Two notes and a shark that barely shows up
Jaws (1975) · John Williams
Spielberg's mechanical shark broke down whenever it touched salt water. Many scenes had to be shot without showing the monster, only hinting at it, and the music filled that gap.
Williams wrote a motif of two low notes a semitone apart, E and F, repeated faster and faster. It does not describe the animal. It describes the animal getting closer. Tempo stands in for distance: slow when it is far away, racing when there is no way out.
The cleverest part is when it stays silent. In the fake fin scene, a prank by two boys with a piece of cardboard, the theme is absent. The film teaches the audience a rule without stating it: no music, no shark. That is why the first real appearance of the animal, with no musical warning, is twice as frightening.
The score won Williams his first Oscar for an original score. Half a century later, two notes are still enough to clear a beach.