THE MUSIC OF JOHN WILLIAMS - THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION
Music composed by John Williams
 Label: Silva Screen Records
Catalog:  SILED1382
Release Date: February 21, 2012
Rating:

Reviewed by
Atila Paton

  

John Williams is by far the most baroque film composer ever, his scores are full of majestical strings, ornamented harmonies, head over hills melodies which is the reason why he is incessantly commissioned to score big budget films. Furthermore, his work demands some imagination and requires some sort of superior-alike plot otherwise some might have a thriller movie depicting a serial killer’s demons backed by a Star Wars-ish score.

Oddly not, if Mr Williams were born in a day and age where monarchs, emperors and queens were hiring musicians for entertainment, he would be definitely coordinating those ball parties or playing music in halls due to his silver tarnished style, which leads to this definitive collection: it is all about his heavenly themes like Star Wars Revenge Of The Sith and "Olympic Fanfare and Theme".

Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade "End Credits" for instance, it is a piece of music enriched by the-kings-and-queens motif, bringing the warmth of grandness and importance highlighted by the modulation. Strangely enough, the best piece from the album is Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban's "Double Trouble", joining a magnificent magnetism with child-alike slight apprehensiveness.

The majority of tracks of this extense six discs 80th Birthday Tribute are performed by The City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra that brings an even-more dramatic atmosphere to the eternal themes, if that is possible by any chance. John Williams' style is definitely instantaneously the most recognisable from all the score composers out there but perhaps his themes are so superior that can fail to go right deep into the intrinsical core, like David Julyan's work on Memento for instance. That is the reason why John Williams work solely on big budget films - because his motifs suit the gigantic immenseness of the cinema as a concept.

Track Listing

CD1 - Star Wars

Star Wars: A New Hope

01. Star Wars: A New Hope 05:24

02. Cantina Band 03:00

03. Princess Leia 04:46

04. The Throne Room / Finale 07:35

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

05 .The Imperial March 03:13

06 .Han Solo and The Princess 04:11

07 .The Asteroid Field 04:25

08. Yoda's Theme 03:52

Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi

09. Forest Battle 03:52

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

10. Anakin's Theme 02:51

11 .The Flag Parade 03:18

12. The Adventures Of Jar Jar 03:26

13. Duel Of The Fates 04:11

Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones

14. Across The Stars 05:41

Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith

15. Battle Of The Heroes 04:20

 

CD2 - Indiana Jones

Raiders Of The Lost Ark

01. The Raiders March 02:40

02. The Map Room / Dawn 04:08

03. The Basket Game 04:23

04. Marion's Theme 03:42

05. Airplane Fight 04:22

06. The Ark Trek 01:28

07. Raiders Of The Lost Ark 05:26

Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom

08. Nocturnal Activities 02:02

09. The Mine Car Chase 03:31

10. Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom End Credits 06:31

Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade

11. Indy's First Adventure 08:27

12. X Marks The Spot / Escape From Venice 05:22

13. No Ticket / Keeping Up With The Joneses 04:07

14. Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade End Credits 11:22

 

CD3 - Harry Potter

Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone

01. Hedwig's Theme 04:53

02. Nimbus 2000 02:24

03. Harry's Wondrous World 05:03

04. Christmas at Hogwarts 01:47

05. Leaving Hogwarts 02:19

Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets

06. Fawkes The Phoenix 03:39

07. The Chamber of Secrets 04:13

08. Gilderoy Lockhart 02:00

09. Dobby the House Elf 03:35

10. Reunion of Friends 05:46

Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban

11. Aunt Marge's Waltz 02:21

12. The Knight Bus 02:50

13. Double Trouble 02:51

14. A Window to the Past 03:51

15. Witches, Wands and Wizards 05:28

16. Mischief Managed / A Window to the Past / Buckbeak's Flight 07:05

 

CD4 - 40 Years of Williams and Spielberg

01. The Adventures Of Tintin - The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn 03:06

02. The Reunion - War Horse 03:54

03. War Of The Worlds Suite - War Of The Worlds 07:36

04. A Prayer for Peace – Munich 04:17

05. The Tale of Viktor Navorski - The Terminal 04:14

06. Minority Report - Minority Report 03:58

07. Catch Me If You Can - Catch Me If You Can 03:01

08. Where Dreams Are Born - Artificial Intelligence: AI 03:46

09. Hymn To The Fallen - Saving Private Ryan 06:03

10. Dry Your Tears, Afrika - Amistad 03:39

11. Schindler’s List - Schindler's List 04:18

12. Jurassic Park Suite - Jurassic Park 05:55

13. Hook Main Themes - Hook 04:07

14. Follow Me / Dorinda's Solo Flight – Always 03:46

15. Exsultate Justi - Empire Of The Sun 05:01

 

CD5 - 40 Years of Williams and Spielberg / Film & Concert Work

01. Adventures On Earth - E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial 10:57

02. March from 1941 – 1941 04:35

03. The Conversation Begins / Main Title / Resolution and Finale - Close Encounters Of The

Third Kind 08:14

04. Jaws – Jaws 02:15

05. The Sugarland Express - The Sugarland Express 03:44

06. Sayuri's Theme & End Credits - Memoirs of a Geisha 05:50

07. Far And Away End Credits - Far And Away 05:47

08. Arlington / End Titles – JFK 10:00

09. Presumed Innocent - Presumed Innocent 04:17

10. Born On The Fourth Of July End Credits - Born On The Fourth Of July 05:44

11. Dance Of The Witches - The Witches Of Eastwick 04:37

12. The River Main Theme / Love Theme - The River 05:03

13. Olympic Fanfare and Theme - Olympic Fanfare and Theme 04:07

 

CD6 Film & Concert Work

01. Main Titles & Storm - Dracula 04:53

02. The Fury - The Fury 02:55

03. Superman – Superman 04:11

04. Black Sunday Suite - Black Sunday 10:31

05. The Missouri Breaks Love Theme - The Missouri Breaks 02:35

06. Family Plot End Titles - Family Plot 03:52

07. Battle of Midway - Battle of Midway 04:32

08. The Towering Inferno - The Towering Inferno 05:08

09. Earthquake – Earthquake 03:17

10. Variations On A Theme by John Williams - The Long Goodbye 11:50

11. Nice To Be Around - Cinderella Liberty 04:00

12. The Poseidon Adventure - The Poseidon Adventure 02:55

13. The Cowboys - The Cowboys 03:31

14. The Jane Eyre Theme - Jane Eyre 03:28

15. The Cross-Breed / End Credits - The Rare Breed 04:23

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