SUPERMAN

THE PIANO COVERS

SUPERMAN: THE PIANO COVERS

Brett Mitchell performs his original solo piano arrangements of music from John Williams’s Grammy-winning score for Superman: The Movie (1978), Superman II (1980), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), and Superman (2025).

“One of the essential things about the film to me was the fact that it was fun and didn’t take itself too seriously. The way Richard [Donner] had directed it, and particularly the way Chris[topher Reeve] and Margot [Kidder] had played the parts, it had an almost kind of theatrical camp, if you like, to it that didn’t take itself too seriously. And if one could strike a level of theater and sleight-of-hand and tongue-in-cheek in the creation of the themes, that might be the right idea. I tried to have the music constructed in such a way that it would be heroic and big and operatic but not take itself seriously.”
— John Williams

Director Richard Donner and composer John Williams at work on the set of *Superman: The Movie* (1978).

“The day we went into a recording studio and we ran the opening credits, as ‘Superman’ came on the screen, I swear to God, if you listen carefully, the music literally speaks the word. I screwed up his take ’cause I just ran out on the floor yelling, ‘Genius! Genius! Fantastic!’ The orchestra applauded him and everything.”

— Richard Donner, director

“One of the most exciting things about doing film music is the opportunity for creating original music for a character that, in the case of Superman, has been with us for decades, but isn’t yet identified musically. It’s a difficult thing to do because the musical identification needs to be accessible and very direct.”

— John Williams

A candid photo from the recording sessions for *Superman: The Movie*. From L to R: recording engineer Eric Tomlinson, second unit director André De Toth, executive producer Ilya Salkind, actor Christopher Reeve, composer John Williams, and director Richard Donner.

Love Theme
(Can You Read My Mind)

Prelude

The Planet Krypton

Jor-El’s Farewell

Growing Up

Jonathan’s Death

Leaving Home

The Penthouse

I Like Pink

Clark Loses His Nerve

The Death of Lois Lane

KEN THORNE/JOHN WILLIAMS
SUPERMAN II (1980)
The Alley Transformation*

You ARE Superman!*

SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE (1987)

Someone Like You
(Lacy’s Theme)

JOHN MURPHY
SUPERMAN (2025)
Lois & Clark

THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA:
SUPERMAN AT THE SYMPHONY

On Sunday, October 30, 2016, Brett Mitchell led The Cleveland Orchestra in ‘Superman at the Symphony,’ a family concert featuring music from John Williams’s Grammy-winning score for Superman: The Movie (1978) and Michael Daugherty’s Metropolis Symphony (1988-93).

(Photos by Roger Mastroianni)

INSIDE THE TRUCK:
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA PLAYS
THE SUPERMAN MARCH

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Orchestra's patriotic concert attracts tens of thousands of people to Public Square each year. To bring the sights of the musicians to everyone in attendance, a 27-foot-tall Jumbotron in front of the Terminal Tower shows live video of the action on stage. The live video is produced by Ideastream from a mobile TV truck parked near the concert stage. Inside the truck, Director Mike Vendeland (center) selects from five cameras to best showcase the musicians in action. He's assisted by Technical Director Dave Staruch (left) and The Cleveland Orchestra's Assistant Conductor Brett Mitchell (right). The annual production requires about twenty-five crew members and months of planning and preparation. (July 2014)