Skip to content
    skip to navigation

    Classic FM

    Listen

    On Air Now

    Katie Breathwick 1am - 4am

    Katie Breathwick

    Now Playing

    Concertino No.1 for Clarinet & Strings (2) Charles Camilleri

    Concertino No.1 for Clarinet & Strings (2) artwork
    • Playlist
    • Schedule
    • Home
    • Radio
    • News
    • Discover Music
    • Composers
    • Artists
    • Win
    • Store
    • Charity
    • Podcasts
    • Events
    • Dating
    • Follow us on:
      Follow Classic FM on Facebook
      Follow Classic FM on Instagram
      Follow Classic FM on Youtube

    Pictures

    Composer

    John Williams interview with Classic FM

    John Williams talks exclusively to Classic FM's Tommy Pearson

    1. John Williams Jaws Poster

      1. John Williams on Jaws

      "Steven was always fond of saying that the music really made the film, but I think the film also made the music. If you played the music without the reference to the film I don't think we'd pay much attention to it." John Williams on Steven Spielberg.

    2. John Williams and Tommy Pearson Interview

      2. John Williams on Star Wars

      "I certainly had no idea that the opening titles of the film would have that kind of impact." John Williams on the reaction to the music for Star Wars.

    3. John Williams and Tommy Pearson looking over archi

      3. John Williams on composing for the movies

      "The film is in front of me, asking, telling and suggesting to me what it might need." John Williams on how he composes music for the movies.

    4. John Williams talks to Classic FM

      4. John Williams talks to Classic FM

      John Williams talks about his life and career in a candid and exclusive interview with Classic FM. "I don't know how you retire from music, it's like breathing, eating and functioning."

    5. John Williams relaxing with Tommy Pearson

      5. John Williams on the music he listens to

      "I listen to all kinds of music, a lot of contemporary music and I'm a big fan of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and I love Brahms."

    6. John Williams

      6. John Williams

      "It was very difficult to get the music right…" John Williams talks to Classic FM about his extraordinary career and the challenge of writing the music for E.T.

    7. John Williams signs Jaws poster

      7. John Williams signs Jaws poster

      John Williams shares some of the secrets to his success and on what it was like creating scores for some of the biggest and most iconic movies of all time. Here he signs a Jaws poster, the blockbuster movie for which he penned the score.

    8. John Williams talks to Tommy Pearson

      8. John Williams talks to Tommy Pearson

      John Williams talks exclusively to Classic FM at 8pm on Monday 27 August. “It’s my character to never to be completely satisfied and always be at least 10% insecure about whether I have got the things right.”

    Latest on Classic FM

    Win tickets to see Ludovico Einaudi at the Royal Albert Hall with a Marriott hotel stay

    Win tickets to see Ludovico Einaudi at the Royal Albert Hall with a hotel stay

    Win

    The Vienna Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Johann Strauss II’s ‘The Beautiful Blue Danube’ was broadcast into space, in partnership with the European Space Agency.

    Strauss’ ‘Blue Danube’ waltz has been sent to space... and The Simpsons already predicted it

    Physicists create ‘the world’s smallest violin’ using nanotechnology

    Physicists create ‘the world’s smallest violin’ using nanotechnology

    Discover Music

    11 of the best LGBTQ+ community classical music ensembles around the world

    15 of the best LGBTQ+ classical music ensembles around the world

    Discover Music

    Pope Levo XIV at the Vatican

    Resurfaced footage shows Pope Leo singing ‘Feliz Navidad’ with church band in Peru

    Videos

    Girl revising and piano keys

    10 pieces of classical music to help ease exam stress

    Discover Music

    Scientific reconstruction reveals Beethoven’s ‘true’ face 200 years after his death

    Scientific reconstruction reveals Beethoven’s ‘true’ face 200 years after his death

    Beethoven

    The Phoenician Scheme: Wes Anderson’s ingenious use of Stravinsky and other classical music

    New Wes Anderson film ‘The Phoenician Scheme’ is scored with Stravinsky’s music

    Hundreds of musicians protest Cardiff University’s proposed music school closure

    Cardiff University scraps plans to axe music department

    The Piano Boat comes to Britain's canals

    Floating piano boat named ‘Rachmaninov’ to return to London’s canals

    Best classical music

    See more Best classical music

    The 15 most famous tunes in classical music

    The 15 most famous tunes in classical music

    Discover Music

    Best symphonies: Ludwig van Beethoven, Antonin Dvorak and Florence Price

    The 15 greatest symphonies of all time

    Discover Music

    4 eras of classical music

    The 4 eras of classical music: a quick guide

    Discover Music

    A young Marin Alsop, Sir Simon Rattle, and Seiji Ozawa conduct their respective orchestras.

    The 25 greatest conductors of all time

    Discover Music

    Hildegard von Bingen, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Edward Elgar among the greatest composers in classical music history.

    The 30 greatest classical music composers of all time

    Classic FM Live Playlists

    See more Classic FM Live Playlists

    Classic FM Hall of Fame

    Classic FM Relax

    Classic FM Video Game Music

    Classic FM Pet Classics

    Essential Classical

    Classic FM’s Baby Bedtime

    Latest news

    See more Latest news

    Diana wins 'The Piano' with performance of 'Dreams' at Newcastle concert hall

    87-year-old fulfils ‘lifelong dream’ of becoming a concert pianist in tear-jerking The Piano finale

    When Tom Cruise came on set, Simon Pegg and ‘The Final Reckoning’ cast had the Mission Impossible theme in their head

    Simon Pegg: ‘We sang the Mission Impossible theme a lot in the cast. Whenever Tom walks on set!’

    Discover Music

    UK’s only string instrument-making degree set to close

    UK’s last surviving string instrument-making degree set to close

    Unseen footage reveals Dick van Dyke singing ‘Mary Poppins’ with THE Richard Sherman on piano

    Unseen footage reveals Dick van Dyke singing ‘Mary Poppins’ with THE Richard Sherman on piano

    Discover Music

    Austrian artist JJ won the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest with his song, "Wasted Love."

    Austrian Eurovision winner JJ is a countertenor who sang with the Vienna Opera

    Netflix releases series inspired by Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’

    What classical music is featured in Netflix’s The Four Seasons, and how is it inspired by Vivaldi’s masterpiece?

    Vivaldi

    Latest videos

    See more Latest videos

    87-year-old pianist moves judges with original composition

    87-year-old veteran moves ‘The Piano’ judges to tears with original composition

    26 days ago

    Videos

    18-year-old pianist Zak plays Beethoven and Chopin medley at Sheffield train station

    18-year-old pianist stuns with original Beethoven and Chopin medley at Sheffield train station

    1 month ago

    Discover Music

    Squirrel falls into chorister’s folder during Good Friday service

    Dive-bombing squirrel falls into chorister’s folder during Good Friday service

    1 month ago

    Videos

    Strange four-key piano

    Quirky automatic piano has only four keys that move every time you play a note

    1 month ago

    Discover Music

    Choristers sing Allegri’s haunting ‘Miserere’ in empty St Paul’s cathedral

    Choristers sing Allegri’s haunting ‘Miserere’ in empty St Paul’s cathedral

    1 month ago

    Allegri

    12-year-old Anisa plays in The Piano

    ‘She’s a star’: virtuosic 12-year-old pianist stuns The Piano judges in Liverpool Street station

    1 month ago

    Discover Music

    Back to top

    Also on Classic FM

    • Listen to Global Player
    • Classic FM Breakfast with Dan Walker
    • John Williams
    • Alexander Armstrong on Classic FM
    • Quizzes
    • Leonard Bernstein
    • Mozart
    • Debussy
    • Music theory
    • Instruments
    • Classic FM Live
    • Brahms
    • Vivaldi
    • Bach
    • Tchaikovsky
    • Chopin
    • Andrea Bocelli
    • Florence Price
    • Beethoven
    • Best classical music
    • Classic FM Requests
    • Best pianists
    • Harry Potter music
    • Star Wars soundtrack
    • Composer or pasta
    • Music for Studying
    • Best violinists
    • Classical music tearjerkers
    • Relaxing classical

    Useful Links

    • Contact Us
    • Help
    • How To Listen
    • About Classic FM
    • Company Details
    • Cookies
    • Privacy
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Advertise
    • Global Jobs

    Download the app

    Get it on the app store Get it on Google Play

    Follow Us

    Follow Classic FM on Facebook
    Follow Classic FM on Instagram
    Follow Classic FM on Youtube
    © Global 2025
    30 Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7LA
    Privacy Manager