Jaws: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
The three releases of the soundtrack conducted by John Williams featureRoger Kastel's iconic painting[1][2]
Film score by John Williams
Released	1975
Recorded	March 1975
Studio	20th Century Fox Studios Scoring Stage (Los Angeles, CA)
Genre	Soundtrack,Classical
Length	35:12
Label	MCA Records
John Williams chronology
None but the Brave (1965) Jaws: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1975) Family Plot (1976)
Jaws soundtracks chronology
Jaws (1975) Jaws 2 (1978)

TheJaws soundtrack (officiallyJaws: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the music composed and conducted byJohn Williams and performed by theHollywood Studio Symphony forSteven Spielberg's 1975 filmJaws. The soundtrack is particularly notable for the 2-noteostinato which represents the shark, a theme so simple that Spielberg initially thought it was a joke by the composer.^[3]

The film score was recorded in March 1975 at20th Century Fox Studios and Universal, with expanded tracks recorded in April 1975 for the commercial release of the soundtrack album.^[4] The soundtrack album was released on LP byMCA in 1975, and as a CD in 1992. In 2000, two new versions of the score were released to coincide with the film's 25th anniversary: one in a re-recording of the entireJaws score byRoyal Scottish National Orchestra conducted byJoel McNeely, and another byDecca/Universal featuring the entire 51 minutes of the original score. The score was reissued again in 2015 throughIntrada Records containing the full film score along with alternate takes, source music and a remaster of the 1975 album. In 2025, a 50th anniversary remastered edition was released digitally byBack Lot Music and on vinyl byMondo.^[5][6]

The soundtrack was critically well received, winning theAcademy Award for Best Original Score,^[7] theGolden Globe Award for Best Original Score^[8] andGrammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. In addition was ranked the sixthgreatest score by theAmerican Film Institute.^[9][10] The score has been the subject of scholarly discussion in relation to its tradition in classical Hollywood scoring,^[11] and its role in creating space in the film.^[12][13]

John Williams had previously scoredSteven Spielberg's debut feature,The Sugarland Express, and he would go on to collaborate with the director on almost all of his subsequent films.^[14] Spielberg had used Williams' title theme fromRobert Altman's 1972 psychological horror filmImages as atemp track during the editing ofJaws.^[3] When Williams first demonstrated his idea to Spielberg, playing just the two notes on a piano, Spielberg was said to have laughed, thinking that it was a joke as he was expecting a more "melodic" tune.^[15] Williams responded, explaining "the sophisticated approach you would like me to take isn't the approach you took with the film I just experienced."^[16] After hearing the notes played again and at different speeds, Spielberg agreed, saying that "sometimes the best ideas are the most simple ones" and that the composer "had found a signature for the entire score."^[3] The main "shark" theme is anostinato, simple alternating pattern between E and F,^[17] with an ascending minor second in the low strings.^[18]

The ostinato became a classic piece of suspense music, synonymous with approaching danger (seeleading-tone). Williams described the theme as "grinding away at you, just as a shark would do, instinctual, relentless, unstoppable."^[14] Elaborating on the simplicity, Williams said that he felt that the motif should be "brainless... like the shark."^[16] As Williams saw similarities betweenJaws and pirate movies, at other points in the score he evoked "pirate music", which he called "primal, but fun and entertaining". The primal opening notes are developed from the opening foreboding tone ofRavel'sLa valse.^[15] Calling for rapid, percussive string playing, the score also contains echoes ofDebussy'sLa mer,Stravinsky'sThe Rite of Spring, and the opening of the 4th movement ofDvořák'sNew World Symphony.^[19][20]

Recording the soundtrack forJaws started on March 3, 1975.^[4] A large stage was required to accommodate a full orchestra; as Universal's stages were unavailable,^[21] the first two days were recorded at the Fox Scoring Stage inLos Angeles. The film's producer,Richard D. Zanuck secretly watched the recording from the sidelines.^[21] Grammy-award winningTheodore Keep was the sound engineer, and musicians included guitaristTommy Tedesco, trumpet playerMalcolm McNab and percussionistsShelly Manne andEmil Richards.^[4] The piece was performed by tuba playerTommy Johnson. When asked by Johnson why the melody was written in such a high register and not played by the more appropriate French horn, Williams explained that he wanted it to sound "a little more threatening".^[22]

On March 5, recording moved to Stage 10 atUniversal Studios because it was more appropriate for "stringless" (percussion, tuba, and brass, etc.) recording for the diegetic music played by the Amity marching band early in the film; this included tunes byScott Joplin,Johann Strauss II and original compositions by Williams. Because the town band was meant to sound like amateur musicians, Spielberg himself playedclarinet, slightly out of tune.^[4][23] These diegetic tracks were included on the Intrada release.

When audiences commended the music on comment cards at the previews of the film inDallas, Texas andLong Beach, California (on March 26 and 28 respectively), it was decided to produce a soundtrack album. Williams usually arranges and records versions of his soundtracks which are more appropriate to a commercial album release.^[24] The liner notes for the Intrada release explains that Williams wanted to develop some of the cues to "make a more cohesive listening experience, so... he expanded and rearranged the highlights of theJaws score for album presentation."^[4] Those tracks were recorded on April 17–18, 1975 atThe Burbank Studios inCalifornia.^[4] Scholar Audissino highlights the music in the beach montage sequence, in which the tourists arrive for the 4th July weekend, as an example of an expanded piece; lasts for 1:30 in the film, whereas on the original album it is expanded to 2:46.^[25]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Empire
Filmtracks
SoundtrackNet
Tracksounds

Writing forEmpire, Ian Freer called the short length of the original 1975 soundtrack album ("a paltry 35 minutes") as "one of the most heinous crimes in the history of motion picture soundtrack albums."^[26] In a five-star review of the 2000Decca Records release, Freer highlights the inclusion of previously unreleased material, the liner notes from Spielberg and Williams, commending this collector's edition as "the last word inJaws musicology."^[26]

AlthoughFilmtracks acknowledges the role of the music within the context of the film, and its place in "the history of film music", it is less positive about it in album form. They write, "Jaws is not something you can sit and listen to for any great length of time. Study and admire its constructs and intelligent application, but don't expect it to freely entertain without forcing you into a more contemplative analysis of its purpose."^[27]

John Williams won theAcademy Award for Best Original Score forJaws at the 1976 Awards, having previously won an Oscar in 1972 forFiddler on the Roof.^[28] The score won theGolden Globe Award for Best Original Score at the33rd Golden Globe Awards.^[8] In 1976, this soundtrack also won theGrammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media at the18th Annual Grammy Awards

In 2005, theAmerican Film Institute rankedJaws sixth in its100 Years of Film Scores, a list of the top 25 film scores in American cinema.^[10]

There are various interpretations of the meaning and effectiveness of the primary music theme, which is widely described as one of the most recognizable cinematic themes of all time.^[29] Music scholar Joseph Cancellaro proposes that the two-note expression mimics the shark's heartbeat.^[30] According to Alexandre Tylski, like themesBernard Herrmann wrote forTaxi Driver,North by Northwest, and particularlyMysterious Island, it suggests human respiration. He further argues that the score's strongest motif is actually "the split, the rupture"—when it dramatically cuts off, as after Chrissie's death.^[19] The relationship between sound and silence is also taken advantage of in the way the audience is conditioned to associate the shark with its theme,^[14] which is exploited toward the film's climax when the shark suddenly appears with no musical introduction.^[29]

Music scholar Emilio Audissino writes, "Williams came up with the primitive rhythmic simplicity of anostinato... those three repeated bass notes recall the heartbeat, the primordial rhythm of life. Their seemingly unstoppable constant and mechanical repetition effectively represents the shark."^[16]

In the film,ostinato represents the shark. Audissino points out that Williams "plays fair" by only using theleitmotif when the shark is genuinely present; for instance, it is not used in the panic sequence on the beach transpires to have been caused by boys with a fake fin.^[31] The leitmotif's adaptable tempo is an example ofMickey Mousing, whereby the music replicates the action on, and in this caseoff, screen.^[31]

Audissino also highlights that the score reflects the contrasting worlds of humans and the shark. The humans, "lit by the sun", are represented by melodies with "bright tibres of violins, flutes and trumpets", whereas as the shark's music is "low pitched, mechanical, with dark timbre".^[31]

Spielberg later said that without Williams's score the film would have been only half as successful, and according to Williams it jump-started his career.^[15]

Williams went on the work on the film's sequel,Jaws 2. Although the bulk of the score forJaws 2 was original, Williams retained the shark's motif, which he says is in "the great tradition" for repeating musical themes in Hollywood serials such asRoy Rogers andThe Lone Ranger.^[32] Although the soundtracks for the subsequent sequels were written by different composers,Alan Parker andMichael Small incorporated the main shark theme into both of their scores, with credit to Williams.^[33][34] I.Q. Hunter highlights Small's score forJaws The Revenge as "effective variations on John Williams’ classic theme".^[35]

The shark theme has become highly recognisable. As scholar Amanda Howell says, "the widely reproduced and widely recognised leitmotif ... ultimately achieved a life of its own beyond the haunted waters of the film -- and well past the classical score's aesthetic of audibility."^[11] It has been used in several other films for comic effect. Spielberg himself used it in a sequence in his comedy1941, which spoofed the opening scene ofJaws, with actorSusan Backlinie being attacked by a nuclear submarine.^[36] It is also used in the opening of the comedyAirplane!, when it transpires that what appears to be a shark's fin is the tail fin of an airplane.^[37] The Spielberg-producedBack to the Future Part II uses the theme in a sequence set in the then-future 2015, when Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) comes across a cinema showingJaws 19.^[38] The animated filmsFinding Nemo andShark Tale both use the music, often as part of a comment, Matthew Lerberg argues, about restoring the negative representation of Great Whites created by Spielberg's film.^[39] Characters inFinding Nemo hum the theme for Bruce the shark, whileShark Tale opens with Williams' theme.^[39]

The original soundtrack forJaws was released byMCA Records on LP in 1975, and as a CD in 1992, including roughly a half hour of music that Williams redid for the album.^[26][40] In 2000, two versions of the score were released:Decca/Universal reissued the soundtrack album to coincide with the release of the 25th-anniversary DVD, featuring the entire 51 minutes of the original score,^[26][40] andVarèse Sarabande released a rerecording of the score performed by theRoyal Scottish National Orchestra, conducted byJoel McNeely.^[41]

In 2015,Intrada Records released a special edition of the soundtrack, featuring recordings of the film versions of the cues, the remastered original 1975 soundtrack album, and also thediegetic music played by the Amity town band. Intrada transferred the original three-track split mono to 24-bit resolution. However, it became apparent that this element was never intended to be mixed into true stereo. Because the film music was recorded at Fox Studios rather than Universal, the recording format was closer to what would later become standard.^[4]

The cover of the three releases recorded by Williams (1975, 2000, 2015) features the painting from the original film poster, often described as "iconic",^[2] by artistRoger Kastel,^[1] whereas the McNeely release features a photograph of a shark.

Conducted byJoel McNeely

* = Previously unreleased
** = Includes unreleased music
† = Includes music not used in the film

• John Williams soundtracks
• Jaws (franchise)
• 1975 soundtrack albums
• 1970s film soundtrack albums
• MCA Records soundtracks
• Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
• Scores that won the Best Original Score Academy Award
• Albums conducted by John Williams
• Scores that won the BAFTA Award for Best Original Music
• Scores that won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from June 2025
• Articles with hAudio microformats
• Album articles lacking alt text for covers