VEGANGELICA

The only complaint I've heard about John Williams' film scores is that sometimes the themes from different movies sound pretty similar, which may be true, but completely understandable given how many movies he has done.

What stands out for me is how unique and memorable many of his musical themes are.

For example, with Close Encounters of the Third Kind, you just have to hear those five notes, "Doo Doo Doo DOO Doooooo," and you know what movie they are from.

I feel Williams is great at coming up with a leitmotif, "an associated melodic phrase or figure that accompanies the reappearance of an idea, person, or situation" Leitmotif | Definition of leitmotif by Merriam-Webster

A perfect example is the music associated with the shark in...

Steven Spielberg and John Williams talk about the Jaws shark theme in the following short video, explaining how and why it functions so well. I like how Spielberg says at first he thought John Williams was joking when Williams played the simple two note theme for him:



I must confess I didn't even notice the music The Adventures of Tintin because I was so weirded out by the creepy animation, but I will go listen to what I apparently missed because of the visuals.

I feel John Williams' music is great, but now I'm wondering what other composers out there I've been missing! Which movie composers do you feel are better than him, and why?

I've been really impressed, for example, by how well John Williams matches his composition to the movie action, so it is hard for me to imagine anyone else doing that better than he does.

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