With yesterday being "May the Fourth" and an informal day of celebration for Star Wars fans (even though "orthodox" fans might recognize the original film's release date, May 25, as a holiday of its own!), the time is right to plan a few music reissues related to the film - and one exciting, ambitious new announcement for the catalogue of the series' longtime composer, John Williams.

The 93-year-old composer has kept a low profile since the release of his score for the fifth and final Indiana Jones film, canceling conductor engagements around the world due to unspecified health issues. (Williams did appear at a recent slate of concerts he was intended to lead at Walt Disney Symphony Hall in Los Angeles, appearing onstage in a wheelchair alongside Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel as the audience leapt to their feet with applause.) But the work of preserving and celebrating his storied discography hardly ceases - and Sony Classical is going all in with a just-announced trio of box sets honoring the Maestro. John Williams - The Anthology Vol. 1 (1969-1990) sets an impressive bar for the series: with Williams' conducting work for the Boston Pops and others celebrated in a pair of box sets, this volume will offer a cross-licensed selection of Williams' most essential soundtracks - 22 discs containing material from 28 films.

The Anthology Vol. 1 offers a unique mix of original soundtrack albums and familiar expanded presentations. Williams' longtime archivist Mike Matessino is a co-producer for the project, and his high-quality remasters of the soundtrack albums already released on expanded editions of The Reivers, Images, Earthquake, The Towering Inferno, JAWS, JAWS 2, The Fury (with a bonus track from the album sessions included on the La-La Land Records reissue) Superman: The Movie,1941, Dracula, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Monsignor, SpaceCamp, Empire of the Sun, Always and Home Alone will be replicated in the set, along with his expanded assemblies of Williams' scores to The Cowboys (minus a few alternate takes), last year's debut release of The Sugarland Express and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The scores to the oriignal Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies are presented in their most familiar or in print forms; for the Star Wars films, it's the original album presentations remixed from the original film recordings by Williams' engineer Shawn Murphy, while the Indy discs are identical to their 2008 expansions by Music by John Williams director Laurent Bouzereau. (Additional films featured include the late '80s pictures The Witches of Eastwick, The Accidental Tourist and Born on the Fourth of July, which had a small handful of score cues released on a soundtrack album of period pop songs.)

While nothing in the set is unreleased, the collection does represent three Oscar wins and another 15 nominations from Williams' more than 50 (he's the most-nominated living person, and second only to Walt Disney), material from every major label (and several other studios and rights holders), plus collaborations with pivotal directors including Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Oliver Stone, Robert Altman, Richard Donner, Brian De Palma, George Miller and Mark Rydell. Spielberg, Williams' closest collaborator, pens a new foreword for the book, which will feature detailed essays on each score by Matessino and Williams authority John Takis. The Anthology Vol. 1 will be available July 18, with two more sets to follow: The Anthology Vol. 2 (1991-2008) and The Anthology Vol. 3 (2011-2022 & Non-Film Works). The three sets will span some 75 discs of music!

Beyond the box, two classic interpretations of music from Star Wars are back on vinyl. Anticipation was high for the release of The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars' first sequel, some 45 years ago. Williams' thematically-rich score was offered on a generous double album, but the market for alternate interpretations of the music was always there. To that end, conductor Charles Gerhardt - who'd led the National Symphony Orchestra on a series of film composer tribute albums for the RCA Red Seal label and had done one of the first orchestral re-recordings of Star Wars, reprised his duties for a "symphonic suite" of themes and cues, including some unique arrangements. The suite, a part of Varese Sarabande's catalogue, is newly pressed on black vinyl at general retailers, with a few color variants honoring some of the film's exotic interplanetary locales.

Years after Return of The Jedi brought the Star Wars trilogy (and temporarily the saga) to a close, a new collection hit record shops: the first album of Star Wars re-recordings to feature Williams at the podium! John Williams Conducts the Star Wars Trilogy, the composer's first album as a conductor for Sony Classical, was recorded by a series of all-star players dubbed the "Skywalker Symphony Orchestra" and assembled at a then-new, state-of-the-art scoring stage at Lucas' Skywalker Ranch compound in Nicasio, CA. Classic concert arrangements of music from all three films followed, including Williams' first re-recordings of several cues from Star Wars, including the jaunty Jawa tribute "The Little People," the quirky cosmo-jazz of the "Cantina Band," the rousing "Here They Come!" (which partially scored the Millennium Falcon's escape from the Death Star) and an extended version of the film's finale and end credits. This album, pressed in limited quantities on translucent blue vinyl, is, like the Gerhardt suite, available to order now.

Details on all three releases appear below. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

John Williams, The Anthology Vol. 1 (1969-1990) (Sony Classical 19802 86101-2, 2025) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1: The Reivers (Original Sound Track Recording) / Images (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

1. Main Title/First Introduction/The Winton Flyer
2. Family Funeral/Lucius' First Drive
3. The Road to Memphis
4. Carrie's Introduction/The Picture
5. The Sheriff Departs/The Bad News/Ned's Secret
6. Memphis
7. Ned's Trade
8. The People Protest
9. Prayers At Bedtime
10. Lucius Runs to Carrie/Back Home
11. Finale
12. In Search of Unicorns
13. The House
14. Dogs, Ponies and Old Ruins
15. Visitations
16. Reflections
17. The Killing of Marcel
18. The Love Montage
19. Blood Moon
20. Land of the Ums
21. The Night Witch Ride
22. The Waterfall and the Final Chapter

Tracks 1-11 released as Columbia Masterworks OS 3510, 1969
Tracks 12-22 released as Hemdale Music promo (no cat. #), 1972 and Quartet QR455, 2021

Disc 2: The Cowboys (Expanded Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

1. Overture from The Cowboys
   
2. The Cowboys - Main Title
3. The Hands Quit
4. The Boys
5. Wil and Ann
6. The Kids and Crazy Alice
7. Graveyard
8. Anybody That Tall
9. Training Montage
10. Long Hair and the Roundup
11. Nightlinger's Tale
12. To Belle Fourche
13. The First Night
14. Burning Daylight
15. Learning the Ropes (Vivaldi Concerto in D)
16. Sour Mash
17. Mrs. Collingwood's Girls
18. Long Hair's Threat
19. Entr'acte
20. Afraid of the Dark
21. Charlie's Demise
22. Charlie's Burial
23. Long Hair Trails
24. Long Hair and Dan
25. Summer's Over
26. Drums of Manhood and The Execution
27. Into the Trap
28. The Battle
29. End Title and End Cast
30. Exit Music

All tracks released on Varese Sarabande VCL 0618 1184, 2018. Original film released 1972

Disc 3: Earthquake (Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) / The Towering Inferno (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

1. Main Title, Earthquake
2. Miles on Wheels
3. City Theme
4. Something for Rosa
5. Love Scene
6. The City Sleeps
7. Love Theme
8. Cory in Jeopardy
9. Something for Remy
10. Miles' Pool Hall
11. Watching and Waiting/Sam's Rescue
12. Finale, End Title
13. Main TItle
14. An Architect's Dream
15. Lisolette and Harlee
16. Something for Susan
17. Trapped Lovers
18. Susan and Doug
19. The Helicopter Explosion
20. Planting the Charges - and Finale

Tracks 1-11 released as MCA Records 2081, 1974
Tracks 12-20 released on Warner Bros. BS 2840, 1974

Disc 4: JAWS (Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) / JAWS 2 (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

1. Main Title (Theme from JAWS)
2. Chrissie's Death
3. Promenade (Tourists on the Menu)
4. Out to Sea
5. The Indianapolis Story
6. Sea Attack Number One
7. One Barrel Chase
8. Preparing the Cage
9. Night Search
10. The Underwater Siege
11. Hand to Hand Combat
12. End Title (Theme from JAWS)
13. Finding the Orca (Main Title)
14. The Menu
15. Ballet for Divers
16. The Water Kite Sequence
17. Brody Misunderstood
18. The Catamaran Race
19. Toward Cable Junction
20. Attack on the Helicopter
21. The Open Sea
22. Fire Onboard and Eddie's Death
23. Sean's Rescue
24. Attack on the Water Skier
25. The Big Jolt!
26. End Title, End Cast

Tracks 1-11 released as MCA Records 2087, 1975
Tracks 12-26 released as MCA Records 3045, 1978

Disc 5: Star Wars: A New Hope (Original Soundtrack) (20th Century Records 2T-541, 1977 - this mix released as Walt Disney Records D0025853-02, 2018)

1. Main Title
2. Imperial Attack
3. Princess Leia's Theme
4. The Desert and The Robot Auction
5. Ben's Death and TIE Fighter Attack
6. The Little People Work
7. Rescue of the Princess
8. Inner City
9. Cantina Band
10. The Land of the Sand People
11. Mouse Robot and Blasting Off
12. The Return Home
13. The Walls Converge
14. The Princess Appears
15. The Last Battle
16. The Throne Room and End Title

Disc 6: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Expanded Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (

1. Main Title and The Vision
2. Navy Planes
3. Lost Squadron
4. Trucking
5. Into the Tunnel and Chasing UFOs
6. Crescendo Summit
7. False Alarm and The Helicopter
8. Barry's Kindapping
9. Forming the Mountain
10. TV Reveals/Across Country
11. The Mountain
12. The Cover-Up and Base Camp
13. The Escape
14. Climbing the Mountain
15. Outstretched Hands
16. The Lightshow
17. Barnstorming
18. The Mothership
19. Dialogue
20. The Returnees
21. The Appearance of the Visitors
22. Contact
23. End Titles

Portions originally released as Arista AL 9500, 1977. This program released on La-La Land Records LLLCD 1433, 2017

Disc 7: The Sugarland Express (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) / 1941 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

1. The Sugarland Express - Main Title
2. Freedom At Last
3. The First Chase
4. Taking the Jump
5. The Caravan Forms
6. To the Roadblock
7. Sugarland Dance
8. Road Ballad
9. Out of Gas
10. Trading Stamps
11. Police Cars Move
12. Along the Route
13. Man and Wife
14. Franklyn Falls
15. Sealing the Bargain
16. The Deputies Arrive
17. The Onlookers
18. Open Highway
19. Pursuit
20. Over the Next Hill
21. Setting the Trap
22. Last Conversation
23. The Final Ride
24. The Sugarland Express - End Title
25. The March from 1941
26. The Invasion
27. The Sentries
28. Riot At The U.S.O. (based on "The Rakes of Mallow")
29. To Hollywood and Glory
30. Swing Swing Swing
31. The Battle of Hollywood
32. The Ferris Wheel Sequence (includes "By the Beautiful Sea")
33. The Finale

Tracks 1-24 released as La-La Land Records LLLCD 1650, 2024 - original film released 1974
Tracks 25-33 released as Arista AL 9510, 1979

Disc 8: The Fury (Original Soundtrack Recording)

1. Main Title
2. For Gillian
3. Vision on the Stairs
4. Hester's Theme and The House
5. Gillian's Escape
6. The Search for Robin
7. Gillian's Vision
8. Death on the Carousel and End Titles
9. Epilogue
10. Death on the Carousel (Original Version)

Tracks 1-9 released as Arista AB 4175, 1978. Track 10 released on La-La Land Records LLLCD 1238, 2013

Disc 9: Superman: The Movie (Original Sound Track) (Warner Bros. 2BSK 3257, 1978)

1. Theme from Superman (Main Title)
2. The Planet Krypton
3. Destruction of Krypton
4. The Trip to Earth
5. Growing Up
6. Love Theme from Superman
7. Leaving Home
8. The Fortress of Solitude
9. The Flying Sequence/Can You Read My Mind
10. Super Rescues
11. Lex Luthor's Lair
12. Superfeats
13. The March of the Villains
14. Chasing Rockets
15. Turning Back the World
16. End Title

Disc 10: Dracula (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) / Monsignor (from the 20th Century-Fox Film)

1. Main Title & Storm Sequence
2. The Night Visitor
3. To Scarborough
4. The Abduction of Lucy
5. Night Journeys
6. The Love Scene
7. Meeting in the Cave
8. The Bat Attack
9. For Mina
10. Dracula's Death
11. End Credits
12. Theme from Monsignor
13. Reunion in Italy
14. Forgotten Vows
15. The Meeting in Sicily
16. Audience with the Holy Father
17. Gloria
18. Monsignor
19. Appoloni's Decision
20. Santoni's Compassion
21. At the Forum

Tracks 1-11 released as MCA Records 3166, 1979
Tracks 12-21 released as Casablanca NBLPH-7277, 1982

Disc 11: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) (RSO RS-2-4241, 1980 - this mix released as Walt Disney Records D0025857-02, 2018)

1. Star Wars (Main Theme)
2. Yoda's Theme
3. The Training of a Jedi Knight
4. The Heroics of Luke and Han
5. The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)
6. Departure of Boba Fett
7. Han Solo and The Princess
8. Hyperspace
9. The Battle in the Snow
10. The Asteroid Field
11. The City in the Clouds
12. Rebels At Bay
13. Yoda and The Force
14. The Duel
15. The Magic Tree
16. Lando's Palace
17. Finale

Disc 12: Raiders of the Lost Ark (Expanded Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

1. In the Jungle
2. The Idol Temple
3. Escape from the Temple
4. Flight from Peru
5. Washington Men/Indy's Home
6. A Thought for Marion/To Nepal
7. The Medallion
8. Flight to Cairo
9. The Basket Game
10. Bad Dates
11. The Map Room: Dawn
12. Reunion in the Tent/Searching for the Well
13. The Well of the Souls
14. Indy Rides the Statue
15. The Fist Fight/The Flying Wing
16. Desert Chase
17. Marion's Theme/The Crate
18. The German Sub
19. Ride to the Nazi Hideout
20. Indy Follows the Ark
21. The Miracle of the Ark
22. Washington Ending and Raiders March

Portions of Tracks 4, 8-9, 11, 13, 16-17 and 21-22 originally released as Columbia JS 37373, 1981. This program released as Concord CRE-31002-02, 2008

Disc 13: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (MCA Records 6109, 1982)

1. Three Million Light Years from Home
2. Abandoned and Pursued
3. E.T. and Me
4. E.T.'s Halloween
5. Flying
6. E.T. Phone Home
7. Over the Moon
8. Adventure on Earth

Disc 14: Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (RSO 811 767-1 Y-1, 1983 - this mix released as Walt Disney Records D0025855-02, 2018)

1. Main Title (The Story Continues)
2. Into the Trap
3. Luke and Leia
4. Parade of the Ewoks
5. Han Solo Returns (At the Court of Jabba the Hutt)
6. Lapti Nek (Jabba's Palace Band)
7. The Forest Battle
8. Rebel Briefing
9. The Emperor
10. The Return of the Jedi
11. Ewok Celebration and Finale

Disc 15: Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom (Expanded Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

1. Anything Goes
2. Indy Negotiates
3. The Nightclub Brawl
4. Fast Streets of Shanghai
5. Map/Out of Fuel
6. Slalom on Mt. Humol
7. Short Round's Theme
8. The Scroll/To Pankot Palace
9. Nocturnal Activities
10. Bug Tunnel and Death Trap
11. Approaching the Stones
12. Children in Chains
13. The Temple of Doom
14. Short Round Escapes
15. Saving Willie
16. Slave Children's Crusade
17. Short Round Helps
18. The Mine Cart Chase
19. Water!
20. The Sword Trick
21. The Broken Bridge/British Relief
22. Finale and End Credits

Tracks 1, 4, 6-7, 9-10, 12-13, 16, 18 and 22 originally released as Polydor 821 592-1 Y-1, 1984. This program released as Concord CRE-31003-02, 2008

Disc 16: SpaceCamp (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (RCA ABL1-5856, 1986)

1. Main Title
2. Training Montage
3. The Shuttle
4. The Computer Room
5. Friends Forever
6. In Orbit
7. White Sands
8. SpaceCamp
9. Viewing Daedalus
10. Max Breaks Loose
11. Andie is Stranded
12. Max Finds Courage
13. Re-Entry
14. Home Again

Disc 17: The Witches of Eastwick (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Warner Bros. 25607, 1987)

1. The Township of Eastwick
2. The Dance of the Witches
3. Maleficio
4. The Seduction of Alex
5. Daryl's Secrets
6. The Seduction of Suki and The Ballroom Scene
7. Daryl Arrives
8. The Tennis Game
9. Have Another Cherry!
10. Daryl Rejected
11. The Ride Home
12. The Destruction of Daryl
13. The Children's Carousel
14. End Credits (The Dance of the Witches Reprise)

Disc 18: Empire of the Sun (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Warner Bros. 25668, 1987)

1. Suo Gan
2. Cadillac of the Skies
3. Jim's New Life
4. Lost in the Crowd
5. Imaginary Air Battle
6. The Return to the City
7. Liberation: Exsultate Justi
8. The British Grenadiers
9. Toy Planes, Home and Hearth
10. The Streets of Shanghai
11. The Pheasant Hunt
12. No Road Home/Seeing the Bomb
13. Exsultate Justi

Disc 19: The Accidental Tourist (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Warner Bros. 25846, 1989 - original film released 1988)

1. Main Title
2. Macon Alone
3. Trip to London
4. The Healing Process
5. Fixing the Plumbing on a Rainy Afternoon
6. A Second Chance
7. Wedding Scene
8. Back with Sara
9. Bedroom Conversation
10. Rose and Julian
11. A New Beginning
12. End Credits (A Second Chance)

Disc 20: Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (Expanded Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

1. Indy's Very First Adventure
2. The Boat Scene
3. X Marks the Spot
4. Ah, Rats!!!
5. Escape from Venice
6. Journey to Austria
7. Father and Son Reunited
8. The Austrian Way
9. Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra
10. Alarm!
11. No Ticket
12. Keeping Up with the Joneses
13. Brother of the Cruciform Sword
14. On the Tank
15. Belly of the Steel Beast
16. The Canyon of the Crescent Moon
17. The Penitent Man Will Pass
18. The Keeper of the Grail
19. End Credits (Raiders March)

Tracks 1 (partial), 3-5, 9, 11-13 and 15-19 originally released as Warner Bros. 25883, 1989. This program released on Concord CRE-31004, 2008

Disc 21: Born on the Fourth of July (Selections from the Motion Picture Soundtrack Album) / Always (Selections from the Motion Picture Soundtrack Album)

1. Prologue
2. The Early Days, Massapequa, 1957
3. The Shooting of Wilson
4. Cua Viet River, Vietnam, 1968
5. Homecoming
6. Born on the Fourth of July
7. Among the Clouds
8. Follow Me
9. Pete in Heaven
10. Saying Goodbye
11. Pete and Dorinda
12. The Return
13. The Rescue Operation
14. Seeing Dorinda
15. Intimate Conversation
16. Promise to Hap
17. The Old Timer's Shack
18. Dorinda's Solo Flight

Tracks 1-6 released on MCA Records 6340, 1989
Tracks 7-18 released on MCA Records 8036, 1990 - original film released 1989

Disc 22: Home Alone (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (CBS SK 46595, 1990)

1. Home Alone Main Title (Somewhere in My Memory)
2. Holiday Flight
3. The House
4. Star of Bethelehem
5. Man of the House
6. White Christmas - The Drifters
7. Scammed by a Kindergartner
8. Please Come Home for Christmas - Southside Johnny
9. Follow That Kid!
10. Making the Plane
11. O Holy Night
12. Carol of the Bells
13. Star of Bethlehem
14. Setting the Trap
15. The Attack on the House
16. Mom Returns and Finale
17. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Mel Tormé
18. We Wish You a Merry Christmas/End Title

​Charles Gerhardt & The National Philharmonic Orchestra, The Empire Strikes Back (Symphonic Suite from the Original Motion PIcture Score) (originally released as Chalfont SDG-313, 1980 - reissued Varese Sarabande VSD00691, 2025) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Coda - "Battle of Hoth" Color Vinyl / Deutsche Grammophon - "Dagobah Swamp" Color Vinyl)

Side A

1. 20th Century-Fox Fanfare
2. Main Title/The Imperial Probe
3. Luke's First Crash
4. Han Solo and The Princess
5. The Asteroid Field
6. The Training of a Jedi Knight and "May The Force Be with You"
7. The Battle in the Snow

Side B

1. The Imperial March
2. The Magic Tree
3. Yoda's Theme
4. The Rebels Escape Again
5. Lando's Palace/The Duel (Through the Window)
6. Finale

John Williams & The Skywalker Symphony Orchestra, John Williams Conducts The Star Wars Trilogy (originally released as Sony Classical SK 45947, 1990 - reissued Music on Vinyl MOVATM415, 2025) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side A

1. Star Wars - Main Theme
2. Princess Leia
3. The Little People

SIde B

1. The Imperial March
2. Yoda's Theme
3. Parade of the Ewoks
4. The Asteroid Field

Side C

1. Luke and Leia
2. Cantina Band
3. Here They Come!
4. Jabba The Hutt

Side D

1. The Forest Battle
2. The Throne Room and Finale

Side A, Tracks C2-3 and D2 composed for Star Wars. Tracks B1-2 and B4 composed for The Empire Strikes Back. Tracks B3, C1, C4 and D1 composed for Return of the Jedi.