John Williams (in the past 10 years)

John Williams is most well-known for composing recognizable themes and scores for Jaws, Star Wars, Superman, E.T., Harry Potter, and more. However, most casual listeners of film music (especially  among classical musicians) miss out on the wide variety of styles Williams utilizes throughout his works, beyond the famous main titles. I would like to present some of his lesser-known film works of the past ten years as a starting point for further listening.

It is also important to mention that Williams has played a unique role in bridging the gap between film music and the concert hall. Williams originally studied piano at Juilliard before his composition career began. His classical background is evident in his large symphonic orchestration and neoclassical/neoromantic aesthetics. He is credited with bringing the orchestral sound to blockbuster film music in the 1970s, and he uses a Wagnerian leitmotivic approach to score with recognizable themes.

Williams became the conductor for the Boston Pops Orchestra shortly after Star Wars. During this time, critics still deemed his music lesser than the classical canon. Thankfully, today, orchestras frequently program Williams’ film scores and feature concerts of his works. Williams maintains an active conducting schedule, most recently having led the Berlin Philharmonic in a completely-Williams program.

(Image from "John Williams, Hollywood's Maestro, Looks Beyond the Movies" (The New York Times, 2022) - Williams' home bookshelf shows his classical background, featuring a bust of Aaron Copland and books on Johannes Brahms, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Britten.)

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    Williams has also written dozens of standalone pieces for the concert hall, including several solo concerti, orchestral fanfares, and chamber music. He also has an extensive collection of concert arrangements of film works - many of the published John Williams Signature Editions have been programmed increasingly over the past decade. One such arrangement, “With Malice Toward None” from Lincoln (2012), was featured on the John Williams and Steven Spielberg: The Ultimate Collection CD release in 2017:

With Malice Toward None from "Lincoln" 1:09-2:07

This piece features extensive virtuosic trumpet solos (performed by Thomas Hooten). It is a pensive, Americana representation of Lincoln as a character and of the movie’s themes. When the trumpet cuts through the texture of strings and piano to introduce new thematic ideas, it represents the full range of emotion Williams conveyed across the score for Lincoln. Hooten frequently performs this in concerts ranging from solo appearances with piano accompaniment to performances with “The President’s Own” Marine Band.

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     The same 2017 album features a wide variety of instrumental forces and emotional tapestries. One large-orchestra example is “The Duel” from The Adventures of Tintin. Jon Burlingame’s liner notes label this “a dazzling example of the composer’s artistry in writing for strings while simultaneously conjuring the swashbuckling tone of pirate movies from Hollywood’s Golden Age.” The sonic depiction of an action scene is clear even away from the film:

The Duel from "The Adventures of Tintin" 2:19-2:27

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    These two examples give a sense of the variety found in Williams’ writing just within the past ten years. For further listening, especially for some other instrumental solos, I will recommend “The BFG” from The BFG (features flute), “Finale” and “The Book Thief” from The Book Thief (features piano and oboe), and the new arrangements of “Luke and Leia” and “Princess Leia’s Theme” from the 2019 album Across the Stars with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. Through these and his many other recent works, Williams’ music continues to thrive in concert halls and onscreen.

-Molly Sanford