# Favorite John Williams film score



## TudorMihai

I made a selection of film scores that are generally considered to be John Williams' best. Which one is your favorite? For me it's difficult to decide so I vote Hook and Jurassic Park.


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## Prodromides

IMAGES (1972) is the only John Williams soundtrack on my favorites list.


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## GreenMamba

I never knew Williams scored an Altman film.


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## Ebab

I regard "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back" as true masterpieces that put symphonic leitmotivic scoring back on the map of high-profile cinema.

I'm also partial to them, I admit. I was 11 and 14, respectively, and just realizing that movies were _made_ and the result of many, many, many crucial choices. I bought these soundtrack albums because they enabled me to re-live the movie experience at home (this was before affordable home theater), but in effect, these scores taught me exemplarily how much scoring is a vital element of the emotional effect.

Other favorites:


*Catch Me If You Can* Just Smart
*A. I.* To me, his most powerfully evocative score since Star Wars. It's such a pity that the full soundtrack has not been legally released; it's wonderful.


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## Manxfeeder

I've probably heard the Star Wars score more than any other, so that's my vote. As Ebab said, that was the movie that brought orchestral music back to the movies and away from those awful synthesizer-based sountracks, and it got people like me aware of Erich Korngold.


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## TudorMihai

GreenMamba said:


> I never knew Williams scored an Altman film.


He did. He also wrote the music for Hitchcock's last film, Family Plot (1976).


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## Ebab

TudorMihai said:


> He did. He also wrote the music for Hitchcock's last film, Family Plot (1976).


Which is one great score, too; funny, witty, misterioso. Totally within the range of the expected (with the harpsichord, it sounds like a good "Columbo" score at times), but absolutely foreshadowing the brilliant and challenging "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" as well.

Long underestimated, I regard "Family Plot" as a pivotal moment in Williams' career, and I was thrilled when it finally got a legitimate release in 2010.


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## Zabirilog

Star Wars has the most amazing film score ever  May the music be with you.


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## Arsakes

*STAR WARS*
Schindler's List
Harry Potter
Indiana Jones
Jurassic Park

I also love the track "Olympic Fanfare and Theme".


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese

For what ever reason the Indiana Jones sticks in my mind the most - not sure its the best but I can't remember the Schindler's List score........


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## Guest

Trouble is, as I scan down the list, I can recall the main theme of some - Star Wars, Indie, Potter - but not others - Schindler, for example.

This suggests that what I can't easily do is identify one whole score that might be 'favourite', and also, since I don't like to divorce score from movie, I'd tend to say that CE3K, Jaws and JP are my favourites because they are my favourites among the movies listed.

Particular passages I like - JP from when the storm breaks over the accountant's head and the tech begins his heist.. .from Jaws, when they first make contact and attach the first barrel...from CE3K when they first play the five tones on the ARP synth and the mothership takes over. All exhilirating and suspenseful - they bring lumps to my throat just thinking about it...


...but how much is down to Spielberg and Kahn (editor)??


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## CypressWillow

So moving, poignant.






Just hearing these few notes brings back the movie vividly.


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## Rola

I'm glad that the question is "favorite", not "the best".

I wonder how much it has to do with the film itself, with its potential to be "favorite".
I think most people would agree that _Schindler's List_ is well made (to say the least). Would you describe it as one of your favorites? "When I find some time I tend to play my Schindler's List DVD, like once a month at least, it's such a cool movie, yay!". I'd say that part of film's viewing experience pours onto the soundtrack, maybe I tend to overlook the music from movies I didn't _enjoy_ much.
Would you agree that "great adventure" (I'm trying to avoid saying "epic"  ) movies (Star Wars, Indiana...) have greater potential to include wider variety of themes, moods, etc.? From romantic encounters, to heroic duels, military marches and tyrannic empires, sorrow and the lost of loved ones, last second escapes, triumphant good or creepy evil etc. Emotional roller coaster! Maybe these music excerpts easier burn themselves in our minds along the moving image scenes?

It gets harder when you recognize and like the main theme, but the whole soundtrack failed to register with you.

As much as it sounds as "default option", "too mainstream", "fanboyish" etc., it's hard _not_ to select Star Wars and Indiana. They have such rich, varied themes. I think it would be possible to play a selected piece (think of Leia's theme... or Brother and Sister excerpt) to an average person and surprise them it's from Star Wars and not Hollywood's Golden Era melodrama... as much as my beloved Imperial March gives me this sick, perverted pleasure (of listening  ), I'm fully aware that Star Wars soundtrack greatness _doesn't_ end with it.

Just to confirm I'm not entirely ignorant, I own not only soundtracks CDs from Star Wars and Indy, but also _John Williams - Greatest Hits 1969-1999_ 2 CD collection with themes from several films - and I'm listening to it as I type this.


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## anasazi

I've been a fan of Williams' music for several years. I even had the opportunity to attend a concert once. This was in the late 1970's, after STAR WARS, etc. so he had become pretty popular.

But despite all of the terrific music that that man has written for film in his career, at the moment my favorite Williams score is:

LINCOLN. 

And the wonderful performance by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is to marveled at. The film, which I saw in a theater, brought me to tears on TWO occasions, no doubt the score contributed. I love it in the film, I love it as a soundtrack album, and
I also love playing from the piano arrangements book. I simply adore Williams LINCOLN, so I voted for 'other' in the poll. This is not to say that I don't love SW or SUPERMAN or JAWS or SCHINDLER'S LIST, it is just that at this moment I seem to mostly be concentrating on LINCOLN.


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## Marisol

Unless someone calls me wrong John Williams does not want his compositions to be played by others, that is certainly his prerogative (although he cannot stop the local school band from playing them), but I think this is bad for music.

So no thanks, I skip them.


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## KenOC

Marisol said:


> Unless someone calls me wrong John Williams does not want his compositions to be played by others, that is certainly his prerogative (although he cannot stop the local school band from playing them), but I think this is bad for music.
> 
> So no thanks, I skip them.


??? John Williams' music has been played and recorded by others often.


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## Marisol

KenOC said:


> ??? John Williams' music has been played and recorded by others often.


Can you provide some examples?


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## KenOC

Marisol said:


> Can you provide some examples?


Easily, but I won't. You can check the Amazon listings yourself, I assume. Can you provide evidence for your claim that "John Williams does not want his compositions to be played by others"? Another extraordinary (to put it kindly) claim...


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## Marisol

KenOC said:


> Easily, but I won't. You can check the Amazon listings yourself, I assume. Can you provide evidence for your claim that "John Williams does not want his compositions to be played by others"? Another extraordinary (to put it kindly) claim...


_
"The following list contains compositions the copyright owners have indicated WILL be denied and compositions that have been denied in the past. It is only a tool for your use. It is NOT a definitive list.
.........
Music and film scores by John Williams 
........."_
Source: http://www.copycatlicensing.com/Links/FrequentlyAskedQuestions/tabid/697/Default.aspx

Hmm, I looked at Amazon as you suggested, I browsed a few pages, everything of John Williams (not to be confused with the guitar player) is conducted by John Williams.

But you know of many examples and they can be easily retrieved?


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## KenOC

Marisol said:


> Hmm, I looked at Amazon as you suggested, I browsed a few pages, everything of John Williams (not to be confused with the guitar player) is conducted by John Williams.


How very odd. When I search Amazon under "music" for John Williams, the very first thing I see (other than a guitar disc) is a 4-CD set of Williams' movie music -- none conducted by Williams himself. I personally have only two Williams items: A Symphonic Suite from The Empire Strikes Bach (National Phil Orch cond. by Charles Gerhardt) and a 2-disc set including suites from Star Wars and Close Encounters (LAPO with Zubin Mehta).

Williams may well hold newer pieces back so that he can profit from his own recordings and performances. This is quite normal. Beethoven held back publication of his first two piano concertos for several years so that he could have exclusive public use of them for his own benefit.

You may also find that, in the case of full movie scores, the composer is not the sole copyright holder -- after all, he was paid to write the stuff by the producer or whomever. Permissions may also be withheld by agreement with the original producer of the soundtrack CD, to protect their profits.


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## Marisol

Note that the restriction is for arrangements, so a full orchestra that is true to the score would likely get approval, any other setting would not.


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## TrevBus

I was going to vote for 'Schindler's List' but then I remmbered 'Empire of the Sun' and that extraordinary score and film. I kept saying, how could I forget something so remarkable. So, before I voted, I watched the film again, just to be certain. Well, no doubts(if there ever was any). I think it's his best and it's my favorite. Also, as an added bonus, I think next this is one of Spielberg's best.


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## vincentfernandes

I personally don't like Williams at all, but one score I did love was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban because of its medieval themes, though of course the commercial release was rubbish, as always.


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## nightscape

E.T. is my favorite Williams' score. The friendship theme is haunting. Exemplified greatly in the concert arrangement on the original OST "E.T. and Me"


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## HansMaestroMusic

Marisol said:


> Can you provide some examples?





KenOC said:


> Easily, but I won't. You can check the Amazon listings yourself, I assume. Can you provide evidence for your claim that "John Williams does not want his compositions to be played by others"? Another extraordinary (to put it kindly) claim...


I can think of Erik Kunzel off the top of my head, has done Superman, Jurassic Park and Star Wars various times and recorded them as well. He is a pops music conductor. Actually, as I typed this I found some hard proof 



Marisol said:


> Note that the restriction is for arrangements, so a full orchestra that is true to the score would likely get approval, any other setting would not.


In the past, I've seen Marching Bands perform John Williams music. 99% of the time, marching arts ensembles will contract arrangers for each section of the band (winds, percussion, front ensemble), but it's also possible the copyright holder (usually the publisher) creates "approved" arrangements for Concert Band (most like in both the middle/high school levels), Marching Band and even Orchestra.

Arrangement for Concert Band
Arrangement for Orchestra
Arrangement for Marching Band
Actual Marching Band performance

It's interesting that the article mentions works that will be "denied" permission to arrange, since John Williams isn't the only one on that list that has had arrangements of those works performed; such as Carmina Burana (Carl Orff), God Bless America, the music of Thomas Newman...among others.

From my understanding, publishers want to make money off of the composer's work, especially since the composer only sees around 10% of the income for published music. The publishers could charge a permission to arrange license fee and make money off of a composition that otherwise wouldn't make as much if they could just keep reselling the original recording of such a work. But then again, I'm sure there are those works that definitely will not allow arrangements of any kind. I thought this was all incredibly interesting, and now I've created a tangent, so my next post will bring it back to the topic/poll. Sorry!


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## HansMaestroMusic

So my pick was Indiana Jones, and as much as the main theme sticks out, it's mostly for the theme that is used during action sequences. This theme has now become prominent in the Indiana Jones attraction at the Disney Parks. A combination of that dark sequence and the variations of the main theme are my reasons for picking Indiana Jones.

Although, now I'm thinking I should have voted for Jurassic Park. There are 2 main themes in Jurassic Park. The string ensemble theme you hear when the Brachiosauruses have been introduced, and the secondary fanfare theme. But a lot of the tribal action sequences bring out the musical diversity in both JP and The Lost World. Listen to the orchestral outro to this sequence...amazing!(Which regrettably is missing the last few seconds of score)






All that said, my favorite score composer is Alan Silvestri and Back To The Future is my all time favorite score.


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## TudorMihai

Unlike other people, who discovered John Williams through Star Wars, Indiana Jones or E.T., I discovered him through Hook and, since then, it remained my favorite John Williams score and one of my favorite film scores of all time, especially because "Remembering Childhood", 11 minutes of pure beauty. While the film is quite forgettable (certainly not one of Spielberg's best films), the score itself is something different, certainly one of the greatest scores of the 1990's IMO.


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## realdealblues

Star Wars, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Jaws & Close Encounters Of The Third Kind are my picks. I think in the mid 70's all John Williams did was listen to Mahler. I hear Mahler influence in parts of Star Wars and Jaws although not the main Jaws theme more the music when they are out at sea aboard the Orca. That's what makes me love those two. Close Encounters just has some cool ideas throughout and the Raiders Of The Lost Ark is one of the most catchy themes ever.


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## Dimitri

Impossible to choose just one...I would submit the following list:
Empire Strikes Back
Revenge of the Sith
Prisoner of Azkaban (HP)
Sorceror's Stone (HP)
AI Artificial Intelligence
The Terminal
Raiders of the Lost Ark
War Horse
E.T.

And while it's not what the OP is asking for, I would also add some of his concert works:
Trumpet Concerto
Bassoon Concerto
Horn Concerto
Elegy for Cello and Orchestra
Olympic Fanfare and Theme
Rounds for Solo Guitar
Air and Simple Gifts


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## QuietGuy

Favorite complete score is E.T. I also the theme from Schindler's List and the Raiders of the Lost Ark theme (march)


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## Fugue Meister

The "Other" I voted for was "Saving Private Ryan" on of his best scores.


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## pianozach

I won't vote, as I haven't actually listened to all of the choices.

And Williams has composed scores for over 100 films.

If I listened to one John Williams score every day, it would take over three months to hear them all.


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