The FORCE That Binds Us Together
A deeper insight into the musical genius of John Williams
Swinging into History
On the nearing occasion of Star Wars day let us take a deep dive into the world of one of the most impressive composers ever. John was born on February 8th of 1932 into a rather musical family. His father had lost himself to the intoxicating and mystical world of jazz music. John’s father who went by the same name as him, was a jazz drummer and percussionist in the Raymond Scott Quintet. The talent coursing through his veins persuaded him to take upon music during his higher education. Graduating from notable universities such as UCLA and the Julliard School of music in addition to working with coveted composers and pianists, Williams was well primed to enter the music industry.
Labor and its Fruits
John Williams has since earned a reputation as one of the most influential composers of the century, mostly from scoring for television and numerous movies. Spanning an extensive 7 decades, Williams’ career has been a legendary one. With having been involved in delivering strong messages such as in, “The Book Thief” or creating iconic soundtracks immortalized through the power of cinema such as the “Jaws” soundtrack and various others such as the “Indiana Jones” and “Jurassic Park” movie series; Williams has aided the riveting form in which modern cinema is sculpted. However his brilliance was truly expounded in the celebrated “Star Wars” franchise, uniting a generation of science fiction enthusiasts around the world or maybe even across the universe!
Plunge into a galaxy far far away…
Interestingly enough, the exciting and enthralling musical numbers of the worshiped franchise had a lot more musicality and intellect involved in its inception. Drawing from Williams’ early exposure to jazz in conformity with his idiosyncratic use of orchestral instruments, an eccentric piece was actualized. The technicalities of which include the prevalent musical dexterity in strings to give rise to our deepest emotions. This is portrayed especially in the “Imperial march”, Darth Vader theme song. The stunning visuals of this famous instance in the film franchise coupled with an incredibly expeditious staccato of an upright bass, and bellowing trombones spurs a sense of anxiety within the audience and reinforces tension as the dark lord begins to spin the twine of pandemonium and anarchy. However, this is contrasted to the “Star Wars Main theme” which is also commemorated for its ability to incite feelings of possibility and adventure with its natural crescendo and use of loud and popping brass instrumentals. An interesting point of confluence for these seemingly unrelated songs is the striking use of dynamics. With Williams switching from piano to forte and all the subdivisions within throughout the songs, we can truly see the creative masterpieces. If there was ever any doubt that John was the best in the business it has been long vanquished by his collection of 5 Oscars with 52 nominations in total. As of now this is the highest number of nominations ever earned by a musical composer. He is truly the best at what he does. Now all that is left for all of you is to go check out some of his music.
– Dhruv Menon