John Williams discography

John Williams, an accomplished composer formerly credited as Johnny Williams, initially worked as a jazz pianist and studio musician before transitioning into composing for television and film. Throughout his illustrious career, he has often conducted his own compositions whenever possible.

With a career spanning over 65 years, Williams has garnered five Academy Awards: four for Best Original Score (Jaws, Star Wars, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Schindler's List) and one for Best Scoring: Adaptation and Original Song Score (Fiddler on the Roof). He has also received four Golden Globe Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards, 23 Grammy Awards, and numerous gold and platinum records.

This article provides a comprehensive list of works performed by John Williams and the ensembles he has conducted throughout his career, including the London Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra, for which he served as the music director from 1980 to 1993. Additionally, there is a dedicated section highlighting his discography as a composer, featuring many compositions that he himself did not record.

For a complete list of his compositions, please refer to the List of compositions by John Williams.

Expanded reissue soundtrack albums
This section features expanded reissue albums of already released scores.

Audio stories
For reasons of relevance, this section deliberately excludes audiobooks. Over one hundred Star Wars audio books have been published since the 1990s, and most of them use the original music composed and performed by John Williams.

Video albums

 * 2002 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (2-Disc Limited Collector's Edition). Special features: John Williams performs the "E.T." score live with the film at the Shrine Auditorium 2002 Premiere (Universal Studios Home Entertainment)
 * 2007 Broadway's Best at Pops. Arthur Fiedler, John Williams and Keith Lockhart/Boston Pops (PBS)
 * 2009 Clint Eastwood Presents - Johnny Mercer: The Dream's on Me. Jamie Cullum, Morgan Eastwood, Audra McDonald, John Williams, etc. (TCM)
 * 2013 Tanglewood 75th Anniversary Celebration. Keith Lockhart, John Williams, Stefan Asbury, Andris Nelsons, etc./Boston Pops, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra (C Major Entertainment)
 * 2015 A John Williams Celebration . Gustavo Dudamel/Los Angeles Philharmonic, John Williams as guest conductor and Itzhak Perlman on violin (C Major Entertainment)
 * 2019 Across The Stars (CD+DVD Deluxe Edition). DVD: Anne-Sophie Mutter In Conversation With John Williams; Mutter, Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles/Williams (Deutsche Grammophon)
 * 2020 John Williams In Vienna. Mutter, Wiener Philharmoniker/Williams; Live recording (Deutsche Grammophon)

Discography as composer
John Williams himself recorded most of his compositions. However, there are some exceptions, and this section is therefore complementary to the main discography. In addition, it presents a special section dedicated to each of his concert works that have been recorded. As Williams' film works are loved by the public, they were much recorded and continue to be, so another section containing selections of some his works recorded by other artists is also featured.

Selective discography of his works recorded by others

 * 1962 Themes To Remember - Top TV Themes And Background Music. Stanley Wilson, Decca
 * 1962 Checkmate: Shelly Manne & His Men Play the Music of Johnny Williams from the TV Series. Arranged by John Williams (Reissued in 2002, Contemporary Records; Reissued in 2014 with Bonus Tracks, Jazz Musts)
 * 1962 The Theme From Ben Casey and the Top TV Themes From.... Valjean at the piano with orchestral accompaniment
 * 1965 André Previn Plays Music Of The Young Hollywood Composers. RCA Victor
 * 1972 Walter Matthau sings the love theme from 'Pete 'n' Tillie'. MCA Records
 * 1973 Frank Sinatra – Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back. Reprise Records
 * 1976 A Concert of Film Music. London Symphony Orchestra/Henry Mancini
 * 1977 Music Inspired By Star Wars And Other Galactic Funk. Meco, Millennium (Reissued in 1999, Hip-O Records)
 * 1978 Cinema Gala: Star Wars/Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra/Zubin Mehta
 * 1978 John Williams: Close Encounters of the Third Kind/Star Wars. National Philharmonic Orchestra/Charles Gerhardt
 * 1979 Digital Space. London Symphony Orchestra/Morton Gould (Reissued in 1985, Varèse Sarabande; Reissued in 2007 with previously unreleased material Morton Gould Conducts Film Score Classics And Rarities, Citadel Records)
 * 1980 John Williams: The Empire Strikes Back. National Philharmonic Orchestra/Charles Gerhardt
 * 1982 Flying (Theme from E.T.). London Symphony Orchestra/John Bell, Towerbell Records/UK SP
 * 1983 John Williams: Return of the Jedi. National Philharmonic Orchestra/Charles Gerhardt
 * 1983 John Williams: The Star Wars Trilogy. Utah Symphony Orchestra/Varujan Kojian (reissued for digital download in 2013, Varèse Sarabande)
 * 1984 Star Tracks. Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/Erich Kunzel
 * 1984 Time Warp. Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/Erich Kunzel
 * 1985 The Final Frontier - The Triple Album. London Symphony Orchestra/Roy Budd (Reissued in 1995 "Big Screen Adventures"; reissued for digital download in 2014 "Film Classics, Vol. 1", Collins Classics)
 * 1987 Hollywood’s Greatest Hits, Vol. I. Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/Erich Kunzel
 * 1987 Star Tracks II. Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/Erich Kunzel
 * 1989 Music From the Prince and the Pauper [and other film music]. National Philharmonic Orchestra/Charles Gerhardt
 * 1989 Classic Marches. Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin
 * 1990 Fantastic Journey. Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/Erich Kunzel
 * 1990 The Best Of John Williams, Philharmonic Rock Orchestra/Richard Hayman
 * 1991 Movie Love Themes. Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/Erich Kunzel
 * 1994 The Great Fantasy Adventure Album. Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/Erich Kunzel
 * 1995 Journey To The Stars: A Sci Fi Fantasy Adventure. Hollywood Bowl Orchestra/John Mauceri
 * 1997 Beautiful Hollywood. Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/Erich Kunzel
 * 1998 Midway. Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Rick Kentworth (reissued for digital download in 2014, Varèse Sarabande)
 * 1998 Superman: The Movie. Royal Scottish National Orchestra/John Debney (reissued for digital download in 2014, Varèse Sarabande)
 * 1998 Hollywood Nightmares. Hollywood Bowl Orchestra/John Mauceri
 * 1998 Holiday Pops. Boston Pops Orchestra/Keith Lockhart
 * 1998 Gustav Holst: The Planets; John Williams: Star Wars Suite; Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra . Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra/Zubin Mehta, compilation (reissued partially in 2012, Decca)
 * 1999 Themes from The Phantom Menace and Other Film Hits. Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Frederic Talgorn
 * 1999 Amazing Stories. Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Joel McNeely, John Debney
 * 1999 The Great Movie Scores from the Films of Steven Spielberg. Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/Erich Kunzel
 * 2000 Jaws. Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Joel McNeely (reissued for digital download in 2014, Varèse Sarabande)
 * 2000 Dallas Christmas Gala. Dallas SO & Chorus/Andrew Litton, David R. Davidson
 * 2000 Devil's Dance. Gil Shaham & Jonathan Feldman
 * 2000 Great Orchestral Marches. Edmonton Symphony Orchestra/Uri Mayer
 * 2000 Hollywood Symphonic Concert - John Williams. Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra/Orie Suzuki
 * 2000 Mega Movies. Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/Erich Kunzel
 * 2001 Greatest Science Fiction Hits IV. Neil Norman And His Cosmic Orchestra
 * 2003 John Williams: 40 Years of Film Music. City of Prague Philharmonic (2-CD set, compilation)
 * 2003 Epics. Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/Erich Kunzel
 * 2005 Kreisler, Paganini, Sarasate, Wieniawski. Maxim Vengerov
 * 2005 Music from the Films of Steven Spielberg. City of Prague Philharmonic (2-CD set, compilation)
 * 2006 Great Film Fantasies. Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/Erich Kunzel
 * 2007 Movie Legends John Williams. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
 * 2007 Symphonic Brass. The Black Dyke Mills Band/Nicholas J. Childs
 * 2008 The Six Star Wars Films. City of Prague Philharmonic
 * 2009 Filmharmonic. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (3-CD set)
 * 2009 A Family Christmas. Royal Scottish National Orchestra & Junior Chorus/Christopher Bell
 * 2009 The Hollywood Flute of Louise Di Tullio. Sinfonia Toronto/Ronald Royer
 * 2009 Alexandre Da Costa: Schindler's List. Bienne Symphonic Orchestra/Thomas Rösner
 * 2010 Moviebrass - West Side Story Suite, Space Brass. Gomalan Brass Quintet
 * 2010 Schönbrunn 2010 - Moon, Planets, Stars. Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Franz Welser-Möst
 * 2011 Portals. St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra/Vladimir Lande
 * 2012 The Complete Harry Potter Film Music Collection. City of Prague Philharmonic (2-CD set)
 * 2012 The Music of John Williams: The Definitive Collection. City of Prague Philharmonic (6-CD set, compilation)
 * 2012 Barber, Korngold: Violin Concertos. Alexander Gilman
 * 2012 John Williams Greatest Hits. Philharmonisches Orchester of Staatstheater Cottbus/Evan Christ
 * 2012 Silence on joue!/A Time for Us. Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà
 * 2013 La Creation Du Monde. Swedish Wind Ensemble/Christian Lindberg
 * 2013 300. Ingolf Wunder.
 * 2013 American Harp. Yolanda Kondonassis
 * 2013 The Silver Violin. Nicola Benedetti
 * 2013 Violin Showcase, Matthieu Arama
 * 2013 Nigunim: Hebrew Melodies. Gil Shaham, Orla Shaham.
 * 2013 My First Decade. Nicola Benedetti.
 * 2014 Eventide. Voces8.
 * 2014 Escape to Paradise. Daniel Hope, TodtenhaupAmmon, Sting/Royal Stockholm Philh. O, Quintet of the Kammerorchester Berlin/Shelley.
 * 2015 Music from The Star Wars Saga. City of Prague Philharmonic (Selections from the 2012 compilation The Definitive Collection)
 * 2015 Schindler's List: The Film Music of John Williams. Elizabeth Hedman, Dan Redfeld
 * 2015 Hollywood Blockbusters, Vol. 2. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Nic Raine
 * 2015 Waldbühne 2015. Berliner Philharmoniker/Simon Rattle
 * 2015 Sixty-Eight Annual Midwest Clinic 2014. Carmel High School Symphony Orchestra/Soo Han, Margaret Hite, Elisabeth Ohly-Davis, Dr. Robert Gillespie, Michael Pote
 * 2015 On A Lighter Note. Frikki Walker.
 * 2015 Journey East. Nemanja Radulovic.
 * 2016 Silence on joue: Take 2. Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà
 * 2017 Lights, Camera...Music! Six Decades of John Williams. Boston Pops Orchestra/Keith Lockhart
 * 2017 Sommernachtskonzert (Summer Night Concert) 2017. Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Christoph Eschenbach.
 * 2017 John Williams: Themes and Transcriptions for Piano. Co-arranged by John Williams and Simone Pedroni. Simone Pedroni, piano.
 * 2018 John Williams: A Life in Music. London Symphony Orchestra/Gavin Greenaway.
 * 2018 The Genius of Film Music - Hollywood 1980s-2000s. London Symphony Orchestra/Dirk Brossé.
 * 2019 Celebrating John Williams. Los Angeles Philharmonic/Gustavo Dudamel (2 CD Set)