John Williams reacts to violinist playing Schindler’s List theme in moving tribute

25 September 2024, 19:00 | Updated: 26 September 2024, 13:26

By Rosie Pentreath

A violinist performs one of the composer’s most poignant and moving melodies, and he is utterly transfixed.

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John Williams has been caught in a moving moment in which he reacts to a violinist performing his own theme from Schindler’s List.

During the AFI Life Achievement Awards ceremony honouring Williams’ career, the moving piece of music was performed by the American Youth Symphony, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and featuring violinist Simone Porter as soloist.

The piece of music plays at the same time as accompanying footage from the 1993 film is projected on screens behind the orchestra.

Schindler's List Main Theme - Tribute to John Williams - AFI 2016

Williams, who in 2016 was the first composer to ever be honoured with an AFI Life Achievement Award, can be seen in the audience watching the performance with awe.

In fact, he appears barely able to move, he is so struck. And he soon seems to be on the verge of shedding a tear.

He is utterly moved, and it appears he would sound choked up were he to speak. As Porter, who plays with an astonishingly rich tone and expressive phrasing, lets her final note shimmer to an end, Williams opens his mouth. It’s as if he is struck by wonder and also, perhaps, by a feeling of absolute thanks.

It’s an incredible moment to watch.

Steven Spielberg, director of Schindler’s List and of several other major movies scored by Williams, including Jaws, Jurassic Park, and E.T. The Extraterrestrial, is also in the audience.

Steven Spielberg reacts to violinist playing 'Schindler's List' for John Williams. Picture: American Film Institute

And, like Williams, Spielberg is awestruck. He stares at the performance wearing his emotion openly, as his wife, Kate Capshaw, turns to him to seemingly acknowledge the poignancy of the moment. At one point Spielberg closes his eyes to take in the sheer emotion and meaning of the performance.

As the applause starts, Williams and Spielberg share a shoulder hug, while Porter and Dudamel share a bow.

Together, the director and the composer created magic. Heartbreaking magic, but magic all the same. It must be pretty significant when, in moments like this, they relive the horrific and hopeful memories from making that film together.

Schindler’s List tells the true story of Oscar Schindler, a German businessman who notices the disappearance of his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution in Poland during World War II, and follows his attempt to save as many lives as he can.

The 1993 film, starring Liam Neeson as Schindler, is as beautiful as it is harrowing, shot in black and white film throughout, until the protagonist witnesses the muddied red coat of a small girl within a crowd that’s part of the Nazi’s murderous round-up of Jewish people. The score, accompanying at times frankly horrific images, is rich, melodic and absolutely heart wrenching.