SUPERMAN suite
Music by John Williams
Arranged by Alessandro MacrìCONTENTS
- Theme
- Can you read my mind? Love theme
The score for Superman, composed and conducted by John Williams, was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, with John Georgiadis as concertmaster. Recording took place on July 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14; September 9-11; October 6 (Irvine Arditti, concertmaster), 15, 24, 31 (Richard Studt, concertmaster), and November 4, 1978, at the Anvil Studios in Denham, Bucks, England. Source music was recorded on July 17. The recording engineer was Eric Tomlinson, assisted by Alan Snelling. Orchestrations were conducted by Herbert Spencer, Arthur Morton, Angela Morley and John Williams. The music editor was Bob Hathaway, assisted by Ken Ross.
Williams' "Superman Theme", which is first heard during the opening credits to the film Superman, has been reused (with varying arrangements) as the opening music for every Superman film except for Superman III, in which Ken Thorne employed a lighthearted, somewhat comical cue to represent 'the streets of Metropolis'. It is also referenced in Jerry Goldsmith's score to the 1984 film Supergirl during a scene in which the title character sees a poster of Superman.
In the 2017 film, Justice League, Danny Elfman reused Williams' Superman theme, as well as his themes from Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns for the new incarnation of the character. Blake Neely, the composer for the Arrowverse crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths", incorporated the march theme and "Can You Read My Mind?" with Brandon Routh reprising his role as the Superman of Earth-96.
In the 2022 film, Black Adam, a rendition of Williams' Superman theme (composed by Lorne Balfe) was heard in the mid-credit scene. According to actor Henry Cavill, he chose this theme over Hans Zimmer's Man of Steel theme because it is more recognizable to audiences.
