
Raiders Of The Lost Ark (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
John Williams (4)
1981
Raiders Of The Lost Ark (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is a Soundtrack & Scores album by John Williams (4), originally released in 1981. On Gatefold: 58 pressings tracked, owned by 11 collectors.
Sound DNA
- Soundtrack & Scores
- Compiled Soundtrack
- lush
- triumphant
- cinematic
About
What’s surprising about listening to John Williams’ 1981 score for <i>Raiders of the Lost Ark</i> outside the context of the movie is hearing just how <i>dark</i> it is. There are still moments of heroism (“The Raiders March”) and romance (“Marion’s Theme”), but for listeners adjusted to the black-and-white epics of <i>Star Wars</i>, Williams’ work on <i>Raiders</i> can feel evasive (“In the Jungle“), dissonant (“Flight From Peru”), and unsettling (“The Miracle of the Ark”). Of course, in a way, that was Williams’ job: While the world of <i>Star Wars</i> was unambiguous and out in the open, <i>Raiders</i> brought its audience into dense jungles, obscure conversations, and dark temples set with hidden traps—scenes whose drama derived from their uncertainty. (Williams himself said that part of his goal was to lure the audience into what at first might seem like a beautiful experience, only to turn it into something terrifying—a technique borrowed from opera, but one Williams almost single-handedly assimilated into the vocabulary of modern-day action movies.) Like Williams’ work on <i>Star Wars</i>, though, his score for <i>Raiders</i> managed to percolate both up into the sanctum of proper classical music and out into a world separating after the movie left the theater. Harrison Ford even said he’d once seen a fire truck roaring down the street, only to realize as it passed that it was playing “The Raiders March.” You could get amped by worse.
via Apple Music
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Tracklist
Side A
- A1Raiders Of The Lost Ark6:04
- A2Flight From Peru2:23
- A3The Map Room: Dawn3:54
- A4The Basket Game4:49
- A5The Well Of The Souls4:58
Side B
- B1Desert Chase7:42
- B2Marion's Theme3:10
- B3The Miracle Of The Ark6:12
- B4The Raiders March2:30
Credits
Performers
- Herbert W. SpencerORCHESTRATED BY
- London Symphony OrchestraORCHESTRA
- John WilliamsCONDUCTOR
- Frank MathisonBASS TROMBONE
- Martin GattBASSOON
- Nicholas HunkaBASSOON
- Robert BourtonBASSOON
- Clive GillinsonCELLO
- Douglas CummingsCELLO
- Douglas PowrieCELLO
- Francis SaundersCELLO
- Jack LongCELLO
- Kenneth LawCELLO
- Maurice MeulienCELLO
- Paul KeggCELLO
- Ray AdamsCELLO
- Rod McGrathCELLO
- John Leach
11 collectors on Gatefold own this · 58 pressings tracked on Gatefold
