John Williams is like the [most recent popular sports athlete] of composers! Besides STAR WARS, he's the man behind the music of JAWS, E.T., JURASSIC PARK, HARRY POTTER, INDIANA JONES, and the list goes on! If it weren't for Alvin Silvestri doing the theme to BACK TO THE FUTURE, the '80s would have basically been scored by John Williams (and Devo).
Which is why it's somewhat surprising to hear that John Williams isn't really impressed with John Williams' work. In an interview with The Mirror, John Williams said that his score for STAR WARS was "not very memorable".
I actually don't think what he's saying is that crazy, at least in context. Williams is a classically trained composer who has studied the most complex, intricate works of the greatest composers who ever lived (and also wrote down their stuff). So while we as an audience enjoy the themes for their pulpy grandeur and catchy humability, it makes sense he'd feel both humbled and a bit insecure about them. In fact he talks about this later in the interview:
So I’m a composer of music and I look at Mozart and I look at Beethoven and Bach, the greatest organizers of sound that we’ve ever had, and you need to be humble when the shoulders that we stand on are so great.
He also goes on to say that he hasn't even seen the films his scores are in, saying literally at one point "I don’t want to listen to music or see films". While probably being hyperbolic (or not, the guy is busy as f*ck, even mentioning how he's starting on Spielberg's new film right after FORCE AWAKENS wrapped), he went on to elaborate:
I let it go. I have not looked at the STAR WARS films and that’s absolutely true. When I’m finished with a film, I’ve been living with it, we’ve been dubbing it, recording to it, and so on. You walk out of the studio and, “Ah, it’s finished.” Now I don’t have an impulse to go to the theater and look at it. Maybe some people find that weird.
Well, as any good artist knows, they are usually their own harshest critics. It makes sense to always want to better and push yourself, and always look at your past achievements as just that: the past. It's nice to hear how humble Williams is about his success and talent, but no need to worry John. Your shit is memorable as f*ck (in fact the STAR WARS theme has been going through my head the whole time I wrote this article).
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