Legendary film composer John Williams talks to CNN's Chris Wallace about how he conceived the theme for 'Star Wars' and other iconic movie themes. #CNN #News
The worst part about this video is that it ended. Would’ve love to hear more of this conversation with the legend about his many other contributions to film.
5:25 "I smile when I hear it. It's an electrifying brass interpretation. I don't know how much credit I can take for that, but the _great_ brass section of the London symphony." It would be so easy for him at this stage of his life and career to lean into all the credit for one of the most recognizable themes in cinematic history (a category in which he only seems to compete with himself, haha), but he chooses humility. His music isn't the only thing that makes him an all-time great.
@@johnnyc.31 While there is some Holstian rhythms (Mars) and orchestration, ALL composers are affected by and use what has come before them. It would be like you only using the vocabulary you had at age 5 for your entire life.
@@jeremyhowemusic It’s more than a casual influence when it’s literally the direction that was given by Lucas. Ridiculous to frame it as something less intentional than it was.
Blows my mind how active he is for 90. One of my biggest disappointments in life will be I didn’t drop what I was doing to see his 90th birthday concert at tanglewood this past summer.
I was at his 80th celebration, it was magical. Spielberg showed up, he got lots of video messages, he conducted the whole night. For some reason he chose not to conduct his 90th, so I'm glad I didn't go. I will be there this year for film night though.
Some people still look great in their 90s, just ask William Shatner. We are in the 21St Century, and people live longer today. Well, if they take care of themselves but also because of science (medicine mostly) and the lifestyle that we have today in developed countries.
Oh my goodness. I need Chris Wallace to interview John Williams about every single main theme from each of his movies. He is just so insightful and asks such great questions with such great answers.
@@pbs36 I agree, I think the questions were pretty "meh" and I didn't see any "surprising fact" revealed. I was expecting something like him going, "I was inspired by Holst", but instead we get these very basic questions.
My son chose to dress up as John Williams for his third grade "wax museum" project. He sent Mr. Williams a letter and received a lovely letter back in reply. John is a treasure to humanity.
I will be forever thankful to John Williams for the score to Superman The Movie. It's not just my favorite score he has composed, it's one of my favorite pieces of music ever.
For some reason Superman always seems to get forgotten, yet it's astonishingly good with some very memorable themes throughout. Definitely one of my favourites.
Same with me, he to me as a child of seven back in the eighties, made the door wide open for Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart and my journey continued to Bach etc. Without him, I presume I would never have had an interest for classic, romantic, baroque etc music. And - to me, he still is the benchmark wrt to melodies and themes. Nothing compares to him, nothing. Btw, me as an adult, eventually studied music sciences.
I remember sitting in the theater in the summer of 1977, to see Star Wars for the first time. As soon as the movie started, I was struck by how majestic the theme music was.
Nothing like it before it. 20th Century Fox theme to silence, then the Long ago in a Galaxy far, far away... and then the stab and the music started and my 7 year old mind was blown. Then quiet and the theme continued into the classic first shot of the Star Destroyer chasing the rebel ship. My jaw was on the floor.
Apart from his genius and unreachable amount of talent... can we please acknowledge the kindness that resonates in his voice, shimmers in his eyes. this man truly is a role model
John Williams is one of my all-time composers and conductors of music. I have loved all of the movies for which he composed and conducted the musical themes. His themes helped bring the movies to life even though you know it is just a film. Without his music the films would not seem to be as real.
@@dynamicdave2647 No sir I beg to differ! I presume you can't distinguish between classical music and film compositions. These are two different genres. Mind you all the film compositions are directly inspired from the classical music and in the world of music Beethoven is considered as one of great composers. Don't put John Williams into that category! You see one should have good ears for listening to music. But many people don't like to explore beyond their limited exposure.
Without his music many films would not exist. There are themes like 'The Emperor Confronts Luke', 'Final Duel/Into the Death Star' and yes ' Ewok Celebration/Finale' without which I don't think Start Wars would have live on (not to mention the original themes or the themes from 'Empire').
@@toms5996 Mainly Steven Spielberg movies and George Lucas ones! Secondly I am not here to argue about John Williams. I am only stating that people whom claim he is the greatest of all the film composers would be unjustified to the rest of the great composers whom also have enriched the genre of film music. One prime example is the great composer "Miklós Rózsa" who composed for the greatest motion picture of all time "Ben Hur"
We're lucky to have had John Williams in our lives for five decades (plus, really) of movie music. Literally the soundtrack of my life, honestly. To me it was almost a surprise that people other than Williams made music for movies--that's how ubiquitous his presence was for me in popular culture.
The fact that you know only John Williams might simply reveal your preference for the film of Spielberg or other directors who collaborate with John Williams. I think that Alan Menken, for example, not only is an incredibly skilled composer of cinematic classical, but it's probably even better than John Williams. The problem is that Alan Menken works for the Disney and many of his scores have been written for animated films. Since animated films are not the cup of tea of many adults (including me), many people tend to torget Alan Menken in the lists of great composers.
This man is not only a musical genius but played a very important part in the lives of so many people. It also wows me how vibrant he is at the age of 90 years old.
This man is nothing short of a genious and nothing short of a magician. The first piece of music I ever listened to consciously at age 3 was John Williams' score for Jurassic Park. As a small child I'd often put the VHS tape of that and a few years later the Star Wars tapes and forward to the very end of the movie just to listen to his music in the credits. 28 years later barely a day goes by that I don't listen to something by him and there are no words I could use to describe the wonder and comfort his music has given me.
I think for me it must’ve been something by Danny Elfman, like the Simpsons theme or the Beetlejuice cartoon theme which scared me. No wonder I’m so addicted to his music, including Oingo Boingo and his new punk music.
It's his musical genuis having created all these iconic movie themes coupled with iconic movies that will continue to make these movies stand the test of time. He was at his peak musically at an awesome time in movie history . No other film composer could have added what he added musically to these iconic movies.
Back to the Future, Poltergeist, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1941, The Witches of Eastwick, every single soundtrack this man has ever done is powerful, haunting, and as close as you can get to perfect for the movie it's made for. The man's a musical genius.
The high point of the _Jurassic Park_ theme sounds discordant, or off-key to me, so I don't enjoy it. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XqxOFP9aRIw.html
John Williams is such a dear person and I respect him so deeply. He truly is a musical genius of not only his generation, but of the century. His music MAKES the movies, it's so memorable and so emotional. Jurassic World, Star Wars, Harry Potter... all these movies would be good without the music, but they wouldn't be GREAT. I wish him good health and that we will be blessed by his presence for many years to come yet!
This man is the definition of a modern-day genius. The history of cinema would be incomplete without him. He's the reason I have so many fantastic memories from my childhood. The fact that he's still composing beautiful music is truly amazing. I'm so sad to hear Indie 5 will be his last score.
Williams' earliest Oscar nomination was in 1968 for Valley of the Dolls, 55 years ago. He has 53 nominations, but wasn't nominated in 53 separate years. He was actually nominated in 37 years. Some of the nominations were for Best Song as well as Score, meaning he sometimes got two nominations for the same movie. For a long time, the Oscars had separate awards for scores to musicals vs. non-musicals, so sometimes he got nominations for each of those in the same year. And there were indeed multiple years where he was nominated in the exact same category of score twice, competing against himself for the wins, in 1973, 1978, 1985, 1988, 1990, 2002, 2006 and 2012. At this point, he's gone 29 years without a win. In another interview, he remarked that his wife wears black to the Oscars because they "always lose." His last win was for Schindler's List in 1994. His Jurassic Park score from that same year was not nominated, which some might consider his biggest snub by the Oscars. A lot of his sequels have been passed over for nominations as well, including Jaws 2, Home Alone 2, the second Jurassic Park, the second Harry Potter, all three Star Wars prequels and the fourth Indiana Jones. Other scores to his Spielberg collaborations that weren't nominated include The Sugarland Express, 1941, Always, Hook (which did get a Song nomination), Minority Report, The Terminal, War of the Worlds, The BFG and The Post. Williams even has one Golden Raspberry nomination, for 1982's Monsignor.
@@richardwilliams473 Maybe. But this part makes me not like it. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XqxOFP9aRIw.html A couple of the symphonies seem to skirt over the odd half-note or whatever it's called they put in on the third round, so it may be more or less evident depending who's playing it.
The star wars prequels got nothing? Wow I didn't know that. That's ridiculous. Many fans agree that they have a greater number of beautiful pieces than the original trilogy
@@pseudonymousbeing987 I watched _The Phantom Menace_ opening day before the kids got out of school. I bought the soundtrack and some other merch and then I was like, "This movie has some problems." Despite how much I liked the soundtrack, maybe the music people who can nominate and vote in that category were disappointed with the film, too? Or felt _Angela's Ashes_ was a better score by John Williams. "If there's only one movie you see in 1999, see _Star Wars;_ but if you see two, then see _Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,"_ Academy Awards nominee for best makeup.
Folks like John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, and James Horner. These are the great orchestral composers of our time and their music will be with us forever.
I was at that concert in San Francisco where Spielberg narrated the scene with Indiana Jones with and without Williams' music. My friend got me front row seats, I could almost reach out and touch them! One of the greatest experiences of my life to see the maestro in action. I also saw him at the Hollywood bowl after episode 1 came out and he had the choir doing Duel of the Fates, it was truly awe-inspiring...
When I was a kid and Jurassic park came out, I loved the movie, but the music really stood out to me, then I realized the same guy who did that was responsible for Star Wars, Jaws, ET, Indiana Jones, Superman. As I got older I started learning the connections many of these scores have to other classical pieces and became a fan of classical music. Thankful for John Williams and the joy I have discovered through his music.
Legend. His music made those movies recognizable in a heart beat. You hear the song, you think of a movie. Not many composers have this kind of legacy.
I had worked in printing for many years and that smell is the smell of black ink. I saw the movie on it's first day in 77' and notice the smell when I bought the Star Wars book filled with pictures from the movie and later when I bought the album. Years later when I went to work for a Time-Warner printing company, I discovered that smell again whenever they printed anything that had a lot of black. It always reminded me of Star Wars.
I'm surprised Williams didn't mention the influence of Korngold on that opening to Star Wars. The first eight notes and Korngold's 'Kings Row'. Korngold's film music had been re-recorded by Charles Gerhardt and the National Philharmonic Orchestra a few years earlier to great acclaim. It always seemed like Williams was acknowledging that he was starting with Korngold's style, before developing that style in his own way.
Re: Korngold, he imitated not just the melody but the orchestration as well. Lucas used several cues as placeholders and Williams imitated all of them very closely. Holst Mars when the star destroyer is approaching, Stravinsky Rite of Spring on Tattooine, etc.
@@jstrick85 Yes. I'm not criticising Williams, but only pointing out that his music was meant to emulate the emotional and stylistic impact of Korngold. What you stated is true.
All art is inherited. Williams is no doubt a master of his craft, but he absolutely draws heavily upon the tropes and tools of the classical giants in all of his scores.
A masterclass in musicological articulation from the greatest composer of the last 100 years. He is the Verdi, Wagner and Handel of our time. The Home Alone score as well as The Harry Potter scores are absolute perfection.
The Imperial March is an exceptional piece of music. Full of emotion and power. JW has been such a big part if my life through soundtracks. Love hearing his stories.
One interesting thing about that Star Wars main theme is that it sounds like Korngold's opening theme for King's Row, even if just for a few notes. And another part of the theme reminds me of a section John Alden Carpenter's 1st symphony.
So that is the man who created those moments. That music is deeply embedded within myself and brings back warm memories of childhood. Great interview!!!! It was missing the Jurassic Park theme though 😑
John Williams is the best film composer of all time and I don’t think anyone can top his iconic scores and themes. I still remember watching Star Wars: Episode 3 in theaters and the music was so good in that movie I listen to the soundtrack often. Long Live John Williams.
What is amazing is that John Williams, at the time of this interview, was 91 years old. He seems as sharp, brilliant, insightful, and modest as ever. For over 60 years, he's been a gift to the world of music, from his brilliant early credit as "Johnny Williams" composing the music for the 1965 TV show Lost in Space, to his most recent score for The Fablemans. And many people don't know that his son Joseph Williams became the lead singer for the band Toto.
I wish someone would sit down with john williams, and go through each and every soundtrack with him, selection by selection, record by record, with a piano and a horn and a violin, and have him do this sort of thing for each and every track....
How wonderful that this humble elder statesman of great accomplishment still approaches music with childlike wonder: "Music sustains our spirits and enriches our souls."
Imagine being able to sit at a table to talk to Mozart or Beethoven and have them explain the inspiration behind their most brilliant works of music. This is basically what we have here.
That reminds me of the story of Spielberg asking Williams if he would score one of his films (I forget which one) and Willams replying that he would need a better composer than him to do it justice. Spielberg responded with "I know. But they're all dead."
@@jettlethedragonpeeltheoran8915 The film was Schindler's List. That said, to say that there is no better composer of film scores today is a bit pretentious. Alan Menken is still alive and in the nineties, when Spielberg was shooting Schindle'r List, he was the undisputed star of film scores, at the point that the Oscar "Best original score" was splitted in two parts because the Disney, thanks to Alan Menken, was monopolizing it. Thanks to the splitting between 1996 and 1999, the great dramatic films of Hollywood didn't have to compete with Alan Menken because the music of the Disney animated films competed in an other category.
I was 9 years old when Star Wars was first released in 1977. After seeing it in the theater, I was obsessed with anything related to Star Wars. About 2-3 weeks later, was in the mall, remember those, with my parents and passed by the record store, another relic from the past. In the window was the Original Star Wars Soundtrack, double vinyl album, with the poster inside! Needless to say I had to have it, not really sure what it was, but begged my folks to advance my allowance so I could get it. Took it home and played it on my parents big RCA stereo console. WOW! by hearing the music, I could remember each scene in the movie that each cut had come from. I would then play the music and re-act the scene in the movie in our living room. Thank you Mr. Williams for one of my favorite childhood memories. The power of music is undeniable! I still have that album today BTW, and is still sounds awesome!
I heard once that they screen tested Star Wars without the music and it got a solid "meh" from the test audience. Then they added the music and it got a standing ovation.
John Williams comes over as such a genuinely nice man, and his almost spiritual understanding of what music means to humanity is inspiring. Thank you sir! 🙏❤
@@dynamicdave2647 okay I listened to both and Peter’s song is very moving. And flight music: wonderful I’m a big fan of Williams! Thanks for your recommendations ✌️
“…you don’t have that liquid synchronisation that you want.” Jesus - what an absolute bona fide Grade A genius. What a man. What a mind. What a soul. We are truly, truly blessed to all live under the glorious umbrella of Mr Williams’ imagination. ❤
Once again Superman the movie isn’t mentioned. This is one his greatest scores yet it rarely receives any recognition. I’m a child of the 70’s and Star Wars is my all time favourite movie. However Superman is easily one of his greatest works. For meJaws, Star Wars and Superman are equal firsts.
I totally agree; that movie's theme song was incredible. I remember being so disappointed when Superman 3 came out and had that uninspiring, bizarre opening instead of Williams' soaring score. One of many reasons why I didn't like that movie.
In my personal opinion! His composition for the close encounters of the third kind is his one of the finest work. Anyone who has good ears for music will appreciate to it. Too bad his work for the close encounters gets drowned due to the excessive exposure of the star wars universe.
I heard his music from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” for the first time in my life a few weeks ago. In fact, this happened at a concert conducted by John Williams himself. You’re absolutely right, the themes from this particular piece are just dripping with emotion. Not having seen the movie, it’s crazy how I have a sense of what it is about and its underlying message by just having listened to a 10 minute excerpt of the score.
Sometimes I have cried listening to excerpt from Close Encounters, I don't want to discredit his work on Star Wars since it is the saga for which he worked the longest and where he developed a great majority of hist most marvelous themes. To think that he was nominated for the Oscars for both Star Wars and Close Encounters in the same year, and in part his scores gave success to both films and to renewing science fiction in cinema. Close Encounters is an extraordinary film and remains one of Spielberg's best, the scene of the "conversation" between aliens and humans through music is crazy, what I like is that music is an important part of the plot, it even made me wonder if there are extraterrestrial civilizations that have invented or developed the art of music like us or if it is just a human invention.
First, I often wonder what Spielberg's movies and the Star Wars trilogy would sound like WITHOUT John Williams score(s)? Secondly, I wonder what the past legendary classical conductors would have though about his music today if they were alive (in theory)?
They would have thought he's a thief, because he stole all their compositions. As an example, listen to Gustav Holst's The Planets, created in 1918, and tell me you didn't think you were listening to the Star Wars soundtrack.
These are the guys I grew up watching their movies it's a shame that they are so old and retired, or not really making movies anymore. I just don't think we will ever see the quality movies these guys produced. I don't know why, but it's different today with technology that is available. 1980's and 90's were a time period where there was technology but not enough to lean up too much. It required great writing, directing, acting, and musical scores. Today throw 100 million in technology makes less difficult to shoot a movie. I also think the end result is not as good.
@@pannetonalex Not the same quality likely others did most of the work. Which I can understand 70+ years old not going to have the same ability to go 14-16 hours a day.
I really miss Orchestral cinema music. Electronic music is great and versatile for sure, but there is just something so magical about an orchestra and the way they made us feel.
Legendary Music Composer John Williams' music to the film industries were & still are tremendously fantastic! 🙏 Thank You So Much Master John Williams for the many marvellous & iconic music to accompanied so many Blockbuster movies over the decades ... 🌷🌿🌏💜🕊
