I once asked the composer John Williams when his magnificent First Symphony might be recorded (I’d heard it conducted – in his presence –by his friend Andre Previn). Williams smiled, but was non-committal – and subsequently withdrew the piece; it’s remained in limbo ever since. But it’s not his ‘serious’ music for which he is best known. The pulse-raising brass fanfares that open Superman: The Movie and Star Wars; the exquisite orchestration of the finale of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial; the jaunty Indiana Jones march; the plaintive violin solos of Schindler’s List – all are the work of this most celebrated of film composers. Like the venerable musicians who inspired him (such as Eric Wolfgang Korngold and Bernard Herrmann, who straddled the worlds of Hollywood and the concert hall), John Williams’ writing for strings is one of the glories of his matchless film music — which is one of the things that make his lively and dramatic scores so satisfying. And how well they work in context! Each is perfectly matched in its own individual fashion to the film for which it was composed – notably those of Williams’ long-term associate, Steven Spielberg. Emilio Audissino’s assiduously researched and thorough study is the perfect tribute to the composer in his 90^th year, with both the life and the work examined in definitive fashion. Audissino places Williams in the classical tradition for his repeated use of a 19^th-century symphony orchestra, and that is perfectly apposite: more people are likely to hear the glories of orchestral writing via John Williams’ contribution to a variety films than would ever visit a concert hall. It’s a very cherishable volume.

THE FILM MUSIC OF JOHN WILLIAMS by Emilio Audissino is published by University of Wisconsin Press