''Raiders of the Lost Ark: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' is the film score to the 1981

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

film, ''

Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...

''. The music was composed and conducted by

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Orchestrations were done by Herbert W. Spencer with additional orchestrations done by Al Woodbury. The score was released by

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in June 1981. The soundtrack received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score, but lost out to Vangelis' score for '' Chariots of Fire''.

Composition

Williams said that the music did not have to be serious for the film and was instead theatrical and excessive. Williams spent a few weeks working on the Indiana Jones theme, more commonly known as "The Raiders March" that plays during the main character's heroic scenes. Two separate pieces were played for Spielberg, who wanted to use both. These pieces became the main theme and

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of "The Raiders March". For the romantic theme, Williams took inspiration from older films like the drama '' Now, Voyager'' (1942) to create something more emotionally monumental that he felt would contrast well with the film's humor and lighter moments. Williams used "dark" orchestral pieces to represent the actions of the Nazis, using the "seventh

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on the

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of the bottom". He said this signified a militaristic evil. To create something suitably biblical for the Ark of the Covenant, he used a mix of chorus and orchestra.

Track listing

# "The Raiders March" (a.k.a. "Indiana Jones Theme") # "Flight from Peru" # "The Basket Game" # "The Map Room: Dawn" # "The Well of the Souls" # "Desert Chase" # "Marion's Theme" # "The Miracle of the Ark" # "End Credits" Marion's theme is inspired by the second movement of Rachmaninoff's Piano concerto no.2 op. 18.

Expanded edition

The soundtrack was re-released in an expanded edition by DCC Compact Classics, Inc. in November 1995 on CD and LP, with thirty minutes of new and extended cues and a 24-page booklet. The LP had an extended "The Well of the Souls" sequence that was absent on the CD release.

Track listing

Total Time: 73:35

The Indiana Jones Trilogy

Silva released a newly recorded version of Williams' ''Indiana Jones'' music entitled "The Indiana Jones Trilogy" allmusic ((( Indiana Jones Trilogy > Overview )))/ref> on January 21, 2003. It features various cues from the first three Indiana Jones films, with seven from ''Raiders''. However, although they use the original manuscripts, this is a re-recording performed by the

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''Indiana Jones: The Soundtracks Collection''

The five-disc release by Concord Records was released on November 11, 2008. The set contains the three original soundtracks to the trilogy, expanded and remastered, including material never before issued on CD. The box set also includes the standard '' Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' soundtrack (released in May 2008, no bonus material added) plus a bonus CD that includes more music from the trilogy and an exclusive audio interview CD with Williams. The re-issues of the three original soundtracks are also available in Europe as a single release. The content are identical to the first three titles in the box-set.

Missing music

There are about three minutes of music from ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' that—so far—have not been released on CD. #Marion Into The Pit (Present on DCC LP) #Indy Rides The Statue (Original Film Version—Concord Release is an Alternate) In addition to the missing music, "Desert Chase" is incomplete on the Concord set. It has been trimmed down to its 1981 album length, making the 1995 release the only complete representation of that cue.

References

{{Authority control Indiana Jones music 1981 soundtrack albums 1980s film soundtrack albums London Symphony Orchestra soundtracks PolyGram soundtracks Columbia Records soundtracks Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media John Williams soundtracks