Legendary musician and Oscar-winning composer John Williams turns 90 years old today. In many respects, he’s considered the epitome of film music composing because he has elevated the possibilities of so many films and genres that could have felt standard or safe otherwise.
With 52 Oscar nominations, he is the second most-nominated individual after Walt Disney in Academy Awards history. He’s won five Oscars over his impressive career: “Fiddler on the Roof” (1971), “Jaws” (1976), “Star Wars” (1977), “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982) and “Schindler’s List” (1993). His multiple nominations have been split through various inceptions of the original score category, including best scoring of music – adaptation or treatment, and when it was divided between drama and comedy or musical. He’s also been recognized for his contributions to multiple original songs, which is one category in which he hasn’t won.
In addition, Williams has won 25 Grammys, seven BAFTAs, and three Emmy Awards. However, he has yet to win a Tony to complete his EGOT status. He’s also been honored with an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music and Boston College and several lifetime achievement awards, including AFI. Many of his most acclaimed and popular scores have been under the directorial guidance of filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Richard Donner and Chris Columbus.
When tackling a list that’s essentially splitting hairs on what score is better than another, we should note some adopted rules when approaching this monumental task. First, we included one score per franchise — otherwise, we could have easily had a top 10 of all “Star Wars” and “Harry Potter” films. Below, Variety ranks the 10 best music scores of John Williams’ career.
Honorable mentions: “Hook” (1991), “Saving Private Ryan” (1998) and “Catch Me If You Can” (2002)
-
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2002)
Image Credit: Everett Collection / Everett Col Distributed by: Warner Bros.
Directed by: Chris Columbus
Written by: Steve Kloves (based on “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling)Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, John Cleese, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Richard Griffiths, Ian Hart, John Hurt, Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Maggie Smith, Julie Walters
The track that proves it: “Hedwig’s Theme”
By this point in his career, Williams had created the soundtrack to the childhoods of at least two generations of moviegoers, so why not a third? Few pieces of music are more burned into the psyches of Millennials that his central theme for “Harry Potter.” Williams stepped back from the “Potter” franchise after 2004’s “The Prisoner of Azkaban,” but it’s still his music — dusted with magic and melancholy — that resonates throughout the franchise.
-Adam B. Vary
-
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Steven SpielbergStarring: Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, François Truffaut
The track that proves it: “Wild Signals”
Williams imbues much of Steven Spielberg’s first movie about aliens visiting Earth with an eerie, unsettling tension — lightyears away from his music for the other sci-fi classic he scored in 1977. Really, though, this movie is all about the climactic musical feast at the end, when humans and extra-terrestrials converse in a wondrous dialogue of complex variations on Williams’ iconic five-tone motif: Dah-dah-daah-DAH-DAAAAHHHHH.
-Adam B. Vary
-
Home Alone (1990)
Image Credit: akds Distributed by: 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios)
Directed by: Chris Columbus
Written by: John HughesStarring: Macaulay Culkin, Catherine O’Hara, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard
The track that proves it: “Somewhere in My Memory”
It’s so difficult for a holiday-themed movie to stand on its own outside of the traditional times of the year that it’s watched. Chris Columbus’ classic that made Macaulay Culkin one of the biggest stars on the planet is glued together by John Williams’ sleigh bells and quintessential suites. Here, he creates one of the finest Christmas scores ever.
-Clayton Davis
-
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Paramount/Everett Collection Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas, Philip KaufmanStarring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott
The track that proves it: “The Miracle of the Ark”
There’s action and adventure sprinkled all throughout the classic film starring Harrison Ford as the charismatic Indiana Jones. What’s so brilliant about Williams’ musical notes here are his methods to drum up suspense and downright terror, especially in the film’s big moment of opening the ark. And if you were a kid like me when this film came out, you watched that moment with your eyes closed, so only the music is pronounced in your memory.
-Clayton Davis
-
Schindler’s List (1993)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Universal Studios Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Steven Zaillian (based on “Schindler’s Ark” by Thomas Keneally)Starring: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall, Embeth Davidtz
The track that proves it: “Main Theme”
Williams’ score is an integral piece of Spielberg’s Oscar-winning masterpiece depicting the atrocities of the Holocaust. The film’s examination of the best parts of humanity found in one of civilization’s darkest hours is undoubtedly emotional, held within the cor anglais and violins that rest upon its most impactful scenes. If you ever feel like a good cry, watch Simone Lamsma and Davida Scheffers’ performances with the Dutch orchestra – a daughter and mother playing together for the first time after Scheffers suffered a neuromuscular condition that prevented her from playing music.
-Clayton Davis
-
Superman (1978)
Image Credit: ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection Distributed by: Warner Bros.
Directed by: Richard Donner
Written by: Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman, Robert Benton (based on “Superman” by Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster)Starring: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Glenn Ford, Trevor Howard, Margot Kidder, Valerie Perrine, Maria Schell, Terence Stamp, Phyllis Thaxter, Susannah York
The track that proves it: “Prelude and Main Title March”
This is Williams at his most unabashedly cornball, and it is glorious: a lushly symphonic score that is all about wonder and uplift and big, big, BIG themes that charge forward with an old-fashioned earnestness that perfectly fits the superhero at its center. Even Clark Kent and Lois Lane’s love theme is confidently sentimental. The poster tagline for this movie was “You’ll believe a man can fly,” and Williams’ soaring score is one big reason why.
-Adam B. Vary
-
Jurassic Park (1993)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Universal Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Michael Crichton, David Koepp (based on “Jurassic Park” by Michael Crichton)Starring: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Bob Peck, BD Wong, Samuel L. Jackson, Wayne Knight, Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards
The track that proves it: “Main Theme”
There was little doubt that Williams would bring the appropriate degree of overwhelming astonishment to the sight of dinosaurs walking amongst humans. But perhaps there’s no better way to put what he pulled off here than how Twitter user @PinkRangerLB did in December:
Steven Spielberg: “I need a song for my dinosaur movie.”
John Williams: “Cool, I’m going to write the most beautiful song in the entire world.”
-Adam B. Vary
-
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Image Credit: ©Universal/courtesy Everett / Everett Collection Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Melissa MathisonStarring: Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore
The track that proves it: “Toys”
Just writing this blurb risks collapsing into a puddle of tears — such is the indelible power of Williams’ near constant music for one of Spielberg’s most enduring classics. It’s as if Williams managed to burrow inside the hearts of Elliott (Henry Thomas) and the wide-eyed alien who befriends him, and bring us all inside the creation of their powerful emotional bond. The final moments of this movie, when Elliott and E.T. say goodbye to each other, contains some of the most stirring and poignant music ever put to film. Yup. Crying all over again.
-Adam B. Vary
-
Jaws (1975)
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb (based on “Jaws” by Peter Benchley)Starring: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Grey, Murray Hamilton
The track that proves it: “Main Title”
With two simple notes, John Williams created one of the most terrifying and recognizable themes of all time. Blended with mystery and suspense, the score also depicts the whimsical nature of the beach and vacationing. All of this leads to one of cinema’s most ferocious villains to grace the screen: the man-eating great white shark. Better known as “Bruce,” he now sits in the Academy Museum, after being found in a junkyard.
-Clayton Davis
-
Star Wars (1977)
Image Credit: ©Lucasfilm Ltd./courtesy Everett / Everett Collection Distributed by: 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios)
Directed by: George Lucas
Written by: George LucasStarring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness
The track that proves it: “Main Title”
The master has scored all nine of the “Star Wars” films. While all distinct, if operated separately, five of them would be indisputable inclusions on this list – “A New Hope” (1977), “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980), “The Phantom Menace” (1999), “The Force Awakens” (2015) and “The Last Jedi” (2017). His inaugural outing in the 1977 classic, with an bombastic opening brass melody, could be easily considered the single best movie score in history. You can debate that amongst yourselves.
-Clayton Davis