If music doesn't trascend the disheartening banality of this life and transport me to a better place emotionally and intellectually, it fails. Having experienced personal difficulty recently, it's telling the music I choose to listen to. The terms serenity, dignity and elegance rarely if ever find their way in our cultural vernacular. John Williams consistently has the ability to span many emotions with sophistication--even when its raucous and playful! Hook plays like a complete symphony from beginning to end in the same way ET, AI, Presumed Innocent and Harry Potter do (to mention a few).

If you desire a satisfying and encouraging journey (who doesn't?)--to suspend the darker trappings of this world, look in Williams' direction. He has an uncanny ability to broaden familiar emotions with nobility and depth. His music has always enriched my life.