Around the Music Festival

American composer John Williams, a legend in the world of film music, withdrew his retirement from composing at a talk event he held with director Steven Spielberg on January 19.

The talk event was held at the Writers Guild of America Theater in conjunction with the release of “The Fabelmans” and “Indiana Jones and the DIAL OF DESTINY,” for which Williams wrote the music. The former is a film about Spielberg’s own original experiences that fulfilled his dream of becoming a film director, and he himself directed the megaphone.

To summarize local reports, Williams denied the retirement theory, saying, “I’m going to be here for a while,” when asked by the moderator, “There are reports that these two films will be your last films…. He cited his longtime partnership with Spielberg as the reason for this. Their tag team dates back to the 1974 film “The Sugarland Express”.

Williams also pointed out that Spielberg’s father, who died in 2020 at the age of 103, continued to work on his son’s Holocaust memorial project, the Shoah Foundation, well past 100. ‘Steven is a director, a producer, a studio head, a writer. He is a philanthropist. He was an educator. He is a guy I cannot say no,” he added.

Spielberg responded by saying, “I have to think about what I’m going to direct next in order to get Williams to do his job,” to which Williams responded, “I’m going to compose again at Steven’s request. Williams responded, “Yes, this is what he expects me to do.

Photo：Alex J. Berliner　/　Abimages