Musical Syntax in John Williams’s Film Music Themes

Abstract

John Williams’s thematic conception and construction, which has a prominent role in his musical style, is characterized by a high sophistication in his composition style that results in memorable and versatile themes. His thematic syntax in turn has its roots in the two fundamental forms of classical music, the sentence and the period. The analysis in this chapter is based on Caplin’s important study of these theme types, along with later views of sentential types, which can be identified in many of Williams’s themes. The essay shows that the connection with the classicism of the past is not a stagnant one in Williams’s oeuvre, but leads to a mature development of enriched and advanced structures. Formal characteristics of these works, such as repetition, contrast and cadence, are joined with clarity, precision and symmetry, resulting in solid structures that make up extraordinarily memorable themes that give us aesthetic pleasure. Notated musical examples (out of over 300 themes that have been studied) that represent each form will be used and analysed to help the reader understand these functional norms, while these thematic structures will be summed up in collected statistics, showing the frequency of each type.

This chapter is an abridgement of a chapter from my forthcoming doctoral dissertation (Konstantinos Zacharopoulos, ‘The Film Music of John Williams (1975–2015)’, University of Athens, Ph.D. diss., forthcoming). In the dissertation, I analyse 4–10 themes of each type, thus trying to consider many possible deviations from the most characteristic stereotypes, while in this essay the discussion is limited to one or two of the most typical themes of each type. Furthermore, an effort has been made to omit most technical harmonic references for reasons of brevity, as well as to make the text more comprehensible. The text was translated from Greek into English by Athanasia Agistriotou.

Appendix

As the analysis in this article is limited to one or two themes of each type, the appendix lists a more extensive selection of themes. It is a guide both for the general reader, who can listen to the themes and get a richer understanding of the issues discussed in the essay, and the scholar who can check my claims through a study of other representative themes.

Sentence

Darth Vader’s Theme (Imperial March), in John Williams, John Williams Conducts John Williams: The Star Wars Trilogy, Sony Classical, 1990, SK 46947, track 4: 0.09–0.36

Medallion Theme, in John Williams, Raiders of the Lost Ark, CD, DCC Compact Classics, 1995, DZS-090, track 6: 0.00–0.31

Phil’s Theme, in John Williams, Heartbeeps, CD, Varèse Sarabande, 2001, VCL 1101 1001, track 9: 0.30–0.45

Stanley and Iris Theme, in John Williams, Stanley and Iris, CD, Varèse Sarabande, 1990, VSD-5255, track 1: 0.35–1.05

JFK Theme, in John Williams, JFK, CD, Elektra, 1992, 7559-61293-2, track 1: 0.19–1.23

Piano Theme, in John Williams, Angela’s Ashes, CD, Sony Classical, 1999, SK 89009, track 1: 2.09–2.28

‘Lost’ Theme, in John Williams, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, CD, La-La Land Records, 2015, LLLCD 1353, disc 3, track 13: 0.06–0.33

Sean’s Theme, in John Williams, Minority Report, CD, Dreamworks Records, 2002, 450 385-2, track 9: 0.23–0.53

Dobby Theme, in John Williams, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, CD, Warner Sunset/Nonesuch/Atlantic, 2002, 83574-2, track 9: 0.10–0.27

The Past Theme, in John Williams, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, CD, Atlantic Records, 2004, 7567837115, track 7: 1.09–1.34

Sentence with Dissolving Third Statement

Leia’s Theme, in John Williams, John Williams Conducts John Williams: The Star Wars Trilogy, Sony Classical, 1990, SK 46947, track 2: 0.15–1.12

Superman Theme B, in John Williams, Superman, CD, Warner Archives/Rhino, 2000, R2 75874, disc 1, track 1: 2.15–2.31

Dracula Theme, in John Williams, Dracula, CD, Varèse Sarabande, 1990, VSD-5250, track 11: 0.41–1.21

Cherry Theme, in John Williams, The Witches of Eastwick, CD, Collector’s Choice Music, 2006, CCM-685-2, track 9: 0.00–0.17

Main Title/House Theme B, in John Williams, Home Alone, CD, La-La Land, 2010, LLLCD 1158, track 3: 0.29–0.47

Prologue Theme, in John Williams, Hook, CD, Epic Records, 1991, 469349-2, track 1: 0.06–0.21

Sabrina Theme, in John Williams, Sabrina, CD, A&M Records, 1995, 540456-2, track 1: 0.12–0.34

Angela’s Ashes Theme, in John Williams, Angela’s Ashes, CD, Sony Classical, 1999, SK 89009, track 1: 0.10–0.40

Duelling Theme, in John Williams, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, CD, Sony Classical, 2011, 88697975882, track 18: 0.06–0.20

Death Theme, in John Williams, The Book Thief, CD, Sony Masterworks, 2013, 379707, track 1: 0.06–0.36

Trifold Sentence

Military Theme, in John Williams, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, CD, Arista Records, 1998, 07822-19004-2 3, track 15: 0.00–0.15

The Fury Theme, in John Williams, The Fury, CD, La-la Land Records, 2013, LLLCD 1238, disc 1, track 1: 0.09–0.54

Friendship Theme, in John Williams, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, CD, MCA Records, 2002, 088 112 819-2, track 7: 0.00–0.44

Main Title/House Theme A, in John Williams, Home Alone, CD, La-La Land, 2010, LLLCD 1158, track 3: 0.10–0.28

Charleston Theme, in John Williams, The Patriot, CD, Hollywood Records/Edel, 2000, 0112442HWR, track 3: 0.54–1.12

Love Theme, in John Williams, Far and Away, CD, MCA Records, 1992, MCAD-10628, track 19: 1.50–2.20

American Cause Theme, in John Williams, The Patriot, CD, Hollywood Records/Edel, 2000, 0112442HWR, track 1: 5.25–6.05

Flying Car Theme, in John Williams, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, CD, Warner Sunset/Nonesuch/Atlantic, 2002, 83574-2, track 5: 0.09–0.19

Dartmoor Theme, in John Williams, War Horse, CD, Sony Classical, 2011, 88697975282, track 1: 2.09–2.28

Unfolding Sentence

Schindler’s List Theme, in John Williams, Schindler’s List, CD, MCA Records, 1993, MCAD 10969, track 1: 0.17–1.05

Sayuri’s Theme, in John Williams, Memoirs of a Geisha, CD, Sony Classical, 2005, SK 74708, track 1: 0.09–0.46

Chiyo’s Theme, in John Williams, Memoirs of a Geisha, CD, Sony Classical, 2005, SK 74708, track 2: 2.41–3.13

Book Thief Theme, in John Williams, The Book Thief, CD, Sony Masterworks, 2013, 379707, track 1: 0.40–1.11

Period

Schoebridge Theme, in John Williams, Family Plot, CD, Varèse Sarabande, 2010, VCL 1110 1115, track 3: 0.17–0.34

Ark Theme, in John Williams, Raiders of the Lost Ark, CD, DCC Compact Classics, 1995, DZS-090, track 9: 0.00–0.37

Monsignor Theme, in John Williams, Monsignor, CD, Intrada, 2007, Special Collection Volume 51, track 1: 0.18–1.22

Anakin’s Theme, in John Williams, Star Wars—Episode I: The Phantom Menace, CD, Sony Classical/Sony Music Soundtrax, 1999, SK 61816, track 3: 0.23–0.49

Rosewood Theme, in John Williams, Rosewood, CD, La-La Land, 2013, LLLCD 1244, disc 1, track 24: 0.00–0.32

Grail Theme, in John Williams, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, CD, Warner Bros, 1989, 925 883-2, track 13: 0.41–1.06

Kovic’s Theme B, in John Williams, Born on the Fourth of July, CD, MCA Records, 1989, MCAD 6340, track 10: 0.56–1.35

Holiday Flight Theme, in John Williams, Home Alone, CD, La-La Land, 2010, LLLCD 1158, track 7: 0.06–0.18

Island Theme, in John Williams, Jurassic Park, CD, MCA Records, 1993, MCAD-10859, track 4: 1.23–1.46

Nordic Theme, in John Williams, Seven Years in Tibet, CD, Mandalay Records, 1997, SK 60271, track 3: 0.00–0.38