Kathryn Roberts Music 1040 Lora Kelly
John Williams – History Training:
John Williams is an American composer, conductor and pianist. He began studying piano as a child and later studied the trumpet, trombone, and clarinet. He enrolled in composition classes at UCLA studied composition privately with the Italian composer Mario CastelnuovoTedesco. He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1951, where he arranged band music and and took up conducting. Williams later studied piano at Julliard and worked as a jazz pianist in New York’s many clubs and eventually studios, most notably for composer Henry Mancini. He gained additional experience working as an orchestrator and arranger with industry giants Bernard Herrmann, Franz Waxman, Alfred Newman, Henry Mancini, and Andre Previn. Career: Composer, conductor, pianist
Genres: Film Score, contemporary classical classical music, post-romanticism, jazz John began his compositional career in the early 1960’s and is now considered one of
the greatest film composers of all time. He has composed some of the most popular and recognizable film scores in film history, hi story, including Jaws, Star Wars, Superman, E.T. the ExtraTerrestrial, Home Alone, Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Harry Potter,
Catch Me If You Can, Memoirs of a Geisha, War Horse, and Lincoln, and Indiana Jones. A few of Williams’ other compositions include music for four Olympic Games, NBC Sunday Night Football, the NBC Nightly New s, the Statue of Liberty’s rededication, and several
television programs including Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, and Gilligan’s Island. John Williams is also known for composing numerous concert pieces such as 1995’s Five Sacred Trees, and 2000’s Tree Song.
In 1980 Williams succeeded Arthur Fiedler as the Boston Pops Orchestra’s Principal Conductor. Under his leadership, the orchestra maintained its popularity, toured America several times, and made concert versions of his movie themes which they played regularly at concerts. He left the Pops in 1993 is now the orchestra’s conductor laureate.
Williams is an accomplished pianist and in addition to his own film scores, Williams worked as a studio pianist, performing on film scores by composers such as Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, and Henry Mancini. He can be heard in various scores in which he provides solos, as well as a handful of European classical music recordings. Awards:
Williams received his first Oscar nomination in 1969 for the score to Valley of the Dolls. He received his first Academy Award in 1972 for his adaption of Jerry Bock’s music for Fiddler on the Roof. Since then he has been nominated for 49 Academy Awards, winning 5; 6 Emmy Awards, winning 3; 25 Golden Globe Awards, winning 4; 63 Grammy Awards, winning 21; and has received 7 British Academy Film Awards. With 49 Oscar nominations, Williams currently holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for a l iving person, and is the second most nominated person in Academy Awards history behind Walt Disney’s 59. Forty -four of Williams’
Oscar nominations are for Best Original Score and five are for Best Original Song. Williams has also been inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame and the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. In 2004, he received Kennedy Center Honors. The Raiders March:
Steven Spielberg was impressed with William and was convinced that Williams could compose the musical sound that he wanted for any of his films and they developed a long term working relationship. In an unusual step for Hollywood film, Spielberg and Willi ams developed their script and musical concepts simultaneously, as in the film these entwine very closely together. th
William is skilled in a variety of 20 century compositional idioms but his most familiar th
style may be described as a form of neoromanticism. He was inspired by the late 19 century’s large-scale orchestral music, in the style of Tchaikovsky or Richards Wagner’s compositions and their concept of leitmotif. A leitmotif is a recurrent theme throughout throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, place, idea, or situation. For the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, Williams wrote a rousing main theme known as “The Raiders March” to accompany the fi lm’s hero, Indian Jones. He also composed separate
themes to represent the Ark of the Covenant, the character Marion, and the story’s Nazi villains. Ever since its first appearance in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Raider March has been such a recognizable symbol of Indiana Jones that we associate it with the character a s much as we do his trademark bullwhip and fedora.
Williams initially composed two melodies as possibilities for the opening of Indy’s
theme. When he approached Steven Spielberg with the themes and asked which one he preferred, Spielberg loved them so much that he said “well, can’t you use both?’ a nd he did. William has a remarkable ability to coordinate different aspects of the music with various characteristics of the person the music represents. The Raiders March is divided into a fi rst part is Indy’s theme, the second Marion’s theme, and large three-part form, of which the first the third an abbreviated return to Indy’s theme. The f amous melody that begins the march gives the sense that this is a hero’s theme. The syncopations add a buoyancy and lightness to the march, and signal some of Indy’s less serious, “fun” side. The rising notes give the feeling of
aspiring to something better in the manner of a hero but the drops in between create a more relaxed hero. The heroic themes in Superman and Star Wars and Indy’s theme are all stated in the trumpets, but Indy’s theme is in a slightly lower register than the others, and so is not given the same superhero status. The smaller leap of Indy’s theme suggests a hero that is more human and “down to earth”. earth”. Indy us es his knowledge to save himself and not superhero
powers. Throughout the theme, Williams uses various techniques to give the sense that we are “in good hands” with Indy, that nothing can shake our hero (except snakes), and the gloomy
tones signals that Indy is overcoming the obstacles. The next section takes on a more serious character and we actually feel a bit of the hero’ struggle. The melody motives begin by rising a step, suggesting something positive, but
then fall back down a step, suggesting a setback of some kind. These downturns are overcome at the end by the brass finally reaching up to a higher note and holding holding it. The constant sound of the pedal point speaks to Indy’s confidence even in the face of the struggles suggested by the
rising-falling melody. Over the course of the entire Raider March, the main Indy Theme is stated a total of six times. They intensify as the march progresses, making the final statement the most climactic, which leave no doubt in our minds the Indy will always succeed in his adventures. The Raiders March isn’t just a great tune. Like so many Williams themes, it is an apt reflection of the character it represents. Not only does it capture Indy’s heroism and
confidence, but it also incorporates the fun, lighter side of Indy’s personality. It is also fitting that Indy’s music should lack the overwhelming grandiosity of other superheros’ themes since
his victories are more brainy than brawny. His music also portrays him as more of a human, earthbound type of hero than, say, Luke Skywalker or Superman. Instead this is an untroubled kind of music for an untroubled kind of hero, one who always achieves a clear success.
Bibliography
“John Williams.” Wikipedia.N.p., n.d.Web.23,Nov. 2014
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams
Morita, Patsy. “John Williams|Biography|AllM Williams|Biography|AllMusic.” usic.” Allmusic.N.p., n.d. Web.23 Nov. 2014. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-willia http://www.allmusic.c om/artist/john-williams-mn000023 ms-mn0000232480/biography 2480/biography
“John Williams Themes. Part 4 of 6: The Raiders R aiders March (Indiana Jones’ Theme).” Film Music Notes – Analysis, Analysis, Style, Technique, and More. Film Score Junkie, 23 Mar, 2013. Web.23 Nov. 2014
http://www.filmmusicnotes.com/john-williams-themes-part-4 http://www.filmmusicnotes.com/john-willi ams-themes-part-4-of-6-the-of-6-theraiders-march-indiana-jones-theme/ , posted March 23, 2013 raiders-march-indiana-jones-theme/,
