“At the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, when film production came to a halt and recording studios shuttered, John Williams, the storied Hollywood composer and conductor, found himself, for the first time in his nearly seven-decade career, without a movie to worry about,” write Javier C. Hernández in Wednesday’s (2/9) New York Times. “But in the months that followed, Williams came to relish his freedom. He had time to compose a violin concerto, immerse himself in scores by Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms, and go for long walks…. Now the film industry is back in action, and Williams, who turned 90 on Tuesday, is once again at the piano churning out earworms…. But Williams, whose music permeates popular culture to a degree unsurpassed by any other contemporary composer, is at a crossroads…. In his next phase, he plans to focus more intensely on another passion: writing concert works, of which he has already produced several dozen. He has visions of another piece for a longtime collaborator, the cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and he is planning his first proper piano concerto…. ‘Music been my oxygen,’ Williams says, ‘and has kept me alive and interested and occupied and gratified.’ ”
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