John Williams Music Similarities

[Germoney814 4]

Hey everyone! In case anyone's interested I finally uploaded the 4th part to my John Williams Music Similarities series on YouTube. Give it a watch if you're interested and let me know what did you guys think!

 

 

[JTN 2,046]

What did you expect from a composer who’s had an eight-decade-long career, writing more than a hundred scores? Eventually he will repeat certain chords and musical sections. So did Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and every composer in history. It’s inevitable. 

[GerateWohl 4,373]

I guess the video is not about expectation but about recognition. 

[JTN 2,046]

Yes, but you could make a similar video about every composer who ever lived. Probably it’s simply to show what similarities exist in Williams’ oeuvre, and that’s fair enough, it’s just worth pointing out that while there are definitely similarities, it has nothing to do with self plagiarism or lack of originality, more like with his unique style. I know that that wasn’t the op’s intention when making the video, and I do agree with some of the examples like Tintin and DoD.
 

It’s just that it’s impossible not to find similarities in any composer’s body of work, and while it can be interesting to find them, it won’t mean anything other than that it’s something that is present in every single composer’s music.
If finding them in John Williams’ scores was the sole intention of the op, then I’m completely OK with it, it’s an interesting game: How many similarities can you find in Williams’ work?

[Thor 7,520]

I agree with JTW. It's "auteur traits", just in relation to a composer rather than a director. (Oops, I used quotes again, but if anyone feels bewildered, it's because the term 'auteur' isn't usually used for composers). Of course, he also repeated himself a few times, like reusing the core melody of "Make Me Rainbows" for "In The Moonlight" and that kind of stuff (and reusing his WAGON TRAIN themes for other TV shows), but for the most part, Williams didn't reuse a lot.

[GerateWohl 4,373]

1 hour ago, JTW said:

Yes, but you could make a similar video about every composer who ever lived. Probably it’s simply to show what similarities exist in Williams’ oeuvre, and that’s fair enough, it’s just worth pointing out that while there are definitely similarities, it has nothing to do with self plagiarism or lack of originality, more like with his unique style. I know that that wasn’t the op’s intention when making the video, and I do agree with some of the examples like Tintin and DoD.
 

It’s just that it’s impossible not to find similarities in any composer’s body of work, and while it can be interesting to find them, it won’t mean anything other than that it’s something that is present in every single composer’s music.
If finding them in John Williams’ scores was the sole intention of the op, then I’m completely OK with it, it’s an interesting game: How many similarities can you find in Williams’ work?

Of course you are right. I just meant that I don't see a need for this kind of justification because in Germoney814's post I don't see any intention of exposing Williams as a plagiator. 

And I find this similarity exercise especially interesting when they are found in very different contexts and this way expressing very different moods or tensions.

[JTN 2,046]

4 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

Of course you are right. I just meant that I don't see a need for this kind of justification because in Germoney814's post I don't see any intention of exposing Williams as a plagiator. 

And I find this similarity exercise especially interesting when they are found in very different contexts and this way expressing very different moods or tensions.

I agree. It’s an interesting exploration to make if he made it just to show possible similarities, I’m perfectly OK with it. But it’s important to emphasize how in Williams’ case it’s not by any means self plagiarism, but instinctively using his own style and occasionaly writing somewhat similar cues. Again, just like any other great composer did and does.