“The first thing I played for Steven on this piano was this; I played that for him and he said, ‘What is that? What are you going to do with that?’”: John Williams recalls the first time he played the Jaws theme for Spielberg in new documentary

Music By John Williams | Official Trailer | Disney+ - YouTube

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The jury’s out on whether he’s the greatest movie soundtrack composer of all time, but few would dispute that John Williams has written more memorable (and hummable) themes than pretty much anyone else. 

From Star Wars and Indiana Jones to Jurassic Park and ET the Extra-Terrestrial, Williams has worked on some of the biggest blockbusters of all time, and his genius is now set to be celebrated in a new documentary, Music by John Williams, on Disney+.

The trailer for the film has just dropped, and features contributions from the likes of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, JJ Abrams, Chris Martin and, of course, Williams himself.

Discussing one of his most iconic compositions, the main theme from Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster, Jaws, Williams says: “The first thing I played for Steven on this piano was this [plays two-note pattern from Jaws Main Title theme]; I played that for him and he said, ‘What is that? What are you going to do with that?’”

Williams would go on to work with Spielberg on almost all of his movies, and the director is happy to acknowledge the impact that his music has had.

“The greatest way to demonstrate how much music affects movies… play it absolutely with no music at all. And then, go back and do the whole scene again, with all the cues, and you’ll recognise the absolute brilliance of John Williams.

Music by John Williams will be available on Disney+ from 1 November.