You couldn't walk out of a Williams' scored movie in the 70s and 80s and not leave the theater humming or whistling every single note that you'd just heard. The music burned itself into your consciousness immediately.
Absolutely true. I feel so lucky to have been a kid at that time when Star Wars & Raiders & Jaws & ET were brand new movies, and there was none of the cynicism you see from people today, everyone just loved those movies & yes you couldn’t help whistling those John Williams theme songs in the car on the ride home. It was a great time to grow up.
@@Andy.G8 He's the only one who has written such indelible pieces of music that have become as much a part of the cultural lexicon as The Beatles, The Stones, or Mozart. Nobody else comes close. I haven't heard a soundtrack to a movie in at least 20 years where I was even aware there was music to the movie movie at all.
Every genuinely iconic movie theme of the last century was John Williams. There were brilliant music themes throughout the decades, but none as memorable as John's. Now, to be completely fair, he borders on plagiarism SOMEtimes with classical music.
@@allrequiredfields Spielberg really forced some of the other composers on his productions to score like Williams. So Poltergeist, Goonies, Gremlins and Back to the Future all had strong, memorable themes as well.
I always remember this one quote: "Without John Williams brooms wouldn't fly, dinosaurs wouldn't breathe, sharks wouldn't scare us and lightsabers wouldn't be awesome weapons" (Something like that)
The music actually was barely used during the lightsaber fights in the first three Star Wars movies. Seemed like they wanted to let the sound effects shine during those. That all changed in the prequels, and briefly in the final Return of the Jedi showdown.
@@jedijones Don't be one of those people. You know damn well the point he was making. You don't have to flaunt your film studies degree from Tallahassee JuCo.
‘Make them seem inevitable’ is such a perfect description. All of John williams’ works just fit so perfectly, it feels like you know the theme the second you hear it
Part of me can't believe the next Indy film will be his last score, and part of me is amazed at what an incredible career he's had and how lucky we are to have had him around for so long. He is 91 years old.
@@Ranger1812 Dumbledore has some great quotes. ;) Even more in the book than in the films, as you just proved. I want to say that's from the first book, right?
@@cannonjones6713 It's from Goblet of Fire. Dumbledore had just led the students in a recital of Hogwarts' school song in which everyone sang to their own tune, and Fred and George had just finished, after everyone else already had, in a slow funeral march style.
Idk about a genius. He lifts a lot from other classical pieces. But he’s definitely very talented at making catchy themes even if he often gets a lot of inspiration from copyright free material
@@Jearbearjenkins Anyone who seriously tries to claim that John Williams plagiarized anything is simply demonstrating how little they understand the film music industry. 90% of time what actually happened is the Director specifically requested “hey, I was thinking this scene could kind of sound like this“ and so the composer basically has no choice but to write a new music that sounds similar enough to the pre-existing music to make the Director happy. Williams does this just as much as other composers do, he’s just more famous so the times he does it gets more attention If there’s ever *actual* plagiarism, there’s legal action taken. Like when action was taken against Hans Zimmer for copying Holst’s Mars music in gladiator. or when action was taken against Tyler bates’ score for 300 for plagiarizing music from Titus.
@@RedCaio I wouldn't say he's anything less than a brilliant composer, but he lifted more than just the general feel from the Kings Row theme. You can hear almost identical melodies in both the Star Wars and Superman themes. Musicians have had successful plagiarism lawsuits on far less.
And his son Joseph Williams is the lead singer of the famous rock band Toto. He sang on their 1988 album "The Seventh One", and probably a few more after that and then Bobby Kimball made a short comeback and then in the late 90s the singer was some black guy who almost no one remembers or is really a fan of. Still today, mainly Joseph does the singing, accompanied by David Paich and Steve Lukather.
That makes perfect sense. “Inevitable” is such a great creative point to strive for and it explains why his themes like Star Wars, jaws, Harry potter feel like they’ve always existed
I still love the story that the first time the two of them collaborated, on _Jaws,_ Williams played his idea for the theme for Spielberg on the piano. Spielberg's reaction was, 'Is this a joke?' Williams was so far ahead of his time that even Spielberg didn't get it at first!
@@theoutlook55You have to understand that Jaws was an extremely troubled production: the shark broke down multiple times, the cast and crew didn’t have a finished script, and shooting on the water was nightmarish. Spielberg was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. So, when he heard those two notes, that was just one more reason for him to be terrified. Those two notes, also, were useful especially after Spielberg decided to show the shark in POV shots, because we knew the shark was there.
I stood there staring at the screen as they pushed the crate through the warehouse and was completely enamored from head to toe as John Williams Indy theme played on. It's the single greatest movie theme ever. It in my opinion captures the essence of true cinema like no other song or movie ending could. I was born in 1971 and Steven's movies were what everyone talked about what going to the movies was about. Before the internet, before cable TV, his movies took you on an adventure that was so exhilarating, everyone who was walking out of the movie felt like we were in a brotherhood from watching Steven's movies together that would last a lifetime. Thankyou. Steven and thank you John Williams. Truly cinematic excellence that this generation could never experience
I was touring MIT once and they showed a program that listened to the theme music of 80s movie music and could fast forward to "the third place Darth Vadar appears" or "how many times is Indy on screen" just by analyzing the tunes. This is why you can just listen to the soundtracks by themselves and be satisfied throughout.
Try listening to the Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack. The musical moments match up to the scenes so well, that I can even recall the exact script for any given timestamp. Part of that is that I've seen the movie many times, admittedly. How many marvel super fans could do that with the avengers? My guess is zero.
From Jaws to Harry Potter this man has literally hypnotized generations of people with his scores. He’s like a real life magician waving his wand and bringing entire worlds to life.
His own awarD? He's won 25 Grammy awards and is the second-most-nominated person in Academy Award history behind only Walt freakin Disney. So don't worry, he's got his own awards
I love you so much John Williams....your music, love language to film is incredibly powerful and amazing. Thank you for your brilliance and magnificence.
Nobody will ever equal the talents of John Williams creating music for films. He’s composed so many timeless and memorable themes that just hit the spot every time. Two of my favourites are Star Wars and Superman. Oh and the Jaws music too! Absolute masterpieces
"seemed like they've always been there". I feel this about all great pieces of music. It's like these great composers are able to uncover melodies that are ingrained in everyone.
John Williams’ music got me through high school. Those years were lonely times for me back then. I remember watching ABC’s 20/20 show in 1984, he discussed his music for The Imperial March and his score for Return Of The Jedi(which had rehearsal footage. It was the first time I ever saw how music is incorporated into a film). He sounded calm and confident in his abilities and in the London Symphony Orchestra who were performing the score. I was surprised to see him in The Last Jedi or The Rise Of Skywalker, who opens the door and sees Poe Dameron and he remains silent, but has a look like he is saying, “You! Really?!!!” before he reluctantly lets Poe and the others in. Thank God for John Williams.😎👍
Perfect pitch: the ability to know a key without needing to hear a reference. John Williams clearly has it as you notice he was whistling in the correct key.
The greatest thing about John Williams’ scores (in my opinion) is that they can be so iconic and prevalent, but still filled with so much nuance and layering.
That's why he's a legend. He was a student of the masters, but knew his role was to bring these films to the next level for average moviegoers. That unique combination of a master's craft with mass appeal - along with hard-ass work and collaboration with ANOTHER genius - is what makes John Williams' music immortal.
Even his early work here in Newfoundland has that feel to it, and he was scoring tourism stuff for our province in the 1950s (he started his career in Pre-Confederation Newfoundland).
John Williams is and has been my favorite musician since I learned that he was the one behind all of my favorite music. All of my favorite music came from movies and I was completely astounded to find out that one musician was responsible for all of it. I don't remember when I made that realization but it was definitely before 12.
I don't think most people fully appreciate how important music is in film, especially the RIGHT music... wether its an original score like the "theme song" for ROCKY, or a scene from a Scorsese film with "gimme shelter" by the Rolling stones played at the perfect moment and it gives you chills every time you watch it... as far as I'm concerned, music can make or break a film
“Work on them [the notes] until they seem inevitable”. If you’re not a composer, I don’t think you’ll realise how much concentration and discipline this takes. Old school. A dying breed.
My mom told me she made up the main theme tune. She'd always be humming it and putting words to it about our dogs, so I asked her about it and she said she came up with it. I was so surprised when I heard a kid at school humming it lol 😭
I just want to formally apologize, no, skip the explanation, and just declare that John Williams is a living national treasure! Extremely talented. Life's work well done!
John Williams is probably one of the best compositors ever, he single handedly created music that made you feel an adventure, or magic, or fear, or space, etc etc. to know what the spectator will feel with a certain music isnt something just anyone can do.
Love that tune , I can remember walking out of the cinema after watching Raiders humming away to myself . Williams is the greatest theme tune composer ever .
I so deeply admire these two spectacular human beings. I wish I could have collaborated with them, one as a novelist, and the other as a singer of extraordinary vocal range.
That is how to write a simple, yet highly effective melody. He did a great job putting it into words. If you are writing something that is a simple motif to be repeated and developed, and you meticulously construct the initial motif like this, any variations and reintroductions of that simple and effective motif will benefit
Ive always felt like John Williams understands the importance of melody and its interaction with harmony and rhythm more than most composers. That understanding led to the most iconic film scores in history
