The Legacy of John Williams

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Table Of Contents

• Film Details
• Music Credits
• Essential Discography
• Awards and Nominations
• In Williams’ Words
• Quotes and Commentary
• Videos
• Bibliography and References

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Film Details

Year: 1995
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Director: Syndey Pollack
Producers: Scott Rudin, Sydney Pollack
Executive Producers: Ronald Schwary, Lindsay Doran
Writers: Barbara Benedek, David Rayfel, adapted from the 1954 screenplay by Billy Wilder and Ernest Lehman from the play by Samuel Taylor
Main Cast: Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond, Greg Kinnear, Nancy Marchand, John Wood, Richard Crenna, Angie Dickinson, Lauren Holly, Fanny Ardant
Genre: Comedy – Drama – Romance

For synopsis and full cast and crew credits, visit the IMDb page

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Music Credits

Music Composed and Conducted by John Williams

“(In The) Moonlight” and “How Can I Remember?”
Music by John Williams
Lyrics by Alan & Marilyn Bergman

Trombone Solos: Dick Nash
Piano Solos: John Williams, Chet Swiatkowski, Mike Lang

Music Editor: Kenneth Wannberg
Scoring Mixer: Shawn Murphy
Orchestra Contractor: Sandy DeCrescent
Music Preparation: Jo Ann Kane Music Service
Concertmasters: Stuart Canin, Bruce Dukov
Orchestrators: John Neufeld, Eddie Karam, Conrad Pope, Billy May, Nan Schwartz
Assistant Engineers: Greg Dennen, Andy Bass, David Marquette, Tom Hardisty
Recorded on May 5, 1995 at Signet Sound Studios, Hollywood, California, August 17, 18, September 13 and 20, 1995 at Todd-AO Scoring, Studio City, California, and August 31, September 2 and 7, 1995, at Sony Pictures Scoring, Culver City, California

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Essential Discography

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Selected Re-recordings

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Awards and Nominations

Academy Awards
Nomination: Best Original Musical or Comedy Score
Nomination: Best Original Song (“Moonlight”)

Golden Globes
Nomination: Best Original Song (“Moonlight”)

Grammy Awards
Nomination: Best Original Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television (“Moonlight”)

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In Williams’ Words

“For me Sabrina will forever and always be Audrey Hepburn. I was privileged to know her quite well toward the end of her life. And whenever we play Sabrina, I think of Audrey, and, in my mind at least, dedicate the music to her.”¹

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Quotes and Commentary

This was a surprising assignment for the composer, less so for its character-driven subject matter than for the fact that its director, the esteemed Sydney Pollack, had enjoyed a two-decade collaboration with Dave Grusin. For Sabrina, Pollack wanted romantic music in a classical style along with an array of “American Songbook” standards for various posh garden party sequences, and he felt Williams was ideally suited to this combination. The party music would also include two new songs to be partially sung on screen. Lyrics for both were written by the legendary Alan and Marilyn Bergman, who’d worked with Pollack on The Way We Were and Tootsie, but who also had long history with Williams that encompassed “Make Me Rainbows” for Fitzwilly (1968), “Love’s The Only Game In Town” from Pete ‘n’ Tillie (1972), the Luciano Pavarotti-performed “If We Were In Love” from Yes, Giorgio (1982) and commissioned works for the Boston Pops. They’d also collaborated on songs written for Frank Sinatra in the early ’70s, which didn’t see the light of day for nearly four decades until “The Same Goodbye, The Same Hello” was recorded by Michael Feinstein and subsequently by Barbra Streisand.
The original Sabrina songs – “(In The) Moonlight” and “How Can I Remember?” – were composed prior to filming so that shots of stalwart lounge singer Michael Dees performing them could be included. Later, when Williams developed the background score, he integrated musical references to the two song tunes liberally. The composer resisted the tendency to rigidly associate each song with one of the Larrabee brothers, but “How Can I Remember?” seems to reflect Sabrina’s idealistic dreams of David, while “(In The) Moonlight” characterizes her process of sorting out feelings for two very different men.
The songs are subordinates, however, to Williams’ solely-composed “Theme From Sabrina,” a composition that perfectly captures the sophisticated romantic air of the entire story. There is an unpredictable, slightly meandering quality to the melody, with surprising modulations between major and minor modes that threaten to lead it to a darker place, conveying that Sabrina, (or any of us) might easily make a wrong choice in life. But very much as the character herself does, the theme finds its way to a fulfilled conclusion that feels absolutely right. ²
– Mike Matessino

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Videos

“Main Title” from Sabrina (1995) | Paramount Pictures

“Sabrina Drives Home” scene from Sabrina (1995) | Paramount Pictures

“Sabrina and Linus Reunion in Paris” from Sabrina (1995) | Paramount Pictures

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John Williams plays “Theme from Sabrina” with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa | PBS Salute to Symphony, 1997

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Sting | “Moonlight” from Sabrina – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1995) | Official Music Video | Directed by Mike Figgis

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Simone Pedroni plays Theme from Sabrina

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Bibliography and References

. Matessino, Mike – “Listen Where Thou Art Sitting: The Music of Sabrina” Liner notes for Sabrina Expanded Original Soundtrack, La-La Land Records, 2023

Legacy of John Williams Additional References

Soundtrack Spotlight podcast with Mike Matessino on Sabrina

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Footnotes

1. Quoted in Matessino, Sabrina – Expanded Original Soundtrack liner notes, 2023 ↩︎
2. Matessino, id., 2023 ↩︎

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