Favorite Themes By John Williams

Favorite Theme Song by John Williams

  • "Duel of the Fates" (from the Star Wars prequels)

    Votes: 1 5.6%
  • "Theme from Superman"

    Votes: 5 27.8%
  • "The Throne Room" (Hero's March from Star Wars)

    Votes: 1 5.6%
  • "Raiders March" (Indiana Jones Main Title Theme)

    Votes: 7 38.9%
  • "Theme from Star Wars"

    Votes: 1 5.6%
  • "Hedwig's Theme" (from Harry Potter)

    Votes: 1 5.6%
  • "The Well of the Souls"

    Votes: 1 5.6%
  • "Darth Vader's Theme"

    Votes: 2 11.1%
  • "Jaws Theme"

    Votes: 1 5.6%
  • "Journey to the Island" (from Jurassic Park)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • "Harry's Wondrous World" (from Harry Potter)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • "Theme from Jurassic Park"

    Votes: 1 5.6%
  • other "theme"

    Votes: 3 16.7%

  • Total voters
    18

foreverwingnut

New member
I wanted to start a fun, new poll to allow all the members of The Raven to vote for their personal favorite theme by John Williams. John Williams has such an amazing gift to capture a certain mood or image with song and he has enriched our lives in ways I can not express. From the bottom of my heart- and the hearts of all the members of The Raven- thank-you, John Williams, for your timeless music. You will forever be the King of Theme Songs. I must tell you that my own choice for favorite was not an easy one and I suspect your choice will be equally as difficult. It was also not easy to make just twelve selections from such an impressive portfolio. "Harry's Wondrous World", "Journey to the Island", and "Duel of the Fates" are all equally stirring pieces for me and were close contenders for my number one choice, but I had to consider many angles when singling out just one theme. Which theme did I feel is most etched into pop culture and so connected with its source material that no one can imagine the film without it? Can anyone say the word, "adventure", without immediately playing the "Raiders March" in their own mind? Can anyone think of sharks without imagining haunting bowstrings sneaking up on you? Which single selection has moved me in such a way that I have to close my eyes and transport myself to a faraway place? Difficult though it was, I had to choose "Theme from Superman" because it is so entangled with the Man of Steel that no subsequent incarnation of Superman has been complete without it. Whether it be commercial, sitcom, television series, or film reboot, it is forever impossible to tear Superman away from John's powerful theme. I have customized this poll so you may choose more than one choice if you like, so, which theme has a special place in your heart and why?
 
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Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
Valley of the Dolls and Catch Me if You Can....









....because they don't sound like all his other stuff.....
 

Stoo

Well-known member
My favourite John Williams music isn't in the poll so I didn't vote!:( For me, it's the theme tune for the 2nd season of "Land of the Giants". The 1st season is good but the 2nd is better. I love it because it's so robust, exciting and it reminds me of watching re-runs of the show with a good friend of mine during cold, Sunday afternoons.

Season 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6f39xCBlKw
Season 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMIe5utv4n4

"Superman" is definitely one of his best. I saw it performed live by an orchestra a few years ago and the beginning gave me goosebumps. (For a review of that night, see this thread: John Williams Music: In Concert)
 

foreverwingnut

New member
"Home Alone" was very special, too, as a whole. It has a variety of music to compliment Christmas, danger, cartoonish villainy, and heartfelt sentiment. Stoo and PaleHorse immediately caught the spirit of this thread with their comments and I thank them for starting the ball rolling. The voter's poll here is simply a means to cast a vote for a specific, popular theme, but the thread itself can be so much more than that, where we can shine a spotlight on lesser known (but certainly not lesser quality) compositions by John Williams. I'd also like to mention how much I loved the score to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". John knew how to compliment the mystery and power of the film by playing either as grandiose or subtle just at the proper moments. Music and mathematics would be familiar to any species in the universe and John instinctively knew how to communicate through these mediums. I can remember that there was a disco version of the main theme from "Close Encounters" that I had on an 8-track (yeah, I actually had a few 8-tracks back in the day) that also had the popular disco version of "Star Wars". Those disco cross-overs present great evidence of the impact that John Williams has had on our culture.
 

russds

New member
Home alone is fantastic, one of my favorites. As for Indy, love the slave children crusade. So much great music, it's hard to narrow it just 1 or 5 or even 100. :) Jurassic Park, Vaders Theme, Superman, Oooh, Hook - The face of pan is one of my top 5 definitely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP5mr065yb8
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
When it comes to Williams and Indy, I've been digging the Scherzo for Motorcycle/Alarm piece from Last Crusade lately. The Truck Chase is a classic too.
 

foreverwingnut

New member
Dr. Gonzo said:
When it comes to Williams and Indy, I've been digging the Scherzo for Motorcycle/Alarm piece from Last Crusade lately.
I recently had to study the motorcycle chase so I could customize a 1/18 scale sidecar for myself, so I really got attached to that particular music set. You're right, Dr. Gonzo, it's a great score. It's not thematic or ominous like the fifth notes that signify the Nazis throughout Last Crusade, but it's rather whimsical and fun, complimenting the thrill-ride so well. Perhaps it has such a different flavor because the motorcycle scene was a last-minute filler after Spielberg felt the rough cut needed more action. This has definately become my personal favorite from Last Crusade.
 

Goodeknight

New member
Home Alone is a great theme, and a departure for Williams. It's so Christmas-ey it smells like cinnamon. And it has a Danny Elfmanesque magic to it.

It's not a theme, but the Cantina Band track is a fantastic piece of space jazz. (Williams studied jazz didn't he?)

Besides the Raiders March and SW theme, one of my all time favorite pieces is Map Room at Dawn. From 2:00 on, so powerful, and the choir is amazing.
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Stoo said:
For me, it's the theme tune for the 2nd season of "Land of the Giants".
LOVED Land of the Giants when I was little. Never knew Williams did the music for it.
 

foreverwingnut

New member
goodeknight said:
Besides the Raiders March and SW theme, one of my all time favorite pieces is Map Room at Dawn. From 2:00 on, so powerful, and the choir is amazing.
"The Map Room: Dawn" is an amazing piece. Given a second chance, I might have listed it in the poll rather than "The Well of the Souls". "The Well" isn't particularly thematic in the classic sense, but it's one of Williams's best examples of tonal music. It sounds so chillingly alien and yet it had to play across several, very different events happening at once. In one continuous piece, Williams had to capture the threat of venomous snakes and the mystery inside the altar, then do a musical detour to capture the charm of Marion's drinking game and return us to the suspense of the ominous discovery. Not an easy thing to do. The use of subtle wind instruments in this piece becomes commonplace when mystery or creepy-crawlies was called for in the other Indy films.
 

shazamtd

New member
It wasn't too long ago that I created a playlist and CD using 18 of my favorite John Williams themes and source music from my collection.

The tracks I included are:

1. Theme from Superman
2. Love Theme from Superman
3. Princess Leia's Theme
4. Yoda's Theme
5. Luke and Leia
6. The March of the Villians (Superman)
7. The Imperial March
8. Parade of the Ewoks
9. Raiders March
10. Short Round's Theme
11. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial End Credits
12. Duel of the Fates
13. Across the Stars (Love Theme from Attack of the Clones)
14. Battle of the Heroes
15. The Adventures of Mutt
16. Cantina Band
17. Cantina Band #2
18. Jedi Rocks

Yes, I like Jedi Rocks. :eek:
 

shazamtd

New member
foreverwingnut said:
Jedi Rocks? I'd never heard of this one. I'll see if I can find it on youtube.

It's the song the Max Rebo Band plays in the Return of the Jedi Special Edition. It's one of those things that people either love it or hate it.
 

foreverwingnut

New member
Finn said:
The song Jabba's band performs in ROTJ special edition.
Oh, that explains why I'm not familiar with it- I didn't like the Special Edition changes. I'm still partial to the original song in Jabba's palace, "Lapti Nek".
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
RIAA gold & platinum awards

These are all the gold and platinum certification dates from the RIAA database, but I've read elsewhere he has more. Maybe from other countries or directly from labels?
STAR WARS - July 18, 1977 - GOLD
STAR WARS - August 17, 1977 - PLATINUM
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS - January 09, 1978 - GOLD
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK - June 23, 1980 - GOLD
E.T. - October 26, 1982 - GOLD
JURASSIC PARK - March 31, 1994 - GOLD
SCHINDLER'S LIST - July 14, 1995 - GOLD
ATTACK OF THE CLONES - May 23, 2002 - GOLD
For me the Star Wars 7 soundtrack is the most essential merchandise coming this fall. It would be great if Williams had gold records 5 decades running.
 

Duaner

New member
The Raiders March is easily my pick. Any of the music from Indiana Jones or the original Star Wars trilogy is great. Jurassic Park's theme is awesome as well.

Although I agree that the Anakin/Padme love story in Star Wars Episode II was weak, I would have to say that the score there was incredible.

One forgotten theme by John Williams that I would rank right up there with his best is the theme to "The Patriot."
 

Sea Monarch

New member
You call this a proper list of Williams' best? Where the heck is the theme "Moonlight" from Sabrina?!?! Hands down, his crowning achievement! Just kidding, (although it's still great for that genre.)

Btw, I agree the theme from The Patriot is fantastic!

As much as I love the Indy/SW/JP themes I have to vote for the most epic of themes! The Superman theme! Nothing rivals it for sheer heroics and, as Richard Donner pointed out you can even hear the music proclaiming SUPERMAN!!! And it still has the power to send a shiver down my spine almost every time I hear it! Powerful stuff, worthy of the mightiest superhero in comic book history! (y)
 
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