When it comes to collaboration between filmmaker and composer, the relationship between Steven Spielberg and John Williams is about as solid as it gets. Starting in 1974 with Sugarland Express, Williams has scored all but two of Spielberg’s films, most recently providing the music for 2016’s The BFG, and already on-deck for 2018’s Ready Player One. Over the years, the music from their collaborative efforts has been issued in a couple of different collections, but the ever-expanding library hasn’t had an updated “greatest hits” in quite awhile. That changes on March 17, 2017, when Sony Masterworks releases John Williams & Steven Spielberg: The Ultimate Collection. Check out the tracklisting and details below.
From the Official Announcement: Over the 90-year history of sound film, there have been a handful of instances where a director and a composer have formed a longtime partnership that resulted in a series of classical scores, creating music that stands the test of time. None, however, have been as long or as fruitful as the 43-year collaboration of Steven Spielberg and John Williams. None have encompassed such a wide range of subject matter or, more significantly, have had such an enormous impact on worldwide popular culture. From the ominous shark signature of Jaws to the five-note alien greeting of Close Encounters of the Third Kind; from the heroic march of Raiders of the Lost Ark to the moving themes for Schindler’s List the music Williams has written for more than two dozen Spielberg projects has not only served them brilliantly but entered the wider public consciousness.
Twenty-five years ago, Sony Classical began charting the Spielberg-Williams collaboration, recording two discs of their greatest hits. For this new release, John Williams & Steven Spielberg: The Ultimate Collection, these two CDs, The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration and Williams on Williams: The Classic Spielberg Scores, are included along with newly arranged and recorded material from the past two decades of their additional movie scores, The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration Part III, and a newly filmed bonus DVD documentary film, Steven Spielberg & John Williams: The Adventure Continues.
With a record fifty Academy Award® nominations (more than any other composer) Williams has demonstrated, again and again, his ability to connect with audiences, both in the movie theater and in the concert hall. Seventeen of those nominations, and three of Williams’ five Oscar® wins (Jaws, E.T. and Schindler s List) have been for Spielberg films. The sheer variety of music, the depth of compositional skill on display, the powerful emotions that it evokes, makes John Williams & Steven Spielberg: The Ultimate Collection an extraordinary accomplishment. This is the work of one of America’s greatest composers, inspired by the work of one of America s greatest filmmakers.
Tracklisting:
Disc: 1
1. Raiders March from “Raiders of the Lost Ark”
2. Theme from “Always”
3. Adventures on Earth from “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial”
4. Theme from “Sugarland Express”
5. Title Theme from “Jaws”
6. Out to Sea / The Shark Cage Fugue from “Jaws”
7. Exsultate Justi from “Empire of the Sun”
8. Parade of the Slave Children from “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”
9. Over the Moon from “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial”
10. March from “1941”
11. Cadillac of the Skies from “Empire of the Sun”
12. Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”
13. Close Encounters of the Third Kind/When You Wish Upon a Star Medley
Disc: 2
1. Flying from “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial”
2. Theme From “Jurassic Park”
3. Remembrances from “Schindler’s List”
4. Flight to Neverland from “Hook”
5. The Battle Of Hollywood From “1941” (includes the Irish folksong “The Rakes of Mallow”)
6. Smee’s Plan From “Hook”
7. The Barrel Chase From “Jaws”
8. My Friend,The Brachiosaurus from “Jurassic Park”
9. Jim’s New Life From “Empire Of The Sun”
10. The Dialogue From “Close Encounters Of The Third Kind”
11. The Lost Boys Ballet From “Hook”
12. Theme from “Schindler’s List”
13. The Basket Chase from “Raiders Of The Lost Ark”
14. The Face Of Pan from “Hook”
15. The Banquet Scene from “Hook”
Disc: 3
1. The Adventures of Mutt from “Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
2. Dry Your Tears, Afrika from “Amistad”
3. The BFG from “The BFG”
4. With Malice Toward None from “Lincoln”
5. The Duel from “The Adventures of Tintin”
6. A New Beginning from “Minority Report”
7. Movement 1: Closing In
8. Movement 2: Reflections
9. Movement 3: Joy Ride
10. Marion’s Theme from “Raiders of the Lost Ark”
11. Hymn to the Fallen from “Saving Private Ryan”
12. Dartmoor, 1912 from “War Horse”
13. Viktor’s Tale from “The Terminal”
14. Prayer for Peace from “Munich”
15. Immigration and Building from “The Unfinished Journey”
16. With Malice Toward None from “Lincoln”
Disc: 4
1. Steven Spielberg & John Williams: The Adventure Continues
