John Williams: A Composer's Life [Hardcover]

John Williams is the most famous film composer of all time. He wrote as many universally well-known tunes as the Beatles or Beethoven, if not more; his themes forJaws, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, E.T., Jurassic Park, andHarry Potterare beloved around the world by multiple generations. This is the first major biography, achieved with unprecedented access to Williams and new interviews with Steven Spielberg and Yo-Yo Ma, among many others.The first biography of a great American composer of the cinema ageJohn Williams is one of the most important film composers of all time, having almost singlehandedly revived the Hollywood symphonic scoring tradition and helped restore the livelihood of American orchestras through the popularity of film music programming. His film music, in the words of director Oliver Stone, came to stand for the American culture. InJohn Williams: A Composer's Life, the first biography of the composer, author Tim Greiving offers an engaging account of a man whose body of work is well-known but whose personal life has consistently remained very private. Williams wrote the memorable scores and hummable themes for a staggering number of popular touchstones across multiple generations--among themStar Wars,Indiana Jones,Jaws,E.T.,Jurassic Park,Schindler's List, and theHarry Potterseries--and earned more Oscar nominations than any individual artist in the history of the motion picture Academy. He also composed dozens of concerti, fanfares, and other concert works and was a national presence as music director of the Boston Pops for more than a decade. He inspired countless children to pursue a career in the orchestra and won the respect of the classical community worldwide. Seeking to understand what drove Williams's musical productivity and its effects on the lives of those close to him, Greiving delves deeply into the composer's decades-long career, ul³