Episode 8 - The Craft of John Williams (with Frank Lehman)

John Williams recently celebrated his 91st birthday.  He's rightfully considered the most popular and perhaps the greatest film composer of all time!  His too-many-to-list credits include Jaws, Star Wars I through IX, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones series, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  What are the tools of John Williams' craft?  What are some of his composition techniques and his creative influences?  What are the various musical experiences aside from being a film composer that have helped shape his musicianship?  Besides discussing his early background, we will be focusing on 2 very different and seldom discussed scores to explore his style through his scores to Sabrina (1995) and Images (1972)

To help me discuss this is my guest, Dr. Frank Lehman, an associate professor of Tufts University.  He is a music theorist and a film musicologist who has specialized in study of John Williams, Hans Zimmer, and film score music in general.  His many articles and peer-reviewed papers, including his massive ongoing catalog and commentary of all Star Wars themes can be found through his website at https://franklehman.com/

What is your favorite John Williams score or theme?  Let me know by telling me directly at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit or you can send me a written message at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/contact

This episode uses several musical clips to accompany our discussion of the music. (Note: these music clips play on the podcast feed only, not on the YouTube video.) In order of appearance, here is the full list of clips.  All music is composed by John Williams except where otherwise noted.

10:05 "Hedwig's Theme" from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 12:32 "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" from The John Tanner Touch 13:28 Opening from "You Are Welcome" a documentary about Newfoundland 14:35 "Pajama Game" from Not With My Wife, You Don't 16:00 Main Title from Tarantula - music by Henry Mancini 16:31 Theme from Peter Gunn - music by Henry Mancini 17:26 Theme from To Kill a Mockingbird - music by Elmer Bernstein 18:27 "Good-bye Willy" from Death of a Salesman - music by Alex North 19:30 "The Swamp" from Psycho by Bernard Herrmann 20:37 "The Nightmare" from Vertigo by Bernard Herrmann 21:30 Overture to the School of Scandal by Samuel Barber 21:55 Commando March by Samuel Barber 28:37 "Theme from Sabrina" from Sabrina 29:40 ("Theme from Sabrina" from Sabrina) 30:12 ("Theme from Sabrina" from Sabrina) 31:47 "Moonlight" (with Sting) from Sabrina 32:45 "How Can I Remember" from Sabrina 33:33 "Nantucket Visit" from Sabrina 34:29  "Linus' New Life" from Sabrina 40:13  Amériques by Edgar Varese 42:03 "In Search of Unicorns" from Images 44:36 "Killing Marcel" from Images 45:51 "Blood Moon" from Images 47:52 "Reflections" from Images 48:44 "Miracle of the Ark" from Raiders of the Lost Ark 49:35 "Barry's Abduction" from Close Encounters of the Third Kind 50:08 "Diving Away from Trouble" from War of the Worlds 51:17 "The Mecha World" from A.I. Artificial Intelligence 53:40 "The Imperial Attack" from Star Wars 54:06 "Map Room: Dawn" from Raiders of the Lost Ark  

You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/ . If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also now find the podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit

You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1

This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.