'I never liked film music very much': John Williams says his famous scores were 'just a job'

As one of the greatest composers in film, John Williams has written some of the most memorable music in cinema for masterpieces such as Jaws, Jurassic Park and Star Wars.

- Dalya Alberge

But despite winning five Oscars, the 93-year-old believes that, as an art form, film music pales in comparison to history's great works. "I never liked film music very much," he confessed in a rare interview for a forthcoming biography.

He added: "Film music, however good it can be - and it usually isn't, other than maybe an eight-minute stretch here and there... I just think the music isn't there. That, what we think of as this precious great film music is... we're remembering it in some kind of nostalgic way... Just the idea that film music has the same place in the concert hall as the best music in the canon is a mistaken notion, I think."

Williams went on to say: "A lot of [film music] is ephemeral. It's certainly fragmentary and, until somebody reconstructs it, it isn't anything that we can even consider as a concert piece."

Among the more than 100 movies he has scored are the Indiana Jones films, ET, Schindler's List and the first three Harry Potter films. He is the world's most nominated living Oscar recipient, with a record 54 nominations, recognising his creative contribution to film history.