Raiders of the Lost Ark | ||||
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Film score by | ||||
Released | June 1981 | |||
Recorded | February 1981 | |||
Studio | Abbey Road Studios | |||
Genre | Film score | |||
Length | 43:00 | |||
Label | ||||
John Williams chronology | ||||
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Indiana Jones chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Filmtracks | |
Movie Wave |
Raiders of the Lost Ark: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the film score to the 1981 Steven Spielberg film, Raiders of the Lost Ark . The music was composed and conducted by John Williams and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. The orchestrations were provided by Herbert W. Spencer and Al Woodbury.[ citation needed ] The score was released by Columbia Records in June 1981. The soundtrack received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score but lost out to Vangelis' score for Chariots of Fire . [1]
This was one of the first scores recorded at Abbey Road Studios (formerly known as EMI Studios) after Anvil Studios shut down in 1980.
Williams said that the music did not have to be serious for the film and was instead theatrical and excessive. [2] Williams spent a few weeks working on the Indiana Jones theme, more commonly known as "The Raiders March" that plays during the main character's heroic scenes. Two separate pieces were played for Spielberg, who wanted to use both. These pieces became the main theme and musical bridge of "The Raiders March". [3] A picture disc vinyl LP of "The Raiders March" was released by Walt Disney Records in 2021.
For the romantic theme, Williams took inspiration from older films like the drama Now, Voyager (1942) to create something more emotionally monumental that he felt would contrast well with the film's humor and lighter moments. [2] [3] Williams used "dark" orchestral pieces to represent the actions of the Nazis, using the "seventh degree on the scale of the bottom". He said this signified a militaristic evil. [3] To create something suitably biblical for the Ark of the Covenant, he used a mix of chorus and orchestra. [2]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" | 6:03 |
2. | "Flight From Peru" | 2:23 |
3. | "The Map Room: Dawn" | 3:55 |
4. | "The Basket Game" | 4:47 |
5. | "The Well Of The Souls" | 4:57 |
6. | "Desert Chase" | 7:41 |
7. | "Marion's Theme" | 3:10 |
8. | "The Miracle Of The Ark" | 6:11 |
9. | "The Raiders March" | 2:29 |
Total length: | 41:36 |
Title | U.S. release date | Label | Format |
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Raiders of the Lost Ark–Original Soundtrack | June 1981 | Columbia | Double-LP |
Raiders of the Lost Ark (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)–Expanded Edition | 1995 | DCC Compact Classics, Inc. | CD and LP |
Raiders of the Lost Ark (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | 2008 | Concord | CD and LP |
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | March 27, 2024 | Walt Disney | Remastered CD |
June 28, 2024 | Remastered 2-LP |
The soundtrack was re-released in an expanded edition by DCC Compact Classics, Inc. in November 1995 on CD and LP, with thirty minutes of new and extended cues and a 24-page booklet. The LP had an extended "The Well of the Souls" sequence that was absent on the CD release.
Raiders of the Lost Ark [Expanded] | |
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Soundtrack album by John Williams | |
Released | November 1995 |
Genre | Soundtrack |
Length | 73:35 |
Label | DCC Compact Classics, Inc. |
No. | Title | Note(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "The Raiders March" | a.k.a. "The Indiana Jones Theme" | 2:50 |
2. | "Main Title: South America, 1936" | Previously unreleased | 4:10 |
3. | "In the Idol's Temple" | Contains previously unreleased material | 5:26 |
4. | "Flight from Peru" | 2:20 | |
5. | "Journey to Nepal" | Previously unreleased | 2:11 |
6. | "The Medallion" | Previously unreleased | 2:55 |
7. | "To Cairo" | 1:29 | |
8. | "The Basket Game" | Contains previously unreleased material | 5:04 |
9. | "The Map Room: Dawn" | 3:52 | |
10. | "Reunion and the Dig Begins" | Previously unreleased | 4:10 |
11. | "The Well of the Souls" | Contains previously unreleased material (Extended to include "Uncovering the Ark / Marion Into the Pit" on DCC LP release) | 5:28 |
12. | "Airplane Fight" | Previously unreleased | 4:37 |
13. | "Desert Chase" | Contains previously unreleased material | 8:15 |
14. | "Marion's Theme" | 2:08 | |
15. | "The German Sub / To the Nazi Hideout" | Previously unreleased | 4:32 |
16. | "Ark Trek" | Previously unreleased | 1:33 |
17. | "The Miracle of the Ark" | 6:05 | |
18. | "The Warehouse" | Previously unreleased | 0:56 |
19. | "End Credits" | 5:20 | |
Total length: | 73:35 |
Silva released a newly recorded version of Williams' Indiana Jones music entitled "The Indiana Jones Trilogy" [4] on January 21, 2003. It features various cues from the first three Indiana Jones films, with seven from Raiders. However, although they use the original manuscripts, this is a re-recording performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The Raiders March" | 2:40 |
2. | "The Map Room / Dawn" | 4:09 |
3. | "The Basket Game" | 4:23 |
4. | "Marion's Theme" | 3:43 |
5. | "Airplane Fight" | 4:22 |
6. | "The Ark Trek" | 1:29 |
7. | "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" | 4:54 |
Total length: | 25:40 |
The five-disc release by Concord Records was released on November 11, 2008. The set contains the three original soundtracks to the trilogy, expanded and remastered, including material never before issued on CD. The box set also includes the standard Kingdom of the Crystal Skull soundtrack (released in May 2008, no bonus material added) plus a bonus CD that includes more music from the trilogy and an exclusive audio interview CD with Williams.
No. | Title | Note(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "In the Jungle" | 4:13 | |
2. | "The Idol Temple" | 3:56 | |
3. | "Escape from the Temple" | 1:34 | |
4. | "Flight from Peru" | 2:24 | |
5. | "Washington Men / Indy's Home" | Previously Unreleased | 1:06 |
6. | "A Thought for Marion / To Nepal" | 2:12 | |
7. | "The Medallion" | 2:55 | |
8. | "Flight to Cairo" | 1:30 | |
9. | "The Basket Game" | 5:02 | |
10. | "Bad Dates" | Previously Unreleased | 1:14 |
11. | "The Map Room: Dawn" | 3:53 | |
12. | "Reunion in the Tent / Searching for the Well" | 4:02 | |
13. | "The Well of the Souls" | 5:28 | |
14. | "Indy Rides the Statue" | Previously Unreleased | 1:09 |
15. | "The Fist Fight / The Flying Wing" | 4:37 | |
16. | "Desert Chase" | 7:33 | |
17. | "Marion's Theme / The Crate" | 2:10 | |
18. | "The German Sub" | 1:23 | |
19. | "Ride to the Nazi Hideout" | 3:20 | |
20. | "Indy Follows the Ark" | 1:40 | |
21. | "The Miracle of the Ark" | 6:07 | |
22. | "Washington Ending & Raiders March" | 6:52 | |
Total length: | 74:20 |
No. | Title | Note(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Raiders March" | 2:30 | |
3. | "Uncovering the Ark" | Previously Unreleased | 5:32 |
Total length: | 8:02 |
The re-issues of the three original soundtracks are also available in Europe as a single release. The content is identical to the first three titles in the box-set.
The 2008 edition of the soundtrack was reissued by Walt Disney Records and released alongside the other four film soundtrack albums from the series in a collective 5-CD box set on March 27, 2024. [5]
There are about three minutes of music from Raiders of the Lost Ark that—so far—have not been released on CD.
In addition to the missing music, "Desert Chase" is incomplete on the Concord set. It has been trimmed down to its 1981 album length, making the 1995 release the only complete representation of that cue.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Jeffrey Boam, based on a story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes. It is the third installment in the Indiana Jones film series and the sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Harrison Ford returned in the title role, while his father is portrayed by Sean Connery. Other cast members featured include Alison Doody, Denholm Elliott, Julian Glover, River Phoenix, and John Rhys-Davies. In the film, set in 1938, Indiana searches for his father, a Holy Grail scholar, who has been kidnapped and held hostage by the Nazis while on a journey to find the Holy Grail.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. Set in 1936, the film stars Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, a globetrotting archaeologist vying with Nazi German forces to recover the long-lost Ark of the Covenant which is said to make an army invincible. Teaming up with his tough former romantic interest Marion Ravenwood, Jones races to stop rival archaeologist René Belloq from guiding the Nazis to the Ark and its power.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a 1984 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a script by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, based on a story by George Lucas. It is the second installment in the Indiana Jones film series, and a prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark. The film features Harrison Ford who reprises his role as the title character. Kate Capshaw, Amrish Puri, Roshan Seth, Philip Stone and Ke Huy Quan, in his film debut, star in supporting roles. In the film, after arriving in British India, Indiana Jones is asked by desperate villagers to find a mystical stone and rescue their children from a Thuggee cult practicing child slavery, black magic, and ritual human sacrifice in honor of the goddess Kali.
John Towner Williams is an American composer and conductor. 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. He has a distinct sound that mixes romanticism, impressionism and atonal music with complex orchestration. He is best known for his collaborations with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas and has received numerous accolades including 26 Grammy Awards, five Academy Awards, seven BAFTA Awards, three Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. With 54 Academy Award nominations, he is the second-most nominated person, after Walt Disney, and is the oldest Oscar nominee in any category, at 92 years old.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by David Koepp, based on a story by George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson. It is the fourth installment in the Indiana Jones film series and a sequel to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Set in 1957, it pits Indiana Jones against Soviet KGB agents led by Irina Spalko searching for a telepathic crystal skull located in Peru. Jones is aided by his former lover, Marion Ravenwood, and their son, Mutt Williams. Ray Winstone, John Hurt, and Jim Broadbent are also part of the supporting cast.
The various film and theatre appearances of the Superman character have been accompanied by musical scores.
Star Wars (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 1977 film Star Wars, composed and conducted by John Williams and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Williams' score for Star Wars was recorded over eight sessions at Anvil Studios in Denham, England on March 5, 8–12, 15 and 16, 1977. The score was orchestrated by Williams, Herbert W. Spencer, Alexander Courage, Angela Morley, Arthur Morton and Albert Woodbury. Spencer orchestrated the scores for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The score was recorded by engineer Eric Tomlinson and edited by Kenneth Wannberg, and the scoring sessions were produced by Star Wars director George Lucas and supervised by Lionel Newman, head of 20th Century Fox's music department.
The score from The Empire Strikes Back composed by John Williams. Between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, Williams had also worked with the London Symphony Orchestra for the scores to the films The Fury, Superman and Dracula. The score earned another Academy Award nomination for Williams. Again, the score was orchestrated by Herbert W. Spencer and Angela Morley, recorded by engineer Eric Tomlinson and edited by Kenneth Wannberg with supervision by Lionel Newman. John Williams himself took over duties as record producer from Star Wars creator George Lucas.
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi is the film score to the 1983 film Return of the Jedi, composed and conducted by John Williams and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. The score was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London between January and February 1983. Again, John Williams served as producer. Herbert W. Spencer, Thomas Newman and Gordon Langford served as orchestrators. Engineer Eric Tomlinson, music editor Kenneth Wannberg, and record supervisor Lionel Newman again reprised their respective duties. The score earned another Academy Award nomination for Williams. Return of the Jedi, which is the original trilogy's shortest score, was only released on a single-LP instead of a double-set like the Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back soundtracks before it.
Thunderball is the soundtrack album for the fourth James Bond film Thunderball.
The Jaws soundtrack is the music composed and conducted by John Williams for Steven Spielberg's 1975 film Jaws. The soundtrack is particularly notable for the 2-note ostinato which represents the shark, a theme so simple that Spielberg initially thought it was a joke by the composer.
Jurassic Park: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the film score to the 1993 Steven Spielberg film of the same name, composed and conducted by John Williams. Alexander Courage, John Neufeld, Conrad Pope, Aimee Vereecke and Dennis Dreith served as orchestrators.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is the soundtrack to Steven Spielberg's 1989 film of the same name. It was released by Warner Records in 1989. The music was composed and conducted by John Williams and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony, with orchestrations provided by Herbert W. Spencer, Alexander Courage, John Neufeld and Patrick Hollenbeck.
Saving Private Ryan: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album for the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan, directed by Steven Spielberg. The album was produced by composer John Williams and distributed by DreamWorks Records. Recorded in Symphony Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, the scores were performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, with two of the ten compositions featuring vocals from the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. The soundtrack runs for just over an hour, while the film itself lasts over two hours.
Indiana Jones is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull(Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the film score to the 2008 film of the same name, composed and conducted by John Williams and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony, with orchestrations provided by Conrad Pope and Eddie Karam. The soundtrack album was released by Concord Records on May 20, 2008.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the film score to the 1984 Steven Spielberg film, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The music was composed and conducted by John Williams and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony, with orchestrations provided by Herbert W. Spencer and Alexander Courage and first released on CD, LP, and cassette in 1984 and reissued on CD in 2008.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: Music from the Original Soundtrack is the score to the 1982 film of the same name composed and conducted by John Williams. The album was first released by MCA Records on June 11, 1982. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Score and Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. The album was reissued in expanded form in 1996, and again in a slightly more expanded edition in 2002, before being remastered and reissued in a limited-edition two-disc set by La-La Land Records on September 26, 2017.
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.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny(Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the film score to the 2023 film of the same name, composed by John Williams and orchestrated and conducted by Williams and William Ross. Recorded during June 2022 and February 2023 at the Sony Scoring Stage, and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony, the score was digitally released by Walt Disney Records on June 29, 2023, followed by a physical CD and vinyl LP release on August 9, 2023. A version of "Helena's Theme" for violin and orchestra, featuring Anne-Sophie Mutter as soloist, was released as a single on June 22, 2023.