John Williams was born in Floral Park, New York, on February 8, 1932.   “The Men of Yorktown” is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, snare drum, field drum, piatti, suspended cymbal, small triangle, glockenspiel, chimes, harp, and strings.  Approximate performance time is five minutes.

The Battle of Midway was one of the epic actions of World War II, in which the great carrier fleets of the American and Japanese navies engaged, and in so doing, produced a momentous chapter in the history of naval warfare.

In the battle, young sailors on both sides found themselves in the midst of a great conflagration, in which many thousands of them perished.

The U.S.S. Yorktown was one of the great ships lost that day, and this music, which was composed for the finale of the film Midway starring Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda, remembers, and I hope in some small way honors, the many men taking part in that historic conflict.

—John Williams

program notes by Ken Meltzer