Talk:John Williams/Archive 1

Archive 1

Archive 2

Archive 3

The spelling of John Williams' name

I thought this person's name didn't have an H in it. If that's the case, it needs to be changed to Jon Williams. - Eagle Eyes

No. It's correct as it is now.--invicktus 09:03, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Questions of Williams' specific effects on the art of film scoring

The article still seems to be a bit underdeveloped. Perhaps someone should write describe how Williams has affected the soundtrack industry musically. For example, Williams was one of the first to use highly developed themes in his music to describe the characters and their emotions. What do you think of the idea? --invicktus 09:11, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Those procedures can be traced back to the "Golden Age" composers, most notably Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Batman Jr. 07:29, 17 October 2005 (UTC)

The leitmotiv, of which user:Invicktus speaks goes all the way back to the very beginning of film scoring, including the silents. Max Steiner and E W Korngold were the first of many to put the practice to good use in the films on which they worked. Take, The Adventures of Robin Hood and Gone With the Wind, as two very good examples.--Jslasher 08:12, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

Classical composer categorization

I don't think he is classical composer as the article is categorized. --Puzzlet Chung 04:41, 30 May 2005 (UTC)

The catagories are correct. Mirror Vax 07:44, 30 May 2005 (UTC)

Obviously. John Williams is the best! Bigger than Mozart. Amoruso 03:20, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Indiana Jones

Hasn't John Williams composed scores for Indiana Jones?

Yes. And he'll be composing for the planned Indiana Jones movie scheduled to come out in 2007. --Nationalparks 07:27, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

This has not been confirmed. It will surely be an other composer using his themes. Trimmo 21:26, 25 February 2006 (UTC).

Why "surely"? I would think that Williams would be very keen to carry on a franchise with which he has had enormous critical and commercial success. And the fact that Spielberg is involved. I would rate it as likely that the music will be composed by Williams. Batmanand | Talk 10:44, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

I agree. "Surely" is surely an exaggeration. Murkywave 01:02, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

He said on a DVD featurette that if they did a fourth Indy film (which they're doing now) he would love to compose it. It's not official yet, but indeed "surely" is exagerated. Fredvdp

Why is there a random Indiana Jones series infobox thing at the bottom of the page? If one movie series he composed music for is on there, why not add Star Wars, Harry Potter, and everything else? I didn't want to remove it because it seems like people get touchy about that kind of stuff on here. Dan Guan 01:59, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

After checking Star Wars, Harry Potter, and a couple other Williams-related pages, it looks like the Indiana Jones template is unusual in that it features a crew section, including Williams. There are no other infoboxes on the page because no others have his name on them. --Herald Alberich 05:03, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Move page?

Should this page be at John Williams, and have move the current disambig to John Williams (disambiguation)? National Parks [[User_talk:Nationalparks|(talk)]] 07:23, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

No because there are lots of other famous John Williams-es, such as the guitar player, and in the interests of fairness it is best to have the disambig page at "John Williams" and this page at "John Williams (composer)". Batmanand 09:15, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

Please see response at Talk:John Williams AlistairMcMillan 19:57, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Why move the page? What are you getting at?--Jslasher 08:12, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

Back to the Future

Didn't John Williams compose the brilliant theme music to the Back to the Future films? I thought that Back to the Future would make the list of films at the bottom of the page

Nope, that was Alan Silvestri. Nationalparks 02:16, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

Producer / Composer category

There has been debate over the presence of the "OTHER" Producer/Composer duos (besides Spielberg and Williams). While articles devoted to a particular person SHOULD focus primarily on that one person, in a subheader that deals with one great collaboration, it is justifiable to add other such Producer/Composer combos as well (to give the readership a more panoramic view of the subject).

And I grouped the Producer/Composer combos together (in the link) because I felt that one could devote an entire article of its own to the projects such duos have done. For instance, the article on Tim Burton and Danny Elfman should deal with the projects these two have done together (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Planet of the Apes, etc). --Teenwriter 00:45, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

The subsection most certainly does not make sense in this article. I would suggest linking the phase 'producer/composer combos' or something like that to a new article, probably something like List of noted film producer and composer collaborations. And the "combo" links also, I believe, are a bad idea — I have nominated Tim Burton and Danny Elfman for deletion to gauge how the community feels about that. —Bunchofgrapes (talk) 21:37, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

I have put up the page that Bunchofgrapes suggested: List of noted film producer and composer collaborations. I agree that the info about other collaborations doesn't belong here. Nationalparks 22:08, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

Did you want to name it "List of noted film director and composer collaborations" instead? —Bunchofgrapes (talk) 22:29, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

• Sure, that's a good title, and a worthy, proper compromise. Thanks! But I still think that links to Producer/Composer relationships would be helpful. And as long as we are contributing to an encyclopedia with limitless articles of knowledge, and such...I think studies of this kind of relationship would be enlightening. And especially concerning Burton and Elfman...there is an awful lot of information documenting their relationship with movie production. --Teenwriter 22:44, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

• • OK, I renamed it. List of noted film director and composer collaborations. —Bunchofgrapes (talk) 23:13, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

• In the Film Scoring subsection, it is noted that Williams has scored all but two of Spielberg's films - The Color Purple and The Twilight Zone. Spielberg directed one of the four segments in 1983's Twilight Zone. (John Landis, George Miller, and Joe Dante did the others.) Can this movie lay full claim to being a "Spielberg" film?

J.W.'s Early Music

Ah John Williams..! As a youngster growing up in Australia in the sixties my life would forever be changed by his music for, of all things, the tv show "Lost In Space". If you put aside any ridicule for the original tv series (and I suppose it deserves some ridicule, especially after episodes such as "The Great Vegetable Rebeliion"...), and just listen to the music composed and reused many times over for various episodes you can hear the brilliance that would eventually flourish and help to create the great composer that Williams is today.

If you can manage to get a hold of the episode entitled "Mr. Nobody" and listen to the themes therein I defy anyone with a heart not to be moved to the core by the power of Williams' evocative and creative score. What about the theme used to underscore the various journeys of the Chariot...The Robinson children floating about when gravity fails aboard the Jupiter 2 or the music used to comedically underscore the various interchanges between Dr. Smith and the Robot.

This music held me spellbound as a child and developed within me a profound interest in music in general, film music and American composers. Bravo Mr. Williams! In the years to come I believe your name will held in the highest esteem as one of the 20th and 21st century's greatest composers...Score on! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 220.237.53.247 (talk • contribs) .

Better picture?

Is there a better public domain picture of Williams? The one on the page now isn't very high quality. Nationalparks 09:12, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

I would totally agree with you - the current photo is not particularly good - however the problem is the same one we have everywhere on Wikipedia: people are not willing to release their photos into the PD! If (or rather when - it is bound to happen some time) someone goes to a JW concert and snaps a good 'un, if they could release it we would all be eternally grateful. Batmanand 15:21, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Gentlemen, John is a lovely person, whom I have met many times in past. I am sure that you could easily request a more current photo from his agent in Hollywood. Of course, you will need to get copyright permission to load it onto the Wiki page.--Jslasher 08:15, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

Hmm nice idea. I will look into it (although if there is anyone who lives in the USA that might help as he is more likely to be receptive to send something to someone nearer his home. Batmanand | Talk 10:31, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

I added a pic of Williams signing an autograph for me (I cut myself out of the picture, so it would be appropriate for Wikipedia). The new picture towards the bottom of the page. Nationalparks 18:38, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I added three photos from a concert at Avery Fisher Hall in September 2007. Not professional quality, but I liked how good they came out despite no flash and the weird "Batman TV" angles. Enjoy! TashTish 00:10, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Date

It says "as of 2010 he has received 86 awards." Is there a reason why the date is listed as 2010? I'd change it but I don't know if that number has gone up by today's date. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.185.213.33 (talk • contribs)

There were a bunch of other vandalistic things as well, all fixed now. Nationalparks 04:56, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Influences

I think there should be some mention of the widely held belief that Williams 'borrows' from many classical compositions; e.g. the strong ties (also strongly documented) between the score for Star Wars and Holst's The Planets, although this is certainly not the only instance. Eviloverlord88 08:22, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

Specifically, a recent exaple would be the striking similarities between his "Battle of the Heroes"/"Ankakin vs Obi-wan" and Divorak's "From the New World" Alegro con fuoco. While we could point out his tendancy to "borrow" things, not only would that fall under original research, there's the risk it would simply turn into another list... ^_^ Nagyss 03:25, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

I agree. There should be a "controversy" section. I just noticed that he "borrowed" heavily from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" for (naturally) the Harry Potter theme. Dennitzio 21:44, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

Can you find a published, reliable source for these controversies (see WP:ATT)? Batmanand | Talk 22:16, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

Sorry I don't know wikipedia protocol. But I learned in a music class that the Star Wars theme was COMPLETELY ripped off from the score of the 1942 fillm "King's Row" composed by Korngold. The similarity is unbelievable.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.246.30.120 (talk • contribs)

If that info came directly from your music textbook, someone should be able to cite it. If it did, can you give us the title? --Herald Alberich 15:58, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Similarly, the E.T. Flying Theme is just taken from Antonín Dvořák’s Dumky Trio. --Jirka6 03:59, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Interestingly enough, he borrows from himself, too: his "Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra" (Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade) is hard to distinguish from some of his Star Wars stuff (esp "The Arena" from Attack of the Clones?) But yeah, that's not plagiarism if it's from himself. And Alberich, this is all speculation. If anyone has a book, article, heck anything citeable complaining of plagiarism, stick up a section please. *I think CBC siad something about it when Revenge of the Sith came out, I'll look into it...* Nagyss 02:29, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

Style

Anyone else think a section on JW's characteristic styles would be very informative? I'd be happy to get it underway.

Also, does "notable film scores" need to include ALL of his scores? Isnt that what IMDB is for, not wikipedia?

• I kinda like this list here in Wikipedia. Maybe we should consider moving this into an article of its own like "John Williams Filmography" or something? enderminh 07:06, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Star Wars theme

What's the name of the theme that plays at the beginning of each and every Star Wars film? It's rather ironic that there's an article for the Imperial March, Across the Stars but there's no article for the Star Wars main theme! 4.158.60.153 01:20, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

You got close to the name yourself. It's simply called Star Wars - Main Title. And perhaps it should have an article. --Herald Alberich 03:55, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

It also functions as Luke's theme in the original trilogy. Batmanand | Talk 09:05, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Gay?

I have never heard that John Towner Williams is gay. Are you certain you have the correct John T Williams?

I have done a massive Google search and still not found any proof of this statement. DeeEff 09:06, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for removing that section. I think that the contributor had a wrong "John Williams". DeeEff 23:12, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

• He's not gay. I don't know who posted that. I added the family section about his wife and kids to

clear up any confusion. Demoman925 01:20, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

Don't worry. The gay community is in a perpetual quest for finding famous gay people, so that their lifestyle is justifiable. But it's much easier with long dead people. How can you refute Chopin was gay, or not?

Huh...well...sad but true...

Contradiction in "Olympics" section?

The section asserts that Williams composed the "official theme" for the Olympic games, yet for the 1988 games it says NBC commissioned the theme. If that is true, how could the theme be representative for the Olympics as opposed to NBC's coverage of the Olympics? I'm going to remove the assertion until it can be cited. MantleX 20:43, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

Recent Work

Does anyone know why he hasn't composed anything recently? I wonder if there are some recent developments in his life (e.g. illness) that prevent him from writing. If so, it might be worth mentioning in the article.

• What would be worth mentioning is to get it up to date. Check IMDB and see what he's done since 2003. Wahkeenah 01:17, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
• IMDB doesn't have him doing anything beyond Munich. Obviously, his music will be used in the new Indiana Jones film, the rest of the Harry Potter series, and the currently untitled Star Wars television series (among others), but it doesn't look like he has scored anything by himself since 2005. Thrawn300 04:13, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
• Last year, he wrote the NBC Sunday Night Football theme and other various NBC cues. He is also working on some concert pieces. Hopefully we'll see some film music from him this year. Nationalparks 05:32, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Academy Awards

I have corrected the statement that he is the second-most nominated individual after Walt Disney, to he is joint second as Alfred Newman also has 45 Nominations. --Duncanbruce 14:25, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

According to the Academy's official website (http://www.oscars.org/awardsdatabase/) Williams has 45 nominations, and Newman has 43 (the nominations for "The Prisoner of Zenda" and "The Hurricane" in 1937 are not official nominations for Newman because they came at a time when the scores were nominated, not the individual composer). --Dole2007 29 September 2007 (UTC)

The Academy bestowed honoree nominations on all composers who were not nominated for there work during that time, imdb.com confirms this and bestows 45 Nominations on Newman--86.147.173.88 17:04, 11 October 2007 (UTC) Duncan Briuce

WTF?!?!?

Why do they keep changing the picture on top? They should put the standard picture they use at concert programs which is copyright free, I think the fan signing picture is not appropiate here.

200.79.154.220 16:47, 13 May 2007 (UTC) Hector

Could you expand on which image you're referring to? We are dedicated to providing free content, and standard publicity photos (which are rarely licensed under one of the acceptable "free" licenses) usually do not qualified. If you have a better-quality and free alternative to the current picture, we would love to see it and use it. Thanks! Flcelloguy (A note?) 18:34, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

Not sure what is going on with those pictures. I put back the free image that I took, that was removed for some reason. I slid the autograph picture down to the concert section of the page. Nationalparks 19:31, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

Looks good! Thanks for taking those pictures - I didn't know if 200.79... above was referring to a specific image that had been on there, and whether or not it was a free image. Thanks! Flcelloguy (A note?) 20:57, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:JWSW.jpg

Image:JWSW.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 10:01, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

• As the image appears to have been deleted, I commented it out of the article with the < !-- tag Ryan|^(talk) 11:41, 08 July 2007

More sources

An article as grand as this and that is devoted to such a high figure really requires more citations Ryan|^(talk) 11:43, 08 July 2007

Can someone verify a source

I fixed and then commented out a citation made by GeorgeMatthias in Williams' Biography section, can someone provide a more legitimate source for this piece of info. The one currently provided was to a soundtrack review and isn't 100% genuine. Ryan|^(talk) 19:17, 09 July 2007 (GMT)

Surely this cannot be correct "themes for the 1984, 1988, 1996, and 2002 Olympic games" as the Olympic Games is held every four years. I do not know enough to correct it. 79.66.217.146 09:15, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

He did not write the themes for the 1992 or 2000 Summer games, and the 2002 games was a Winter version. Batmanand | Talk 11:49, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

Which is right?

The beginning states that Williams and Newman share second place among Oscar nominees. The Awards subsection states that Williams has two more than Newman. Which is which? –TashTish (talk) 08:33, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

P.S. Never mind (per above discussion). Awards subsection fixed. –TashTish (talk) 08:35, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Ethnicity in article?

Do we know this man's ethnicity? Not that it matters :) --Tom 14:21, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

WASP I would imagine, with a name like "John Williams"... Batmanand | Talk 14:54, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Not sure that counts. --Tom 16:02, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Sorry my terminology may be confusing - WASP stands for White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, so his ethnicity would be white. Batmanand | Talk 17:59, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

John Williams in Video Games

I believe it is important to acknowledge the presence of John William's music in the cutting edge world of gaming. His contribution to gaming pretty much demonstrates that his works can fit with games appropriately and effectively to convey a rich storyline and atmosphere.

Daniel DeCastro, M.A. in Music Composition (New York University) www.decastromusic.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.167.175.66 (talk) 02:49, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:John Williams/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

Comment(s)

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==Composers Project Assessment of John Williams: 2008-12-22== This is an assessment of article John Williams by a member of the Composers project, according to its assessment criteria. This review was done by Magicpiano. If an article is well-cited, the reviewer is assuming that the article reflects reasonably current scholarship, and deficiencies in the historical record that are documented in a particular area will be appropriately scored. If insufficient inline citations are present, the reviewer will assume that deficiencies in that area may be cured, and that area may be scored down. Adherence to overall Wikipedia standards (WP:MOS, WP:WIAGA, WP:WIAFA) are the reviewer's opinion, and are not a substitute for the Wikipedia's processes for awarding Good Article or Featured Article status. ===Origins/family background/studies=== Does the article reflect what is known about the composer's background and childhood? If s/he received musical training as a child, who from, is the experience and nature of the early teachers' influences described? ok ===Early career=== Does the article indicate when s/he started composing, discuss early style, success/failure? Are other pedagogic and personal influences from this time on his/her music discussed? ok ===Mature career=== Does the article discuss his/her adult life and composition history? Are other pedagogic and personal influences from this time on his/her music discussed? ok ===List(s) of works=== Are lists of the composer's works in WP, linked from this article? If there are special catalogs (e.g. Köchel for Mozart, Hoboken for Haydn), are they used? If the composer has written more than 20-30 works, any exhaustive listing should be placed in a separate article. ok; should be split into separate article ===Critical appreciation=== Does the article discuss his/her style, reception by critics and the public (both during his/her life, and over time)? ok ===Illustrations and sound clips=== Does the article contain images of its subject, birthplace, gravesite or other memorials, important residences, manuscript pages, museums, etc? Does it contain samples of the composer's work (as composer and/or performer, if appropriate)? (Note that since many 20th-century works are copyrighted, it may not be possible to acquire more than brief fair use samples of those works, but efforts should be made to do so.) If an article is of high enough quality, do its images and media comply with image use policy and non-free content policy? (Adherence to these is needed for Good Article or Featured Article consideration, and is apparently a common reason for nominations being quick-failed.) several images; external sound links. ===References, sources and bibliography=== Does the article contain a suitable number of references? Does it contain sufficient inline citations? (For an article to pass Good Article nomination, every paragraph possibly excepting those in the lead, and every direct quotation, should have at least one footnote.) If appropriate, does it include Further Reading or Bibliography beyond the cited references? No reference sources listed; some inline cites (reliability unassessed) ===Structure and compliance with WP:MOS=== Does the article comply with Wikipedia style and layout guidelines, especially WP:MOS, WP:LEAD, WP:LAYOUT, and possibly WP:SIZE? (Article length is not generally significant, although Featured Articles Candidates may be questioned for excessive length.) Article is tagged with a number of issues, including long listings of works, awards, and nominations. ===Things that may be necessary to pass a Good Article review=== Article requires more inline citations (WP:CITE) ===Summary=== This article is a generally well-written biography. It covers the man's career and life to date reasonably well, although the focus is on his professional activities. Editors are clearly unhappy with the lists at the end; I echo their complaints. The works list should be separated into another article, and only a sampling shown here. Ditto for the awards listings; I would remove the whole set to Awards and award nominations of John Williams, and very selectively present a subset, omitting in its entirety the list of nominations beyond a sentence or two quantifying them. The article does not appear to reference any notable scholarly sources -- there are no listed reference sources at all, and the few inline citations refer mostly to entertainment media websites of (to me) unknown reliability. Article is B-class; if the structural complaints are addressed, and some recognizable scholarly resources can be brought in, it might garner an A rating. Magic♪piano 01:00, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Last edited at 01:00, 22 December 2008 (UTC). Substituted at 15:08, 1 May 2016 (UTC)