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 – 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 new little musical venture – The Moons of Jupiter

I've started composing some pieces to represent the moons of Jupiter. I won't be writing pieces for every single one of them, because there are quite a few! Seventy-nine at the last count. But the main ones, whose names you may have heard of, such as Thebe, Callisto, Ganymede, Io, Europa, and Amalthea - they … Continue reading A new little musical venture – The Moons of Jupiter

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_gFkqqqNmlWFLorIContinue reading A John Williams Work for Every Year of my Life 5 – 1974 Earthquake

The Lord of the Rings and other things

I've reawakened my long dormant soundcloud account, and I intend to use it often to showcase my new compositions as well as some of my older ones. https://soundcloud.com/adam-tucker-composer My Soiundcloud page. Visit it to listen to my take on the world which Tolkien gave us in The Lord of the Rings. https://soundcloud.com/adam-tucker-composer/sets/the-lord-of-the-rings I've also uploaded … Continue reading The Lord of the Rings and other things

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

A John Williams Work for every year of my life 3: The Cowboys (1972)

John Williams was 40 when he wrote the music to the Mark Rydell film, "The Cowboys". In the same year, he produced what has to be his most avant-garde score for the Robert Altman film, "Images". I just want to briefly look at his work on this latter film before taking a more in depth … Continue reading A John Williams Work for every year of my life 3: The Cowboys (1972)

A John Williams work for every year of my life 2: The Fiddler on the Roof.

In 1971 John Williams won his first Oscar, for his adaptation and incidental music for "Fiddler on the Roof". I can not claim to know this film, or the musical, well at all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZK4e08uW1Y When I was in secondary school I remember singing "Sunrise, Sunset" in the school choir. That was the extent of my … Continue reading A John Williams work for every year of my life 2: The Fiddler on the Roof.

Creating the Theme for “The Hidden Shrine”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaO1ZybzNXM&list=PLXqtkFPzn3L9u48N25Sl1KkRSozlUcgIF&index=1 When I was commissioned to compose the music for this short TV film, I was told that it was a Victorian ghost story. How could I resist?! As I was sent snippets of the film as it was assembled, it became clear that this was a film about love and loss. At it's heart, … Continue reading Creating the Theme for “The Hidden Shrine”