John Williams

A Composer's Life

De: Tim Greiving

Narrado por: Jonathan Todd Ross

The first biography of a great American composer of the cinema age

John Williams is one of the most important film composers of all time, having almost singlehandedly revived the Hollywood symphonic scoring tradition and helped restore the livelihood of American orchestras through the popularity of film music programming. His film music, in the words of director Oliver Stone, "came to stand for the American culture."

In John Williams: A Composer's Life, the first biography of the composer, author Tim Greiving offers an engaging account of a man whose body of work is well-known but whose personal life has consistently remained very private. Williams wrote the memorable scores and hummable themes for a staggering number of popular touchstones across multiple generations—among them Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, and the Harry Potter series—and earned more Oscar nominations than any individual artist in the history of the motion picture Academy. He also composed dozens of concerti, fanfares, and other concert works and was a national presence as music director of the Boston Pops for more than a decade. He inspired countless children to pursue a career in the orchestra and won the respect of the classical community worldwide. Seeking to understand what drove Williams's musical productivity and its effects on the lives of those close to him, Greiving delves deeply into the composer's decades-long career, uncovering countless new stories and revelations. Throughout, he analyzes and describes Williams's film scores, recalling them primarily in narrative and emotional terms rather than purely musicological ones, and in doing so emphasizes one of Williams's principle strengths: his musical storytelling.

With unprecedented interview access to Williams and those close to him, Greiving presents the definitive portrait of a beloved but famously private doyen of twentieth-century pop culture. Featuring 175 exclusive interviews—including with Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, George Miller, Mia Farrow, Hans Zimmer, Yo-Yo Ma, session musicians, family members, and friends—John Williams: A Composer's Life is the first and last word on the great court composer of the cinema age, the musical conductor of our collective memory.

"Fans of John Williams' music will devour this all-encompassing work. [Tim Greiving] provides reams of fascinating inside information about several spectacular scores, including for the classics Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Schindler's List."—Kirkus Reviews

©2025 Tim Greiving (P)2025 Recorded Books

Fantastic Biography, Unforgivable Narration

It would be hard to ruin the incredible, nearly century-long story of John Williams’ life and career, but this narrator tries his hardest. There are so many mispronunciations of names and musical terms throughout the recording that it is an embarrassment.

Worthwhile biography with very mediocre narration

Overall, this biography of the all-time preeminent film composer is very good. It provides a detailed portrait of Williams' life, for the first time piercing the veil of privacy that he has long maintained. The author clearly earned Williams trust and provides remarkable stories throughout the Maestro's life.

That said, the book was overly long, in part because it fell into an unnecessarily formulaic rhythm. It is essentially one half biography, one quarter music/score analysis, and one quarter film recap/review. The latter--including extensive plot retelling for every film Williams scored--was unnecessary, and detracted from the focus, Williams and his music.

Finally, the narration was mediocre, at best. As others have noted, the sheer number of mispronunciations of musical terms and composer/musician names is grating, especially as those terms/names get repeated throughout. There were also numerous times in which pauses or emphasis was misplaced, leading to a slightly disjointed reading.

Despite its small issues, this is an absolute must-read for fans of Williams, film scores, or the movies of the last 40-50 years.

Love the subject, not the narrator

I disliked the fact that the narrator mispronounced the names of multiple composers. For example he pronounced Hayden as Hay-den, not Hy-den. Does no one correct these mistakes as the audio is being made? For a music lover, these mistakes take away from the story. John Williams would be ashamed.

John Williams

Greatest Composer Of All Time! Love how he puts little pieces of music that were in previous films in other films that he did!

great story terrible narration

the narrator reads it as a list os statements, it doesn't bring you into the story. what a pity with such a great subject and story.