Wednesday, 8 February 2012

Happy 80th Birthday to a Cinematic Maestro - the John Williams Sound

Surely cinema's greatest ever film-score composer, John Williams, celebrates his 80th birthday today.

His compositions are instantly recognizable and act as a veritable walk through of a 'Who's Who' in late 20th century and early 21st century cinematic history.

He has won 5 Academy Awards (47 nominations) and 4 Golden Globes (22 nominations) and 20 Grammys (59 nominations). His 47 Oscar nominations makes John Williams the record-holder for the most Oscar nominations for a living person and is the second most nominated person in the history of the Academy Awards behind Walt Disney's 59. Forty-two of Williams' Oscar nominations are for Best Original Music Score and five are for Best Original Song. He won four Oscars for Best Original Score and one for Best Adapted Score.

This happens to be my 500th blog post. But instead of using many words as for one who enjoys writing has become my custom, I will break from that to leave instad a sample of his wonderful musical legacy, to speak for itself...

1975 - Jaws


1977, 1980, 1983, 1999, 2002 & 2005 - Star Wars




1978 - Superman


1981, 1984, 1989 & 2008 - Indiana Jones


1982 - E.T.


1990 - Home Alone


1993 - Schindler's List


1993 - Jurassic Park


1998 - Saving Private Ryan


2003 - Harry Potter


2011 - War Horse


My favourite of these? Either Indiana Jones or Home Alone...or Superman!
Happy 80th Birthday John Williams!

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