John Williams essays

John Williams essays To think of timeless music, music that has survived for twenty, thirty, even hundreds of years; one cannot help but think of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. But that leaves a question in the mind, What has happened to classical music and where is it going. Earlier this century where Stravinsky, Sousa, Gershwin all the way to Bernstein who died in 1990. Tragically today, one might think of Yanni or John Tesh as composers; however, many critics agree that new age music will not stand the test of time. Only a certain type of composer nowadays can reach the fame and recognition that composers of the past have enjoyed, and that is scorers. The top echelon of these composers includes the likes of Hans Zimmer, Steven Schwartz, Jerry Goldsmith, and even Elton John. The most popular and successful composers this century have given the public unforgettable melodies to unforgettable movies and TV shows. As was said in the third episode of Dawsons Creek, Dawson, romance doesnt always come with a John Williams score. Without a doubt, the most successful of these scorer slash composers is John Towner Williams. John Williams was born in 1932 in New York to Johnny and Ester Williams. His father was a successful jazz drummer who had worked for CBS and NBC. In 1948, he moved to Los Angeles and graduated High School in 1950 after performing and composing for the school band. Only a year later at UCLA, he composed a piano sonata that was pretty successful for a nineteen year old. In 1952, John was drafted and then discharged in 1954 when he went to study at the Julliard School of Music making ends meet as a jazz pianist. Later, he hooked up with Alfred Newman at Twentieth Century Fox and began an unstoppable wave of compositions, scores, and awards. In the sixties, John wrote themes and scores for TV including: Lost in Space, Bob Hope Chrysler Theatre, Land of the Gia ...