John Williams
Today we’re listening to John Williams, an American composer from Queens, New York, where he was born in 1931. His father, Johnny Williams, played drums for CBS Radio and Raymond Scott’s quintet. The family moved to Los Angeles in ‘48, after which John finished high school, studied composition at UCLA, served in the air force, and then studied piano at Juilliard.1 Early in his Hollywood career, he wrote music for film and TV and worked as a studio pianist; he performed on the scores for West Side Story and To Kill a Mockingbird. His 50+ year partnership with Steven Spielberg began in the 1970s, over which Williams produced an unbelievable number of iconic scores. His latest in that partnership, Disclosure Day, is subtler than his previous scores, with a central motif of intrigue and mystery, but with classic evocations of suspense, relief, foreboding, and triumph. We’re pairing it with E.T. for obvious reasons. Both scores illustrate perhaps Williams’ defining ability, which is his ability to express and amplify the feeling of wonder.
Disclosure Day - John Williams (64m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal
E.T.: The Extraterrestrial - John Williams (75m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal
Have a really good Thursday.
