Composer John Williams

By Taylor EvansMUSC-1010-408-Sp15

Biography

• John Williams was born on February 8th, 1932 in New York City, New York.

• Drafted in the armed forces with the Air Force in 1951• When he finished his 3 years with Air Force he moved

to New York to attend the Julliard School of Music• At Julliard he studied with Rosina Lhevinne to help his

pursuit of being a concert pianist. It was during his time with Rosina that he realized he wanted to become a composer

Biography

• After attending Julliard, John Williams moves back to Los Angeles

• He was able to find work as a piano player in Hollywood beginning in 1958 with “Peter Gunn” a TV series while working with Henry Mancini

• He then composed music for TV shows like “Gilligan’s Island” and “Lost in Space”

• His compositions for movies started to earn him Academy Award nominations. This started with a nomination in 1967 with “Valley of the Dolls”. He won an Academy Award in 1972 for his work on “Fiddler on the Roof”

Biography

• In 1974 he composed for Steven Spielberg’s first film “The Sugarland Express”

• He composed music for “Jaws” in 1975. This composition got Williams his first Original Score Academy Award. Around this time, Spieldberg recommends Williams to George Lucas.

• Williams work on “Star Wars: Episode 6 – A New Hope” in 1977. This soundtrack went on to be the best selling score of all time.

Biography

• The great work of John Williams has earned him 48 nominations at the Academy Awards

• Of these nominations he has one five times• He has won 20 Grammy Awards and 3 Emmy

Awards• He became a Kennedy Center honoree in 2004.

In 2009 he won the National Medal of Arts. He has composed for more than 100 films.

Composition History

• “Duel of the Fates” from the movie “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace”

• John Williams composed this song and had it performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. The film was released in 1999

• The song is iconic now because it is featured predominately in a lightsaber battle towards the end of the movie

Composition History

• “Harry's Wondrous World” from the movie “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”

• This was the first movie in the series and it was directed by Chris Columbus. It was released in 2001

• This song is what people think of when they think of the Harry Potter movies. The song is a central theme for the movie and it represents Harry Potter

Composition History

• “The Imperial March”. This song is from “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”

• The film was released in 1980 and the director on this film was also George Lucas

• This song is a leitmotif, or a recurring theme during the movie. This song can also be thought of as “Darth Vader’s Theme”

Listening Guide• “Duel of the Fates” – Star Wars• 0:00 - The song starts with a chorus singing in Sanskrit. The tone is very ominous. There isn’t any music playing at

this time.• 0:16 - The chorus stops and the music begins to play. We hear string instruments at first with the melody. The

woodwinds come in shortly thereafter.• 0:45 - The melody continuous to play and increase in dynamics, getting louder and building with the music.• 1:03 - The chorus joins the music. The chorus comes in strong with a loud sense of timbre.• 1:33 - The chorus and the music continue to grow in volume. The pace is picking up as well. The song is getting

faster, the harmonies of the chorus or increasing as well.• 2:05 - The song has built up to a high point and then stops. It gets very quiet at this moment as the chorus stops

and the music becomes muted.• 2:35 - The music picks up again. Both the tempo and volume increase. The repeating woodwind instruments and

string instruments adding to the volume and pace.• 2:45 - The chorus comes in again. This adds to the excitement of the piece as well because it helps build the

momentum.• 3:10 - The chorus comes in a more somber tone. This happens right after the climax of the woodwind instruments.

You hear the percussion instruments and the chorus.• 3:40 - The chorus stops and you hear less of the instruments now. It quiets with a few woodwind instruments

playing. The chorus comes in slowly than builds with the rest of the music.• 4:10 - The song builds at the end to a loud crash with the symbols.• 4:14 - The song ends.

Listening Guide• “The Imperial March” - Star Wars• 0:00 - The song starts out loud and fast, like a march. The percussion instruments play a repeating

rhythmic melody with loud clashes of the symbols.• 0:10 - The trumpets come in playing the melody. They are also loud and add to the march of the

song.• 0:40 - The trumpets stop and you just hear the percussion and string instruments playing the melody

to the song. Then the trumpets come back for a few seconds.• 0:50 - The song quiets and becomes more muted. The loud percussions are gone, with the symbols.• 1:10 - The woodwind instruments come back and the song builds slightly.• 1:40 - The percusions come back. This involves the drums and the symbols. The harmony timbre of

the drums are there to provide more excitement to the song.• 2:10 - The song picks up in speed and volume. The dynamics increase as well. This adds to the grand

aspect to the song• 2:46 - There are less symbols now. The song is beginning to sound like it is slowing down. It is just as

dark and ominous though. Which is central to the character that it is the theme for, Darth Vador.• 2:56 - The song wraps up in a flourish of music. You get the repeating symbols behind the repeating

woodwinds.• 3:06 - The song ends

Listening Guide• “Harry's Wondrous World” - Harry Potter• 0:00 - The song starts with a magical sense of wonder to it. You hear a quick harp followed by the violin

section playing the melody.• 0:10 - A collection of woodwind instruments come in to add to the song. It adds to the texture of the music

by giving it the added sensation of being fun and whimsical• 0:40 - The violin sections slows down a bit here. This adds to the sensation that the movement is also

slowing down, like you are flying and this is the lull of that flight.• 1:15 - The woodwinds come in loud and add to the timbre of the song. This makes the song feel grander.• 1:40 - The song builds with all the instruments in the orchestra playing and then it slows down and gets quiet

with just a few woodwinds playing the melody.• 2:20 - The violin section is building on to the melody in the song. It is there with the repetitions from the

percussion section. • 3:00 - The trumpets build up in the music. This is accompanied with the percussion section as well adding

more texture to the song.• 3:40 - The string section is the main component here. It plays the melody again with the woodwind adding

to the harmony in the song.• 4:10 - The symbols come crashing in to help with the dynamics of the song. It adds to the excitement and

feel of the song. It does feel like you are flying along with Harry Potter.• 4:49 - The song ends after a buildup of all of the instruments. It is features lots of crashes from the symbols

and the woodwinds and string section getting louder.