Episode 104 - Lincoln

John Williams only worked on one film score when he turned 80 years old, collaborating once again with Steven Spielberg for "Lincoln." The film marked the 40th year of Spielberg and Williams working together, and it required Spielberg to exercise a lot of restraint in a dialogue-heavy film. Williams also shows some restraint in writing music for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, providing a noble but slightly fragile theme for the president. Host Jeff Commings also looks into the research Williams did to write music that harkened back to the 1860s, including a main theme for the film that feels like it is adapted from a pre-existing Negro spiritual.