Q&As About 'Star Wars': Why didn't John Williams compose the scores for the Star Wars spin-off films?

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On Quora, member Alex Meed asks:

 Why didn't John Williams compose the scores for the Star Wars spin-off films?

 My answer: 
There are several reasons why Maestro John Williams didn’t compose the scores for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
First, Williams is, even at age 87, the five-time Academy Award-winning composer is still a sought-after guest conductor for at least two orchestras (he is the Boston Pops Orchestra’s Laureate Conductor, 25 years after stepping down as its principal conductor and music director). Health issues have forced Maestro Williams to reduce his travel schedule; this is why he has recorded the Sequel Trilogy scores with a Los Angeles-based studio orchestra instead of crossing the Atlantic and performing the music for the Star Wars films with the London Symphony at the Abbey Road recording studio.

Second, Williams is still an active composer with a busy schedule that limits his availability for a franchise which, up to 2019, was releasing one Star Wars movie per year.
For instance, when Rogue One was being made between 2014 and 2016, Williams was not only tasked with composing the score for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he was also scheduled to write the music for Bridge of Spies; however, Williams had a minor health issue that affected his schedule and he was replaced by Thomas Newman.






In 2016, whilst Solo: A Star Wars Story was in its early stages of production, Williams was composing the score for Steven Spielberg’s The BFG. Nevertheless, he did write the theme titled The Adventures of Han for Lucasfilm, even though John Powell composed the rest of Solo’s score. (Incidentally, as Michael Giacchino did in Rogue One, Powell incorporated some of Williams’ Star Wars music into his cues.)


In 2017, before composing the score for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Williams wrote the music for several other projects, including his friend Spielberg's The Post. At one point he was also going to do the score for Ready Player One, but Alan Silvestri ended up taking the gig. 
In 2018, Williams announced that he will retire from the Star Wars franchise after he composes and conducts the score for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

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