About this Piece

Steven Spielberg’s first three films of the 1990s could not have been more diverse, further inspiring the composer. In 1991’s Hook, conceived initially as an elaborate song-and-dance movie musical (with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, only three of which survived the final cut), John Williams created a score to accompany the onscreen frolicking of another famous Williams, Robin, in the role of a grownup Peter Pan, fighting the nasty villain of his youth. The sheer joy of “The Flight to Neverland”—with its atmospheric opening winds, harp, and strings yielding to a soaring figure for the brass—sets the proper mood of anticipation as the three Darling children fly from their nursery window on a chilly London night. —Notes from the Philharmonic’s archive