John Williams - The Book Thief

The master of movie music returns with a powerful new score. Drive Featured Album, 25 November 2013.

The 81-year-old master of movie music John Williams shows no sign of retiring – in fact, in an interview with Classic FM last year, he told us he would never retire because, for him, writing music is “like breathing”.

His latest score is for the dramatic new film The Book Thief, starring Roger Allam, Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson. Set in Nazi Germany, it’s a moving tale of love and loss about a young girl who finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Meanwhile, under the stairs in her home, a Jewish refugee is being sheltered by her adoptive parents.

All the familiar John Williams' elements are here - wistful piano, swirling strings and haunting melodies - some reminiscent of his music for Seven Years in Tibet and Angela's Ashes. But for dramatic intensity and emotional charge this is among his best, up there with Schindler's List.