On John Williams

Last night, John Williams was given the Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute, the first composer to receive that honor.  Williams’ music is literally the soundtrack of my life.  Every major achievement seems to have been underscored by his grand and thrilling orchestrations.   In my over-large collection of film scores, John Williams’ name is the one that appears the most.  My love of film music began when my grandfather gave me the Star Wars soundtrack (a double LP!) for Christmas back when Star Wars was new.  (And Han shot first.)  It was the first film score to appear on Billboard’s Pop Music Chart.  Some of us remember the disco version that played all summer.  It consistently shows up on lists of the greatest film scores of all time.  AFI named it as the greatest film score of all time.  I wore that copy out fast. When I listen to the score now as a digital recording, I can still hear the scratches and pops made by my constant playing of the records.

And there are the other scores, too many to name:  Superman, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Schindler’s List, Harry Potter, and who could forget Jaws.  (The music for Close Encounters is especially notable, because he wrote it without having anything to reference – the film wasn’t finished yet.  Spielberg tailored some of the shots to match the music, the reverse of the usual procedure.)  But there are older scores that we don’t hear about anymore:  The Cowboys, The Reivers, Valley of the Dolls, Goodbye Mr. Chips; and Williams’ work in television:  Lost in Space and Gilligan’s Island.  Yes, the man behind The Imperial March also wrote music for Gilligan.  He also wrote the theme for the NBC Nightly News, NBC Sunday Night Football and the Olympics.  There is no way I could name all of this man’s accomplishments.  (But of course I’m going to try.)

After studying at Julliard, Williams started his career as a studio pianist, performing on scores by such composers as Henry Mancini, Elmer Bernstein and Jerry Goldsmith (my number two favorite film composer).   He worked as an orchestrator for some of the best-known Hollywood composers of the time:  Franz Waxman, Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Newman. 

He holds the record as the (living) person with the most Academy Award nominations at 50. (Walt Disney is the all-time record holder with 59 nominations.)  He only won five Oscars, but he also has four Golden Globes, seven BAFTAs and 22 Grammys under his belt.

In addition to his film work, he has composed numerous concertos and orchestral works, as well as serving as the principal conductor for the Boston Pops from 1980-1993.  He stages annual concerts at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and has been a guest conductor of the New York Philharmonic and the National Symphony Orchestra, among others.  (Um, the San Francisco Symphony sometimes has guest conductors, just sayin’.)

Williams was once asked to name his favorite piece of his own music. He said it was the presentation of the medals music from Star Wars.   I’m sure I’m not the only sci-fi geek to fantasize about using this as wedding music.  So, in his honor today, here is the throne room scene from Star Wars, featuring the music that the man himself says is the best he ever wrote.  Congratulations, Mr. Williams, on a career well done.