are also percussionists, while his son Joseph is the lead vocalist for the band Toto.

2. The Williams, Spielberg combination has been extremely successful with Williams providing the score for all but five of Spielberg’s films.

3. The Most oscar nominated person in history is Walt Disney who received 59 nominations. Williams is not far behind with 51 nominations but holds the record for the most nominated person alive.

4. Williams has recorded extensively with the London Symphony Orchestra. Some scores include Star Wars, Superman and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

5. The record for the highest grossing instrumental-only soundtrack album is also held by Williams for Star Wars in 1977. Whilst, a further six scores have been certified gold, selling over 500,000 copies each.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Williams_Hollywood_Bowl.jpg

Three Question Quiz

Q.1. For what film did Williams receive his first Academy Award win? Options are Fiddler On The Roof in 1971 or Jaws in 1975

Q.2. For which ensemble did John Williams serve as music director or principal conductor for 13 years?

Q.3. Which director referred Williams to George Lucas to work on the first “Star Wars” movie? Options are Stanley Kubrick or Stephen Spielberg

Bonus Q. What famous music school did Williams attend and study composing? Hint: It is in New York

Mnemonic Recap

John Williams – Top 6 Movie Scores Mnemonic - Jaws Races JETS

(Picture Jaws racing against jets out in the Pacific as they fly off a jet carrier)

1. Jaws (1975)

2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

3. Jurassic Park (1993)

4. E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982)

5. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

6. Superman – The Movie (1978)

Three Question Quiz Answers

Q.1. For what film did Williams receive his first Academy Award win? Options are Fiddler On The Roof in 1971 or Jaws in 1975

A. Fiddler On The Roof

Q.2. For which ensemble did John Williams serve as music director or principal conductor for 13 years?

A. The Boston Pops from 1980 to 1993

Now apparently, during that time with the Boston Pops a musician threatened Williams, saying he was going to hit him with the neck of his guitar! To which Williams replied, “Is that a fret?”

Q.3. Which director referred Williams to George Lucas to work on the first “Star Wars” movie? Options are Stanley Kubrick or Stephen Spielberg

A. Stephen Spielberg after his success with Williams with “Jaws”

Bonus Q. What famous music school did Williams attend and study composing? Hint: It is in New York

A. The Julliard School

Word of the Week

convivial

[ kuhn-viv-ee-uhl ]

adjective

friendly; agreeable.

Example

Many people that work with John Williams find him to be quite convivial with a level of musicianship that leaves people in awe

Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]