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Get to know John Williams (II)

Reading Activity

Read this extract from A conversation with John Williams  by Juliet Simon for BMI in 2015. 

How would you say your creative process has evolved throughout your career? Has it changed for you throughout the years?

I don’t think so. I think to a degree, I feel unchanged, but on the other hand, to be unchanged is to be unimproved. I’d like to think that now I probably know more about music and certainly about conducting because I conducted so many years with the Boston Pops Orchestra. I did so much live performance, especially in Boston but also elsewhere, that I began to have a different, and maybe more sophisticated, feeling about the orchestra and its way of breathing, its way of moving and so on. And that’s a subtle thing but I think I’m, in my mind as I am writing, much more of a conductor than I was before.

I still use the piano, I still use a pencil and paper; I have not evolved to the point where I use computers and synthesizers. First of all, they didn’t exist when I was studying music and luckily, mercifully, I have been so busy in the interim years that I haven’t had time to go back and retool. And so my evolution, in very practical terms, i.e. piano and pencil and paper, has not changed at all.

Is there a score from your prolific career that you are most proud of?

The whole body of what I’ve been doing is still to me a very organic thing. It’s a process that’s going on and nothing really seems fixed to me. I’m fixed on what’s on my desk and what is in front of me. Star Wars is done; I’m now working on Spielberg’s new film. I think it’s probably better to let others judge the quality or the effectiveness of this or that score, if it has any at all.

We are living in a world where we’re standing on shoulders that are unmatchable, especially in music. I mean the masters that have lived before are almost unapproachable in their inspiration and their technique. So we just have to work harder and contribute what we can.

Is there a lesson you’ve learned over your career that could benefit film composers who are coming up in the field today?

The lesson I would probably offer anyone is to not call themselves a film composer but to call themselves a composer, and to compose for the theater, compose for film, compose for the church or the synagogue or educational music or instrumental, choral, secular, or religious music. Whatever they do; the ballet, and the theater certainly. Film is one thing that we do, and it’s good for young composers to know how to do that and desire to do it and find work doing it if they can.

But I think they should think of themselves in a broader sense because film music is restricting in many ways. You’re subjugating yourself to a soundtrack filled with sound effects and dialogue and other things that are in many ways equally important. Most of the great composers in history also have been great performers. So I think attending as many performances as one can is important. If one can play or sing, one should play and sing. If one can conduct, one should do that also. I guess that would be my singular first step in trying to advise anyone.

Life is so quixotic. I never would’ve imagined that I’d have the opportunities I’ve had. And young people can’t possibly imagine how far and how high their efforts can reach. All they can do is continue to work as hard as they can, learn as much as they can and not stop working. The process is the process. The joy of it is doing the thing itself.

Answer these questions and hand them in to your teacher

Answer these questions about what John Williams says in this interview. Try to use your own words and to answer as fully as possible. If you find it really hard, team up with a partner. 

When you have finished, hand your work in to your teacher and he/she will correct it. 

1) Describe how John Williams composes: what tools does he use?

2) Does this seem a modern method for composing music to you? Why, or why not? And how does he explain this?

3) What does Williams say about the composers of the past? Can you think of anybody that he may be thinking of?

4) Why does Williams say you are restricted when you are writing music for films?

5) What is his advice to young film music composers today?

6) From this interview, do you think that John Williams is still a humble, modest person in spite of all his success? What comment(s) in the interview give you this impression?

7) Do you think that being very famous and having lots of awards gives you the right to be arrogant? Why or why not?

And now, relax with his music!

And now, after all your hard work, relax a bit listening to some of his most famous scores. 

WatchMojo.com John Williams medley Licencia YouTube