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With Tim Greiving, Doug Adams, Frank Lehman
Hosted by Maurizio Caschetto
Tim Greiving‘s John Williams – A Composer’s Life, the first major biography on the esteemed American composer and conductor, was released in September by Oxford University Press and has quickly become a reference point for the ongoing studies of Williams’ opus. Long-awaited from the vast community of his adoring fans, the book sheds light on the very extraordinary life and career of the “Maestro of the Movies,” offering a passionate tale of a unique individual who ended up composing the soundtrack for the lives of at least two generations of moviegoers. His music has become a mythological object in itself and has been often capable of cutting across the borders of the films it was written for. Despite his fortune and glory in Hollywood (and beyond), Williams has remained a humble and private man who always stayed away from the glitz and the spotlight (unless he is conducting an orchestra on the podium), preferring instead to cultivate his artistic muse and chiseling notes with pencil and paper at the piano. Greiving’s book pulls the curtain back on some of the composer’s inner life with accuracy and candor, revealing how the composer’s unique artistic path brought him to pursue an ideal of excellence in anything he did since the early years. Tim was helped in this unprecedented task by John Williams himself, who offered him ample time during breaks from his composing schedule to reflect on many aspects of his career and also to address questions and commentary from the author.
Now that the book is out and many fans have read it, Tim Greiving returns on The Legacy of John Williams podcast to offer more reflections on his “adventure on Earth,” meeting his idol and spending time with him to tell the incredible story of his life. Joining Tim are two luminaries who also wrote seminal books and papers on the subject of film music and also very welcome returning guests on the show: film music theorist Frank Lehman (author of Hollywood Harmony and the upcoming The Skywalker Symphonies: Musical Storytelling in Star Wars) and writer Doug Adams (author of The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films). In this conversation, the trio of writers engage in a lively talk, commenting on how John Williams’ life story seeped into his own music for both film and concert hall, what it means to meet your heroes and engage with them in conversation and the challenge of writing a biography of a composer who is still contributing new music as we speak.
List of musical excerpts featured in the episode (all music by John Williams)
. “Introduction – Colloquy” from Piano Concerto; Emanuel Ax, piano, Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons (2025)
. “New Galaxy” from Lost In Space episode #7 “My Friend, Mr. Nobody” (1965)
. “Arrival in Dorfli” from Heidi (1968)
. “The Canyon of the Crescent Moon” from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
. “Slowly (in peaceful contemplation)” from Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No.1 (1974-76, rev. 1998); Gil Shaham, violin, Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Williams
. “End Credits (Alternate)” from Always (1989)
. “Sending the Signal” from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
. “Santoni’s Compassion” from Monsignor (1982)
. “The Nursery Scene” from Hook (1991)
. “Hide and Seek” from A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
. “Welcome to Jurassic Park” from Jurassic Park (1993)
The Legacy of John Williams 