Discussing his brilliant career (and 54 Academy Award nominations) with Variety, Williams revealed that settling on the main theme for “Schindler’s List” proved difficult. The composer gave Spielberg two options and was surprised by his preference. Per Williams:
“I wrote two, principally — the one that we know and another one which is called ‘Remembrances’ — and we recorded both of them with Itzhak Perlman. ‘Remembrances’ was my preference, but I played both for Steven and he said, ‘No, no, no, it should be this one.’ I said, ‘Really? I like the other one better.’ He said, ‘No, there’s a spiritual aspect to this one.'”
It was Spielberg’s film, so he got the theme he wanted, but did he make the correct choice? You can decide for yourself because “Remembrances” is available on YouTube. Personally, I think he made the right call; though you’re not necessarily looking for a hummable melody when scoring a Holocaust film, that mournful theme quickly etched itself in the collective cinematic consciousness. That said, “Remembrances” is by far the more impressive (and expressive) composition. Both are terribly sad works, yet there’s also a complexity to the feeling of “Remembrances.” As a fan of Williams’ work, it’s the one I return to more often.
While I think “Schindler’s List” would’ve been every bit as effective if built around either theme, this is just another reminder of Spielberg’s spot-on filmmaking instincts.