Raiders March (Raiders of the Lost Ark)

Williams wrote two candidate themes for the archaeologist in Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981 and played both for the director, who asked to keep them both; the Raiders March joins them end to end. The rest of the score works in the older Hollywood manner, with separate motifs for the Ark, for Marion and for the German pursuit, and long stretches of continuous action writing. The film was shot cheaply and fast by the standards of its studio. The march has served as concert and ceremonial music almost since the picture opened.