John Williams’ Three-Volume Anthology Proves Why He’s the GOAT

In the music industry today, there are few talents that better fit the bill of an unsung hero than composers. Of course, the artists themselves are known by their name, and producers like Dr. Dre or Benny Blanco have managed to become household names as a result of their work, but, with a few exceptions, composers tend to fly under the radar.

As such, film scores aren’t always held in as high regard as other albums, or sometimes even Broadway soundtracks. Of course, many film soundtracks have permeated mainstream discourse, and rightfully so, but many of the most well-known soundtracks lean closer to an album-like sound than that of a film score.

Regardless of the odds, one composer has achieved a level of greatness the likes of which have gone largely untouched by any other composer in the 20th and 21st centuries. John Williams’ catalog has revolutionized both the film and the music industry, and at 93 years old, he has most definitely solidified his status as the GOAT in the world of modern-day composing.

Sony Classical Is Honoring The Beloved Composer With John Williams: The Anthology

With the sheer breadth of his catalog alone, a career as prolific as John Williams’ deserves to be honored in the highest possible regard. Sony Classical is doing just that, paying homage to the legendary composer with a three-volume anthology, set to be released as three box sets throughout 2025.

The first volume, John Williams: The Anthology – Vol. 1 1969-1990, consists of 22 discs that span 27 films, including three scores for which Williams won the Academy Award for Best Original Score: Jaws (1975), Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977), and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982).

Volume one of the anthology also includes Williams’ scores for Superman (1978), Dracula (1979), Home Alone (1990), and others that have combined to win five BAFTA awards, four Golden Globes, 14 Grammys, and 15 more Oscar nominations.

John Williams: The Anthology Includes The Ultimate Cinematic Endorsement

John Williams’ rise to fame has definitely been aided by his partnership with fellow cinematic legend, Steven Spielberg, of whose films, all but three featured a score by Williams. Williams was responsible for the film scores for Spielberg’s Jaws and E.T., in addition to the Indiana Jones franchise, Schindler’s List (1991), and Jurassic Park (1993), as well as dozens of others.

In total, there have been 26 films that these two legends have worked on together. Spielberg stated in the foreword of the Sony Classical Collection, “I have often said that without John Williams, bicycles do not fly, nor do brooms in Quidditch matches or heroes in red capes. Dinosaurs do not walk the earth. Sharks do not terrorize idyllic summer beaches. And Jedi do not return.”

Many would say that Spielberg himself is the one without whom bicycles would not fly and dinosaurs would not walk the earth, as even Williams would likely agree. For Spielberg to assign such a compliment to someone else is truly the highest form of flattery from a film director like him, and it is clearly well-deserved in Williams’ case.

Williams’ Work Knows No Bounds of Time

John Williams has been composing music that capitalizes on every human emotion since his first film score in 1969. The opening credits of the Star Wars films, first heard in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, fittingly inspire hope, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who isn’t familiar with that iconic theme.

Equally iconic is “The Imperial March,” or Darth Vader’s theme, which inspires fear with a brooding sense of authority. The theme for Jurassic Park evokes a sense of wonder, the theme for Jaws creates a sense of unease and terror, and the theme for the Indiana Jones franchise inspires an innate desire for adventure, and so on.

There isn’t an emotion or feeling that Williams hasn’t mastered with his musical compositions. Though many of his most famous credits are from the age of New Hollywood in the 1970s and ’80s, his success has followed him well into the 21st century, as will be evidenced by volumes two and three of the anthology, set to be released later this year.

As If His Film Scores Don’t Speak For Themselves, He Has The Accolades To Prove It

In the Academy Awards’ 97-year history, there is only one person that has been nominated more than John Williams, and that person would be none other than Walt Disney. In his six-decade tenure, Williams has won five Oscars—out of 54 nominations—26 Grammys, seven BAFTA Awards, five Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards.

At 91 years old, Williams became the oldest living nominee in Oscar history when his work on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) earned him a nomination for Best Original Score.

Beyond his major award wins, Williams also received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2004, the National Medal of the Arts in 2009, and in 2016, he became the only composer to receive the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award. Suffice it to say, John Williams is one of the most incredible artistic minds of all time.

His work has touched the lives of any and all cinephiles, music fanatics, or anyone who even remotely calls themselves a lover of American culture. With their three-volume, 75-disc anthology, Sony Classical has endeavored to honor that prolific body of work as a way to sing the praises of, as they put it, the most beloved composer of our time.