This is a presentaion of the biography of John Williams, and I picked 3 of his songs and did a compositon history on them and did a listening guide on them as well.
2. John Williams was born in Long Island,New
York on February 8 1932.
He Attended ULCA and Juilliard.
In 1956 John Williams got married to
Barbara Ruick and was happily married
until she passed away on March 3, 1974.
Together they had three
children, Jennifer, Mark, and Joseph.
In July 1980 John married again this time
to Samantha Winslow.
3. John with his
first wife
Barbara Ruick
John Williams
John Williams
with wife
Samantha
Winslow
4. In 1956, John was hired
by Twentieth Century
Fox where he wrote
music for TV shows.
Such as: Lost in
Space, Land of the
Giants, Gilligan’s
Island, and Wagon Train.
Eventually he left
Twentieth Century Fox
and began working for
Universal Studios where
he wrote music for
Movies.
Such as: Daddy-O, The
Valley of the Dolls, and
Fiddler on the Roof.
5. In 1974 Williams
worked with Steven
Spielberg for the first
time on The Sugarland
Express, and then
went on to work with
him many more times
on many more movies.
Such as: Jaws, Close
Encounters of the
Third Kind, Jurassic
Park, E.T. The Extra-
Terrestrial, Indiana
Jones, Munich, Schindl
er’s List, Empire of
the Sun and Memoirs
of a Geisha.
6. John Williams also
composed music for
George Lucas’ Star
Wars, all six of them.
Star Wars in
1977, Empire Strikes
Back in 1980, and
Return of the Jedi in
1983. Then again in
1999 with the 3
prequels, The
Phantom
Menace, Attack of
the Clones, and
Revenge of the Sith.
7. When the 20th
century came
around Williams was
asked to compose
music for the film
series of the
popular book Harry
Potter
He scored the first
three movies
He wrote the very
popular Hedwig’s
Theme which was
played in every
movie
8. JohnWilliams has won many awards
throughout his career they include, 4
Golden Globe Awards, 21 Grammy
Awards, 5 Academy Awards, and 7 BAFTA
Awards. After Walt Disney, Williams is the
most nominated person ever.
9.
10. It is a leitmotif
Composed for the Harry
Potter Series in 2001
Often considered to be the
theme song for the Harry
Potter series because it was
featured in every
film, usually during the title
screen.
It was achieved significant
pop culture status, featuring
in ring tones, trailer music
and other forms of
multimedia.
Hedwig’s Theme can be
found on Harry Potter and
the Sorcerer’s Stone
soundtrack.
11. The theme song for Indiana
Jones.
It was composed in 1980.
It was originally two songs
played on piano, but Steven
Spielberg asked Williams to
combined them and make
one song that is how The
Raiders March was created.
The Raiders March has been
used in every Indiana Jones
movie. In the full version, it
includes a section of the love
theme form Raiders of the
Lost Ark which is also known
as Marion’s Theme.
Found on the Raiders of the
Lost Ark Soundtrack
12. The Star Wars Main Theme is
the theme that is played at
the beginning of all six of the
Star Wars movies.
Representative of war
drums, and it was originally
performed by the London
Symphony Orchestra.
John Williams said, “When I
thought of a theme for Luke
and his adventures, I
composed a melody that
reflected the
brassy, bold, masculine, and
noble qualities I saw in the
character.”
Found on all of the Star Wars
soundtracks
13.
14. 0:00 Introduction: The introduction begins with the Celesta playing the
main melody. The introduction is played in G major. It has an allegro
tempo and piano volume. It soon begins to crescendo (gradually increase
volume).
0:18 you start to hear strings playing in the background with a higher
pitch then the celesta. The tempo is still allegro but volume is now
mezzo-piano, but it continues to crescendo.
0:33 other instruments come in. The tempo is still allegro but the volume
is now mezzo-forte.
0:43 the main melody starts to play again but this time it is not played by
just the celesta and it is still allegro and the volume is still mezzo-forte
but it starts to crescendo.
1:00 the tempo is the same but the volume is now forte
1:16 Cuts off into a sharp end.
15. 0:00 Introduction: drums start off playing the main melody and shortly after the trumpets
and cymbals join in. The tempo is moderato and the volume starts off mezzo-piano but
quickly moves to mezzo-forte.
0:36 The trumpets stop playing. The tempo is still moderato and the volume is now back
now to mezzo-piano.
1:00 Everything is still the same. Tempo is moderato and the volume is mezzo-piano.
1:30 Everything is still the same. Tempo is moderato and the volume is mezzo-piano.
2:00 Marion’s theme starts. The volume dims to piano and the tempo slows to andante. The
flute stands out during this section.
2:30 Marion’s theme is still playing, the volume is still piano and the tempo is still andante.
3:00 Marion’s theme is still playing, the volume is still piano and the tempo is still andante.
3:30 The tempo slowly starts to pick and the volume starts to increase
3:56 The trumpets come back in loudly playing the main melody again. The tempo is
moderato again and the volume is back to mezzo-forte.
4:26 The trumpets stop playing for a moment so that the cymbals can be heard loud and
clearly. The tempo is still moderato and the volume is still mezzo-forte.
5:00 End.
16. 0:00 Introduction: Starts off with the trumpets playing the main melody, you can hear the drums very clearly in the
background. The tempo is vivace and the volume is forte.
0:30 The music slows down the tempo becomes andante and the volume becomes piano. You can no longer hear the
trumpets. The music crescendos back to forte and the tempo gradually speeds back up to vivace.
0:51 The cymbals chime and the main melody is played again. The volume is still forte and the tempo is still vivace.
1:20 The tempo slows down to andante and the volume decreases to piano. The flute stands out in this section. After
a little while it speed up again back to vivace, and the volume increases to forte.
2:00 The tempo is still vivace and the volume is still forte, but the music changes into a marching sound.
2:24 The marching ends and the main melody starts playing again, at this time the tempo is still vivace and the
volume is still forte, but then it goes soft again and the tempo drops to andante and the volume to piano.
2:58 The main melody starts up again with the tempo being vivace and the volume being forte again.
3:15 The music gets soft and slow again, but then gradually starts to get louder
4:01 The cymbal chimes loudly and the tempo speeds up and the trumpets start playing the melody again.
4:24 The music slows again bring the tempo down to andante and the volume to piano.
4:40 The music becomes forte again and the trumpets stand out and this section after a while the music gets soft and
slow again.
5:20 The trumpets come back in very fast and loud, forte and vivace.
5:34 a drum roll plays and then it ends.
17. For Biography:
http://www.dlwaldron.com/JohnWilliamsbio.html
http://mahawa.jw-music.net/start.htm
http://www.biography.com/articles/John-Williams-
9832526
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/john_willi
ams.html
For Composition History
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Main_Title
http://www.medlibrary.org/medwiki/Hedwig's_Theme
http://indianajones.wikia.com/wiki/The_Raiders_March
Editor's Notes
John Towner Williams is a pianist who also composes and conducts. He is well-known for his popular movie scores in popular motion pictures such as Star Wars, Indiana Johns, E.T., Jaws, Harry Potter, and Jurassic park, as well as many others. John Williams has won many awards throughout his career they include, 4 Golden Globe Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, 5 Academy Awards, and 7 BAFTA Awards. After Walt Disney, Williams is the most nominated person ever.
Williams was born on February 8, 1932 in Long Island, New York. He moved to Los Angeles and graduated from North Hollywood High School in 1950, and then went on to attend UCLA, while attending he studied music and composing privately with an Italian composer named Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. John was drafted into the U.S. Air Force in 1952, where he conducted and arranged music for the Air Force Band as part of his assignment. In 1955 his service ended and he moved back to New York to attend Juilliard School, there he studied piano with Madame Rosina Lhevinne. He also worked as a jazz pianist at many clubs and eventually studios. In 1956 John Williams got married to Barbara Ruick and was happily married until she passed away on March 3, 1974. Together they had three children, Jennifer born in 1956, Mark born in 1958, and Joseph born in 1960. John did end up marrying again, to Samantha Winslow on July 21 1980.
Also in 1956, Twentieth Century Fox hired John Williams to be their pianist for the studio orchestra, after a while he was writing the music for TV shows such as, Lost in Space, Land of the Giants Gilligan's Island, and Wagon Train he also wrote for low budget movies. While working at Fox Studios he had the chance to work with great movie composers such as Alfred Newman, Franze Waxman and Bernard Herrmann. While working at Universal Studios, Williams composed his first major film, it was a B movie, Daddy-O. John Williams made the A List when he wrote the Oscar-nominated score for The Valley of the Dolls. John Williams won his first Academy Award in 1971 for his adapted score for the film Fiddler on the Roof.
In 1974, Williams was approached by director Steven Spielberg to compose music for his feature directorial debut, The Sugarland Express, a year later Spielberg came back to Williams and asked him to compose again this time for the film Jaws. The popular two-note motif has become recognizable to the world as a sign of approaching danger, usually dealing with sharks. This score won Williams his second Academy Award, but this time it was for an original composition, this was his first original composition to win. Williams and Spielberg worked again together for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, in 1977. Spielberg recommended Williams to his friend and fellow director George Lucas, who needed a composer for his ambitious space epic, Star Wars. One of the most recognizable songs from a movie is “Luke’s Theme” the film as well as the soundtrack were very successful, it remains today the highest grossing non-popular music recording of all time and it won William another Academy Award for best original score. In 1980 and 1983 Williams composed the music for the second and third Star Wars movies, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.During that same time frame, 1980 to 1993, Williams took over as Principal Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. In 1995 he was succeeded by Keith Lockhart. Williams is currently the Laureate Conductor of the Pops. Williams leads the Pops several times a year, usually in May and during the Holiday season.In 1985 NBC asked Williams to compose music for various network news spots, Williams called this package “The Mission” it consisted of four pieces and two of which are still used today for for NBC Nightly News, Meet the Press and The Today Show.Williams continued to compose scores for other very popular movies, such as Superman, the Indiana Jones Series: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Johns and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and his very emotional score to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which won Williams his fourth Academy Award. John Williams worked with Spielberg again on his movies, Jurassic Park, Munich, Schindler’s List, Empire of the Sun, and Memoirs of a Geisha. The only movies John Williams hasn’t composed for Spielberg were the Color Purple, and Twilight Zone: The Movie. Spielberg has said, “I call it an honorable privilege to regard John Williams as a friend.”
In 1999 George Lucas asked John Williams to score for him again but this time for the prequels of the very popular Star Wars. There were three prequels, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. Few composers have scored an entire series of this magnitude: the combined scores of all six Star Wars films add up to more than 14 hours of orchestral music.
When the 20th century came around Williams was asked to compose music for the film series of the popular book Harry Potter. He went on to score the first three movies of the series. Williams scored the song Hedwig’s Theme which went on to be used in all eight of the Harry Potter Films, basically became the Harry Potter theme song.
Williams has also written many concert pieces as well as scores for movies. He wrote symphonies; a Sinfonietta for wind ensemble, a Concerto for Horn, a cello concerto, a Concerto for Clarinet, concertos for the flute and violin, and a trumpet concerto.John Williams has won many Awards and composed many pieces, he is a great composer and even if people don’t know his name, they know his music, his work, and that is what will live on forever.
Hedwig’s Theme is a leitmotif, and it was composed by John Williams for the Harry Potter Series in 2001. This song is often considered to be the theme song for the Harry Potter series because it was featured in every film, usually during the title screen. Hedwig’s Theme can also be seen in the Harry Potter video games. It was achieved significant pop culture status, featuring in ring tones, trailer music and other forms of multimedia. Hedwig’s Theme can be found on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone soundtrack.
The Raiders March is a film score, it is the theme song for Indiana Jones. It was composed by John Williams in 1980. It was originally two songs played on piano, but Steven Spielberg asked Williams to combined them and make one song that is how The Raiders March was created. The Raiders March has been used in every Indiana Jones movie. In the full version, which is the one I selected, it includes a section of the love theme form Raiders of the Lost Ark which is also known as Marion’s Theme. This song can be found on the Raiders of the Lost Ark Soundtrack.
The Star Wars Main Theme, also known as Star Wars Main Title, Star Wars Theme, Luke’s Theme or just Star Wars is the theme that is played at the beginning of all six of the Star Wars movies. It was also featured in other Star Wars media such as television series and video games. The opening theme is representative of war drums, and it was originally performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. On writing the Main Theme John Williams said, “When I thought of a theme for Luke and his adventures, I composed a melody that reflected the brassy, bold, masculine, and noble qualities I saw in the character.” John Williams wrote the Main Theme in 1977, the length of the song is 5:52 and it was played in a B-flat Major. The Main Theme starts off as a fast and complicated phrase for the brass; it then goes into the melody with the trumpets playing, this is the most recognizable part of the song, when asked this is the part people can usually hum. The trumpets melody plays twice then the strings come in, the strings play a calm, peaceful melody then the brass instruments come back in with the main melody, this melody plays twice then the strings reappear and finish the theme with a fast descending phrase. The Main Theme can be found in all of the Star Wars soundtracks.
Hedwig’s Theme (1:19) 0:00 Introduction: The introduction begins with the Celesta playing the main melody. The introduction is played in G major. It has an allegro tempo and piano volume. It soon begins to crescendo (gradually increase volume). 0:18 you start to hear strings playing in the background with a higher pitch then the celesta. The tempo is still allegro but volume is now mezzo-piano, but it continues to crescendo. 0:33 other instruments come in. The tempo is still allegro but the volume is now mezzo-forte. 0:43 the main melody starts to play again but this time it is not played by just the celesta and it is still allegro and the volume is still mezzo-forte but it starts to crescendo. 1:00 the tempo is the same but the volume is now forte 1:16 Cuts off into a sharp end.
The Raider’s March 0:00 Introduction: drums start off playing the main melody and shortly after the trumpets and cymbals join in. The tempo is moderato and the volume starts off mezzo-piano but quickly moves to mezzo-forte. 0:36 The trumpets stop playing. The tempo is still moderato and the volume is now back now to mezzo-piano. 1:00 Everything is still the same. Tempo is moderato and the volume is mezzo-piano. 1:30 Everything is still the same. Tempo is moderato and the volume is mezzo-piano. 2:00 Marion’s theme starts. The volume dims to piano and the tempo slows to andante. The flute stands out during this section. 2:30 Marion’s theme is still playing, the volume is still piano and the tempo is still andante. 3:00 Marion’s theme is still playing, the volume is still piano and the tempo is still andante. 3:30 The tempo slowly starts to pick and the volume starts to increase 3:56 The trumpets come back in loudly playing the main melody again. The tempo is moderato again and the volume is back to mezzo-forte. 4:26 The trumpets stop playing for a moment so that the cymbals can be heard loud and clearly. The tempo is still moderato and the volume is still mezzo-forte. 5:00 End.
Star Wars Main Title 0:00 Introduction: Starts off with the trumpets playing the main melody, you can hear the drums very clearly in the background. The tempo is vivace and the volume is forte. 0:30 The music slows down the tempo becomes andante and the volume becomes piano. You can no longer hear the trumpets. The music crescendos back to forte and the tempo gradually speeds back up to vivace. 0:51 The cymbals chime and the main melody is played again. The volume is still forte and the tempo is still vivace. 1:20 The tempo slows down to andante and the volume decreases to piano. The flute stands out in this section. After a little while it speed up again back to vivace, and the volume increases to forte. 2:00 The tempo is still vivace and the volume is still forte, but the music changes into a marching sound. 2:24 The marching ends and the main melody starts playing again, at this time the tempo is still vivace and the volume is still forte, but then it goes soft again and the tempo drops to andante and the volume to piano. 2:58 The main melody starts up again with the tempo being vivace and the volume being forte again. 3:15 The music gets soft and slow again, but then gradually starts to get louder 4:01 The cymbal chimes loudly and the tempo speeds up and the trumpets start playing the melody again. 4:24 The music slows again bring the tempo down to andante and the volume to piano. 4:40 The music becomes forte again and the trumpets stand out and this section after a while the music gets soft and slow again. 5:20 The trumpets come back in very fast and loud, forte and vivace. 5:34 a drum roll plays and then it ends.
Works Sited Page/Bibliography for Biography http://www.dlwaldron.com/JohnWilliamsbio.html http://mahawa.jw-music.net/start.htm http://www.biography.com/articles/John-Williams-9832526 http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/john_williams.htmlWorks Sited Page/Bibliography for Composition History http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Main_Title http://www.medlibrary.org/medwiki/Hedwig's_Theme http://indianajones.wikia.com/wiki/The_Raiders_March
