Music CD Album Review: 'The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration'

(C) 1991 Sony Classical/Sony Music. Cover art by Drew Struzan

The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration: John Williams Conducts His Classic Scores for the Films of Steven Spielberg

Orchestra: Boston Pops Orchestra

Conductor: John Williams

Label: Sony Classical

Genre: Film Scores/Light Classical

Year of Release: 1991

Originally released in November of 1991, The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration is a 13-track compilation of themes composed by John Williams for 10 movies of his long-time collaborator, director Steven Spielberg. It was not a very comprehensive selection; it came out a few weeks before Hook's theatrical premiere, and films such as Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan were still years away from preproduction, As a result, the one-disc album covers only the first 15 years of the 44-year-long Spielberg/Williams collaboration.

 Although some of the films represented in this album were not successful (1941, Always), Williams' music has proved to be well-received, both by concert audiences and music-store customers alike.

The album starts off with the rousing "Raiders March" from 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark. This unforgettable signature theme came about when Williams presented Spielberg with two musical motifs for adventurer/archaeologist Indiana Jones. The director listened to them, and instead of choosing one, asked Williams, "Can't you use both?" The first idea became the main theme, while the second became the "bridge." Glorious and brassy, yet with a wink and a nod to the music from the 1930s and '40s serials that inspired the Indiana Jones trilogy, the "Raiders March" is one of the best-known movie themes ever. 

Later in the album, two other selections ("Parade of the Slave Children" from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and "Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra" from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) round out the trilogy.

"Adventures on Earth," from 1982's E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial., begins with music that mimics the fast-and-furious pedaling of bicycles, then segues into several different musical themes, including "Over the Moon" (which is reprised independently on track 9), "The Flying Theme," and the incidental music covering E.T.'s farewell to his young protectors, including Elliott. It ends triumphantly with a rendition of "The Flying Theme" and a triumphant fanfare heralding the aliens' spaceship return to the stars.

The Theme from The Sugarland Express, Spielberg's first feature film, takes listeners to the wide-open expanses of Texas and features the late "Toots" Thielemans on harmonica. It's very much in the vein of a Western, though the movie (which starred Goldie Hawn, William Atherton, and Ben Johnson) was set in 1969 and was based on a true story.

Jaws, which put both Spielberg and Williams into blockbuster territory for the first time, is represented by three compositions: the famous "Theme," "Out to Sea," and the suspenseful "Shark Cage Fugue." They capture the primordial relentlessness of the great white shark, the optimism and excitement of the Orca's setting out on the hunt, and the frantic activity to get the shark cage put together as Chief Brody, Matt Hooper, and Quint confront the shark.

"Exsultate Justi" and "Cadillac of the Skies" from 1987's underappreciated Empire of the Sun highlight not only orchestral music but choral music performed by the American Boychoir and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. 

"Exsultate Justi" is a joyous prayer of deliverance heard over the liberation of British and American civilians held in Japanese internment camps near Shanghai, while "Cadillac of the Skies" is a concert arrangement featuring incidental music, including the cue heard when Jamie, the film's protagonist, sees his first P-51 Mustang.

Another World War II-themed cue presented in the album is "March from 1941," a rousing military-style march that was featured in Spielberg's 1979 comedy 1941, an all-star extravaganza-farce that poked fun at the post-Pearl Harbor hysteria that gripped Southern California after Japan's surprise attack against Oahu on December 7, 1941. 

The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration ends with musical excerpts from 1977's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, starting with the eerie and atonal music of the main title cue and evolving into the more melodic music heard during the awe-inspiring encounter between humanity and aliens. Featuring beautiful soaring thematic material, brief quotations from "When You Wish Upon a Star," and ending with the classic five-note Close Encounters motif, Williams' medley from Spielberg's UFO film shows the versatility of both director and composer, whose friendship and teamwork may not have always resulted in successful movies, but provided listeners with a treasure trove of wonderful film music that will endure for many years to come.

Track Listing

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Raiders March  5' 11
2. Always: Theme 5' 31
3. E.T.: Adventures on Earth  9' 47
4. Sugarland Express: Theme  3'36
5. Jaws: Theme  2'47
6. Jaws: (a) Out to Sea  2'57; (b) The Shark Cage Fugue  4' 23
7. Empire of the Sun: Exultate Justi 4' 57
8. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: Parade of the Slave Children 4' 52
9. E.T.: Over the Moon 2' `11 
10. 1941: March  4' 12
11. Empire of the Sun: Cadillac of the Skies  4' 59
12. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra  2' 48
13. Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Excerpts  9' 47

Total time: 65' 23

Reviewer's Note: This album is still "in print" and available for purchase in either its original CD format or digital format (such as MP3 files) on Amazon. It is also one of the four discs (3 CDs, 1 DVD) that make up the 2017 John Williams/Steven Spielberg: The Ultimate Collection box set, which was produced and released by Sony Classical.