Will John Williams go down as the greatest classical composer of the 20th Century?
John Williams – the greatest classical composer of the Twentieth Century… you have to be joking! Film music, the genre for which Mr. WIlliams is known and is perhaps the best exponent of is not classical music at all. Although even that is more due to the success of some of the films than the actual music. That issue aside, WIlliams does not even fall into the same league as the likes of Prokofiev, Shostakovich ,Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Ravel or Vaughan Williams. What work would you say represents his contribution in this regard? His compositions that do count as classical as to say the least obscure. Someone already mentioned Prokofiev, a viable candidate thats for sure… he wrote seven symphonies, five piano concertos, eight piano sonatas and many other works. Additionally, Prokofiev’s work was “cutting edge” in many respects. Williams has done nothing particularly remarkable from a musical standpoint. I’m afraid you need to rethink this idea.
