Williams: Star Wars, Main Title

Composing quickly is essential to a good film composer, and John Williams is one of the best. His score for George Lucas's "Star Wars" in 1977 helped put symphonic film scores back into the public mind after they had been virtually replaced by pop music soundtracks in the sixties. Within months, film fans had a double dose of Williams' out-of-this-world music, with Steven Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. Although Spielberg's film was realistic science-fiction rather than an epic fantasy, there are some musical similarities between the two films. Perhaps this was because of how closely they composed, or perhaps the similar themes of the unknown and adventure beyond the stars inspired Williams to similar ends.