This is a presentaion of the biography of John Williams, and I picked 3 of his songs and did a compositon history on them and did a listening guide on them as well.

1. By Tiffany Holmberg
Music 1010

2.  John Williams was born in Long Island,New
York on February 8 1932.
 He Attended ULCA and Juilliard.
 In 1956 John Williams got married to
Barbara Ruick and was happily married
until she passed away on March 3, 1974.
Together they had three
children, Jennifer, Mark, and Joseph.
 In July 1980 John married again this time
to Samantha Winslow.

3. John with his
first wife
Barbara Ruick
John Williams
John Williams
with wife
Samantha
Winslow

4.  In 1956, John was hired
by Twentieth Century
Fox where he wrote
music for TV shows.
 Such as: Lost in
Space, Land of the
Giants, Gilligan’s
Island, and Wagon Train.
 Eventually he left
Twentieth Century Fox
and began working for
Universal Studios where
he wrote music for
Movies.
 Such as: Daddy-O, The
Valley of the Dolls, and
Fiddler on the Roof.

5.  In 1974 Williams
worked with Steven
Spielberg for the first
time on The Sugarland
Express, and then
went on to work with
him many more times
on many more movies.
 Such as: Jaws, Close
Encounters of the
Third Kind, Jurassic
Park, E.T. The Extra-
Terrestrial, Indiana
Jones, Munich, Schindl
er’s List, Empire of
the Sun and Memoirs
of a Geisha.

6.  John Williams also
composed music for
George Lucas’ Star
Wars, all six of them.
 Star Wars in
1977, Empire Strikes
Back in 1980, and
Return of the Jedi in
1983. Then again in
1999 with the 3
prequels, The
Phantom
Menace, Attack of
the Clones, and
Revenge of the Sith.

7.  When the 20th
century came
around Williams was
asked to compose
music for the film
series of the
popular book Harry
Potter
 He scored the first
three movies
 He wrote the very
popular Hedwig’s
Theme which was
played in every
movie

8.  JohnWilliams has won many awards
throughout his career they include, 4
Golden Globe Awards, 21 Grammy
Awards, 5 Academy Awards, and 7 BAFTA
Awards. After Walt Disney, Williams is the
most nominated person ever.

10.  It is a leitmotif
 Composed for the Harry
Potter Series in 2001
 Often considered to be the
theme song for the Harry
Potter series because it was
featured in every
film, usually during the title
screen.
 It was achieved significant
pop culture status, featuring
in ring tones, trailer music
and other forms of
multimedia.
 Hedwig’s Theme can be
found on Harry Potter and
the Sorcerer’s Stone
soundtrack.

11.  The theme song for Indiana
Jones.
 It was composed in 1980.
 It was originally two songs
played on piano, but Steven
Spielberg asked Williams to
combined them and make
one song that is how The
Raiders March was created.
 The Raiders March has been
used in every Indiana Jones
movie. In the full version, it
includes a section of the love
theme form Raiders of the
Lost Ark which is also known
as Marion’s Theme.
 Found on the Raiders of the
Lost Ark Soundtrack

12.  The Star Wars Main Theme is
the theme that is played at
the beginning of all six of the
Star Wars movies.
 Representative of war
drums, and it was originally
performed by the London
Symphony Orchestra.
 John Williams said, “When I
thought of a theme for Luke
and his adventures, I
composed a melody that
reflected the
brassy, bold, masculine, and
noble qualities I saw in the
character.”
 Found on all of the Star Wars
soundtracks

14.  0:00 Introduction: The introduction begins with the Celesta playing the
main melody. The introduction is played in G major. It has an allegro
tempo and piano volume. It soon begins to crescendo (gradually increase
volume).
 0:18 you start to hear strings playing in the background with a higher
pitch then the celesta. The tempo is still allegro but volume is now
mezzo-piano, but it continues to crescendo.
 0:33 other instruments come in. The tempo is still allegro but the volume
is now mezzo-forte.
 0:43 the main melody starts to play again but this time it is not played by
just the celesta and it is still allegro and the volume is still mezzo-forte
but it starts to crescendo.
 1:00 the tempo is the same but the volume is now forte
 1:16 Cuts off into a sharp end.

15.  0:00 Introduction: drums start off playing the main melody and shortly after the trumpets
and cymbals join in. The tempo is moderato and the volume starts off mezzo-piano but
quickly moves to mezzo-forte.
 0:36 The trumpets stop playing. The tempo is still moderato and the volume is now back
now to mezzo-piano.
 1:00 Everything is still the same. Tempo is moderato and the volume is mezzo-piano.
 1:30 Everything is still the same. Tempo is moderato and the volume is mezzo-piano.
 2:00 Marion’s theme starts. The volume dims to piano and the tempo slows to andante. The
flute stands out during this section.
 2:30 Marion’s theme is still playing, the volume is still piano and the tempo is still andante.
 3:00 Marion’s theme is still playing, the volume is still piano and the tempo is still andante.
 3:30 The tempo slowly starts to pick and the volume starts to increase
 3:56 The trumpets come back in loudly playing the main melody again. The tempo is
moderato again and the volume is back to mezzo-forte.
 4:26 The trumpets stop playing for a moment so that the cymbals can be heard loud and
clearly. The tempo is still moderato and the volume is still mezzo-forte.
 5:00 End.

16.  0:00 Introduction: Starts off with the trumpets playing the main melody, you can hear the drums very clearly in the
background. The tempo is vivace and the volume is forte.
 0:30 The music slows down the tempo becomes andante and the volume becomes piano. You can no longer hear the
trumpets. The music crescendos back to forte and the tempo gradually speeds back up to vivace.
 0:51 The cymbals chime and the main melody is played again. The volume is still forte and the tempo is still vivace.
 1:20 The tempo slows down to andante and the volume decreases to piano. The flute stands out in this section. After
a little while it speed up again back to vivace, and the volume increases to forte.
 2:00 The tempo is still vivace and the volume is still forte, but the music changes into a marching sound.
 2:24 The marching ends and the main melody starts playing again, at this time the tempo is still vivace and the
volume is still forte, but then it goes soft again and the tempo drops to andante and the volume to piano.
 2:58 The main melody starts up again with the tempo being vivace and the volume being forte again.
 3:15 The music gets soft and slow again, but then gradually starts to get louder
 4:01 The cymbal chimes loudly and the tempo speeds up and the trumpets start playing the melody again.
 4:24 The music slows again bring the tempo down to andante and the volume to piano.
 4:40 The music becomes forte again and the trumpets stand out and this section after a while the music gets soft and
slow again.
 5:20 The trumpets come back in very fast and loud, forte and vivace.
 5:34 a drum roll plays and then it ends.

17.  For Biography:
 http://www.dlwaldron.com/JohnWilliamsbio.html

 http://mahawa.jw-music.net/start.htm

 http://www.biography.com/articles/John-Williams-
9832526

 http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/john_willi
ams.html
 For Composition History
 http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Main_Title

 http://www.medlibrary.org/medwiki/Hedwig's_Theme

 http://indianajones.wikia.com/wiki/The_Raiders_March