John Towner WilliamsKBE is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career that has spanned seven decades, he has composed some of the most popular, recognizable and critically acclaimed film scores in cinema history. Williams has won 25 Grammy Awards, five Academy Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. With 53 Academy Award nominations, he is the second most-nominated individual, after Walt Disney. His compositions are considered the epitome of film music, and he is considered among the greatest composers in the history of cinema. Williams has composed many of his film scoring works for frequent collaborators Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, and other directors such as Chris Columbus, Oliver Stone, Richard Donner, Irwin Kershner, Sydney Pollack, Alfred Hitchcock, Mark Rydell, Mark Robson, Jean-Jacques Annaud, and Robert Altman.
Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-American violinist.
Discography for the cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
Memoirs of a Geisha is a 2005 American epic period drama film directed by Rob Marshall and adapted by Robin Swicord from the 1997 novel of the same name by Arthur Golden. It tells the story of a young Japanese girl, Chiyo Sakamoto, who is sold by her impoverished family to a geisha house to support them by training as and eventually becoming a geisha under the pseudonym "Sayuri Nitta." The film centers around the sacrifices and hardship faced by pre-World War II geisha, and the challenges posed by the war and a modernizing world to geisha society. It stars Zhang Ziyi in the lead role, with Ken Watanabe, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh, Youki Kudoh, Suzuka Ohgo, and Samantha Futerman.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the film score for the 2004 film of the same name, the third and final score in the series to be composed and conducted by John Williams. The soundtrack was performed at Abbey Road Studios in London with session musicians, with the London Voices and the London Oratory School Schola providing vocal performances. The score was orchestrated by Conrad Pope and Eddie Karam. The soundtrack is a significant departure from the previous two, since the director, Alfonso Cuarón, wanted the music to take a different approach. It introduced three major themes: "Window to the Past", "Double Trouble", and "Buckbeak's Flight". Other repeating new motifs were composed for the Time-Turner, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black's hunt for Harry. It was released on 25 May 2004 and charted at No. 68 on the Billboard 200 and also charted at No. 3 on the Top Soundtracks Chart.
"Gabriel's Oboe" is the main theme for the 1986 film The Mission, with Robert de Niro, Jeremy Irons, Liam Neeson and directed by Roland Joffé. The theme was written by Italian composer Ennio Morricone, and has since been arranged and performed several times by artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Holly Gornik, and Brynjar Hoff, among others. The theme has been called "unforgettable" and a "celebrated oboe melody". Vocalist Sarah Brightman convinced Morricone to allow her to set lyrics to the theme to create her own song, "Nella Fantasia". In 2010, Morricone encouraged soprano Hayley Westenra to write English lyrics for "Gabriel's Oboe" in her album Paradiso.
The Constant Gardener is the original soundtrack of the 2005 Academy Award- and Golden Globe- winning film The Constant Gardener starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz. The original score and songs were composed and produced by Alberto Iglesias.
Schindler's List: Original Motion Picture Soundtrackis the score album for Steven Spielberg's 1993 film of the same name. Composed and conducted by John Williams, the original score features violinist Itzhak Perlman.
Home Alone: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack of the 1990 film of the same name. The score was composed by John Williams and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score; the film's signature tune "Somewhere in My Memory" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence - Music from the Motion Picture is the film score of the 2001 film of the same name, composed and conducted by John Williams. The original score was composed by Williams and featured singers Lara Fabian on two songs and Josh Groban on one. Soprano Barbara Bonney provided the vocal solos in several tracks.
Air and Simple Gifts is a quartet composed and arranged by American composer John Williams for the January 20, 2009, inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. The first public performance of the piece was in Washington, D.C., immediately prior to Obama taking the oath of office, when musicians Anthony McGill (clarinet), Itzhak Perlman (violin), Yo-Yo Ma (cello) and Gabriela Montero (piano) synced their performance to a tape they had recorded two days earlier. It was the first classical quartet to be performed at a presidential inauguration. Obama officially became the 44th President of the United States while the piece was being performed, at noon, as the United States Constitution stipulates.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the soundtrack to the 2009 film of the same name, written and composed by Nicholas Hooper. The score was conducted by Hooper alongside Alastair King. It is the second Harry Potter film to be scored by Hooper, who also composed the score for the previous film in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The soundtrack was released on 14 July 2009, a day before the film's release, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 is a motion picture soundtrack to the 2011 film of the same name composed and conducted by Alexandre Desplat. The soundtrack was nominated for a Grammy Award, Satellite Award, Houston Film Critics Society Award, Denver Film Critics Society Award, and an IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for a Fantasy Film. The soundtrack won the San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Score.
John Williams, an accomplished composer formerly credited as Johnny Williams, initially worked as a jazz pianist and studio musician before transitioning into composing for television and film. Throughout his illustrious career, he has often conducted his own compositions whenever possible.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the film score to the 2015 film of the same name composed by John Williams with Williams and William Ross conducting, and Gustavo Dudamel appearing as a "special guest conductor". The album was released by Walt Disney Records on December 18, 2015, in both digipak CD and digital formats.
Solo: A Star Wars Story is the soundtrack album to the 2018 film of the same name directed by Ron Howard, which is the second instalment in the Star Wars anthology series. The score is composed by John Powell, with the Han Solo's theme conducted and composed by John Williams, whom he had collaborated for several Star Wars films, was included in the album. Williams further composed several demos, that were not included in the soundtrack but was released in the deluxe edition. Besides, composing the original themes, Powell also incorporated Williams' music from Star Wars films.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the film score to the 2019 film of the same name composed and conducted by John Williams. The soundtrack album was released in both digital formats and digipak CD by Walt Disney Records on December 18 and 20, 2019 respectively. It is his final soundtrack for the franchise; shortly before the sessions began, Williams announced that he would be retiring from Star Wars after over 40 years as its musical heart. The score won Williams a Saturn Award for Best Music.
Music from the Motion Picture: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is the soundtrack for the 2011 computer-animated action/adventure film The Adventures of Tintin directed and produced by Steven Spielberg, based on Belgian cartoonist Hergé's comic book series of the same name. The film score is composed by John Williams, which is the first time he had composed the score of a film since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) as well as his first score for an animated film. The score was released on 21 October 2011 by Sony Classical Records. Williams received a nomination for Best Original Score at the 84th Academy Awards for his work in the film.
