Friday, July 7, 2023

Opinion Today: Indiana Jones and the hidden art of film music

A musicologist's interactive essay reveals what's so special about John Williams.
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By Adam Sternbergh

Culture Editor, Opinion

You may think you know the music of John Williams pretty well. After all, if you've seen any of the biggest blockbusters of the last 50 years — films like "Star Wars," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "E.T." or "Jurassic Park," to name just a few — you can probably hum a theme of his from memory. (Having composed this theme alone should ensure his inclusion in the film composers hall of fame.)

But on the occasion of Williams's latest score, for "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," the musicologist Frank Lehman, who's studied and written extensively about how film works, is here to convince you, via a multimedia essay published this morning, that you've never really heard Williams's music at all. That's because, when we encounter film music, we're almost always distracted by something else — namely, the film itself.

Lehman came to his love of film music through a back door, by listening to soundtracks on cassette as a kid. So when he became an academic, it always bothered him that film composers were often denied their proper recognition precisely because their music is considered at best complimentary, and at worst subordinate, to the film for which it's been composed. To truly understand the artistry of film music, Lehman argues, you need to start by ignoring the movie and closing your eyes.

Of course, if you close your eyes you can't read his instructive essay (or, for that matter, this newsletter). We've paired his dissection of some of Williams's most overlooked moments with helpful visual aids, like the ability to watch scenes from the Indiana Jones films while toggling between the music and the full soundtrack (complete with screams, shouts, rolling boulders, roaring motorcycles and other cacophonous diversions).

Even if Williams's soaring symphonic compositions have never been to your particular taste, I promise you'll never listen to a movie the same way again. And maybe the next time you're at the movie theater you might consider, just for a moment, closing your eyes. You'll be surprised at what you can hear.

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