With
John Williams nearing his announced retirement, his score for the Oscar-nominated coming-of-age drama
The Fabelmans (2022) represents his 31st film collaboration with director
Steven Spielberg, on whose life the movie is loosely based. (The screenplay was written by
Spielberg and
Tony Kushner.) Intimate and mostly piano-based, the film's score was nominated for an Academy Award, as well, despite its relatively brief run time of 31 minutes -- including pre-existing classical material. That material consists of selections from concertos and sonatinas by
J.S. Bach,
Joseph Haydn,
Muzio Clementi, and
Friedrich Kuhlau, some of which are performed on-camera by actress
Michelle Williams, with
Joanne Pearce Martin, then principal pianist of the
Los Angeles Philharmonic, providing most of the solos on the recording. Sentimental opener "The Fabelmans" sets the tone with its wistful piano theme and simple broken triads before the lightly orchestrated "Mitzi's Dance" adds celeste, strings, harp, and other components to its nostalgic sentiment. The more animated, non-
Williams pieces gently lighten the mood between cues with titles like "Reverie," "Reflections," and "The Letter." None of the
Williams tracks here cross the three-minute mark until the closing six-minute track, "The Journey Begins," a more cathartic, fully orchestrated passage that includes an excerpt of the first movement of
Haydn's
Sonata No. 48 in C Major and which ends on a not-quite-resolved chord. Fans of the film should note that period songs like "Walk on By" by
Dionne Warwick and "Goodbye Cruel World" by
James Darren that appear in the movie are not included here. ~ Marcy Donelson
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