Kosher Movies: Music By John Williams

The first time that I saw people whose professions made them perpetual students of their respective disciplines was at Yeshiva University in the 1960s. 

I was an undistinguished high school student; but when I entered YU as a freshman, for the first time I was surrounded by students who were very bright and motivated, who saw learning as a life-long pursuit. Moreover, the rabbis who taught us were lifelong learners themselves. They were exemplars of time management, not wasting a moment, eating quickly in the school cafeteria and getting back to the library and their classrooms expeditiously, imbued with a passion for learning and teaching. They were also intellectually curious and their enthusiasm for learning was transmitted to their students.

To my knowledge, none of these teachers ever retired in the conventional sense. They continued to write, to teach, to be creative into their senior years until God retired them. They always seemed to be in the quest of life’s mission, never thinking that they had arrived totally at their destination but waiting to climb the next mountain.

John Williams personifies the person who never stops growing and creating throughout his professional life. Central to his intellectual progress is the search to discover his life’s mission. Each stage of his life sets the stage for the next stage of his life. We see this as we watch his musical metamorphosis in this enjoyable documentary that allows us to experience again the wonderful conflation of music and narrative in some of his most memorable films.

Born in 1932, he became a composer and conductor whose career spanned several decades in which he composed some of the most popular, recognizable, and critically acclaimed film scores in cinema history. Collaborating with iconic directors such as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, he created the scores for such memorable films as the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, E.T., and Schindler’s List.

Williams’ early years were filled with modest achievements. Raised in a home saturated with music because his father played the drums with a Jazz quintet, he early on learned early on to play piano and brass instruments. When in the U.S. Air Force Band, he began conducting and arranging music for the band.

Following his Air Force service, Williams moved to New York City and entered Juilliard and refined his piano skills. There he thought he would become a classical pianist, but he discovered that he had a better talent for composition than for performing.

After Juilliard, he moved to California and worked as an orchestrator at film studios, not knowing where this job would take him. To support himself, he worked as a studio pianist and session musician and scored music for television shows.

His career could have ended there but for a serendipitous meeting with Steven Spielberg in 1974. Ever looking for a new challenge, he wrote the score for Raiders of the Lost Ark. The rest is history.

Still searching for his ultimate mission in life, Williams wanted to try conducting; and so, after many years in the film business, he became the principal conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. During those years and in subsequent years, he wrote many concert pieces.

Williams finally concluded that his life’s mission was to be an eclectic musical performer, writing film scores, composing music, conducting orchestras, and influencing and mentoring young musical talents., Now in his nineties, he is retired but not in the conventional sense. He still is active in his senior years in the world of musical creativity.

Rabbi Dov Heller, a rabbi and psychotherapist observes that every human being is here to make a unique contribution to better the world: “Understanding our universal and unique personal mission engenders a sense of purpose and drive; it is one of the keys to living a meaningful, energized life. Living with purpose also has a curative power.”

John Williams understood that his life’s purpose was to make music, but it took him time to figure out exactly the way his mission would be actualized. The key thing is to love what you do. As Confucius said, “Do something you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”

Rabbi Heller reminds us that “There is only one you. When you’re gone, your mold will never be used again. Judaism maintains not only is it necessary for our well-being to know our unique purpose, but it is an obligation to find it and actualize it.” John Williams shows us how focusing on our life’s mission enables us to have a satisfying journey through life.