Film Composer Tributes
Happy 75th Birthday to John Williams!
[Photos courtesy of Sony 2 CD set: John Williams Greatest Hits 1969-1999]
8 February 2007 marked the 75th birthday of the world's best known
film composer,
John Williams.
Over the years he has worked with many directors but two especially:
Steven Spielberg and George Lucas (both shown above).
John Williams has received numerous awards over his long career, including 16 +Grammys, 4 Golden Globes, and 5 Oscars and 45 Oscar nominations (tied with Alfred Newman).
+ = In 2007 he has received two more Grammys:
Best Score Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media:
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (John Williams, composer) [Sony Classical]
Best Instrumental Composition:
" A Prayer For Peace" from MUNICH ( John Williams, composer) [Decca Records] .
John Williams has also received more Sammys than any other film composer.
For extensive background and the latest news, see the John Williams Fan Network.
Listener's Poll
Thanks to all those who participated in this special John Williams web poll.
Several hundred votes were sent in for a wide variety of scores -- 52 film scores received at least one vote,
from THE REIVERS (1969) to MUNICH (2005).
Here are the results of the Top Ten vote getters:
1. STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)
2. STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE (1977)
3.
SUPERMAN (1978)
4.
E.T.: The EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)
5.
JURASSIC PARK (1993)
6. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1979)
7. SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993)
8. JAWS (1975)
9. HOOK (1991)
10.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977)
And the next 20 vote getters, listed alphabetically...
THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST (1988)
AMISTAD (1997)
A.I.: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2001)
BORN OF THE FOURTH OF JULY (1989)
DRACULA (1979)
EMPIRE OF THE SUN (1987)
HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE (2001)
HOME ALONE (1990)
INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (1989)
INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (1984)
JANE EYRE (1970)
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (2005)
MINORITY REPORT (2002)
THE PATRIOT (2000)
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)
STAR WARS: ATTACK OF THE CLONES (2002)
STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE (1999)
STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983)
STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH (2005)
WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005)
Film Music Guide with Free CDR
To help celebrate his 75th birthday, you can order this compilation:
"John Williams on Radio"
This exclusive CDR includes a radio birthday tribute and several Sammy Awards presented on WGBH radio in Boston, and a lengthy interview with John Williams at Tanglewood. It is available with this book...
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A GUIDE TO FILM MUSIC: Songs and Scores
On the title page is a copy of an excerpt from the E.T. score, boldly signed by John Williams.
Inside the guide is information about his scores
and also his movie songs.
The 4th edition (2009) is now available as an eBook.
To order this guide, click on the link in the far right column or click here to use PayPal at the
AMP Store
Here are a few compilations with John Williams and the Boston Pops...
The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration
Williams on Williams: The Classic Spielberg Scores
Music for Stage and Screen
See the John Williams film music on the list of
100 Essential Film Scores of the 20th Century
And the Oscar goes to...
Ennio Morricone
Morricone Conducts Morricone
(DVD: The Munich Concert 2004)
Along with John Williams, Ennio Morricone is probably the most popular film composer from the 1960s onward who is still composing today. During his prolific career Morricone has composed well over 400 motion picture scores over a 45-year career, and he has been voted an Honorary Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The Award, an Oscar® statuette, will be given to Morricone at the 79th Academy Awards® presentation on 25 February 2007, “for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music.”
Morricone has earned five Academy Award nominations for original score — for DAYS OF HEAVEN (1978), THE MISSION (1986), THE UNTOUCHABLES (1987), BUGSY (1991) and MALENA (2000) — but has not previously received an Oscar.
“The Board was responding not just to the remarkable number of scores that Mr. Morricone has produced,” said Academy President Sid Ganis, “but to the fact that so many of them are beloved and popular masterpieces.”
While the bulk of his work has been on Italian films, including THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, and CINEMA PARADISO, Morricone has composed memorable scores for such other titles as BULWORTH, IN THE LINE OF FIRE,
and TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA.
Centennial Tributes
Read about this multi-talented singer, songwriter,
arranger, and choral director who received
three Oscars for his work on musicals,
at
A Centennial Tribute to Ken Darby
2007 was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Miklos Rozsa.
To see the results of a Web Poll and recommended CDs, go to:
Miklos Rozsa 100th Birthday Tribute
Read reviews and recommended CDs of music by another great film composer at this link:
A Centennial Birthday Tribute to Franz Waxman
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