Customer Reviews

The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration Classic Scores for the films of Steven Spielberg (Film Score Anthology)

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For almost 30 years, since 1974's The Sugarland Express, John Williams' music has been associated with director Steven Spielberg's films. With the notable exception of The Color Purple (scored by Quincy Jones), Williams has composed the scores to all of Spielberg's films, including 2002's Minority Report and Catch Me If You Can.

The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration predates the bulk of Spielberg's post-1980s works. It covers 15 years (1974-89), or half of their collaborative years. Although some of the films represented in this 13-track compilation were not successful (1941, Always), Williams' music has proved to be well-received, both by concert audiences and music-store customers alike.

The album starts off with the rousing "Raiders March" from 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark. This unforgettable signature theme came about when Williams presented Spielberg with two musical motifs for adventurer/archaeologist Indiana Jones. The director listened to them, and instead of choosing one, asked Williams, "Can't you use both?" The first idea became the main theme, while the second became the "bridge." Glorious and brassy, yet with a wink and a nod to the music from the 1930s and '40s serials that inspired the Indiana Jones trilogy, the Raiders March is one of the best-known movie themes ever. Later in the album, two other selections (Parade of the Slave Children from Temple of Doom and Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra from The Last Crusade) round out the trilogy.

Adventures on Earth, from 1982's E.T., begins with music that mimics the fast-and-furious pedaling of bicycles, then segues into several different musical themes, including "Over the Moon" (which is reprised independently on track 9), "The Flying Theme," and the incidental music covering E.T.'s farewell to his young protectors, including Elliott. It ends triumphantly with a rendition of "The Flying Theme" and a triumphant fanfare heralding the aliens' spaceship return to the stars.

The Theme from Sugarland Express, Spielberg's first feature film, takes listeners to the wide-open expanses of Texas and features the talented Toots Thielemans on harmonica. It's very much in the vein of a Western, though the movie (which starred Goldie Hawn) took place in the late 1960s and was based on a true story.

Jaws, which put both Spielberg and Williams into blockbuster territory for the first time, is represented by three compositions: the famous "Theme," "Out to Sea," and the suspenseful "Shark Cage Fugue." They capture the primordial relentlessness of the great white shark, the optimism and excitement of the Orca's setting out on the hunt, and the frantic activity to get the shark cage put together as Chief Brody, Matt Hooper, and Quint confront the shark.

Exsultate Justi and Cadillac of the Skies from 1987's underappreciated Empire of the Sun highlight not only orchestral music but choral music performed by the American Boychoir and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Exsultate Justi is a joyous prayer of deliverance heard over the liberation of British and American civilians held in Japanese internment camps near Shanghai, while Cadillac of the Skies is a concert arrangement featuring incidental music, including the cue heard when Jamie, the film's protagonist, sees his first P-51 Mustang.

The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration ends with musical excerpts from 1977's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, starting with the eerie and atonal music of the title and evolving into the more melodic music heard during the awe-inspiring encounter between humanity and aliens. Featuring beautiful soaring thematic material, brief quotations from "When You Wish Upon a Star," and ending with the classic five-note Close Encounters motif, Williams' medley from Spielberg's UFO film shows the versatility of both director and composer, whose friendship and teamwork may not have always resulted in successful movies, but provided listeners with a treasure trove of wonderful film music that will endure for many years to come.

This "sampler" demonstrates why the Spielberg/Williams collaboration is the best since the days of Hitchcock/Herrmann. Although the collection only has selections from their association prior to 1990, it still has the essentials. The "Raiders" Films, "Empire of the Sun," "E.T.," "Jaws," "The Sugarland Express," and Williams' most evocative creation, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" are all briefly rendered here under the baton of Williams and the supremely talented Boston Pops Orchestra.

Two thumbs and two big toes up on this one!

This is a good overview of the Williams/Spielberg music up to 1990, but the performances are often a bit different from the various soundtrack album versions. If like me, you've heard those so many times that they're a part of you, you may find these performances jarring. They may even be better, some feel so, but they're just not the same. Stil, the album is worth having if only because it contains the only commercially available music from The Sugarland Express.

Nice introduction CD to John Williams music from the 70's and 80's for someone thinking of getting into film scores. In my opinion, there should be a sequel to this CD already as williams has since worked many times with Williams on some wonderful scores (Jurassic park,Schindlers list,Minority report etc to name just a few). There are some truly wonderful performances of favourites here which even sound better than the original recordings IMO. The Parade of the Slave children from Temple of Doom comes to mind, and it just build and builds into a stunning exotic piece. Other performances of well known pieces like E.T's Adventures on Earth are in my opinion much weaker and slower than the originals and its tough to listen when you know the original so well. This CD has a wondful performance of Last Crusade's "Scherzo for motorcycle" and glorious fantastic performance of "Cadillac of the skies" from Empire of the Sun. I obtained this Cd a number of years ago and my love for williams talent has increased upwards ever since. Amazing composer.

Highly recommend you buy this.

This CD compilation is just further evidence of Mr. Williams' mastery of orchestration and creativity. No other film composer can come close to his evocative music, which captures all the highs and lows of each film. I hope this guy composes until the day he dies - he's blazed a trail that will be hard to match by anyone in the near or distant future.

Spielberg's best films have always had some of Williams' best work bringing them to life. This is a great collection of a few of those scores. Although these scores are from Spielberg's more dated films, so you won't find great pieces from "Hook" or "Jurassic Park" here. Very enjoyable selection, with a good range of emotion from the uplifting music of "E.T." to the ever terrifying two-toned theme of "Jaws." I would've preferred more tracks, though the CD is of sufficient length. My personal favorite on this CD is "Cadillac of the Skies," a beautiful piece.

What can you expect when you take the greatest director of this era and combine him with the greatest composer of all time ? A minimum of 10 stars...

A greaty variety of music from who is probably the all time greatest score producer of all time, Mr. John Williams. The nice thing about this Cd is that it has various tracks from different movies, this gives you a large spectrum of John's works. From Jaws to "Indy" to E.T. Its all here for your listening enjoyment. If your into movie scores as much as I am this is a must have for your collection. Enjoy.

Used it for my radio show on KGPL 91.7 fm On historical route 66

I've had this collaboration for years, I first owned it on cassette and then bought the CD! It's been one of my favorites for a very long time and is our families vacation music, we never leave on a road trip without putting this CD in and putting on the first track from Indiana Jones. Some of Williams' best scores and some of Spielberg's best movies! I highly recommend it!