You may not know his name, but Jim Self was John Williams' favorite tuba player for more than 25 years. Jim Self played the tuba on scores for Jurassic Park and Home Alone, and most notably, Close Encounters of the Third Kind: It was Jim Self’s performance that was featured as the voice of the Mother Ship.

Self, who died Sunday at the age of 82, played tuba on more than 1,500 soundtracks, including almost all the big John Williams soundtracks (although not on Jaws with its big tuba solo; that piece was performed by Tommy Johnson).

Beyond his work in film, Self recorded albums of classical music, performed in orchestras around Los Angeles. He was a teacher, he was a jazz musician, and one of the greats. Listen to more about Jim Self — including his recording of a piece by Robert Schumann — using the audio player above.

Film composer John Williams recently turned 93, and YourClassical celebrated by creating the Ultimate John Williams Playlist. Listen to his music in an alternate tab while you take this quiz to find out how much you know about this living legend.

Composer John Williams turns 93 on Feb. 8. To celebrate, enjoy an encore of a special Minnesota Orchestra concert in tribute to the iconic composer. And Saturday Cinema host Lynne Warfel has compiled the Ultimate John Williams Playlist for your pleasure. Listen now!

Minnesota Orchestra pays tribute

In early November, the Minnesota Orchestra performed a concert under the direction of Sarah Hicks to celebrate the music of Williams. Listen to an encore of this special event, with hosts Melissa Ousley and Lynne Warfel, by using the player above. (This on-demand audio will be available until March 8.)

Playlist

• Superman: March

• Jurassic Park: Theme

• Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark: “Marion’s Theme”

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: “Hedwig’s Theme”

• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: “Scherzo for Motorcycle”

• Hook: “Flight to Neverland”

• Far and Away: Suite

• Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back: “Imperial March”

• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: “Adventures on Earth”

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: “Fawkes the Phoenix”

• Jaws: Theme

• Across the Stars

• Star Wars: The Force Awakens: “Jedi Steps and Finale”

• Bonus: Violin Concerto: Movements 2 and 3 — performed by James Ehnes and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Stéphane Denève (Pentatone 5187148)

Ultimate John Williams Playlist: On the Rise (1950s-60s)

During his stint in a U.S. Air Force Band stationed in Newfoundland in the early 1950s, Johnny Williams, as he was called then, got his first film gig doing music for You Are Welcome, a German company's documentary on the maritime provinces. After his discharge, he returned home to Los Angeles, studied with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, went to Julliard and studied piano with Rosina Lhévinne. In fact, he began professionally as a studio pianist working under distinguished musicians such as Henry Mancini, Alfred Newman, Elmer Bernstein and Andre Previn, whom he credits as his mentor.

One of those associations led to his breakthrough as the pianist on Mancini's immortal theme to Peter Gunn. He went on to play piano on the opening of the Main Theme of To Kill a Mockingbird and more.  

An association with prominent producer Irwin Allen led to his hiring as the composer for the TV shows Lost in Space, Time Tunnel and Land of the Giants. Allen went on to hire Williams for some of his big-budget disaster films in the late 1960s:  Earthquake, The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure.

Williams considered his first big break with a big-time director to be How to Steal a Million for legendary filmmaker William Wyler.

His mentoring by Previn led to his collaboration with Andre and Dory Previn on Valley of the Dolls, for which he received his first Oscar nomination.

The Reivers, with Steve McQueen, and the John Wayne offbeat western The Cowboys solidified his reputation in Hollywood, and it also got the attention of a young hopeful named Steven Spielberg. Spielberg, a self-proclaimed movie-score nerd says that when he heard both those scores, he decided that whenever he got his big break, he was "going to hire this John Williams guy." And so he did.

Playlist

• Peter Gunn: Theme

• Lost in Space: Theme (Season 3)

• Time Tunnel: Theme

• How to Steal a Million: Theme

• Valley of the Dolls: Theme

• The Poseidon Adventure: Main Title

• The Towering Inferno: Main Title

• The Reivers: Main Title

• The Cowboys: Overture

Ultimate John Williams Playlist: With Spielberg

Cut to the scene where Spielberg has his first major film in preproduction, Sugarland Express. He schedules a Beverly Hills lunch with Williams, who by now is well-established in L.A. Still enamored with Williams' music for The Reivers, The Cowboys and also a modernist score that Williams did for director Robert Altman’s Images — Williams said that if he had not entered into big orchestral film composition, he might have leaned more toward composing concert hall works in that same modernist style — they sit down to chat.

At that now-historic lunch,  Williams was stunned by Spielberg's youth but impressed by his expertise and passion for classic film scores by the likes of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Miklós Rózsa and Franz Waxman. He also knew a lot about Williams' music. Williams said he felt as if Spielberg knew his music better than he did. He agreed to do Sugarland Express, and one of Hollywood's greatest composer-director partnerships was born.

Williams proceeded to give Spielberg a highly unusual score for Sugarland Express, a small-scale, intimate score using jazz harmonica player Toots Thielemans. Chris Martin of the rock band Coldplay said in the documentary Music by John Williams that "when Johnny and Steven get together, they are a band,” meaning they work symbiotically to tell the story. 

In that same documentary, Spielberg says, "There have been many times when I change the way I see my own film because of what Johnny has written. Sometimes, I start seeing my film the way he sees it."

It's unusual and noteworthy that three pieces by Williams made the Billboard charts in the 1970s: the Main Theme from Jaws in 1975, the Main Theme from Star Wars in 1977 and the Main Theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1978. A humble, self-effacing, classy and quiet man, Williams says he isn't happy 100 percent with any of his scores in their entirety but that he is proud of Close Encounters.

Spielberg has, as you might expect, many stories of his collaborations with Williams, but memorable ones include:

• When Spielberg came to Williams' house to hear sketches of the score to Jaws, Williams sat at his old Steinway piano and played the opening two repetitive notes on the far reaches of the lowest octave of the keyboard. Spielberg was bemused, listened a bit longer, then looking perplexed, laughed and said, "What are ya gonna do with that, Johnny?" Apparently, he thought the whole score of the opening scene was going to be those now-famous notes only on solo piano.

• When Williams presented Spielberg with the first draft of the Main Theme to Schindler's List, Kate Capshaw, Spielberg's wife, was present. Williams played the opening bars on that same piano. Capshaw said she looked over and her husband was in tears, as was she — and, eventually, Williams. Itzhak Perlman, who played on the soundtrack, said that theme is the most requested music when he tours around the world.

Playlist

• Sugarland Express: Theme

• Jaws: Main Theme, “Barrel Chase” and “Shark Cage Fugue”

• Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark: “Raiders March”

• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: “Flying Theme”

• Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Suite

• Jurassic Park: Theme

• Amistad: “Dry Your Tears, Afrika”

• Empire of the Sun: “Exsultate Justi”

• Hook: “Flight to Neverland”

• War Horse: “Dartmoor, 1912”

• Catch Me If You Can!: Theme

• Schindler’s List: Theme

• Saving Private Ryan: “Hymn to the Fallen”

Ultimate John Williams Playlist: ‘Star Wars’

By the late 1970s, Williams was considering taking work on a film called A Bridge Too Far, a World War II epic with a huge international cast. He felt that he'd have a grand time coming up with his signature leitmotifs for all those characters. Spielberg had previously introduced Williams to his friend George Lucas and was nudging the composer toward doing a little movie called Star Wars.  Williams reportedly vacillated for a bit, then acquiesced to his old friend and said simply, "OK, I'll do Star Wars."“  And the rest is — well you know.

Williams once said in an interview that Yoda's theme was one of the most autobiographical pieces he's written. But then he adds that that's all he's willing to say. And he smiles.

Lucas, a notoriously noncommunicative individual, revealed little about the story, sequels and characters. Rather in the dark about it all, Williams set to work on his many leitmotifs for the characters, assuming Luke and Leia would be romantically involved, which is how he wrote the theme for them — a big, romantic, sweeping melody. Only later did he find out that they were siblings.

"Duel of the Fates," the most downloaded piece of Star Wars music, is based on fragments of an old Welsh poem and sung in Sanskrit. It is perhaps the pinnacle of Williams' working with a full symphony orchestra and chorus.

Playlist

• A New Hope: Main Theme

• The Empire Strikes Back: “Yoda’s Theme”

• Return of the Jedi: “Luke and Leia”

• A New Hope: “Leia’s Theme”

• Return of the Jedi: “Parade of the Ewoks”

• The Empire Strikes Back: “Imperial March”

• A New Hope: “Throne Room and Finale”

• The Phantom Menace: “Duel of the Fates”

Ultimate John Williams Playlist: Other Films

Williams worked on Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot. He truly wanted to work with the famous director, although he wasn't particularly enamored with the script. Hitch didn't want anything "overly dramatic," William recalls. Hitch added, "Remember, murder can be fun!"

Director Richard Donner, on hearing the March from Superman for the first time asked Williams, "Are there lyrics here? That opening melody, I hear the word "Su-per-man! Ta da da-da daaahh?" 

Williams smiled a bit and said, "You are right. There are words."

Far and Away, a Ron Howard film, did not do well with critics mostly due to Tom Cruise getting less than stellar reviews, but it is considered by many to be one of Williams' best scores. Having the low strings create the opening of "The Donnybrook" is brilliant writing for double basses.

The Harry Potter franchise got original music by Williams in only the first three installments. But it was so powerful in its leitmotifs of Hogwarts, and especially “Hedwig's Theme,” that it is used over and over by the succeeding composers, Nicholas Hooper, Alexandre Desplat and Patrick Doyle. It's hard to top perfection.

Catch Me if You Can boasts a jazzy score, so much so that when saxophonist Brandon Marsalis saw the movie, he immediately contacted Williams’ office asking if he would arrange it as a saxophone concerto. He got a call back saying he'd have it in six weeks.

The Book Thief in 2013 was directed by Brian Percival and was Williams' first non-Spielberg-directed film since 2005. A box-office success, it earned Williams received yet another Oscar nomination for his score, which was recorded on the Alfred Newman Sound Stage at 20th Century Fox Studios.

Williams worked on Home Alone, giving it its Oscar-nominated score, and the song "Somewhere in My Memory," with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, also was nominated. The composer says the track "Holiday Flight" was inspired by “Trepak” from Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.  It's OK to admit your were inspired by others!

Playlist

• Cinderella Liberty: “Nice to Be Around”

• Family Plot: Finale

• Far and Away: Suite

• Dracula: “Night Journeys”

• Memoirs of a Geisha: “Sayuri’s Theme”

• The Fury: Main Title

• The Accidental Tourist: Main Title

• The Book Thief: Main Title

• Home Alone: “Somewhere in My Memory” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas/End Title”

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: “Hedwig’s Theme” and “Harry’s Wondrous World”

Ultimate John Williams Playlist: Concert Hall

Many of Williams' works for the concert hall are surprising, beautiful and unexpected. He has written chamber music, concerti and fanfares. 

His first wife, actress Barbara Ruick, died unexpectedly at 41 while on location for a film in Nevada. Williams was devastated and left to be the single father of three teenagers. He stopped writing music almost entirely for two years. He felt he was finished. 

Then he reported feeling as if Ruick was suddenly present with him, guiding him. He says he still feels her presence when he works.

He wrote his First Violin Concerto in her memory. Her father was a violinist, and she loved the instrument. He said he had never written anything for her while she was alive and so dedicated this gorgeous concerto "to BRW."

(Another example of show-business serendipity is that Williams was the piano sideman working for Alfred Newman on Carousel and his soon-to-be wife, Barbara, played Carrie in that film. They also were classmates and knew each other at North Hollywood High School but never dated then.)

Playlist

• Olympic Fanfare

• Elegy for Cello and Orchestra

• Violin Concerto: Third Movement

• Air and Simple Gifts

• Trumpet Concerto: Third Movement

This week on Saturday Cinema, host Lynne Warfel highlights John Williams’ best scores and stories, celebrating his 93 years. Selections include music from Star Wars, Jaws, Home Alone and more. Listen now!

Playlist

Lost in Space
Composer: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Royal Symphony Orchestra
Cinematic Soundtracks 2019

Lost in Space
Composer: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Royal Symphony Orchestra
Cinematic Soundtracks 2019

The Poseidon Adventure: Main Title
Composer: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Varese Sarabande 67059

The Poseidon Adventure: Main Title
Composer: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Varese Sarabande 67059

The Cowboys: Overture
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Philips 420178

The Cowboys: Overture
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Philips 420178

Jaws: Main Theme
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Philips 420178

Amistad: Dry Your Tears Afrika
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Dreamworks 50035

Jaws: Main Theme
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Philips 420178

Close Encounters of the Third Kind: excerpts
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Philharmonic
DG 4861706

Close Encounters of the Third Kind: excerpts
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Philharmonic
DG 4861706

E.T.: Bicycle Chase (Flying Theme)
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Philips 454736

Schindler’s List: Theme
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Soloists: Itzhak Perlman, violin
Sony 63005

E.T.: Bicycle Chase (Flying Theme)
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Philips 454736

Raiders of the Lost Ark March
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Philharmonic
DG 4861706

Schindler’s List: Theme
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Soloists: Itzhak Perlman, violin
Sony 63005

The Reivers
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Sony 51333

Raiders of the Lost Ark March
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Philharmonic
DG 4861706

Olympic Fanfare and Theme
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Philharmonic
DG 4861706

Home Alone: Somewhere in My Memory
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Sony 46595

The Empire Strikes Back: Yoda’s Theme
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Philharmonic
DG 4861706

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Prologue
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Warner 83491

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters and The Journey to Hogwarts
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Warner 83491

Return of the Jedi: Luke and Leia
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Philips 420178

Family Plot: Finale
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: Paul Bateman
Orchestra/Ensemble: City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
Silva 1101

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: Duel of the Fates
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra
Sony 61816

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg: I Will Wait for You
Composer: Michel Legrand
Soloists: Jessye Norman, soprano
Philips 422401

Dracula: Night Journeys
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles
Soloists: Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
DG 30629

Home Alone: Somewhere in My Memory
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Sony 46595

Yes, Giorgio: If We Were In Love
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Philips 411037

Home Alone: Holiday Flight
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Sony 48232

Superman: March
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: Stanley Black
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra
MCA 25192

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters and The Journey to Hogwarts
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Studio Orchestra
Warner 83491

The Empire Strikes Back: Yoda’s Theme
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Philharmonic
DG 4861706

Superman: March
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: Stanley Black
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra
MCA 25192

Return of the Jedi: Luke and Leia
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Pops Orchestra
Philips 420178

Olympic Fanfare and Theme
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Philharmonic
DG 4861706

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: Duel of the Fates
Composer: John Williams
Conductor: John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra
Sony 61816

Every day, YourClassical’s programming team (music director Joe Goetz and associate music directors Jennifer Allen and Robin Gehl) listen to dozens of recordings as they create our daily radio playlists and on-demand streams. Here are some of their favorites for April 2024.

Rodrigo: Fantasía Para un Gentilhombre & Concierto de Aranjuez; Xianji Liu and the Spanish Radio and Television Orchestra, conducted by Pedro Amaral (IBS Classical)
Two of the greatest pieces of Spanish guitar music have been interpreted and recorded by up-and-coming Chinese guitarist Xianji Liu. Spanish recording label IBS Classical was founded in 2012 primarily to showcase the musical heritage of Spain. Liu’s recording features Joaquin Rodrigo’s hallmark concertos, Fantasia for a Gentleman (composed in 1954) and the Aranjuez Concerto (composed in 1939). In 2019, Liu was invited to perform both works at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, Spain, where the gardens first inspired Rodrigo to compose the concerto. Liu became the first Chinese-born guitarist to win the Francisco Tárrega International Guitar Competition, held in Benicàssim, Spain. He was honored at the 50th competition in 2016. Trained in China, he completed graduate work at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar, graduating in 2018. In addition to an international touring and recording schedule, he teaches guitar at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Along with Liu, the recording features conductor Pedro Amaral leading the Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra. — Robin Gehl

Timo Andres: The Blind Banister; Timo Andres, Inbal Segev and the Metropolis Ensemble, conducted by Andrew Cyr (Nonesuch)
I was first introduced to composer and pianist Timo Andres in 2013 at a small dinner he hosted at his apartment in Brooklyn. What first impressed me was his Bolognese, but then I heard him play Frederic Chopin. And Thomas Ades. And then his own music. It was clear he was destined for great things, and indeed his piano concerto The Blind Banister was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize. Now, nearly a decade after its composition and first performances, it has been recorded with the Metropolis Ensemble with Andres at the piano. The Blind Banister, while an excellent work, wasn’t actually my favorite piece on the album. His 2017 concerto for cello and chamber orchestra, Upstate Obscura, grabbed hold of my imagination from its first notes. Cellist Inbal Segev, who commissioned the work, explores via ever-expanding motifs the curious tale of artist John Vanderlyn’s quixotic attempt to paint a panoramic replica of the gardens of Versailles. The final movement, “Vanishing Point,” has an aura of the resignation of an artist whose wild dream was never fulfilled or understood. — Joe Goetz

Anastasia Kobekina: Venice (Sony)
Inbal Segev isn’t the only cellist with fascinating music to enjoy this month. Russian cellist Anatasia Kobekina has a new album, Venice, that has two feet in different worlds, yet she finds a curious way to find common ground between them. On one hand, the Renaissance and Baroque traditions of Venice are explored through arrangements of Claudio Monteverdi and Antonio Vivaldi. On the other, Kobekina explores the modern sounds of Gyorgy Kurtag, Caroline Shaw and even her father, Vladimir Kobekin. Of particular note is her inclusion of Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov. A native of Yekaterinburg, Russia, Kobekina has been outspoken against her native country’s invasion of Ukraine. Silvestrov’s Evening Serenade, with its echoes of Franz Schubert’s Ständchen, serves as a poignant reminder of his nation’s struggle in the face of aggression yet ends with the slightest glimmer of hope for a better future. — Joe Goetz

John Williams: Violin Concerto No. 1, Bernstein: Serenade; James Ehnes and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Stéphane Denève (Pentatone)
Two concertos by American composers are the focus of the latest recording by violinist James Ehnes with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and conductor Stéphane Denève. John Williams’ First Violin Concerto was written from 1974 to ‘76, and is one of his earliest “serious” works. While touches of his characteristic compositional sound can be found throughout (a shimmering harp glissando here, an atmospheric glow of strings there), this is not simply a score padded with extra material. Williams finds the opportunity to express a huge range of emotions — energetic excitement, frantic anger, tender melancholy — through the more modern neo-classical style of the mid-’70s. Like Williams, Leonard Bernstein blurs the line between music for the screen and for the concert stage in his Serenade on Plato’s Symposium. Composed in 1954 for violinist Isaac Stern, Bernstein was inspired to write this exploration of the Greek idea of love after re-reading Plato’s works. Both composers have such unique voices that the music is unmistakably theirs — but you’ll have to close your eyes and imagine your own movie. — Jennifer Allen

While movie music buffs can debate whether John Williams' Star Wars score is truly the greatest film score of all time, the composer has certainly created the most recognizable musical universe ever to accompany a motion picture. The familiarity and resonance of the score has grown with each new installment of the series, and Williams has continued to develop new themes for the expanding cast of characters having adventures a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

In this exploration of the musical world of Star Wars, we're tracing Williams' classical influences.

A trend-setting throwback

One of the reasons Star Wars made such an impact was that in a decade marked by stark, intellectually ambitious science fiction films—including George Lucas's own THX-1138 (1971)—Star Wars was a shamelessly sweeping throwback to space operas in the Buck Rogers mode.

Part and parcel of Lucas's approach was to commission a grand symphonic score, rather than an experimental electronic soundtrack. In his mid-40s, Williams was already an experienced film composer. Juilliard-trained, he'd worked with such legends as Bernard Herrmann and won two Academy Awards—including one for his still-iconic score for Steven Spielberg's Jaws, the movie that's credited for establishing the summer blockbuster genre.

It wasn't Williams's job, then, to break new aesthetic ground. In fact, it was precisely in the nature of his assignment that he produce a score harking back to the swashbuckling classics Lucas grew up with. His triumph, with Star Wars, was to deploy that musical vocabulary with an unprecedented power and sweep—a sweep that grew with each of the film's two sequels, and then with the three prequels Lucas directed 20 years later.

Wagner: The original franchise king

The ultimate influence on Williams's vision for Star Wars was Richard Wagner, whose Ring cycle combines a wealth of musical ideas that would inform Williams's work. Daringly dissonant and boldly dramatic for its time, Wagner's four-opera cycle was the original "cinematic" composition, its lurid Romantic vocabulary providing the basic toolbox for a century's worth of film composers.

The idea Williams is best-known for copping from Wagner—via many other opera and film composers—is the device of the leitmotif: a distinctive musical "voice" for each major character, a melody and arrangement that can be adapted in various ways to complement the evolving story.

Where the ordinary filmgoer most conspicuously hears Wagner in Star Wars, is in the brass-laden theme for Darth Vader and his evil Empire—which is distinctively reminiscent of Wagner's music for his majestic Valkyries.

Tchaikovsky: Instrumental color

You don't necessarily think Nutcracker Suite when you think Star Wars—but it's more appropriate than you might realize that The Force Awakens was released during the Christmas season. Tchaikovsky was a master of orchestral color, and when you listen to his score for the "coffee" interlude next to Williams's Jawa theme, you're reminded that Clara's magical sojourn was the original trip to a galaxy far, far away.

The grandly Romantic theme from Swan Lake is also echoed in Williams's love theme for Han and Leia, from The Empire Strikes Back. Whether or not Williams was explicitly thinking about a dying swan as he penned this elegiac music, he was certainly going for that feeling that a curtain (of stars?) is about to fall.

Holst: Journey into space

Other than the composers shot into orbit by Stanley Kubrick in 2001 (Ligeti, Khachaturian, both of the Strausses)—and the composers literally shot into orbit on Voyager II (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven)—there's no composer in the classical repertoire who's more closely associated with outer space than Gustav Holst. The Planets has been mined for any number of sci-fi spectaculars, and Mars in particular has been a favorite of film composers including Williams, whose stormtroopers march to a distinctly Martian beat.

Korngold: Movie master

Of all Williams's borrowings, there's none more notorious than his nod to Erich Korngold—right out of the gate, no less. As many listeners have noted, the main Star Wars theme (technically, Luke Skywalker's theme) bears more than a passing resemblance to Korngold's theme for Kings Row (1942).

Whether you'd go so far as to call this a "cinematic swipe," it's no shocker that Williams looked to channel Korngold, whose music for classic films like The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and The Sea Hawk (1940) is clearly the immediate template from which Williams was working with Star Wars and his other best-known film scores.

Kings Row, ironically, is a hard-edged drama about dark secrets in a small town. One of its stars was none other than Ronald Reagan, who would go on as President to appropriate the terms "Star Wars" (for his proposed missile defense system) and "evil empire" (for the Soviet Union).

Stravinsky: Uncanny Rite

Stravinsky's influence on Star Wars might have come by way of Fantasia, where his instantly infamous Rite of Spring was used to soundtrack a desiccated landscape where dinosaurs marched to their deaths. As C-3PO and R2-D2 survey the barren sands of Tatooine, classical music fans must have wondered when a young Twi'lek was going to dance herself to death.

Orff: Sing a song of Sith

Believe it or not, when it came time to score the Star Wars prequels, there was one classical monster hit that just about every film composer except for Williams had plundered. That's Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, whose O Fortuna choir has been cribbed for seemingly every movie that culminates in a supernatural apocalypse. When it came time for Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi to duel to the death with Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace, Williams knew who to call.

Elgar: A New Hope and Glory

The theme that soundtracks the Throne Room procession (sorry for the spoiler) in the original Star Wars movie is a perfect example of Williams's special talent for creating music that's simultaneously new and old. Thanks to Williams's gift for melody and tone, you probably don't think about your high school graduation when Luke and Han are walking down the aisle—but listening to Williams's music for this scene next to Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance march makes clear that Williams knew whose arrangement to crib when he wanted to evoke the feeling of a formal award ceremony.

An original alchemy

Although Williams owes debts to all these composers—and many more—every composer stands on the shoulders of giants. Williams's homages may have been a bit more direct than some other composers', but the bottom line is that his mastery of melody and deftness of tone make the Star Wars scores a signal achievement in the history of cinema. Just as Lucas knew to hit the books (specifically, Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces), so did Williams; together, the two reinvigorated ancient tropes with freshness and verve.

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This week’s episode of Saturday Cinema, with host Lynne Warfel, celebrates the 40th anniversary of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial with music from the movie and other sci-fi favorites. Listen now and see the playlist below!

Playlist

Star Trek V: Main Theme and March of the Klingons
Jerry Goldsmith (Composer)
John Mauceri (Conductor)
Journey to the Stars (Album)
Hollywood Bowl Orchestra (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 4:09

E.T.: The Magic of Halloween
John Williams (Composer)
John Williams (Conductor)
Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Album)
Studio Orchestra (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 2:54

2001: Space Station Docking
Alex North (Composer)
Jerry Goldsmith (Conductor)
Varese Sarabande - A 25th Anniversary Celebration (Album)
National Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 2:23

E.T.: Far from Home/E.T. Alone
John Williams (Composer)
John Williams (Conductor)
Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Album)
Studio Orchestra (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 6:51

The Day the Earth Stood Still
Bernard Herrmann (Composer)
Bernard Herrmann (Conductor)
Bernard Herrmann: Great Film Music (Album)
National Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 11:41

E.T.: Bicycle Chase (Flying Theme)
John Williams (Composer)
John Williams (Conductor)
John Williams: The Berlin Concert (Album)
Berlin Philharmonic (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 3:57

The Iron Giant: The Eye of the Storm
Michael Kamen (Composer)
Varese Sarabande - A 25th Anniversary Celebration (Album)
Studio Orchestra (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 2:29

Star Trek: Main Theme
Alexander Courage (Composer)
John Williams (Conductor)
Out of This World (Album)
Boston Pops Orchestra (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 3:40

E.T.: Escape/Chase/Saying Goodbye
John Williams (Composer)
John Williams (Conductor)
Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Album)
Studio Orchestra (Orchestra/Ensemble)
Duration: 15:06

In 1993, composer John Williams' theme for Jurassic Park defied traditional monster-movie musical tropes – instead of horror, Williams wrote a hymn for Steven Spielberg's summer movie smash. And, true to form for Williams, its grand melody has been unforgettable ever since.

The score has been covered, parodied and used as the theme to more than a few weddings. In an interview with NPR Jeff Goldblum, who played chaotician Ian Malcolm in the original film, remembers a lyrical treatment he stumbled upon online:

"In Jurassic Park / scary in the dark / I'm so scared that I'll / Be eaten..."

To hear this story, use the audio player at the top of this page.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

"John has a great capacity to make me blush," Ma laughs.

On a new album, A Gathering of Friends, Williams and Ma continue an artistic collaboration going all the way back to Williams' tenure as conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra in the early '80s, eventually resulting in Williams composing a cello concerto with Ma's preternatural talent in mind. The new album includes a revisited version of that concerto, along with new arrangements of film scores including Schindler's List, Lincoln and Munich featuring the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Williams.

The pair sat down with All Things Considered's Mary Louise Kelly to recall those collaborative beginnings, the process of creating for film and to share (some of) the enormous respect they have for each other... and maybe poke a little fun.

You can hear this conversation using the audio player at the top of this page.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Legendary composer and conductor John Williams hasn’t showed signs of slowing down since turning 90 earlier this year. With the upcoming Star Wars show Obi-Wan Kenobi, Williams’ score amazes music and movie lovers alike once again. Watch and listen to the trailer, and see if you can recognize any of his timeless Star Wars motifs.

Earlier this year, Deutsche Grammophon released John Williams - Berliner Philharmoniker: The Berlin Concert on CD and Blu-ray. It offers amazing performances of Williams’ film music. Watch some of them below.

John Williams & Berliner Philharmoniker — Princess Leia's Theme

John Williams & Berliner Philharmoniker — Throne Room & End Title

Celebrating John Williams’ 90th birthday with some of his best (and rare) film scores AND the debut of his brand new recording conducting the Berlin Philharmonic.

"I once said to Fred Astaire, 'Isn't it wonderful what the Gershwin brothers did for you at RKO?' " John Williams recalls. Astaire answered. "Yes. But Irving Berlin did more."

Williams has more American cultural reminiscences than you can shake a baton at. At 87 years old, he was born before Elvis Presley, and he's worked with everyone from Astaire to Alfred Hitchcock to Yo-Yo Ma to, of course, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Spielberg and Lucas gave the composer the canvases that made him a household name: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Schindler's List — films that produced some of the most recognizable, beloved melodies of the 20th century.

The Star Wars universe alone has given us dozens of earworms, and one super fan of that music is star violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter.

"I grew up at the Black Forest, where Germany, Switzerland, and France meet," Mutter explains. "It was gorgeous surroundings, but really not much to do other than playing the instrument, playing some soccer, and going into the meadows and the forest. But, we also had the cinema! ... And there John kind of arrived in his music, in 1978 — Star Wars. That was the first time I became aware of this genius." (Note: Star Wars was released in the U.S. in 1977.)

Mutter met Williams at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a few years ago, and politely begged him to write a piece for her.

"She said, 'Write 10 bars — 10 measures of music. That's all you have to do. Just a little portrait,' " the composer remembers. "The summer ended, and Christmas came, and a box of Christmas cookies arrived from Germany from Anne-Sophie. I thought, Oh my God, I have to make 10 bars of something for this lady. She's many things, but one thing she is not is a woman you can say no to. And the 10 bars became 140 bars or so, in a piece that I call 'Markings' — read 'scribblings.' "

Sometime later, over dinner, Mutter suggested doing a whole album of new arrangements of Williams' famous movie themes for solo violin and orchestra. The result is Across the Stars, out Aug. 30, on Deutsche Grammophon, which features hits including "Hedwig's Theme" from Harry Potter and "Yoda's Theme" from The Empire Strikes Back, as well as deeper cuts such as themes from Cinderella Liberty (1973) and Dracula (1979).

Also at that dinner was André Previn, Mutter's ex-husband and Williams' lifelong friend who introduced them in the first place.

"André would say to me, 'Don't worry! She can play anything. Write whatever you want to write for her; You write it and she will play it,'" Williams recalls. "And then I say to Anne-Sophie, 'Maybe it's too hard.' And you say, 'No, it's not too hard.'"

"But it is!" Mutter laughs.

"I had the same thing with Yo-Yo [Ma], and also Itzhak [Perlman]," he says, "That you write something for them — and Yo-Yo especially — I said, 'Please tell me if it's too hard. Other cellists would not play it.' 'No, no, no, I want to play it. Leave it alone.'"

"Yeah," Mutter nods, "Let me suffer!"

Previn, who died earlier this year, got his start in the music department at MGM — which is now Sony Pictures Studios. That's where I spoke with Williams and Mutter. They sat side by side on a couch in a quiet room after a recording session for Across the Stars.

Back in those days, "Johnny" Williams was a jazz piano fiend, and his dad, Johnny Sr., was a session drummer who played on film and TV scores at CBS.

"I would go have my piano study on Saturday morning, and then go down to CBS Studio where he was playing," Williams says. "I'd sit in the back of the orchestra. And I was playing the piano, but I could hear a French horn over here, and something else over there. And I marveled about how the flutist was sitting there for seems like five minutes and she didn't play a note, and then suddenly she played. I was fascinated with the orchestra — never dreaming I would write music for an orchestra."

Before he ever did, though, John Williams was an arranger. He formed a band in high school that would play sorority dances and eventually big-time nightclubs like the Cocoanut Grove -- and he did his own charts and arrangements of pop tunes of the day done in the style of classical composers.

"I can remember the very first time I had a little piano piece, playing at home, and the kid across the street's parents bought him a trumpet," he says. "He came over to play with me and I began to play the song, and he played — and it was terrible. My father explained to me, 'Well, a trumpet is in B-flat. It has to be written up a tone.' (Some instruments are tuned to different keys.) So, he gave me some manuscript paper, and I went up a tone, and we played together. This was like, 'Eureka!' you know? What a magical thing to be able to do."

I was fascinated with the orchestra — never dreaming I would write music for an orchestra." — John Williams

"When I was like a teenager, maybe 14, 15, I was kind of a nerdy kid that would go into the books and look and say, 'How is this orchestration? Why is it there?,'" Williams remembers.

Williams' first Academy Award nomination was for arranging—adapting the score for Valley of the Dolls in 1968 from tunes written by none other than Previn. The first Oscar he ever won was also for arranging in 1971 for the score for Fiddler on the Roof. This unique skill, of taking an existing piece of music and redesigning it for a specific ensemble or occasion, is a distinct art.

"Some people can arrange so beautifully," he says. "If you take the American songbook, which probably goes from 1910 to 1950, those songs had to be orchestrated and arranged to get to be Bing Crosby, to get to be Frank Sinatra."

He rattles off a list of great arrangers: Conrad Salinger, Nathan Van Cleave, Eddie Powell, Herbert Spencer.

"When I went to the Boston Pops at the end of the '70s without Sid Ramin, who was famous for doing all of Leonard Bernstein's theater work, there was nobody left who really understood Cole Porter, and how to get the grace and sophistication and harmonic particularity of that music into a setting," he says. "Listen to 'Begin the Beguine' with Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell. It's a ten-minute piece of art."

"The orchestration was done completely by Edward Powell. 'Begin the Beguine' is a great piece, but this is an extended masterpiece," Williams says.

Williams' side career as an arranger brought film music into the concert hall to an unprecedented degree. When he was appointed conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1980, he started writing and performing new concert arrangements of his film themes. This was initially, he says, out of necessity.

"In the early years, the publisher would send around printed copies of things, probably gotten from the studio, that were such a mess," he says. "Missing bars, and so on. I finally said, 'If these things are going to go around to orchestras, to either rent them or buy them, or children's schools or whatever, they have to be organized so that it's correct."

The classical world has always kept film music and its composers at arm's length, or treated it with outright disdain. Williams has done more than anyone else to legitimize the art form in those hallowed halls, both through the sheer quality of his writing and his ability to adapt film music to fit the classical format.

"Approximately every cue in a motion picture ending is morendo, rallentando, you know? 'To disappear,'" he laughs. "You may have 16 wonderful bars to play in the film, but then we cut away and we do something else. Most of [these concert versions of themes] are extended, so they will have modulations, and they will have some sense of development. They're all pretty much short — none of them are Mahler symphonies — but still require some developmental tissue and endings."

Mutter premiered these new arrangements at Tanglewood in July, and will perform them again at the Konigsplatz in Munich on Sept. 14. She says, unfortunately, there's still a snobbishness in her field towards movie music.

"I have never understood why, particularly in German-speaking countries, there's such a harsh division between these different genres of serious music," she says. "I don't see much of a difference between a program piece like [Richard Strauss'] Alpine Symphony or Don Quixote — a piece which is generally a storyline — and music you would write for a film. I would like to see more of an embrace of these different styles of music on the concert stage. I find it, as a violinist, very exciting and also very challenging to play these many different themes. And I very much look forward to championing this kind of repertoire."

Previn was famously embarrassed by his time in Hollywood, and left that world behind for a career as a "serious" composer and conductor in Europe beginning in the 1960s. He repeatedly told his old friend, "John, stop it with Star Wars!" as he recounted in a 2017 interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer.

"I think he [had] lived too long in Germany," Mutter says. "German-speaking parts of the world are less relaxed about embracing all kinds of different styles of music. And I think, therefore, he always felt the need not to look back on the Hollywood years so favorably. It was probably also, born out of reflex. When [Erich Wolfgang] Korngold came back, after his exile in California, to Vienna, his career as a composer was basically over — because it was a total no-go in Europe to have been a Hollywood composer. Which is really sad and tragic. I think André was that generation, and he tried very hard to erase his past in Hollywood. But he was a genius composer, in both fields, so there was no reason."

Williams brought up Previn's score for the 1962 war film, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. "There's a violin theme in there — oh my God," he says. "Oh, it's heavenly."

Williams has given this whole subject a lot of thought. "We have to look at film music as something very, very young, in its nascent time," he says. "It's only 80 years since we started to put music to film. We had nothing but European incidental music from opera to do — Richard Strauss, or whatever it would be. There was no Hollywood style. We had to find some music to put on the adventure film."

"What I feel convinced about is, if we could come back in 50 years, when younger composers who will come along and use some electronics, some this or that, some orchestra-spatial thing — as the reception of film, and the cinemas themselves become more user-friendly in terms of sonic impression and spatial effects and so on — that some of the greatest music will be written for film."

"I'm a little concerned that the younger generation of composers," Williams says.

Mutter chimes in with a laugh: "That things are getting a little small-chested."

"Well, it depends on how they're getting educated," Williams responds. "But I think there will be great ones — I want to believe that."

Williams says there's a dystopian view of the practice as well.

"You can say, 'Oh my God, nobody can write a scale in Hollywood anymore — they're all no good,'" he says. "That also could happen. Civilization is, you know, wafer thin, to quote Churchill. It's one generation, and it's gone. So when people pass away, they take with them all of their knowledge and all of their experiences."

But music, he says, is part of our humanity: "With all of our other foibles, we cannot abandon music — anymore than we can abandon speech."

"Particularly the music of John Williams!" Mutter says emphatically to which Williams, scrunching his eyes, lets out a self-effacing growl.

Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit npr.org.

You might think you know everything by multi-Oscar-nominated film composer John Williams, but there's a lot of his work that has flown under the radar. On this week's Flicks in Five, Lynne Warfel surveys Williams' less-familiar music, such as his score for Midway.

Saturday Cinema

Tune in to Saturday Cinema at 10 a.m. CST Saturday, Jan. 27, to hear more rarities by John Williams, including The Cowboys, The Adventures of Tintin, Munich, The Book Thief and Family Plot.

Just click on the Listen button below to hear the live stream.

The score that Steven Spielberg calls "John Williams's best work for the movies" has been reissued in a two-disc set that lets fans hear more of the glorious music than ever.

Even though the Star Wars scores will always be the legendary composer's most recognizable work, it's easy to understand why Spielberg feels that way about Williams's music for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. It's arguably Spielberg's greatest film as well, and Williams's delicate, luminous score is integral to its effect.

The original soundtrack was an eight-track, 40-minute release that included three film tracks, two expanded versions of film cues, and three presentations of key themes. What it amounts to is less a soundtrack per se than a suite, and it's preserved on the second disc of a new 35th anniversary soundtrack release.

In 2002, Geffen issued a 20th anniversary soundtrack that finally made most of Williams's music available as it was heard in the film. Delicate cues like the original Main Title music and music accompanying the alien's cautious explorations of his new neighborhood were restored, and listeners could follow the gradual emergence of themes like the iconic, sweeping melody that accompanies Elliott's flying bicycle.

La-La Land Records has just released the ultimate edition of the E.T. soundtrack, a two-disc set timed to the movie's 35th anniversary. The first disc contains the score largely as heard in the 2002 release, but completely remastered from the original tapes and with a couple of additions.

One of those is the music for E.T. hiding in the closet, a short but tense scene that was a signature moment in the film, one that gets a laugh in theaters but is handled with poignant yearning by Williams. Also, this reissue restores a cue named "Stay With Me"; that's the music heard in the film, and a similar track heard in that place on the 2002 edition ("E.T. is Dying") is included on the new release's second disc.

Disc two includes the 1982 soundtrack, remastered for the first time since its release, as well as 12 never-before-released bonus tracks. The first is actually music that Williams arranged for the Universal Studios "E.T. Adventure" ride, a four-minute experience that must seem much longer when you're on it.

Other bonus tracks include alternate versions of cues heard in the film — in some cases, the variation is due to the fact that Williams tried to sync his score to the picture before Spielberg decided it would be better to cut the picture in time with the music's best tempo — plus a couple of genuine curiosities.

"The Kiss" is music heard when E.T.'s watching The Quiet Man, buzzed on beer and transmitting his thoughts to Elliott — who duly plants a smack on a classmate. (It interpolates "Isle of Innisfree," a song also used, but differently, in the actual Quiet Man movie.) Then, there's a brief cue called "Levitation," written to accompany the deleted scene where Harrison Ford made a cameo as Elliott's school principal.

Liner notes by reissue co-producer Mike Matessino shed new light on Williams's process, and on the music's life beyond the movie. That life has never been better than it is now.

Who knew that just two notes could cause such terror? John Williams described the theme from Jaws as grinding away at you, just as a shark would do. instinctual, relentless, unstoppable. Listen as Lynne Warfel describes the undeniably great score from Jaws and highlights more music than its famous two-note motif.

What do the seemingly unrelated locations of Winnetka, Ill., Scranton, Pa., and Paris have in common? Add to those locations the unlikely yet not entirely impossible story of a disorganized, somewhat dysfunctional family leaving the youngest member home on the holidays?

Right — you have the 1990 comedy, Home Alone. Written by John Hughes, the film starred Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O'Hara and John Heard, and it was directed by Chris Columbus. As of 2010, Home Alone was the highest-grossing comedy of all time.

It received two Oscar nominations: for John Williams' score and for best song, "Somewhere in My Memory."

We all know the story about the little boy who wishes his family would go away, and then he wakes up one Christmas Eve to find out they have. He fends for himself rather well with the help of a neighbor, and all things come to a happy ending on Christmas Day.

This week on Flicks in Five, we'll hear John Williams' Oscar-nominated song, "Somewhere in My Memory," from Home Alone.

Even as the world mourns the recent death of Kenny Baker — the actor who was inside R2-D2's can for the original Star Wars movies — we're reminded that most of the people behind those classic films are still around, and gratifyingly willing to be involved with new movies. One of the franchise VIPs, composer John Williams, has just confirmed that he'll return to compose the score for next year's Star Wars Episode VIII.

"Speaking at a Boston concert of his work," notes Radio Times, "Williams told the crowd that he was soon to start work on Rian Johnson's sci-fi sequel after seeing an early cut of the footage, and was mainly returning so that no other composer would get the chance to write music for Daisy Ridley's Rey."

This will make Williams eight-for-eight in writing music for numbered films in the Star Wars saga — starting with the original trilogy (1977-1983), then George Lucas's controversial prequels (1999-2005), and now the sequels being produced without Lucas's involvement. However, this winter will see the release of the first full-length live-action Star Wars film not scored by Lucas: Oscar winner Alexandre Desplat will do his damndest to emulate Williams for the spin-off Star Wars: Rogue One.

It's difficult to overstate Williams's importance to the success of the Star Wars franchise, and the influence of his work on younger generations of composers. Deliberately echoing the grand symphonic sound of Hollywood's golden age, Williams made the orchestra cool again; his retro aesthetic dominated film scoring through the 1980s and into the 1990s, when composers like Hans Zimmer started to reintroduce electronic sounds and rock instrumentation to blockbuster film scores.

Now aged 84, Williams has been lauded to an almost ludicrous level: his most recent Star Wars score, for last year's The Force Awakens earned him a 50th Oscar nomination, meaning that only Walt Disney has earned more nominations. (Appropriately, Disney's company now owns the Star Wars franchise.) Still, health challenges are compelling Williams to slow down at least a bit: last year's Bridge of Spies was the first Steven Spielberg movie without a Williams score in 30 years.

Security is sure to be as tight around Episode VIII as it was around Episode VII, so even the track list for Williams's score will likely be embargoed until the movie hits theaters. Williams did let the Boston audience know that there's one crucial plot detail not even he knows yet: the identity of Rey's parents.

1972's The Cowboys stars John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, Bruce Dern, Colleen Dewhurst, Slim Pickens, and Robert Carradine (who makes his film debut as a child actor).

Based on a novel by William Dale Jennings, and the story focuses on a rancher (Wil Andersen) whose ranch hands abandon him to go join a gold rush, leaving the aging rancher to find replacements for a grueling, 400-mile cattle drive. The only people he can find willing to take on the job are some children that he hires as his crew.

It's a real coming-of-age story for the boys involved, but also for Andersen, who makes some sacrifices that he probably thought he'd never make in the beginning of the movie.

On this week's Flicks in Five, we'll hear a suite of John Williams's music from The Cowboys.

Original trailer — The Cowboys

One of the most iconic, well-known melodies in film history is the main theme to Star Wars, composed by John Williams.

Early last week, two musicians — trumpeter Bryce Hayashi and flugel player Michael Miller — made the spontaneous and brave decision to have a public performance of an arrangement of that theme ... in front of the home of the famous film composer.

Williams was so impressed that he actually popped out of his house to greet them.

Hear the performance in the video below.

While debates continue to rage over the quality of George Lucas's Star Wars prequels, John Williams's acclaimed music for those three movies is much less controversial. Thus, even prequel-bashers might want to take a look at the prequel-soundtrack reissue series from I Am Shark.

The Episode I soundtrack has already been reissued, with the vinyl discs coming in five different colors to suggest different characters in the movie. (The Obi-Wan blue is my favorite.) Now, the Episode II soundtrack is available for pre-order to ship March 15, with only 1,000 copies being pressed — all in a blue/silver scheme keyed to Jango Fett's armor.

"There are hints of a hidden surprise included in this album," notes the label. Hmm. How do you say "Count Dooku is dead" backwards?

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Every weekday morning at 10 a.m., the hosts at Classical MPR play a standout work based on the theme for the week. We call them Morning Glories.

John Williams has created another hit soundtrack for Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. For this week's Morning Glories we look at some of the music that inspired John Williams' vision for the epic Star Wars series.

Monday

Malcolm Arnold: English Dances: Set 1 & 2

Tuesday

Gustav Holst: The Planets

Wednesday

Peter Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake: Selections

Thursday

Carl Orff: Carmina Burana: Selections

Friday

Richard Wagner: The Ring Without Words

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Everybody hates the Star Wars prequels. Well, note everybody — but that's certainly the conventional wisdom, as evinced by all the press coverage of the upcoming Episode VII. George Lucas has nothing whatsoever to do with the new movie; he didn't even watch the new movie's trailer until it had been out for several weeks. Good riddance, say millions of fans who were disappointed with Lucas's 1999-2005 return to his beloved franchise.

Whatever you make of the much-maligned movies about the origins of Darth Vader, it's hard to argue that John Williams didn't make a vast difference in the quality of those films. Not only did the returning composer revive and revise the indelible themes he wrote for the original trilogy, he extended his music with thrilling new scores. However, in the rush to forget the prequels, it seems Williams's music for those movies has been thrown under the bus.

To be sure, there was a soundtrack issued for each of the prequels — but film music buffs know that there's a difference between a soundtrack and a score. A soundtrack is an album marketed as a standalone product; it may contain music from the score, it may contain songs heard in the film, or there may be a mixture. (In some cases, such as Lorde's bestselling Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 soundtrack, most of the material is merely "inspired" by the film and isn't even heard onscreen.) Almost always, there's some music from the movie — possibly including some of fans' favorite cues — that's left out.

That was the case with the original Star Wars trilogy soundtracks, which were incomplete until "definitive" two-disc editions were released along with the films' "Special Edition" revisions and re-releases in 1997. Those releases, for the first time, presented almost all the music from each film in the order it was heard — though it was strictly the "Special Edition" music, meaning that music removed for the re-releases (notably the original song played by Jabba's band, and the original celebration music from the Episode VI conclusion) was omitted from the new soundtracks as well.

Episode I — ironically, the most-hated of all three prequels — was given the deluxe soundtrack treatment when a two-disc "ultimate edition" of the film's single-disc soundtrack was released in 2000. That doubtless sold less well than was hoped — like every other one of the quintillion products released to accompany that movie — and so Williams fans were, and remain, out of luck when it comes to expanded editions of the Episode II and Episode III scores.

That's a shame, since there's a lot of great music in both those movies. Sure, the big set pieces are available on the existing single-disc soundtracks for those two films — the "Across the Stars" love theme (awkward), the penultimate (see what I did there?) Obi-Wan/Anakin battle music — but so much of the genius of John Williams is how he uses every bar of his score to help tell the story.

Maybe when this new trilogy is complete, a monstrous new deluxe edition of all Williams's Star Wars music will be released — hopefully not exclusively in a 500-copy edition on 180-gram vinyl. I'd probably buy it even then — and I'd also buy (hint hint, Disney) — a digital release of the "un-special" original trilogy. I want "Lapti Nek" back.

With anticipation for The Force Awakens running high, we're exploring the musical world of Star Wars in a series of five features. Previously, we traced John Williams's classical influences, told the story of how Star Wars music hit the top of the pop charts, and explored some of the films' most important musical motifs.

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Home Alone and I are just about the same age. That means that every year since the age of three, I've watched at least 75% of the movie at some point during the month of December (I say 75% because let's be real, sometimes humans fall asleep during even their most beloved cultural pastimes). So, on the very conservative side, I've spent 39 hours of my life watching this movie. For me, Home Alone — with its magical John Williams score — is a more iconic harbinger of Christmas than The Nutcracker Suite.

Lest you judge: I was an orchestra kid, who loved and studied classical music for many years. I can hum along with some of the lesser-known bits of Waltz of the Flowers, and was privileged to have my grandparents take me to performances of The Messiah more than once. When it comes to the holiday season, I dig the old standbys.

I'd be lying, though, if I said that during the holidays I'd rather listen to the "old standbys" than turn on the Home Alone soundtrack. When I heard that the Minnesota Orchestra would be performing the score to accompany a screening of the film, I was downright giddy.

The Home Alone performances are the latest in a "Stage and Screen" series that has included Fantasia and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and it's clear that the Minnesota Orchestra is having as much fun with this programming as I am. Led by an exuberant Sarah Hicks, they sound buoyant and festive, and blend seamlessly with the film — under a lot of pressure, considering they're providing the music for a movie that's part of the collective auditory memory of Gen Y. When you've seen the McAllister family running to catch their flight to Paris upwards of 20 times, it's hard not to let your jaw drop a little when you hear the "making the plane" music (titled, appropriately, Making the Plane) performed live.

I realize that I represent the exact target demographic of this production, and that my nostalgic love of Home Alone colored my experience of watching it. Even so, it's hard to imagine even the Grinchiest orchestra lover failing to enjoy the performance. Picture a nearly-packed Orchestra Hall crowd breaking into spontaneous cheering after the 20th Century Fox theme; then giggling like little kids to cheesy John Hughes one-liners ("Fuller! Go easy on the Pepsi!"); then listening with rapt attention to a touching medley of Christmas classics — notably "O Holy Night," and Williams's "Star of Bethlehem," with vocals provided by the Minnesota Boychoir. The fun even extends to the lobby, where design workshop Leonardo's Basement provides movie-themed interactive props: dangling tarantulas, swinging paint cans, and — I kid you not — a dummy Macaulay Culkin zip-lining across the atrium.

Sadly, the run is limited to two performances, closing with a matinee on Nov. 29. With any luck, though, it won't be the last of the "Stage and Screen" series at Orchestra Hall. If they decide to do Jurassic Park anytime soon, they can count on having this millennial in the audience.

Dana Hanson is an educator living in Minneapolis.

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One of the reasons that John Williams's Star Wars scores are so compelling is his use of musical motifs to represent different characters and themes in the saga.

The use of motifs, or leitmotifs, to represent characters in a narrative is most famously associated, in classical music, with Richard Wagner, who made pioneering use of the strategy in his Ring opera cycle — a major inspiration for Williams. Once such a theme is associated with a particular character or idea, it can help a composer to convey subtle shades of meaning: when you hear it, its timing and arrangement give you clues as to what a composer wants you to know or feel about that character's or idea's role in the scene.

With Williams — and several key characters — returning for the upcoming seventh film in the saga, you can certainly expect to hear some of the existing themes returning, in addition to newly-written music for the characters being introduced in The Force Awakens. With that in mind, we've created this crib sheet to help you study up on the top ten leitmotifs heard in the existing six films.

Star Wars theme

This is the big one: the roaring fanfare that heralds the opening of each episode, the music known as the score's "main title" or "overture" is also the closest thing Luke Skywalker has to his own leitmotif.

Though this music is most closely identified with the films' opening crawls, it also pops up in other contexts — especially at moments of high adventure. For example, it makes a triumphant accompaniment to the moment in Return of the Jedi when Luke strikes back against Jabba the Hutt's henchmen.

We know that actor Mark Hamill will make a significant appearance in Episode VII, but as of yet his character's role has remained somewhat mysterious. When you're watching the new film, listen closely for Luke's theme to provide hints about what he might be up to.

Rebel Fanfare

Here come the heroes! This fanfare, most easily identified as the theme heard immediately after the main theme at the beginning of each episode's end credits, signals the Rebel Alliance. It can be heard whenever the Rebels are on the attack in the original trilogy, and signals the rise of the Rebellion in Episode III.

The Imperial March

You might be surprised (I was, and I've seen the films about a million times) to realize that this march — probably the second most-recognizable piece of music heard in the Star Wars films — didn't make its debut until The Empire Strikes Back. Inspired by both Chopin's funeral march (from the Sonata No. 2) and Holst's Martian music, the music became a standby throughout Empire and Jedi, and was then used throughout the prequel trilogy to foreshadow the fall of Anakin Skywalker.

Listen for this tune in Episode VII whenever Darth Vader is referenced, and possibly to signal a resurgent Empire.

The Force Theme

This is the poignant melody that represents the mystical, all-encompassing Force. Unsurprisingly, it bears kinship to Holst's music for "Neptune, the Mystic." It's also known as "Binary Sunset," because it's first heard when Luke strikes his iconic pose on Tatooine in A New Hope, watching that planet's twin stars set behind the horizon.

The Force Theme appears in all six Star Wars films released to date, and Williams often uses it to indicate when a character is channeling the Force — particularly the good side of the Force, as when Luke is calling to Leia while he dangles below Cloud City in Empire. It will doubtless show up in Episode VII, and when you hear it, you'll know who's likely to be the next Jedi.

Princess Leia's Theme

Williams's use of his music for Princess Leia is a perfect example of the versatility and power of the leitmotif as a musical device.

The music first shows up in A New Hope, when Princess Leia's a maiden in need of rescue. In Empire, the theme is reinvented and incorporated into the new love theme for Leia and Han. Then, in the final prequel Revenge of the Sith, it appears again when we meet Leia as an infant.

Williams tends to use this music at Leia's most vulnerable moments, and she seems nothing if not vulnerable in our first glimpse of her from Episode VII, so it's a fair bet that Leia's Theme will return.

Yoda's Theme

This Jedi Master's music is one of the most distinctive new themes developed for Empire, when Yoda makes his surprise appearance. It's heard throughout the subsequent films — including a stepped-up version for Yoda's duel with Count Dooku, and a poignant reprise when he takes off for Dagobah.

Will Yoda's theme appear in Episode VII? Quite possibly, likely during a mention of his character or a surprise cameo from beyond the grave (which he's been known to make).

The Emperor's Theme

Williams really gets to flex his musical muscles with this theme, which makes its debut in Jedi as a roiling minor-key rumble accompanied by male choir. It's heard in darkly triumphant reprise when the Emperor reveals himself in Episode III, but its slyest use comes at the end of Phantom Menace when it's sung by a children's chorus (!) in a jubilant major key — signaling that the Emperor is present, but still in hiding.

Like Yoda's theme, this one might come back when the Emperor is mentioned in Force Awakens — or perhaps it will even be developed into a theme for the newest Sith Lord.

Duel of the Fates

This was the first "single" released from the Phantom Menace soundtrack: a thundering Orff-flavored choral accompaniment to the three-way duel among Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The lyrics are — wait for it — an ancient Celtic poem rendered in Sanskrit. The theme recurs in the next two prequel films, including during Obi-Wan's climactic Revenge of the Sith battle against Darth Maul's apprentice, you-know-who.

Will there be a Duel of the Fates in Episode VII? I'm going to call that unlikely, since it's so closely associated with the prequels — especially the now-infamous Episode I.

Shmi's Theme

Wait, who's Shmi? That's Anakin's mother — and you might remember her better when you hear her theme, an oboe melody that telegraphs the boy's feelings towards the only parent he ever knew. (Until Episode V, of course.) This is almost certain not to appear in Force Awakens, but its very existence demonstrates the detail that can be found in every nook and cranny of Williams's epic score.

Dies Irae

This melody, which has been a standby of classical composers since its first appearance in Gregorian chant, was appropriated by Williams for some of the darkest moments of the Star Wars saga: the deaths of Luke's aunt and uncle in New Hope, the slaying of the Sand People in Attack of the Clones, the slaughter of the Jedi in Revenge of the Sith. Listen for it in Episode VII if something happens that you have a bad feeling about.

With anticipation for The Force Awakens running high, we're exploring the musical world of Star Wars in a series of five features. Previously, we traced John Williams's classical influences and told the story of how Star Wars music hit the top of the pop charts.

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This week's spotlight film is the first Harry Potter movie, which features a score by John Williams. As we're marking back-to-school month, what better school to imagine attending than Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?

Depending on where you live, the first book and film in the Harry Potter series is entitled either Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone — author JK Rowling's original title, derived from mythology and from the writings of Nicolas Flamel — or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, a title developed specifically for U.S. audiences by Scholastic, Inc., before Rowling had established herself as a writer.

Whatever you call it, the film's score remains consistent. Williams's iconic Hedwig's Theme is heard during the opening sequence of each Potter film.

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The Book Thief, features an emotive and complex score from legendary composer John Williams.

The 2013 film stars Sophie Nelisse, Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson and revolves around a young girl who finds a new foster family in pre-World War II Germany.

Williams, having scored the Oscar-winning Schindler's List, is no stranger to this milieu and unsurprisingly delivers a sorrowful soundtrack tailor-made for the film. Williams' work is also notable because it is the first time in 8 years that he has scored a film not directed by Steven Spielberg.

The score was nominated for an Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Original Score.

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Based on a play which was based on Michael Morpurgo's children's book, War Horse was inspired by World War I veterans telling Morpurgo the stories of the close bond between man and horse in the trenches and in battle, where the lives of each depended on the other.

The film War Horse was nominated for six Oscars, including a nomination for Best Original Score by composer and conductor John Williams.

Learn more about the film and hear its music on this week's Flicks in Five with Lynne Warfel.

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A shy, retiring kid, John Williams recalls meeting Spielberg at a Beverly Hills restaurant for the first time recalling that the young director looked totally out of place. Now one of Hollywood's most powerful director-producers, we look a his early career and his Oscar wins.

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This weekend's Oscars ceremony marks John Williams' 48th nomination for best score and his 26th collaboration over 40 years with Steven Spielberg. In an interview in the New York Times, Williams recalls having his first meeting the shy, inexperienced young director in a Beverly Hills restaurant. And the rest is Hollywood history.

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