William Jamison Instructor

The Music of John Williams

I discuss John Williams in my courses for several reasons. Take this link to his official web site. Here they list of some of the more than 80 movies that Williams has composed the music for. It is fun to try to figure out why he has dominated the music of films for so long. It is also fun to try to figure out what themes are similar.

On a more serious note, we can also analyze the nature of the leitmotif technique and its importance ever since Richard Wagner.

This technique enables much complexity to be communicated through music that otherwise would require language. It is already clear to us that music communicates emotion so strongly that the mood of a musical piece becomes our mood.

The Mozart Effect and how music training seems to improve the brain: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~athe0007/BNEsig/papers/Bart.pdf