The soundtrack to Raiders of the Lost Ark

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...

 was released by Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

 in 1981. The music was composed and conducted by John Williams

John Williams

John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...

, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra

London Symphony Orchestra

The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...

. Orchestrations were done by Herbert W. Spencer with additional orchestrations done by Al Woodbury.

Track listing

1. "The Raiders March" (a.k.a. "Indiana Jones Theme")
2. "Flight From Peru"
3. "The Basket Game"
4. "The Map Room: Dawn"
5. "The Well Of The Souls"
6. "Desert Chase"
7. "Marion's Theme"
8. "The Miracle Of The Ark"
9. "End Credits"

Expanded edition

The soundtrack was rereleased in an expanded edition by DCC Compact Classics, Inc. in November 1995 on CD and LP, with 30 minutes of new and extended cues and a 24-page booklet. The LP had an extended "The Well of the Souls" sequence that were absent on the CD-release

Track listing

1. The Raiders March (a.k.a. The Indiana Jones Theme)
2. Main Title: South America, 1936†
3. In the Idol's Temple‡
4. Flight From Peru
5. Journey to Nepal†
6. The Medallion†
7. To Cairo
8. The Basket Game‡
9. The Map Room: Dawn
10. Reunion and the Dig Begins†
11. The Well of the Souls++
12. Airplane Fight†
13. Desert Chase‡
14. Marion's Theme
15. The German Sub/To the Nazi Hideout†
16. Ark Trek†
17. The Miracle Of The Ark
18. The Warehouse†
19. End Credits

† New tracks

‡ Extended tracks

++ Extended to include "Uncovering the Ark / Marion Into the Pit" on DCC LP release.

Total Time: 73:35

The Indiana Jones Trilogy

Silva released a newly recorded version of Williams' Indiana Jones music entitled "The Indiana Jones Trilogy" on January 21, 2003. It features various cues from the entire trilogy, with seven from Raiders. However, although they use the original manuscripts, this is a re-recording performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

Indiana Jones: The Soundtracks Collection

The five disc release by Concord Records was released on November 11, 2008. The set contains the three original soundtracks to the trilogy, expanded and remastered, including material never before issued on CD. The box set also includes the standard Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (soundtrack)

The Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull soundtrack was released on May 20, 2008 as a soundtrack album to the 2008 film of the same name...

soundtrack (released in May 2008, no bonus material added) plus an bonus CD that includes more music from the trilogy and an exclusive audio interview CD with John Williams.

Track listing

1. In the Jungle
2. The Idol Temple
3. Escape from the Temple
4. Flight from Peru
5. Washington Men/Indy's Home*
6. A Thought for Marion/To Nepal
7. The Medallion
8. Flight to Cairo
9. The Basket Game
10. Bad Dates*
11. The Map Room/Dawn
12. Reunion in the Tent/Searching for the Well
13. The Well of the Souls
14. Indy Rides the Statue*
15. The Fist Fight/The Flying Wing
16. Desert Chase
17. Marion's Theme/The Crate
18. The German Sub
19. Ride to the Nazi Hideout
20. Indy Follows the Ark
21. The Miracle of the Ark
22. Washington Ending & Raiders March

* Previously Unreleased

The fifth CD in the set contained two extra track for Raiders.

1. Raiders March
2. Uncovering the Ark

The reissues of the three original soundtracks are also available in Europe as a single release. The content are identical to the first three titles in the box-set.

Missing music

There are about 3 minutes of music from Raiders of the Lost Ark that—so far—has not been released on CD.

1. Marion Into The Pit (Present on DCC LP)
2. Indy Rides The Statue (Original Film Version—Concord Release is an Alternate)

In addition to the missing music, "Desert Chase" is incomplete on the Concord set. It has been trimmed down to its 1985 album length making the 1995 release the only complete representation of that cue.