John williams

His was not just a hobby or knowing by ear. He studied very seriously at UCLA and at Los Angeles City College, he wanted to learn to conduct orchestras. Among the teachers who tutored him are Robert Van Eps and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco . Since he worked seriously and that was clearly his vocation, during his military service he directed an orchestra in the air force. She never considers her training finished, so she receives more input at the Juilliard School in New York, from the hand of the mythical Rosina Lhevinne. In the Big Apple, he makes a living playing jazz in clubs, but Lhevinne encourages him not to stop creating her own music. She will return to Los Angeles, and Hollywood will find in him a composer with the talent of a giant.

But not everything was arriving and kissing the saint. What is true is that he was able to work with the most important Hollywood composers, names such as Bernard Herrmann , Alfred Newman or Dimitri Tiomkin . He will play the piano, and do arranging work at Fox and Columbia, where he works with André Previn . He even meets his wife there, the actress and singer Barbara Ruick , her wife until his death in 1974. With her he had three children. In 1980 he married Samantha Winslow for the second time, with whom he lives in Boston.

Williams will do a lot of TV work, appearing in the credits as Johnny Williams , in the late ’50s and early ’60s. His first major film work is Mr. From Hawaii (1963) andUnderworld Code (1964). Yours will be the score of the popular television seriesLost in Space (1965) . William Wyler allows you to give your filmHow to Steal a Million (1966) the requisite tone of sophisticated thieves comedy. In 1968 she achieved her first Oscar nomination forThe Valley of the Dolls . He will be a regular of the golden statuettes, he has 5 Oscars out of 47 nominations to his credit. The first will be in 1972 thanks to his work adapting the musicalFiddler on the Roof . Working for the cinema will recognize that it can be painful, and that you are still in the hands of the big studios, but he will certainly achieve a privileged position.

In the 70s his name was associated with disaster movies, his vibrant scores with lively orchestration fit perfectly inThe Poseidon Adventure (1972),The Colossus in Flames (1974) andEarthquake (1974). It is also the decade in which he meets a certain Steven Spielberg , a director for whom he will compose most of the soundtracks of his films. The thing starts withCrazy escape (1974) and continues with the mythical, popular and catchy music of suspense and terror fromJaws (1975), his first Oscar for an original film score. Thanks to his happy collaboration with Spielberg, she will have the Oscar forET, the extraterrestrial (1982) andSchindler’s List (1993). 26 jobs have, for now, with this director.

For George Lucas , he will compose the music forStar Wars (1977), Oscar-winning, and will be associated with the Indiana Jones saga. His work in the saga is also outstandingSuperman (1978). Outside of the Spielbergian and Luciana orbit is the playful music ofHome Alone (1990) and sequel, his memorable score for Angela’s Ashes (1999), his foray into the Rowling world in two Harry Potter titles (2002 and 2004), and oriental-inspired music forMemoirs of a Geisha (2005).

About to turn 80, he has two Oscar nominations for two separate works with Spielberg, inThe Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn andWar Horse . About the magnitude of his contribution to Spielberg’s cinema, this comment about his collaboration in Spielberg’s cinema gives an idea.Phase 3 Encounters : “John became more than just a songwriter-for-hire. He was a creative collaborator throughout all phases of post-production, spending fifteen weeks full days in the mixing studio and in theaters edition”. Of course, his next job is for his faithful employer, in the Lincoln biopic . Beyond the cinema he has 50 compositions, including different fanfares for the Olympics, and specialists place him in the neo-romantic movement, with influences from Richard Wagner .