Cinema

Spielberg’s revelation about one of the most legendary soundtracks he barely trusted: “I thought he was joking.”

The main theme of Jaws did not initially convince Spielberg.

Update: Aug 13th, 2025 15:21 CEST

The collaboration between Steven Spielberg and John Williams is one of the most enduring in film history. The composer’s evocative and epic melodies have appeared in nearly 30 of the filmmaker’s titles and have undoubtedly contributed to the fame of his most iconic films, such as Indiana Jones, Schindler’s List, and Jurassic Park. However, when this partnership began, Spielberg did not understand the ingenuity behind one of his partner’s most famous themes.

Spielberg’s revelation about one of the most legendary soundtracks he barely trusted: “I thought he was joking.”

The melody of ‘Jaws’, one of the most recognizable in film history

When he first heard one of its most memorable themes, the leitmotif built on two notes (E and F) that grow in intensity as a certain terrifying shark approaches, the director of ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ thought he was joking. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, we’re not going to have an orchestra, there’ll just be a piano and John is just going to do something on the lower register. But John kept telling me to listen to it again. And I started seeing the brilliance of what you have done,,” explained the three-time Oscar winner in the Disney+ documentary, Music By John Williams.

Williams had previously won an Oscar for his work on Fiddler on the Roof, in which he made use of a rich orchestra. The minimalist score for Jaws may not be as complex as the former, but it is no less effective. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences agreed on the mastery of the composition and awarded the musician his second of his five Oscars.