John Williams Legacy by Universal Music

[rpvee 1,104]

https://www.johnwilliamslegacy.com

https://www.instagram.com/johnwilliamslegacy

 

https://www.facebook.com/JohnWilliamsLegacy

 

https://www.tiktok.com/@johnwilliamslegacy

 

Someone on Reddit said they stumbled across this. Any theories?

[Jay 46,807]

Well Universal Music owns the rights to a bunch of Williams scores

 

https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/32706-john-williams-scores-by-music-label/

 

Plus all of his Boston Pops recordings originally released by Philips Records from 1980-1990 (UMG absorbed Philips in 1999)

 

 

Sony Music's 2025 "Anthology Vol. 1 1969-1990" 22CD box set actually had more scores that were licensed from Universal Music in it than scores that they owned themselves

 

https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/37523-new-22-cd-boxset-john-williams-the-anthology-vol-1-1969-1990-2025-07-18/page/2/#findComment-2095634

[Bespin Copilot 10,900]

It looks like a new communication channel to promote Universal’s John Williams‑related releases, nothing harmful.

[Jay 46,807]

Maybe the Disclosure Day OST album will be released by Universal Music instead of Universal Pictures' Backlot Records label

[BB-8 6,429]

 

[LB Makes Stuff 544]

They're here to dethrone The Legacy of John Williams as the true legacy based JW brand! 

 

I hope this is pointing towards music or albums finally being put on streaming that've been absent for years, and in good quality. I assume this will only be music that Universal has previously released or actually owns; I'd definitely like to have those NBC News and Football material, and even something like Amazing Stories finally out there. Maybe the latter is pushing it, but I can dream, I don't care for the McNeely re-recording at all.

[Andy 7,929]

13 hours ago, LB Makes Stuff said:

; I'd definitely like to have those NBC News and Football material, and even something like Amazing Stories finally out there. Maybe the latter is pushing it, but I can dream, I don't care for the McNeely re-recording at all.

You probably already know, his Amazing Stories work was released a long time ago by Intrada. But a Williams-only disc reissue would be most welcome. 

[LB Makes Stuff 544]

Yeah, if it was easier for me to get my hands on it, I’d 100% have it. A re-issue of the sets even would be nice, but a JW specific release is what I’d personally love.

[Dr. Rick 1,422]

I would also love to get my hands on a JW-only Amazing Stories release!  I don't have the original sets and only have the JW material on digital   Maybe this will be one of the 5 Intrada JW releases this year?  That would be fantastic and an insta-buy for me.

[lairdo 945]

I think this is to what Universal was referring. (They own Deutsche Grammophon.)

Black LPs: https://store.deutschegrammophon.com/en-en/collections/new-arrivals/products/john-williams-wiener-philharmoniker-berliner-philharmoniker-legacy-118837

Gold LPs: https://store.deutschegrammophon.com/en-en/products/john-williams-wiener-philharmoniker-berliner-philharmoniker-legacy-118840

CD: https://store.deutschegrammophon.com/en-en/collections/new-arrivals/products/john-williams-wiener-philharmoniker-legacy-118742

Available on gold or black 2 LP plus CD digipak.

 

I believe there is nothing unreleased on these.

 

Ships no later than September 4 2026

Track list

01. Main Title from “Star Wars: A New Hope”
02. Hedwig’s Theme from “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”
03. Raiders March from “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark”
04. Flying Theme from “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”
05. Theme from “Jurassic Park”
06. Superman March
07. Theme from “Schindler’s List”
08. Olympic Fanfare and Theme
09. Excerpts from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”
10. Harry’s Wondrous World from “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”
11. Yoda’s Theme from “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”
12. The Imperial March from “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”
13. The Flight to Neverland from “Hook”
14. Princess Leia’s Theme from “Star Wars: A New Hope”
15. Throne Room & Finale from “Star Wars: A New Hope”

 

From the email I received:

John Williams

The Maestro conducts his most iconic scores

This album brings together some of John Williams’ most iconic film music, including themes from Star Wars, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and E.T.  What makes this selection truly special is that John Williams conducts his own compositions himself. The recordings feature world-class performances by the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Vienna Philharmonic and the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles. The release is further enhanced by booklet notes from renowned journalist Jon Burlingame. The result is an outstanding collection of many of the most defining musical themes in film history, presented in one exceptional recording.    The album will be released on 4 September 2026 and is now available for pre-order!

 

[Bespin Copilot 10,900]

A new John Williams compilation is Always welcome.

 

Any idea of the versions used?

[MaxTheHouseelf 411]

LOL. They are really trying to squeeze everything out of those concerts. 

[Mr. Hooper 9,374]

Another Greatest Hits compilation?

[Jay 46,807]

This one has the crucial mistake (often seen in live concerts too) of including both the Main Title AND Finale from Star Wars, so you hear the exact same end credits composition twice

[Taikomochi 1,534]

The normies yearn for the same shit over and over and over. 

[Paul M. Grenon 121]

30 minutes ago, Jay said:

This one has the crucial mistake (often seen in live concerts too) of including both the Main Title AND Finale from Star Wars, so you hear the exact same end credits composition twice

Ok, but this album includes them at the start and end, just like the original album. I think it works this way.

[BloodBoal 8,891]

39 minutes ago, Mr. Hooper said:

Another Greatest Hits compilation?

 

This is THE greatest Greatest Hits compilation.

[JohnnyD 1,915]

Looks like a nice compilation package; I like the album artwork. I'll get the CD.

[Bespin Copilot 10,900]

29 minutes ago, Taikomochi said:

The normies yearn for the same shit over and over and over. 

 

Before being boring, you were a normie too, always remember that. 

[Andy 7,929]

 

1. Dear Basketball and Variations

2. Olympic Basketball and Olympic Soccer

3. Of Grit and Glory

4. We're Lookin' Good

5. Fanfare for a Festive Occasion

6. Fanfare for Michael Dukakis

7. Fanfare for the 10 Year Old

8. NBC Sunday Night Football Suite

9. Celebration Fanfare

10. Fanfare for Solo Trumpet

11. Fanfare for the Vienna Philharmonic Ball

12. When the World Was Waltzing

13. "Bravo, Gustavo!"

 

[Mr. Hooper 9,374]

5 minutes ago, Andy said:

 

1. Dear Basketball and Variations

2. Olympic Basketball and Olympic Soccer

3. Of Grit and Glory

4. We're Lookin' Good

5. Fanfare for a Festive Occasion

6. Fanfare for Michael Dukakis

7. Fanfare for the 10 Year Old

8. NBC Sunday Night Football Suite

9. Celebration Fanfare

10. Fanfare for Solo Trumpet

11. Fanfare for the Vienna Philharmonic Ball

12. When the World Was Waltzing

13. "Bravo, Gustavo!"

 

14. Fanfare for Fenway (Japan bonus track)

[Marian Schedenig 11,872]

A missed opportunity for a physical release of the Vienna II bits…

[ST-321 48]

Was there a prior release of JW conducting the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles? If so, what was that?

[Jay 46,807]

On DG, yes: Across The Stars with Anne-Sophie Mutter.

 

So presumably either Hedwig's Theme and/or Theme from Schindler's List and/or Yoda's Theme on this new compilation are from that album.

 

Outside of DG, he also conducted the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles for Sony's Spielberg/Williams III, Yo-Yo Ma Plays The Music of John Williams and American Journey albums - plus the "Happy Birthday Variations" recording that first appeared on the "A Tribute to John Williams - An 80th Birthday Celebration" album.  And I'm sure that's not a comprehensive list.

[Jurassic Shark 16,572]

On 12/05/2026 at 12:46 PM, Andy said:

You probably already know, his Amazing Stories work was released a long time ago by Intrada. But a Williams-only disc reissue would be most welcome. 

 

They look great on my shelf. Perhaps I'll check them out tonight.

[Dr. Rick 1,422]

Amazon US shows August 7th release 

 

https://a.co/d/0bcApSXY

[Miguel Andrade 1,736]

4 hours ago, Andy said:

 

1. Dear Basketball and Variations

2. Olympic Basketball and Olympic Soccer

3. Of Grit and Glory

4. We're Lookin' Good

5. Fanfare for a Festive Occasion

6. Fanfare for Michael Dukakis

7. Fanfare for the 10 Year Old

8. NBC Sunday Night Football Suite

9. Celebration Fanfare

10. Fanfare for Solo Trumpet

11. Fanfare for the Vienna Philharmonic Ball

12. When the World Was Waltzing

13. "Bravo, Gustavo!"

 

 

Fanfare for a Festive Occasion has been released over a decade ago on a record from the Bay Brass.

[BB-8 6,429]

Ordered, all of them!

[Miguel Andrade 1,736]

4 hours ago, Mr. Hooper said:

14. Fanfare for Fenway (Japan bonus track)

 

There are several recordings of that one floating around, the reference one being the one by the US Coast Guard Band (a wonderful 2-CD set of all Williams music, including his "Nostalgic Jazz Odyssey".

[BB-8 6,429]

Milking the cow before the piano concerto gets released. 

 

Typical for...

 

[Miguel Andrade 1,736]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

On DG, yes: Across The Stars with Anne-Sophie Mutter.

 

So presumably either Hedwig's Theme and/or Theme from Schindler's List and/or Yoda's Theme on this new compilation are from that album.

 

Outside of DG, he also conducted the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles for Sony's Spielberg/Williams III, Yo-Yo Ma Plays The Music of John Williams and American Journey albums - plus the "Happy Birthday Variations" recording that first appeared on the "A Tribute to John Williams - An 80th Birthday Celebration" album.  And I'm sure that's not a comprehensive list.

 

They were the orchestra on the concert version recording of "The American Collection" theme, released on a Yo-Yo Ma compilation (the original version for the television series was recorded with Ma and members of the Boston Symphony).

[Quppa 737]

Hard to tell without track lengths, but I think these are the possible origins of each (lucky they didn't include any Tokyo recordings - would have made things even more ambiguous):

 

Track	Recording
01. Main Title from “Star Wars: A New Hope”	Vienna
02. Hedwig’s Theme from “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”	ASM/LA, Vienna or Berlin
03. Raiders March from “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark”	Vienna or Berlin
04. Flying Theme from “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”	Berlin
05. Theme from “Jurassic Park”	Vienna or Berlin
06. Superman March	Berlin
07. Theme from “Schindler’s List”	ASM/LA
08. Olympic Fanfare and Theme	Berlin
09. Excerpts from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”	Vienna or Berlin
10. Harry’s Wondrous World from “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”	Berlin
11. Yoda’s Theme from “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”	ASM/LA or Berlin
12. The Imperial March from “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”	Vienna or Berlin
13. The Flight to Neverland from “Hook”	Vienna
14. Princess Leia’s Theme from “Star Wars: A New Hope”	ASM/LA or Berlin
15. Throne Room & Finale from “Star Wars: A New Hope”	Berlin

[JazzyNips 205]

Kind of a strange release, but at least now we have a definitive answer on which performances are best. DG is choosing them for us!

[mrbellamy 8,269]

All these Greatest Hits compilations and yet there still isn't a really good definitive release that does a decent job of summarizing the career for a casual but curious fan, balancing big stuff with meaningful obscurities for a crash course in John Williams. The two-disc 1969-1999 one has the right idea but needs an update. The Spielberg/Williams Ultimate Collection works well for their collab. 

[BB-8 6,429]

9 hours ago, Dr. Rick said:

Amazon US shows August 7th release 

 

https://a.co/d/0bcApSXY

And at Deutsche Amazon it is...

[Tom 6,984]

9 hours ago, mrbellamy said:

All these Greatest Hits compilations and yet there still isn't a really good definitive release that does a decent job of summarizing the career for a casual but curious fan, balancing big stuff with meaningful obscurities for a crash course in John Williams. The two-disc 1969-1999 one has the right idea but needs an update. The Spielberg/Williams Ultimate Collection works well for their collab. 

This one comes close, but even it is over 15 years old.

 

[That_Bloke 194]

Given this compilation is focused on the music that's arguably the best known by the general public then you'd think they would have included the theme to Jaws.

 

Yes, I know the orchestras here didn't perform the Jaws theme in concert, but it still seems odd to leave off such an iconic cue among such a selection.

 

But yeah, hopefully some label(s) could one day take the financial risk and give us a previously unreleased / rarities / esoteric compilation. 

[Jay 46,807]

Yeah the set only includes his hits from 77-01.

[BB-8 6,429]

On 24/06/2026 at 7:57 PM, Marian Schedenig said:

A missed opportunity for a physical release of the Vienna II bits…

At least we got this:

John Williams: In Concert - Deutsche Grammophon

 

And this:

John Williams & Anne Sophie Mutter & Wiener Philharmoniker - Live in Vienna (Special Edition) - Sieveking Sound

16. Fawkes The Phoenix

17. Sound The Bells!

18. March Of The Resistance

[Marian Schedenig 11,872]

4 hours ago, BB-8 said:

And this:

John Williams & Anne Sophie Mutter & Wiener Philharmoniker - Live in Vienna (Special Edition) - Sieveking Sound

16. Fawkes The Phoenix

17. Sound The Bells!

18. March Of The Resistance

 

I didn't know there was a physical digital release? UHQCD - probably unaffordable…

[Escape_Velocity 108]

On 24/6/2026 at 9:23 AM, MaxTheHouseelf said:

LOL. They are really trying to squeeze everything out of those concerts. 

Except a majority of Vienna II and any of Milan.

[BB-8 6,429]

3 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

I didn't know there was a physical digital release? UHQCD - probably unaffordable…

@Marian Schedenighttps://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/john-williams-live-in-vienna-special-edition/hnum/11542275 

[Marian Schedenig 11,872]

4 hours ago, BB-8 said:

@Marian Schedenighttps://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/john-williams-live-in-vienna-special-edition/hnum/11542275 

 

That's just the Vienna I release. (The bonus tracks are just the ones that were dropped for the edited single disc version without the "live" bits)

 

(At least according to the track listing at JPC)

[BB-8 6,429]

Jpc got the track list wrong. The UHQCD has the three bonus tracks.

[Marian Schedenig 11,872]

Still, the price is about what I expect for UHQCDs. I probably read about it when it came out and figured it would be released as a regular CD for a more reasonable price at some point…

[BB-8 6,429]

 You get 2 for the price of 2 ;-)

[Quppa 737]

The Second Disc has a track origin breakdown, though they don't list a source and I've seen mistakes on that website in the past.

 

Track	Possible recordings	The Second Disc	Digital album
01. Main Title from “Star Wars: A New Hope”	Vienna	Vienna	Vienna
02. Hedwig’s Theme from “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”	ASM/LA, Vienna or Berlin	Berlin	Berlin
03. Raiders March from “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark”	Vienna or Berlin	Vienna	Vienna
04. Flying Theme from “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”	Berlin	Berlin	Berlin
05. Theme from “Jurassic Park”	Vienna or Berlin	Vienna	Vienna
06. Superman March	Berlin	Berlin	Berlin
07. Theme from “Schindler’s List”	ASM/LA	ASM/LA	ASM/LA
08. Olympic Fanfare and Theme	Berlin	Berlin	Berlin
09. Excerpts from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”	Vienna or Berlin	Vienna	Vienna
10. Harry’s Wondrous World from “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”	Berlin	Berlin	Berlin
11. Yoda’s Theme from “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”	ASM/LA or Berlin	Berlin	Berlin
12. The Imperial March from “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”	Vienna or Berlin	Vienna	Vienna
13. The Flight to Neverland from “Hook”	Vienna	Vienna	Vienna
14. Princess Leia’s Theme from “Star Wars: A New Hope”	ASM/LA or Berlin	Berlin	Berlin
15. Throne Room & Finale from “Star Wars: A New Hope”	Berlin	Berlin	Berlin

 

Update: Qobuz to the rescue - the digital release is up for order with separate 16-bit/44.1 kHz and 24-bit/96 kHz versions (for no good reason, because you can select 16-bit/44.1 kHz when ordering the high-res album anyway). In summary, 1x Anne-Sophie Mutter/Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles, 6x Vienna (with 1 ASM solo) and 8x Berlin. The Second Disc was right.

[aj_vader 737]

So sad that there's still no Vienna II, did it not go so well? 

March of the Resistance sounds great! 

[BB-8 6,429]

16 hours ago, aj_vader said:

So sad that there's still no Vienna II, did it not go so well? 

March of the Resistance sounds great! 

Massive horn flubs in Leia's Theme...

[aj_vader 737]

8 hours ago, BB-8 said:

Massive horn flubs in Leia's Theme...

Oh dear, it is a difficult piece. Perhaps not much rehearsal before the concert?