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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
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| 1. The Sugarland Express - Main Theme | |||
| 2. Jaws - Main Theme | |||
| 3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Suite | |||
| 4. Raiders of the Lost Ark - March | |||
| 5. Raiders of the Lost Ark - The Map Room: Dawn | |||
See all 10 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - End Credits | |||
| 2. Always - Follow Me/Dorinda's Solo Flight | |||
| 3. Hook - Main Themes | |||
| 4. Jurassic Park - Main Themes | |||
| 5. Schindler's List - Main Theme | |||
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See all 10 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 3 | |||
| 1. The Rare Breed - Suite | |||
| 2. Jane Eyre - Suite | |||
| 3. Jane Eyre - Theme | |||
| 4. Jane Eyre - To Thornfield | |||
| 5. Jane Eyre - Restoration | |||
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See all 14 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 4 | |||
| 1. Born on the Fourth of July - End Credits | |||
| 2. Presumed Innocent - End Titles | |||
| 3. JFK - Arlington/End Titles | |||
| 4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - Hedwig's Theme | |||
| 5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Fawkes the Phoenix | |||
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See all 12 tracks on this disc
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Product Description
Review
This gargantuan four-CD collection marks the fortieth annivesary of Williams' film career. The tracks are arranged generically rather than chronologically. Williams' work for Steven Spielberg fills the first two discs; the fourth features blockbusters written for other directors, including a romp through the Star Wars series.
Overworked as the big numbers have become, they are far from worn out. The music from Jaws, The Empire Strikes Back and Indiana Jones still startles in the fullness of its sound and simplicity of its structure.
Not all the music is familiar. The third disc gathers music from early and less well known films, starting with a suite from the 1966 movie The Rare Breed - the complete soundtrack of which has never been released. Other less familiar work includes a florid, romantic suite from Jane Eyre, pastiche-Western music from 1972's The Cowboys and the end titles from Alfred Hitchcock's last film, Family Plot.
Such a heterogeneous collection reveals interesting sub-themes. There's a folksy strand evident in the harmonica of Williams' first Spielberg collaboration, 1974's Sugarland Express, and the fiddle music of Schindler's List. Tracks from Dracula and The Witches of Eastwick reveal a darker, Gothic strain. And there's an interesting cluster of choral pieces, from the pseudo-African chorus of Amistad to the Borodin-esque "Duel Of The Fates" from The Phantom Menace.
Williams isn't slowing down. Tracks from Catch Me If You Can and AI show he's still at the top of his game. "Hedwigs Theme" ,from the first Harry Potter film, is already a classic; its magical, ring-a-roses melody miraculously avoiding sentimentality.
These are renditions by the City of Prague Philharmonic, not original recordings. The reinterpretation rightly treats the music as living, complex works.
Despite its girth, this collection merely samples Williams' oeuvre - it cannot convey the depth of individual scores. What it does proclaim is the astonishing variety and sheer quality of his achievement; here's to the next 40 years. --Morag Reavley
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
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Customer Reviews
Having enjoyed Williams music for some time, i come to expect perfect musical scores and for a tribute to him, i also expect this, but a couple of tracks in this boxset are not so! Take Jaws for example, a brilliant score (which in my opinion only works when volume is cranked up), but this one is rubbish to say the least even when loud! The E.T track is too slow and The Raiders March is too fast! Also my favourite Williams score, Hymn to the Fallen from Saving Private Ryan is 7 seconds shorter than the original (i'm just nick-picking now)! It also doesn't have the Home Alone theme which i was gutted at! Just little niggles here and there but don't let them put you off buying this! Some of them are near perfect such as Superman theme, Star Wars theme, Duel of Fates and Catch Me If You Can!
Some of the themes in the boxset i never knew Williams done such as Jane Eyre(anyone?) and Witches of Eastwick! I suppose this just shows how versatile John Williams talent is!
If you are looking for a perfect Williams tribute, go for John Williams Greatest Hits 1969-1999, if you are looking for just a tribute, then you can't go far wrong with this boxset!!
Being a musician myself, im probably a lot more nit picky than most consumers would be though. The orchestra, and in particular the brass section, is very scrappy in many of the tracks. Its almost as if they are sight reading their parts, as there are very many mistakes in places, and the tuning is also diabolical a lot of the time (with some horendous vibrato from the trumpets in some of the indiana jones themes, it sounds more like a new orleans jazz band in places). My advice to people looking to buy this is..... well dont. Stick to the John Williams Greatest hits 1969-1999 double cd set, its got all the essential classics conducted by the man himself, with top quality orchestras like the LSO and the Boston Pops Orchestra, without the fillers that pad out some of the cd's on this one.
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