Personnel: John Williams (conductor); Recording Arts Orchestra Of Los Angeles; Utah Symphony; Boston Pops Orchestra; Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Principally recorded at Sony Pictures Studios, Culver City, California on December 9-10, 1999 and June 19-20, 2000. Includes liner notes by Jackson Braider.

If there's anyone who is close to being the United States' "national composer," it's got to be John Williams. He's the man who led the Boston Pops (U.S. national orchestra) for years and created the music for Star Wars, Superman, Jaws, Harry Potter, and pretty much every Steven Spielberg film ever made. So who do you call upon to create new Olympic fanfares? That's right, John Williams. His first foray into Olympiana came with a theme created for the 1984 Los Angeles games. Williams also created a soaring fanfare (which appears as a bonus track on this CD) called "Summon the Heroes" for the 1996 Atlanta games and has written a rousing piece that premiered as the official theme of the 2002 Winter Olympics. "Call of the Champions" opens the album on a gloriously rich and rewarding note. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir erupts with the call of "Citius, Altius, Fortius," only to be followed by full-blown orchestral fireworks. All the pieces on this CD feature blasts of trumpets, bombastic horns, and stirring string passages. These works go a long way in explaining why Williams appeals to both film score enthusiasts and the classical music crowd -- he can hit your gut and your intellect within the same composition. Along with the two Olympic pieces, another highlight is the premiere recording of the title work, "American Journey," a six-movement suite composed to accompany Steven Spielberg's turn-of-the-millennium tribute film. Divorced from the images and words it was written to accompany, the music still captures the power and depth of feeling evident in the American century. Rounded out with premier recordings of several shorter pieces, this album makes for a joyous celebration of the American spirit -- and a quintessentially American composer. ~ Neil Shurley

John Williams's experience in painting broad musical strokes is invoked throughout AMERICAN JOURNEY, as stirring a set as you'd expect from this veteran soundtrack composer. It's not only the soundtrack to the 2002 Winter Olympics but also a salute to America, its ideals, and its history.

Starting with the STAR WARS-esque "Call of the Champions," which features the 350-strong Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the collection quickly gets down to business with "American Journey," a six-movement piece with sections devoted to "Immigration and Building," "The Country At War," and "Civil Rights and the Women's Movement," to name but a few. It's an interesting combination of subjects for a musical interpretation, and though it's not really apparent where one topic ends and another begins, Williams' stirring compositional style never disappoints. His "Song for World Peace" is by turns stately, simple, and poignant, while the variation on several Leonard Bernstein themes on "For New York" impeccably conjures the eclectic vitality, sadness, and optimism of that unique city, all in just over three minutes. AMERICAN JOURNEY features a master of heartstring-tugging at his incomparable best.