I have been a fan of John Williams since I started piano lessons in second grade. I didn’t know who he was at the time, but I did know of his work. He was composed pieces for many major motion pictures including ET, eight Star Wars films and three Harry Potter films. Some of his lesser known pieces include Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The BFG, both Home Alone movies and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
He has played a large part of my life. Not only did I play the Jaws and Star Wars songs in piano lessons, I also played various pieces throughout my middle school and high school career in the band where I played several instruments and was able to explore his music in a wide variety. With so many recognizable titles under his belt that are both moving and powerful, he is a household name.
Williams has a site that is an epicenter of his past and current work. There is a tab for news where you can see all of his upcoming performances and current/recent work with links to the corresponding articles that were written about the events. You can also find a biography, bibliography, commercially available scores and a list of all awards, honorary degrees, and award nominations. This site has a wealth of information about the composer.
On Last FM users are able to listen to may soundtracks
composed by Williams, as well as for
upcoming events, read a biography and view other media about the author. While this site does not go as in-depth
William’s own site, you are able to listen to his work and interact with other users.
This page is exclusively a biography. This article was last updated in January of this year. It is more of a quick facts page where you can view small YouTube clips, find some of his most memorable quotes and learn some of the background information on this composer and conductor. There are biographies on the previous two sites, however, I found that the Last FM site focused more on the soundtracks and William’s personal site was much more in depth. Biography.com seems to be more directed to the everyday user.
IMDB is always a good place to find valuable information about an artist. More specifically this has a running list of all projects, even future ones. When an article is released announcing he has signed on to another film, this website is updated to reflect his body of work.
