John Williams is hailed as one of the biggest music composers of all time, known for composing music for movies like Star Wars to Harry Potter. But one filmmaker he has often worked with is Steven Spielberg, and one of their best collaborations has been 1993’s Schindler’s List.
The film won Williams an Academy Award for his work, but when Williams first saw the film, he was overcome by self-doubt (via BU Today).
I had to walk around the room for four or five minutes to catch my breath. I said to Steven, ‘I really think you need a better composer than I am for this film.’
And Spielberg’s reply was rather cold but befitting.
And he very sweetly said, ‘I know, but they’re all dead.’
The greatest composers capable of capturing such tragedy, compassion, and humanity, Bach, Beethoven, Mahler, and the rest, were indeed long gone. Spielberg was telling Williams that he was the only living artist who could translate this story’s grief and hope into music. And he wasn’t wrong.
The Reason Why Schindler’s List Has Sparing Music
Following that conversation, Williams approached the Oscar-winning Schindler’s List with profound restraint. He knew that over-scoring the film would risk turning unspeakable suffering into melodrama.
Hence, Movie Music UK details, he and Spielberg made a deliberate creative choice to let the silence speak as loudly as the music.
In total, Williams wrote only 51 minutes of music for a film running over three hours. Remarkably, the score doesn’t even begin until 17 minutes into the movie, a delay that mirrors how the story slowly reveals the depth of its tragedy.
Moreover, Spielberg and Williams wanted the audience to feel the absence of music, to let raw human emotion dominate each scene. When it does appear, such as during the girl in the red coat sequence or Schindler’s final breakdown, it does so with devastating power.
Thus, when the music finally enters, it does not console but reflects.
Even with the sparse score, the music remains powerful, underscoring not spectacle but survival and the faint flicker of humanity and grief in each scene.
Every Piece John Williams Composed for Schindler’s List
John Williams’s Schindler’s List score is among his most minimalist works, yet it remains one of his most emotionally rich compositions. The album, released through MCA Records, features 14 tracks that weave together themes of grief, memory, and moral awakening.
Here is the list of the soundtrack by Williams, from Schindler’s List:
Later on, more bonus tracks were added, taking the runtime from 64 minutes and 30 seconds to 96 minutes and 25 seconds (via Movie Music UK). Here is the list of the bonus tracks:
In the original work, Williams also incorporated the Jewish national instrument, the violin, as a central motif to honor the victims and survivors’ heritage. Thus, creating a soundscape that feels both sacred and unbearably human, Williams was always the right choice for the film despite his initial hesitation.
Well, what do you think about John Williams and Steven Spielberg’s collaboration on Schindler’s List?
Schindler’s List is available for streaming on Amazon Prime, and the soundtrack can be streamed on Spotify.
