John Williams is terrific

[Copper]

And today he is 90 years old

Here, 10 of John Williams’ all-time greatest film themes, ranked:

https://www.classicfm.com/composers/williams/john-best-film-music-themes/

Fun stuff

[89th]

Great list. Hard to go wrong with any of them. I have often said the superman score is overlooked, glad to see it was number five on this list.

[George K]

@89th said in John Williams is terrific:

the superman score is overlooked

This. Movie music doesn't get much better than this.

[89th]

@george-k said in John Williams is terrific:

@89th said in John Williams is terrific:

the superman score is overlooked

This. Movie music doesn't get much better than this.

Cooper's link only has part of the Superman theme, my favorite part is at the 2:03 mark of this video. It really layers all the various musical elements at once, which is even more fun since the overall theme has an unusual "rhythm".

Link to video

[Klaus]

@89th said in John Williams is terrific:

I have often said the superman score is overlooked

I've listened to it. I actually didn't know it before, but I understand now why it is often overlooked

[89th]

I'm surprised (but not) that Jaws wasn't on the list. It really was a game-changer in terms of movie scores, although by itself it isn't very listen-worthy.

[Axtremus]

Outside of the movies, I also like this John Williams piece:

Link to video

No other piece of sports meet music comes close to its grandeur and majesty.

[89th]

@axtremus Yeah that is a really terrific score.

[Klaus]

He's terrific, but:

Hans Zimmer > John Williams on sound design.
Ennio Morricone > John Williams on melody.

Don Davis doesn't have a huge œuvre yet, but I really liked his Matrix soundtrack.

[89th]

@klaus said in John Williams is terrific:

Hans Zimmer > John Williams on sound design.

Agreed on that... Hans is a complete magician when it comes to movie scores. I disagree about Morricone, but also don't know enough of his work to debate that.

[George K]

Out of curiosity, I found Williams' Violin Concerto on Apple Music. It is about as far from "Movie Music" as you can imagine.

Listening to it this morning, I was reminded of something that @Larry said years ago: A real musician can pretty much perform/write in whatever genre he wants. Look at the movie music of Shostakovich and compare with his so-called "serious" music.

[Renauda]

@george-k

I really like DDS’ film music. I have quite a bit of it on record. The one thing that always makes me smile is how much of it is copied by the likes of John Barry and other film music composers since the 1960s.

[George K]

The talent for writing "film music" is something that always struck me as being so daunting.

Yeah, one can compose your own stuff for your own audience, and for your own professional satisfaction.

But to do it for the satisfaction of someone else is something else. The older I get, the more I pay attention to the music of a movie (or even a 2nd-rate TV show - Reacher) and I'm impressed with the work of the musicians.

I can't imagine the struggle DDS had with juggling both muses.

[Renauda]

@george-k

From what I have read it was very difficult for DDS, but he did manage to compose a lot which he referred to his confidants like Weinberg, Shebalin and Khachaturian as being “for the desk drawer” and would only receive public performance when the circumstances permitted. Still, in DDS’ sarcastic way he slipped in a lot of quotations and fragments of his “for the drawer” compositions into his film and stage music without anyone in authority taking notice.