Music by John Williamsthe documentary, now streaming on Disney+ after premiering at AFI Fest in October, is a love letter to the world's most famous living composer. But, honestly – what's not to love?
The five-time Academy Award winner and probably the only film composer most people can name has scored dozens of films, many of whose themes are embedded in our collective consciousness, whether it's the two-note chorus Jaws which immediately evokes heart-pounding anxiety, the theme of the five notes Close encounters of the third kind that conjures up images of alien life — or, of course, the bombastic opening fanfare Star Wars which took fans to a kind of cinematic experience they had never seen before. “It's the most famous anthem in the history of music,” says director James Mangold.
“The music comes from heaven and envelops him. It's the purest form of art I've ever experienced from any human being,” director Steven Spielberg says of the 92-year-old's prowess. The two have collaborated continuously, beginning with Spielberg's first theatrical release, The Sugarland Express in 1974.
MUSIC BY JOHN WILLIAMS
Courtesy photo
As Coldplay's Chris Martin simply sums it up, “No one has a worse day than listening to some of this music.”
As the documentary notes, before Williams began composing classical scores, he played piano on some of the most acclaimed TV and film scores, including Henry Mancini. Peter Gunn the theme and the childlike, magical opening theme for To Kill a Mockingbird by Elmer Bernstein.
The film, directed by Laurent Bouzereau, is produced by Spielberg, as well as Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. And while it's easy to wish he had a little more teeth — has Williams ever fallen out with a director or a studio? (The only reference is that George Lucas asked him to rewrite a tagline for one of the Star Wars movies and said “sure.”) Was there a movie she couldn't understand or a director she couldn't relate to? Is there a score he doesn't like? Maybe his career has gone so smoothly. Regardless, it's a career worth celebrating.
Here are six facts we learned from watching the new documentary.
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Williams and Spielberg are BFFs
The affection and love between John Williams and Steven Spielberg (whom Williams calls “sweetie”) is palpable, and their shots together are the highlight of the doc, but they also have fun with each other. After watching a rough cut of it Schindler's ListWilliams was speechless and turned to Spielberg and said, “This is a great, great movie, and you need a better composer to do the score.” Spielberg looked at him and said, “I know, but they're all dead.” Williams has scored all but a few of Spielberg's films over the past 50 years and most recently scored 2023 Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Williams says simply: “Meeting Steven Spielberg was the luckiest day of my life.”
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A tragedy changed Williams' life and career
As Williams' career blossomed in the early '70s and he and his wife (an actress named Barbara) and their three teenage children lived in Los Angeles, tragedy struck when his wife died suddenly at age 41 of aneurysm. She was left to raise their three children (one of whom, Jenny, is interviewed for the documentary). He remarried in 1980, but it's clear that death still haunts him — and his friends note that her death added depth to his composition, as one director suggests that he went from “traveler to artist” and her spirit continues to guide him today.
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Itzhak Perlman's request
The world's leading violinist Itzhak Perlman plays on the score for 1993 Schindler's List and notes, “I can go all over the world, and the only thing people specifically ask me is, 'Can you play 'Theme to Schindler's List?” And it's no wonder. The theme is one of the most beautiful, sensitive pieces of film music ever composed. The score to the film about Oskar Schindler and his quest to save the Jews in the Holocaust deservedly won Williams his fifth Oscar — best original score at the 1994 Academy Awards.
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Chris Martin Hearts ET
Coldplay's Chris Martin speaks frequently in the film and his love for Williams dates back to his childhood when ET it was the first movie he ever saw in a cinema. He liked the main theme so much that he wrote Williams and Spielberg to ask if Coldplay could use it ET. flying theme as their soundtrack for a recent tour. “It's the feeling of flying and lifting,” he says, the expression on Martin's face clearly transporting him back to his childhood. Likewise, outgoing Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel has a penchant for Jurassic Park: He says the main theme made him want to be a musician and he's seen the movie growing up in Venezuela at least 10 times. Everyone remembers their first Williams score.
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Williams is his own worst critic
Incredibly, but delightfully, Williams says he doesn't really like any of his scores all the way through. He admits to liking certain themes, such as the Yoda theme Star Wars and parts thereof ET but he struggles to find a score he likes from start to finish. Makes you wonder if he hears the same as we do.
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Williams and the Art of the Orchestral Score
In the late 60s and early 70s, instrumental scores were replaced by songs — think 1967 The Graduate, which is filled with Simon & Garfunkel songs, or 1969 Easy Riderwhich featured songs by Steppenwolf, The Byrds, Jimi Hendrix and other rock acts. But Williams continued to work in the tradition of great composers who came before him, such as Jerry Goldsmith or Elmer Bernstein, keeping the orchestral score alive. And now he's doing it again: As the film points out, at a time when many composers have moved from orchestras to electronic scores for both convenience and economy, Williams continues to write for (and record with) a full orchestra—and , in some ways, keeps orchestral music alive through the film and its classical scores.
