I could have dedicated an entire offshoot of the Music Library Project to John Williams’ film scores alone, since they’re in many ways the soundtrack to the lives of Baby Boomers and subsequent generations. I mean, you couldn’t get music more joined at the hip with film, and such is its prominence not just in cinema but in mainstream Western pop culture that it boggles the mind to imagine a world without John Williams’ music.
I don’t know what the catalyst was yesterday that brought today’s music sequence to mind, but I’m sure glad it did, given my deep affection and adoration of it since I first heard it as a wee-tacker. I can’t think of another movie I watched more than Superman II growing up, and my favourite part above all others is the ‘Main Title Sequence’ seen below.
The sequence itself is a visually stunning montage of the original Superman movie, serving as a recap for audiences. But the real clincher for me is the spectacularly inspiring music, brilliantly arranged and realised by Ken Thorne, who adapted John Williams’ original score. It remains one of my favourite movie opening sequences.
The music is just so timeless, heroic, uplifting and reassuring. This is my Desert Island music choice from John Williams if I were forced to take just one piece above all others. The closing sequence of E.T. follows closely on its heels in my ultimate selection, since I love that one so much too. What would be your choice from his crazy vast catalogue of movie scores?
What still makes the hairs on my arms stand on end, even after all these years, is the opening moment when Superman’s baby capsule shatters the glass ceiling (0:40) after launch, followed by that riveting violin passage and its escalating effect. I wish I had a dollar for every time I rewound that part on the old VHS machine, or even now on YouTube.
You can find the introduction sequence below, along with a brief video of John Williams talking about the making of the score. As always, thanks for reading and listening, folks.
References:
1. Music of Superman – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Leave a Reply