The Fabelmans (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical story of a boy’s burgeoning passion for filmmaking is affectionately scored by the director’s long-term music collaborator John Williams. The opening main theme is one of Williams’ most tender, a lilting piece for piano and orchestra that alludes to Mitzi Fabelman’s considerable skill at the piano (Spielberg’s real-life mother, Leah Adler, was among other things a fine concert pianist). The main theme returns, gloriously, in “Mother and Son,” transformed into a glimmering piece for guitar, harp, and string orchestra—the soundtrack’s undoubted highlight. Elsewhere there are trademark Williams touches, from the use of the celeste in “Reflections” to gorgeously orchestrated passages of sweeping intensity (“Mitzi’s Dance”) and brooding atmospheres (“Midnight Call”). The score also features solo piano pieces by Bach, Kuhlau, and Clementi, chosen by Spielberg himself and performed with a restrained beauty by Joanne Pearce Martin.