536. John Williams

(December 2023) Episode 536 is JOHN WILLIAMS. I am extremely confident in saying that more people have heard the music of John Williams than any other composer since music was invented. Think about it. He wrote the scores to some of the most popular movies of all time, with global reach (Star Wars trilogies, Indiana Jones films, E.T. Jaws, some Jurassic Parks and Harry Potters). Plus, he wrote the themes to NBC’s Nightly News, The Today Show, Meet the Press and Sunday Night Football, heard by millions of Americans every week. Add to that the themes for Olympics and major civic events. Williams got his start playing jazz piano and made some recordings before getting into the theme music business on TV and then later movies. In addition to conducting the Boston Pops, he penned several of his own orchestral pieces that are quite good and more musically ambitious than his scores for general audiences. This was a very long episode: he has 366 soundtrack albums to his name, not to mention all the rest. His amazing prolificacy remains strong after seven decades, composing the score to the recent Indiana Jones film at age 90.

Favorite movie score: Star Wars: A New Hope

Favorite movie theme: Jurassic Park

Favorite concert theme: Olympic Fanfare and Theme

Favorite orchestral piece: Duo Concertante for Violin and Viola

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: You already know the movie themes, so I recommend the orchestral works, especially the Duo Concertante, Violin Concerto No. 2 and Three Pieces for Solo Cello.