Kathryn Roberts

Music 1040
Lora Kelly

John Williams History

Training:
John Williams is an American composer, conductor and pianist. He began studying piano
as a child and later studied the trumpet, trombone, and clarinet. He enrolled in composition
classes at UCLA studied composition privately with the Italian composer Mario CastelnuovoTedesco. He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1951, where he arranged band music and took up
conducting. Williams later studied piano at Julliard and worked as a jazz pianist in New Yorks
many clubs and eventually studios, most notably for composer Henry Mancini. He gained
additional experience working as an orchestrator and arranger with industry giants Bernard
Herrmann, Franz Waxman, Alfred Newman, Henry Mancini, and Andre Previn.
Career: Composer, conductor, pianist
Genres: Film Score, contemporary classical music, post-romanticism, jazz
John began his compositional career in the early 1960s and is now considered one of
the greatest film composers of all time. He has composed some of the most popular and
recognizable film scores in film history, including Jaws, Star Wars, Superman, E.T. the ExtraTerrestrial, Home Alone, Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindlers List, Saving Private Ryan, Harry Potter,
Catch Me If You Can, Memoirs of a Geisha, War Horse, and Lincoln, and Indiana Jones.
A few of Williams other compositions include music for four Olympic Games, NBC
Sunday Night Football, the NBC Nightly News, the Statue of Libertys rededication, and several
television programs including Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, and Gilligans Island. John
Williams is also known for composing numerous concert pieces such as 1995s Five Sacred
Trees, and 2000s Tree Song.
In 1980 Williams succeeded Arthur Fiedler as the Boston Pops Orchestras Principal
Conductor. Under his leadership, the orchestra maintained its popularity, toured America
several times, and made concert versions of his movie themes which they played regularly at
concerts. He left the Pops in 1993 is now the orchestras conductor laureate.

Williams is an accomplished pianist and in addition to his own film scores, Williams
worked as a studio pianist, performing on film scores by composers such as Jerry Goldsmith,
Elmer Bernstein, and Henry Mancini. He can be heard in various scores in which he provides
solos, as well as a handful of European classical music recordings.
Awards:
Williams received his first Oscar nomination in 1969 for the score to Valley of the Dolls.
He received his first Academy Award in 1972 for his adaption of Jerry Bocks music for Fiddler
on the Roof. Since then he has been nominated for 49 Academy Awards, winning 5; 6 Emmy
Awards, winning 3; 25 Golden Globe Awards, winning 4; 63 Grammy Awards, winning 21; and
has received 7 British Academy Film Awards. With 49 Oscar nominations, Williams currently
holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for a living person, and is the second most
nominated person in Academy Awards history behind Walt Disneys 59. Forty-four of Williams
Oscar nominations are for Best Original Score and five are for Best Original Song.
Williams has also been inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame and the
Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. In 2004, he received Kennedy Center Honors.
The Raiders March:
Steven Spielberg was impressed with William and was convinced that Williams could
compose the musical sound that he wanted for any of his films and they developed a long term
working relationship. In an unusual step for Hollywood film, Spielberg and Williams developed
their script and musical concepts simultaneously, as in the film these entwine very closely
together.
William is skilled in a variety of 20th century compositional idioms but his most familiar
style may be described as a form of neoromanticism. He was inspired by the late 19th centurys
large-scale orchestral music, in the style of Tchaikovsky or Richards Wagners compositions and
their concept of leitmotif. A leitmotif is a recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary
composition, associated with a particular person, place, idea, or situation.
For the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, Williams wrote a rousing main theme known
as The Raiders March to accompany the films hero, Indian Jones. He also composed separate
themes to represent the Ark of the Covenant, the character Marion, and the storys Nazi
villains. Ever since its first appearance in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Raider March has been
such a recognizable symbol of Indiana Jones that we associate it with the character as much as
we do his trademark bullwhip and fedora.

Williams initially composed two melodies as possibilities for the opening of Indys
theme. When he approached Steven Spielberg with the themes and asked which one he
preferred, Spielberg loved them so much that he said well, cant you use both? and he did.
William has a remarkable ability to coordinate different aspects of the music with
various characteristics of the person the music represents. The Raiders March is divided into a
large three-part form, of which the first part is Indys theme, the second Marions theme, and
the third an abbreviated return to Indys theme. The famous melody that begins the march
gives the sense that this is a heros theme. The syncopations add a buoyancy and lightness to
the march, and signal some of Indys less serious, fun side. The rising notes give the feeling of
aspiring to something better in the manner of a hero but the drops in between create a more
relaxed hero. The heroic themes in Superman and Star Wars and Indys theme are all stated in
the trumpets, but Indys theme is in a slightly lower register than the others, and so is not given
the same superhero status. The smaller leap of Indys theme suggests a hero that is more
human and down to earth. Indy uses his knowledge to save himself and not superhero
powers.
Throughout the theme, Williams uses various techniques to give the sense that we are
in good hands with Indy, that nothing can shake our hero (except snakes), and the gloomy
tones signals that Indy is overcoming the obstacles.
The next section takes on a more serious character and we actually feel a bit of the
hero struggle. The melody motives begin by rising a step, suggesting something positive, but
then fall back down a step, suggesting a setback of some kind. These downturns are overcome
at the end by the brass finally reaching up to a higher note and holding it. The constant sound
of the pedal point speaks to Indys confidence even in the face of the struggles suggested by the
rising-falling melody.
Over the course of the entire Raider March, the main Indy Theme is stated a total of six
times. They intensify as the march progresses, making the final statement the most climactic,
which leave no doubt in our minds the Indy will always succeed in his adventures.
The Raiders March isnt just a great tune. Like so many Williams themes, it is an apt
reflection of the character it represents. Not only does it capture Indys heroism and
confidence, but it also incorporates the fun, lighter side of Indys personality. It is also fitting
that Indys music should lack the overwhelming grandiosity of other superheros themes since
his victories are more brainy than brawny. His music also portrays him as more of a human,
earthbound type of hero than, say, Luke Skywalker or Superman. Instead this is an untroubled
kind of music for an untroubled kind of hero, one who always achieves a clear success.

Bibliography
John Williams. Wikipedia.N.p., n.d.Web.23,Nov. 2014
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams

Morita, Patsy. John Williams|Biography|AllMusic. Allmusic.N.p., n.d. Web.23

Nov. 2014.
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-williams-mn0000232480/biography

John Williams Themes. Part 4 of 6: The Raiders March (Indiana Jones Theme).
Film Music Notes Analysis, Style, Technique, and More. Film Score Junkie,
23 Mar, 2013. Web.23 Nov. 2014
http://www.filmmusicnotes.com/john-williams-themes-part-4-of-6-theraiders-march-indiana-jones-theme/, posted March 23, 2013