John

Williams

Matt, Daisy and Alex

Biography
John Towner Williams
Born 8th February 1932, New York, America
Son of a percussionist
Moved to Los Angeles in 1948
Ages 15, he was determined to be a concert pianist
By age 19, he created his first piece, a piano sonata

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Musical background
Attended UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles)
and Los Angeles City College
Studied orchestration under Robert Van Eps
Privately tutored by Mario CasteInuovo-Tedesco
Went to Juilliard where pianist Rosina Lhevinne, help
him improve his piano skills
To support himself he played in jazz clubs

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Background
Rosina Lhevinne encouraged him to focus on composing
and moved back to Los Angeles
Found work in Hollywood as a piano player working on
TV series Peter Gunn (1958), South Pacific (1958), Some
Like It Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960), and To Kill a
Mockingbird (1962).
At age 24, "Johnny Williams" became a staff arranger at
Columbia and then at 20th Century-Fox, orchestrating
for Alfred Newman and Lionel Newman, Dimitri Tiomkin,
Franz Waxman, and other Golden Age notables.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Background
Also created popular music for artists such as Vic Damone,
Doris Day, and Mahalia Jackson.
His work orchestrating led to composing work for Alcoa
Premiere (1961), Checkmate (1960), Gilligan's Island (1964),
Lost in Space (1965), Land of the Giants (1968).
He won Emmy awards for Heidi (1968) and Jane Eyre (1970).
Films such as Daddy-O (1958) and Because They're Young
(1960) gave John Williams work to be brought to the big
screen.
Won his first Oscar for Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

Background
His work on The Reviver (1969)
caught Stephen Spielberg's attention
leading John Williams to compose the
music for Jaws (1975) gaining his first
Academy Award for Original Score.
Worked with George Lucas on Star
Wars IV A new hope (1977) which
because the best selling score-only
soundtrack of all time.
Over the next 5 years, John created
big, brassy scores for big, brassy
films like The Fury (1978), Superman
(1978), 1941 (1979), Raiders of the
Lost Ark (1981)

http://www.imdb.com/name/
nm0002354/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Background
Won his second Oscar for Jaws
Won his third Oscar though his work on E.T.
The Extra Terrestrial (1982)
John Williams worked on the following
during the 80s;
uThe River (1984)
uEmpire of the Sun (1987)
uThe Accidental Tourist (1988)
uBorn on the Fourth of July (1989)

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Background
Williams worked on Jurassic park in 1992
and Schindler's List in 1993.
Williams collaborated with Lucas again on
Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom
Menace (1999).
In 2000s he continued work on the Star
Wars prequels in 2002 and 2005 and the
fourth Indiana Jones Film (2008).
In 2010s, Williams has no desire to stop
after composing for War Horse (2011),
Lincon (2012), The book Theif (2013), Star
Wars; Episode VII, The force awakens and
The BFG for 2016.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_John_Williams

Influences
William Walton

Antonin Dvorak

Gustav Holst

Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Igor Stravinsky

Sergei Prokofiev

Howard Hanson

Bela Bartok

John Williams himself has

stated his admiration for
Joseph Haydn, Edward Elgar
and film composer Bernard
Herrmann

Einojuhani Rautavaara

http://www.answers.com/Q/Who_inspired_john_Williams

Notable music
Indiana Jones series (1981 2008)
Jaws (1975)
Jaws 2 (1978)
Harry potter (2001, 2002, 2004)
E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
Star Wars Series (1980 present)
Jurassic Park (1992)

Chosen genre(s)
Orchestral Contemporary classical music
Jazz
In addition to his film music, Williams has written
many concert pieces including two symphonies, a
bassoon concerto, a 'cello concerto, concertos for flute
and violin, a trumpet concerto, and concertos for
clarinet and tuba

http://www.classicfm.com/composers/williams/#j6QEvvgBhbMY1l5I.99

Genres

Williams' most familiar style may

be described as a form of neoromanticism, inspired by the late
19th century's large-scale
orchestral music, in the style of
Tchaikovsky or Richard Wagner's
compositions and their concept of
leitmotif.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
John_Williams#Film_and_television_scoring

Who has Williams influenced?

Benjamin Bartlett
Benjamin Bartlett composed the soundtrack to the BBC
television show Walking with Dinosaurs he described
his composing to be a way to emulate John Williams
neo-romanticism compositions. He uses flutes, horns
and harps to name a few, to create a similar flow to
John Williams with his compositions of Walking with
Dinosaurs.

Personal Opinions
Star Wars A New Hope
John Williams effectively uses an orchestra to represent
emotions, conflict and events that happen alongside the
soundtrack in the film.
For example: He uses soft sounding instruments such as flutes
and violins to create uplifting moments in certain scenes or
instill calm into the audience during some scenes. He also
uses specific melodies around certain characters or when
there is a certain event going on, that is also shared across
several films, therefore the audience will more likely
recognize the melody and feel the same emotions from
previous films. This makes his compositions much more
effective at their role in the film.