The Berlin Concert Berliner Philharmoniker & John Williams

• John Williams (b. 1932):
• 1 Olympic Fanfare and Theme: Olympic Fanfare and Theme 04:16
• 2 Excerpts: Excerpts (From "Close Encounters of the Third Kind") 08:00
• 3 Suite: Suite (From "Far and Away") 08:03
• 4 Hedwig's Theme: Hedwig's Theme (From "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone") 05:05
• 5 Nimbus 2000: Nimbus 2000 (From "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone") 02:16
• 6 Harry's Wondrous World: Harry's Wondrous World (From "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone") 05:17
• 7 Theme: Theme (From "Jurassic Park") 05:37
• 8 Superman March: Superman March (From "Superman") 04:54
• 9 Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra: Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra (From "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade") 03:36
• 10 Marion's Theme: Marion's Theme (From "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark") 04:05
• 11 Raiders March: Raiders March (From "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark") 05:51
• 12 Elegy for Cello and Orchestra: Elegy for Cello and Orchestra 07:42
• 13 The Adventures of Han: The Adventures of Han (From "Solo: A Star Wars Story") 04:16
• 14 Yoda's Theme: Yoda's Theme (From "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back") 03:39
• 15 Throne Room & Finale: Throne Room & Finale (From "Star Wars: A New Hope") 08:32
• 16 Princess Leia's Theme: Princess Leia's Theme (From "Star Wars: A New Hope") 04:41
• 17 Flying Theme: Flying Theme (From "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial") 03:58
• 18 The Imperial March: The Imperial March (From "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back") 03:11
• Total Runtime 01:32:59

Info for The Berlin Concert

A few weeks before his 90th birthday the legendary American film composer John Williams conducted the Berliner Philharmoniker for the first time! The Tagesspiegel summed up the event as simply “one of those great evenings”. Regardless of whether Star Wars, Harry Potter or Indiana Jones, the symphonic Hollywood sounds on the stage of the Berliner Philharmoniker thrilled the audience right from the start. The soundtracks of John Williams are among the most popular in the history of film and have received numerous prestigious awards, including five Oscars, five Emmys, four Golden Globes and twenty-five Grammys.

The album “John Williams "The Berlin Concert” celebrates the iconic composer and captures the impressive energy of this unique concert played by one of the world’s greatest orchestras. Under Williams’ baton, the musicians bring exceptional tonal beauty and an edge-of-the-seat intensity to a thrilling selection of his scores. “John Williams doesn’t need the films, the films need him,” wrote Rolling Stone after the concert. The album presents cult themes from Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Superman, Indiana Jones, Star Wars and other milestones in film history.

“Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, for being with us tonight here in this magnificent hall, which is like a house of magic. And I want to tell you what a privilege it is for me to be here with you in this hall, standing in front of perhaps the world’s greatest orchestra: the Berlin Philharmonic. To be standing in front of this orchestra for any musician, however humble or great, to be here with you for these few moments is truly a great honor and a privilege. And I’m so grateful for this invitation to be with you.” (John Williams)

Berliner Philharmoniker
John Williams, conductor

John Williams
In a career that spans five decades, John Williams has become one of America’s most accomplished and successful composers for film and for the concert stage. He has served as music director and laureate conductor of one of the country’s treasured musical institutions, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and he maintains thriving artistic relationships with many of the world’s great orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. Williams has received a variety of prestigious awards, including the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honor, the Olympic Order, and numerous Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards. He remains one of our nation’s most distinguished and contributive musical voices.

Mr. Williams has composed the music and served as music director for more than one hundred films. His 40-year artistic partnership with director Steven Spielberg has resulted in many of Hollywood’s most acclaimed and successful films, including Schindler’s List, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, four Indiana Jones films, Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, Munich, Hook, Catch Me If You Can, Minority Report, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Empire of the Sun, The Adventures of TinTin and War Horse. Their latest collaboration, The BFG, was released on July 1, 2016. Mr. Williams has composed the scores for all seven Star Wars films, the first three Harry Potter films, Superman: The Movie, JFK, Born on the Fourth of July, Memoirs of a Geisha, Far and Away, The Accidental Tourist, Home Alone, Nixon, The Patriot, Angela’s Ashes, Seven Years in Tibet, The Witches of Eastwick, Rosewood, Sleepers, Sabrina, Presumed Innocent, The Cowboys and The Reivers, among many others. He has worked with many legendary directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, William Wyler and Robert Altman. In 1971, he adapted the score for the film version of Fiddler on the Roof, for which he composed original violin cadenzas for renowned virtuoso Isaac Stern. He has appeared on recordings as pianist and conductor with Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Jessye Norman and others. Mr. Williams has received five Academy Awards and 50 Oscar nominations, making him the Academy’s most-nominated living person and the second-most nominated person in the history of the Oscars. His most recent nomination was for the film Star War: The Force Awakens. He also has received seven British Academy Awards (BAFTA), 22 Grammys, four Golden Globes, five Emmys, and numerous gold and platinum records.

Born and raised in New York, Mr. Williams moved to Los Angeles with his family in 1948, where he studied composition with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. After service in the Air Force, he returned to New York to attend the Juilliard School, where he studied piano with Madame Rosina Lhevinne. While in New York, he also worked as a jazz pianist, both in nightclubs and on recordings. He returned to Los Angeles and began his career in the film industry, working with a number of accomplished composers including Bernard Herrmann, Alfred Newman, and Franz Waxman. He went on to write music for more than 200 television episodes for anthology series Alcoa Premiere, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Chrysler Theatre and Playhouse 90. His more recent contributions to television music include the well-known theme for NBC Nightly News (“The Mission”), the theme for what has become network television’s longest-running series, NBC’s Meet the Press, and a new theme for the prestigious PBS arts showcase Great Performances.

In addition to his activity in film and television, Mr. Williams has composed numerous works for the concert stage, among them two symphonies, and concertos for flute, violin, clarinet, viola, oboe and tuba. His cello concerto was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and premiered by Yo-Yo Ma at Tanglewood in 1994. Mr. Williams also has filled commissions by several of the world’s leading orchestras, including a bassoon concerto for the New York Philharmonic entitled The Five Sacred Trees, a trumpet concerto for the Cleveland Orchestra, and a horn concerto for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Seven for Luck, a seven-piece song cycle for soprano and orchestra based on the texts of former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove, was premiered by the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood in 1998. At the opening concert of their 2009–2010 season, James Levine led the Boston Symphony in the premiere Mr. Williams’ On Willows and Birches, a concerto for harp and orchestra.

In January 1980, Mr. Williams was named nineteenth music director of the Boston Pops Orchestra, succeeding the legendary Arthur Fiedler. He currently holds the title of Boston Pops Laureate Conductor which he assumed following his retirement in December 1993, after 14 highly successful seasons. He also holds the title of Artist-in-Residence at Tanglewood.

One of America’s best known and most distinctive artistic voices, Mr. Williams has composed music for many important cultural and commemorative events. Liberty Fanfare was composed for the rededication of the Statue of Liberty in 1986. American Journey, written to celebrate the new millennium and to accompany the retrospective film The Unfinished Journey by director Steven Spielberg, was premiered at the “America’s Millennium” concert in Washington, D.C. on New Year’s Eve, 1999. His orchestral work Soundings was performed at the celebratory opening of Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. In the world of sport, he has contributed musical themes for the 1984, 1988, and 1996 Summer Olympic Games, the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, and the 1987 International Summer Games of the Special Olympics. In 2006, Mr. Williams composed the theme for NBC’s presentation of NFL Football.

Mr. Williams holds honorary degrees from 21 American universities, including The Juilliard School, Boston College, Northeastern University, Tufts University, Boston University, the New England Conservatory of Music, the University of Massachusetts at Boston, The Eastman School of Music, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and the University of Southern California. He is a recipient of the 2009 National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists by the United States Government. In 2003, he received the Olympic Order, the IOC’s highest honor, for his contributions to the Olympic movement. He served as the Grand Marshal of the 2004 Rose Parade in Pasadena, and was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honor in December of 2004. Mr. Williams was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2009, and in January of that same year he composed and arranged Air and Simple Gifts especially for the first inaugural ceremony of President Barack Obama. (Source: Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency)

Booklet for The Berlin Concert