This sounds great.
First Volume of this 3-Part Anthology Showcasing Williams’ Acclaimed Film Scores from 1969 to 1990
Available July 18, 2025
The 22-Disc First Volume Includes Original Soundtrack Recordings of the First Three Star Wars Films, Jaws, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the First Two Indiana Jones Adventures, Superman, and 18 Other Films
(MAY 4 – NEW YORK, NY) Sony Classical embarks on a definitive, one-of-a-kind celebration of the music of five-time-Oscar®-winning composer John Williams, with the release of John Williams: The Anthology. The three-volume comprehensive collection will be released as three individual box sets throughout 2025. It will encompass the seven-decade career of the most popular and admired composer of his time, plus feature many of the maestro’s original soundtrack recordings and concert music recordings.
John Williams: The Anthology – Vol. 1 1969-1990 is set for release on July 18th and available now preorder. The 22 discs in Volume 1 showcase Williams’ music for 27 films that established him as one of the most influential and imaginative composers in the history of film music. They include his unforgettable scores for the first three Star Wars films, Jaws, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the first two Indiana Jones adventures, Superman and a range of others from The Reivers (1969) to Home Alone (1990).
Three of the scores included in this first volume – Jaws (1975), Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) – won Williams the Academy Award® for Best Original Score. Fifteen more Oscar® nominations were accorded to other scores in Volume 1, as well as five BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globes and 14 Grammy® Awards.
“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,” the director Steven Spielberg, the composer’s most frequent collaborator, writes in the foreword for this collection.
“Without the magic of John Williams, audiences do not wonder, or weep, or believe. Whether in an elegant concert hall or a darkened cinema, John’s music is instantly recognizable both for its emotional power and its ability to tap into our collective unconscious… to inspire us, to captivate us, and to illuminate our shared journey through the human experience.”
This historic box set retrospective will be completed later this year with the releases of John Williams: The Anthology – Vol. 2 1991-2008 and John Williams: The Anthology – Vol. 3 2011-2022. All three volumes combined will comprise a magnificent 75-disc collection celebrating the most beloved composer of our time.
JOHN WILLIAMS: THE ANTHOLOGY – VOL. 1 1969-1990
SET CONTENTS:
DISC 1: THE REIVERS
DISC 2: THE COWBOYS
DISC 3: EARTHQUAKE + THE TOWERING INFERNO
DISC 4: JAWS + JAWS 2
DISC 5: STAR WARS (EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE)
DISC 6: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
DISC 7: THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS + 1941
DISC 8: THE FURY
DISC 9: SUPERMAN
DISC 10: DRACULA + MONSIGNOR
DISC 11: STAR WARS (EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK)
DISC 12: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
DISC 13: E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL
DISC 14: STAR WARS (EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI)
DISC 15: INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM
DISC 16: SPACECAMP
DISC 17: THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK
DISC 18: EMPIRE OF THE SUN
DISC 19: THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST
DISC 20: INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE
DISC 21: BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY + Always
DISC 22: HOME ALONE
ABOUT JOHN WILLIAMS
John Williams began his career in Hollywood in the 1950s, as a studio musician as well as a composer, while also writing music for television. In the mid-1960s, he began scoring major Hollywood films. His rise coincided with that of Steven Spielberg, and the partnership of the two is unique in film history – all but three of the feature films Spielberg has directed since 1974 have had scores by Williams.
The composer is the second-most nominated person (after Walt Disney) in the 97-year history of the Academy Awards. In addition to his five Oscars – out of 54 career nominations – he has won 26 Grammy Awards, seven BAFTA Awards, five Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. When he was 91 years of age, Williams became oldest nominee in Oscar history with his nomination for Best Original Score for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
John Williams is also a recipient the Kennedy Center Honor (2004), the National Medal of the Arts (2009) and was the only composer to receive the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award (2016). Among his many other honors, he was named by Queen Elizabeth II an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) for “services to film music.”
Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, Milan Records, XXIM Records, and Masterworks Broadway imprints. For email updates and information please visit www.sonymusicmasterworks.com
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