Composer John Williams Turns 90 Today, So Enjoy 9 of His Greatest Songs

When people suddenly stop and think, “Hey, you know what? The Phantom Menace was pretty fun in retrospect,” it’s a safe bet their glasses have become rose-colored by the badassery of the duel between the Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn, and Sith Lord Darth Maul. And while the actual dueling is great, what makes the scene so badass is this absolute monster of a song by Williams. “Duel of the Fates” is arguably the best thing in the entire prequel trilogy.

Has there ever been a song that inspired more dread than the Jaws theme? John Carpenter’s Halloween score is creepy, and Wendy Carlos did some great work on The Shining, but the slow, sporadic bass strings that slowly accelerate into that horn blast of terror leaves viewers plenty of time to know something bad is about to happen, they just don’t know when.

Indiana Jones’ own theme is great, but check out the subtle, almost ethereal music Williamson has made to bring Marion (Karen Allen) into the movie. It’s romantic without feeling overwrought, and powerful enough to accurately point out Marion is no damsel in distress. Plus, the way it responds to Indy’s theme is just wonderful.

Williams and Steven Spielberg have always been two peas in a pod, but a white guy trying to write a score about a Mende slave mutiny that took over the ship Amistad in 1834 and ended up facing the U.S. Supreme Court could have gone badly. Instead, Williams penned this beautiful song, sung in the native Mende language. In fact, Amistad netted Williams one of his many Academy Awards for Best Score.

People forget that half of Jurassic Park is pretty much a straight-up horror movie about people being chased by monsters who want to kill them, a la Alien. I suspect Williams’ theme is why. It avoids the horror to focus on the majesty and beauty of the dinosaurs and magic of Jurassic Park before everything goes to hell.

Only John Williams could write a song that feels like a Christmas carol you’ve heard for all your life, yet only came into the world in a 1990 kids’ movie.

Williams’ career is full of iconic music, but the case could be made that his theme for Superman is the most iconic of all. Its power is in its simplicity, much like Superman’s power as a character comes from his utterly straightforward goodness and compassion. This theme has become so entwined with the character that it’s been used for several other iterations of the character, and some of ones that don’t use it the music still emulate Williams’ distinct “triad tone” style to evoke it.

If you want to know just how good Williams is at scoring action scenes, in addition to incredible themes for movies and characters, look no further—uh, listen no further than his composition for the motorcycle chase in Last Crusade. It’s so well executed you can practically see the scene in your mind, and it’s great as a stand-alone piece of music, too!

Also known by the more evocative name “Binary Sunset,” played when Luke looks off into the Tatooine desert in hopes of seeing a future where he’s not marooned on his uncle’s moisture farm. The music is full of yearning, of melancholy, of a hope that however bleak things might seem, they can be righted. It’s the perfect theme to send a young hero out to discover his destiny.

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