John Williams contributed three scores in 1990, to three quite different films; Stanley and Iris, about the developing relationship between an illiterate cook, Stanley (played against type by Robert de Niro) and a grieving widow, Iris (played by Jane Fonda). Then there was Presumed Innocent, a legal thriller featuring Harrison Ford as a lawyer wrongfully … Continue reading A John Williams Score For Every Year of my Life – 1990 – Home Alone
john williams scores
The Accidental Tourist
Continuing in my occasional blog entries reviewing one score by the wonderful John Williams for every year of my life, we come to 1988, the year I turned 18, and the score to The Accidental Tourist. By this year, I'd been an ardent fan for about 4 years, having discovered that the same person who … Continue reading The Accidental Tourist
A John Williams Score for every year of my life: 1987 The Witches of Eastwick
I can't leave 1987 with just a look at "Empire of the Sun", which was the focus of my last blog entry in my ongoing look at a John Williams score for every year of my life. "The Witches of Eastwick" was the other remarkable score by Williams that year - it's just too great … Continue reading A John Williams Score for every year of my life: 1987 The Witches of Eastwick
A John Williams Score for every Year of my Life: 1987 – Empire of the Sun
Oh no! What do I do? In 1987, the year I turned 17, John Williams released two fantastic soundtrack albums, and I truly don't know which one I love more. That year was the year of "The Witches of Eastwick" and "The Empire of the Sun". Both are phenomenal scores. I fell in love with … Continue reading A John Williams Score for every Year of my Life: 1987 – Empire of the Sun
A John Williams Score for Every Year of my Life 1986 – Spacecamp
The year I turned 16, a film was released which I didn't see at the time, and I'm not sure I have ever watched in its entirety. The year I was sixteen (sweet sixteen and never been kissed, but that's another story) my mother died, and I probably had other things on my mind. In … Continue reading A John Williams Score for Every Year of my Life 1986 – Spacecamp
A John Williams Score for Every Year of my Life – 1985 – The River
OK, I'm cheating a little here. There was no score by John Williams in 1985. It was the first year since 1960 that didn't see a new score by Williams. Many of the years since that time had seen numerous scores. That tells you something about his work ethic, and how sought after he was. … Continue reading A John Williams Score for Every Year of my Life – 1985 – The River
A John Williams Score for Every Year of my Life – 1984 – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Steven Spielberg and George Lucas took a different direction with Indiana Jones in the sequel to 1981's "Raiders of the Lost Ark". For one, the film is actually a prequel, with the action taking place in 1935, mainly set in India (after a short prelude in China). This was apparently to avoid using the Nazis … Continue reading A John Williams Score for Every Year of my Life – 1984 – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
A John Williams Score for Every Year of my life – 1983 Return of the Jedi
Just before Christmas I had the wonderful experience of watching The Return of the Jedi screened with a live orchestra playing the score. I'd seen the first two films in the saga in the same way a few years ago - and this one was held back a year by the pandemic. It's a curious … Continue reading A John Williams Score for Every Year of my life – 1983 Return of the Jedi
A John Williams score for every year of my life – 1982 – E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
E.T: I remember clearly going to see it for the first time, at the age of twelve. I remember seeing the posters, some of which had a boy and a... thing lying on hospital beds surrounded by plastic sheets, and I wondered what on earth I was going to see. And then the lights went … Continue reading A John Williams score for every year of my life – 1982 – E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
A John Williams Score for Every Year of my Life 1981 – The Raiders of the Lost Ark
With this, the first in the series of Indiana Jones films, John Williams created yet another outstanding opus - that surrounding the wisecracking, whip-swinging, fedora-wearing hero and sometimes archaeologist, Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford may have played the titular hero (and it's a wonder that despite his resemblances and affinities to a certain smuggler in a … Continue reading A John Williams Score for Every Year of my Life 1981 – The Raiders of the Lost Ark
A John Williams Score for Every Year of my Life 1980 – The Empire Strikes Back
It's a while since I wrote one of these posts on the work of my favourite composer, John Williams. I've had Covid, but that's not why. The truth is, since I left teaching to become wholly freelance with my own music and art, I haven't had a great deal of time to write. And that's … Continue reading A John Williams Score for Every Year of my Life 1980 – The Empire Strikes Back
A John Williams Score for Every Year of my Life 10: 1979 – Dracula
Dracula, scored in 1979, is perhaps one of john Williams' lesser known works. It is however a mighty work, built mainly around the lush and dangerous theme Williams provided for the central character. This theme features firstly in the Main Title and Storm Sequence : https://youtu.be/SEAbPQN9mFI John Williams has said that he tries not to … Continue reading A John Williams Score for Every Year of my Life 10: 1979 – Dracula
A John Williams Score for every Year of my Life 9: A bit of a mix, 1978
So I've reached the year I turned eight. In that year, John Williams was called upon to score a number of feature films, with wide-ranging subject matter - from superheroes to a man-eating shark. I simply cannot choose one score to epitomise his output that year, so I shall choose a theme (motif) or two … Continue reading A John Williams Score for every Year of my Life 9: A bit of a mix, 1978
A John Williams Score for every year of my life 8b. 1977 – Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope
Do I dare? What on earth can I say about this magnum opus which single handedly transformed film scoring, just as the film it accompanies reinvented the blockbuster. So much has already been written about the score John Williams wrote for George Lucas' little space opera - I certainly couldn't say anything new or improve … Continue reading A John Williams Score for every year of my life 8b. 1977 – Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope
A John Williams Score for Every Year of my Life 8a – Close Encounters
1977 was a big year for John Williams. He wrote the scores to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as well as a certain space opera set a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. It would be remiss of me not to include both of these immense scores, different as they are. … Continue reading A John Williams Score for Every Year of my Life 8a – Close Encounters
A John Williams Score for every year of my life 7 – 1976 the Missouri Breaks
I know very little about the film which gave birth to this choice of score by John Williams. I know that it is a Western film which starred Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson, but that's only because they appear on the album artwork. Having looked at Wikipedia's entry on the film, I see that it … Continue reading A John Williams Score for every year of my life 7 – 1976 the Missouri Breaks
A John Williams Score for Every Year of My Life – 1975 Jaws
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BePfzCOMRZQ&list=OLAK5uy_knTCF7Agg3xAnZ4xzhdDsgq2OvaMzYBrI It has to be done. Whilst I am a great fan of the other score of 1975 which Williams wrote for "The Eiger Sanction", I couldn't not devote this blog entry to the stroke of absolute mastery which is Jaws. As a teacher, I often use the theme from Jaws to illustrate how composers … Continue reading A John Williams Score for Every Year of My Life – 1975 Jaws
A John Williams Work for Every Year of my Life 5 – 1974 Earthquake
For this post I want to zoom in on one part of the score to Earthquake which struck me as soon as I heard it some years ago - the main theme. It encapsulates so much of the time, with upbeat funky additions to the mix, and that wonderful soaring John Williams horn melody. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRQ19CKA21U&list=PLpN8xN3JSwkSyeJsW_gFkqqqNmlWFLorI … Continue reading A John Williams Work for Every Year of my Life 5 – 1974 Earthquake
A John Williams Work for every Year of my Life 4: Cinderella Liberty
In some ways John Williams' music for Cinderella Liberty was a departure from the style he was beginning to make his own in the early seventies; certainly in the context of the soundtracks which he'd composed in the years before, such as Jane Eyre, the Cowboys, it almost feels like a different composer. It is … Continue reading A John Williams Work for every Year of my Life 4: Cinderella Liberty
Return to Jane Eyre
I've been working on a piano transcription of the Theme from Jane Eyre, my choice of John Williams Score from 1970. I've just posted it to youtube. There will be more to follow - I'm going to do a number of John Williams themes - especially some of his less well-known ones, or at least … Continue reading Return to Jane Eyre