By Tiffany Holmberg Music 1010

 John Williams was born in Long Island,New York on February  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, Together they had three children, Jennifer, Mark, and Joseph.  In July 1980 John married again this time to Samantha Winslow.

John Williams John with his first wife Barbara Ruick John Williams with wife Samantha Winslow

 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.

 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, Schindler’s List, Empire of the Sun and Memoirs of a Geisha.

 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 Then again in 1999 with the 3 prequels, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith.

 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

 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.

 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.

 The theme song for Indiana Jones.  It was composed in  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

 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

 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.

 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.

 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.

 For Biography:        ams.html ams.html  For Composition History     