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John Williams (Composer)
February 8, 1932 -
born in Flushing, NY, composed during the Contemporary period
born in Flushing, NY, composed during the Contemporary period
Quick, who's the one person who has been nominated for an Oscar more often than anyone else in any category? That would be composer John Williams, nominated over 40 times for his original film scores and orchestrations. He received his first Oscar nomination in 1969 for the score to Valley of the Dolls, and since then he has become the most recognized film composer in history, not just because of his scores, but also because he has successfully followed in Arthur Fiedler's footsteps as conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra.
Williams grew up in New York, where his father was drummer in the Raymond Scott Quintette and other bands. All four children in the family naturally took music lessons. Williams studied piano as a child, and later trumpet, trombone, and clarinet. He did some work as a teenager with pianist and arranger Bobby van Epps, and also enrolled in composition classes at UCLA before joining the U.S. Air Force in 1951, where he arranged band music and took up conducting. Williams studied piano with Rosina Lhevinne at Juilliard and worked as a jazz pianist. He then returned to California and studied composition with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. His compositional career began in the early 1960s with television series such as Peter Gunn, Wagon Train, Gilligan's Island, and Lost in Space. He was able to work as an orchestrator and arranger with industry giants Bernard Herrmann, Franz Waxman, Alfred Newman, Henry Mancini, and André Previn. In 1972 he received his first Academy Award for his adaptation of Jerry Bock's music for Fiddler on the Roof, but it was his scores for Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) and George Lucas' Star Wars (1977) that brought him real notice. Those full, orchestral scores lead some to claim that he alone was responsible for reviving the symphonic style of film music and were the beginning of two long-standing composer/director partnerships. A public face appeared to go with the name when Williams was chosen to conduct the Boston Pops after Fiedler's death. Under his leadership, the orchestra maintained its popularity, toured America several times, and made concert versions of his movie themes regular pops fare. Although maintaining close ties to Boston after leaving the Pops in 1993 and continuing to guest conduct a number of orchestras, Williams has spent more of his time since the mid-1990s composing concert music, such as 1995's bassoon concerto The Five Sacred Trees, and 2000's violin concerto TreeSong, while still charming cinema audiences with music that, while fully rooted in traditional Romantic idioms, easily expresses the emotion and action of the film's story. ~ Patsy Morita, Rovi
Williams grew up in New York, where his father was drummer in the Raymond Scott Quintette and other bands. All four children in the family naturally took music lessons. Williams studied piano as a child, and later trumpet, trombone, and clarinet. He did some work as a teenager with pianist and arranger Bobby van Epps, and also enrolled in composition classes at UCLA before joining the U.S. Air Force in 1951, where he arranged band music and took up conducting. Williams studied piano with Rosina Lhevinne at Juilliard and worked as a jazz pianist. He then returned to California and studied composition with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. His compositional career began in the early 1960s with television series such as Peter Gunn, Wagon Train, Gilligan's Island, and Lost in Space. He was able to work as an orchestrator and arranger with industry giants Bernard Herrmann, Franz Waxman, Alfred Newman, Henry Mancini, and André Previn. In 1972 he received his first Academy Award for his adaptation of Jerry Bock's music for Fiddler on the Roof, but it was his scores for Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) and George Lucas' Star Wars (1977) that brought him real notice. Those full, orchestral scores lead some to claim that he alone was responsible for reviving the symphonic style of film music and were the beginning of two long-standing composer/director partnerships. A public face appeared to go with the name when Williams was chosen to conduct the Boston Pops after Fiedler's death. Under his leadership, the orchestra maintained its popularity, toured America several times, and made concert versions of his movie themes regular pops fare. Although maintaining close ties to Boston after leaving the Pops in 1993 and continuing to guest conduct a number of orchestras, Williams has spent more of his time since the mid-1990s composing concert music, such as 1995's bassoon concerto The Five Sacred Trees, and 2000's violin concerto TreeSong, while still charming cinema audiences with music that, while fully rooted in traditional Romantic idioms, easily expresses the emotion and action of the film's story. ~ Patsy Morita, Rovi
Selected Discography
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Track List: Lincoln (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Title: Lincoln, Film Score
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Track List: A Tribute to John Williams: An 80th Birthday Celebration
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Track List: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best Of John Williams & The Bosto
Title: Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope, Film Score
Title: Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Film Score
Title: Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Film Score
Title: Superman, Film Score
Title: Jaws, Film Score
Title: 1941, Film Score
Title: Midway, Film Score
Title: E.t. The Extra-terrestrial, Film Score
Title: Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Film Score
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Track List: Memoirs Of A Geisha [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
Title: Memoirs Of A Geisha, Film Score
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Track List: Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban
Title: Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, Film Score
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Track List: Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets
Title: Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, Film Score
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Track List: Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Title: Star Wars, Episode II: Attack Of The Clones, Film Score
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Track List: Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Title: Harry Potter And The Philosopher's (Sorcerer's) Stone, Film Score
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Track List: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Title: Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Film Score
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Track List: John Williams - Greatest Hits 1969 - 1999
Disc 1
Disc 2
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Track List: Schindler's List: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Title: Schindler's List, Film Score
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Track List: Jurassic Park: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Title: Jurassic Park, Film Score
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Track List: Hook: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Title: Hook, Film Score
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Track List: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial: The 20th Anniversary Edition
Title: E.t. The Extra-terrestrial, Film Score
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Track List: Jaws: Anniversary Collector's Edition
Title: Jaws, Film Score
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Track List: Pops In Space
Title: Superman, Film Score
Title: Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Film Score
Title: Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope, Film Score
Title: Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Film Score
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Track List: Sabrina (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Title: Sabrina, Film Score (1995)
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Track List: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Title: Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith, Film Score
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Track List: War Horse (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Title: War Horse, Film Score



Comments
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He is my all time favorite composer
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