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America's Composer

John Williams talks to Donald Macleod about his score for Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, and working with a very different director: Alfred Hitchcock.

John Williams talks to Donald Macleod about working with Steven Spielberg on the Holocaust drama, Schindler's List - and how he approached the enormous challenge of writing music to complement such a tragic and harrowing story. We'll hear excerpts from his Oscar-winning score, infused with the inflections of Jewish traditional music.
Before this, a very different - and much loved - Spielberg score: Williams's music to the "Indiana Jones" series of films, and the composer's Olympic Fanfare, written for the Los Angeles Summer Games of 1984, and reprised every games since.
We end with a real rarity, and probably a real surprise to many: John Williams's score to Alfred Hitchcock's last film, Family Plot. Williams is one of the very few people in history to have worked closely with both Hitchcock and Spielberg - and he tells us how these two directorial giants compare.

1 hour

Last on

Wed 2 Oct 2013 18:30

Music Played

  • John Williams

    Superman (1978) Main Title

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: John Williams.
    • SONY CLASSICAL: S2K51333.
    • 3.
  • John Williams

    Indiana Jones and the Raiders Of The Lost Ark - The Adventures Of Mutt

    Orchestra: Hollywood Studio Symphony. Conductor: John Williams.
    • CONCORD: 7230856.
  • John Williams

    Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (2008) - Raiders March

    Orchestra: Hollywood Studio Symphony. Conductor: John Williams.
    • CONCORD: 7230856.
  • John Williams

    Olympic Fanfare (1984)

    Orchestra: Brandenburg State Opera House, Cottbus. Conductor: Evan Christ.
    • Private Tape.
  • John Williams

    J.F.K. (1991): Arlington

    Orchestra: The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Nic Raine.
    • ELEKTRA: 7559612932.
    • 1.
  • John Williams

    Theme From Schindler's List (Reprise)

    Performer: Itzhak Perlman. Performer: Giora Feidman. Choir: Li-Ron Herzeliya Children's Choir. Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: John Williams.
    • MCA: MCAD10969.
  • John Williams

    Oyfn Pripetshok

    Performer: Itzhak Perlman. Performer: Giora Feidman. Choir: Li-Ron Herzeliya Children's Choir. Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: John Williams.
    • MCA: MCAD10969.
  • John Williams

    Nacht Aktion

    Performer: Itzhak Perlman. Performer: Giora Feidman. Choir: Li-Ron Herzeliya Children's Choir. Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: John Williams. Composer: John Williams.
    • MCA: MCAD10969.
  • John Williams

    Remembrances

    Performer: Itzhak Perlman. Performer: Giora Feidman. Choir: Li-Ron Herzeliya Children's Choir. Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: John Williams.
    • MCA: MCAD10969.
  • John Williams

    Theme From Schindler's List (Reprise)

    Performer: Itzhak Perlman. Performer: Giora Feidman. Choir: Li-Ron Herzeliya Children's Choir. Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: John Williams.
    • MCA: MCAD10969.
  • John Williams

    Family Plot (1976): End Titles

    Conductor: Paul Bateman. Orchestra: The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • PRIMETIME: TVPMCD810.

Broadcasts

  • Wed 16 Jan 2013 12:00
  • Wed 16 Jan 2013 18:30
  • Wed 2 Oct 2013 12:00
  • Wed 2 Oct 2013 18:30

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