John Williams Analysis

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The pair of composers I decided to discuss was John Williams and Philip Glass. The reason I chose them both was I was interested in knowing more about John Williams since he composed for many films I have enjoyed, and Philip Glass has created memorable compositions for films. The movies I decided to look for are Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), directed by Irvin Kershner for composer John Williams, and The Illusionist (2006) directed by Peter Weir for composer Philip Glass. I chose these movies because they are both movies I find enjoyable and movies that are solely created by both composers.

Firstly, John Williams was born in Long Island, New York on February 8, 1932 and is still alive to this day at the age of 82. He was no stranger …show more content…
(Darby & Du Bois, 1990, pp. 521-522). During the 1960s, Williams started to work in the television industry as a pianist, and won two Emmy awards for his television work. He gradually became a composer through his success and worked on “Kraft Theatre” and composed approximately 15-30 minutes of music a week for months at a time. As a composer, he had initially continued making music for television films, but some of those films made their way to being released in theaters. (Darby & Du Bois, 1990, pp. 522-523). His breakthrough came in 1972, when he became noted as being a “disaster film specialist” after composing for The Poseidon Adventure. He then went on to compose for other disaster films such as: Images (1972), Earthquake (1974), and The Towering Inferno (1974) and most notably, Jaws (1975). Steven Spielberg caught notice of John Williams and decided to work with him, and created their first of many films: The Sugarland Express (1974). (Darby & Du Bois, 1990, p. 523). After teaming up with Spielberg, he went on to create a plethora of blockbuster films throughout the 70s and …show more content…
He prefers to use large ensembles as he avoids jazz, small ensembles and doesn’t strive to create tunes that can be spun off as different entities (Darby & Du Bois, 1990, pp. 521). Due to his nature in composing pieces and being a pianist, his main instrument to compose from is the piano. Though John Williams, does use a full orchestra, he does like to use it in a more conservative manner. He tends to use French horns and strings for more romantic moods and themes. He also uses high, sustained strings creating a spacy effect. Other themes include: using two clarinets, harmonica and piano to create a boozy, woozy effect. Williams also has a tendency to change a theme a semi-tone higher for heightened intensity. (Darby & Du Bois, 1990, pp. 541-542). Williams likes to create mood and atmosphere with his music, but focuses more on mickey-mousing and themes to outline characters and movements. Motifs were evident in his writing and had a distain for innovations like rock or rap and chose a style that sounded traditional as the
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