John Williams (b. 1932)
A Gathering of Friends
Cello Concerto (1994, rev. 2021)
Three Pieces from Schindler’s List (1993)
Highwood’s Ghost (2018)
“With Malice Toward None” from Lincoln (2013)
“A Prayer for Peace” from Munich (2005)
Yo-Yo Ma (cello); Jessica Zhou (harp); Pablo Sáinz-Villegas (guitar)
New York Philharmonic/John Williams
rec. 2021, Manhattan Center, New York City, USA
SONY CLASSICAL 19439983662 [68]
There have been many celebrations in the past year on the occasion of composer John Williams’ ninetieth birthday. He has been the conductor on a number of these occasions, including concerts with both the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics and on this disc, the New York Philharmonic. The principal work here is a new version of his Cello Concerto. He originally composed the piece for Yo-Yo Ma in the mid-1990s and then substantially revised it last year. The main difference is in the last movement, Song, which earlier had a decisive, more abrupt ending.
The Cello Concerto is a half-hour work in four movements, the first of which is a Theme and Cadenza, followed by Blues, Scherzo, and Song as finale. Of Williams’ concert works with which I am familiar, I have no hesitation in placing this at the top. It is indeed a substantial piece that is largely tonal and melodically attractive with themes that do not specifically sound like music Williams has written for films. In other words, while you might easily guess that Williams composed it, it does not sound like movie music, but is rather a classical concerto. It begins with woodwind figures before the cello enters. The large orchestra is often boisterous, exhilarating, with outbursts in the percussion, while the cellist weaves his lyrical solo around and through it. At the same time, the cello can also be declamatory. Midway in the movement the solo cello commences with a long cadenza that lasts nearly a third of the movement. This is the one place in the work that in my opinion could use some pruning. After the orchestra returns near the end it leads directly into the second movement. Orchestrally, this is for me the most interesting part of the concerto. The Blues
starts with striking (pun intended) percussion - glockenspiel, marimba, and chimes
- and cello pizzicato. Then the cello has the blues theme with double bass accompanying. The harp also has a key role and there are brass interjections. Following the Blues without a break is the lively Scherzo, featuring cello, harp, and timpani. This movement has a restlessness and builds up to a huge climax, turning violent with pounding timpani and bass drum before the cello returns with the scherzo theme. A ruminative passage for cello and other low instruments leads directly to the final Song, beginning with a beautiful flute melody and horn passage before the cello engages, creating an atmosphere of longing. The harp accompanies, and there is much wonderful writing in the cello’s low register. There is some attractive chromaticism, as the music reaches a climax in the middle of the movement in the full orchestra, after which the work concludes quietly and peacefully with the cellist’s haunting and deeply felt solo. This finale is indeed songful, but covers a full range of emotions and delivers a very positive impression on this listener. Ma and the orchestra under the composer’s direction are clearly engaged throughout and contribute a superbly musical interpretation, leaving nothing to be desired in the technical department either.
The other work on the disc unrelated to a film score is Highwood’s Ghost, a tone poem for cello, harp and orchestra. I reviewed an earlier release of this piece on DVD with the same soloists, as part of the Leonard Bernstein centenary celebration,
Bernstein at 100: The Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood (C Major - review). There I found the piece a bit long for its material, though it captured the creepy mood well. Having heard it again, my opinion has not been greatly altered. If anything, though, I thought it worked better as an audio-only experience that allowed me to concentrate on the music.
The rest of the CD is comprised of arrangements by the composer of musical highlights from his film scores. The most familiar and the most extensive, lasting over 15 minutes, is the suite, Three Pieces from Schindler’s List. It consists of the Theme, Kraków Ghetto – Winter, and Remembrances, and was originally scored for violin and orchestra. Although it’s hard not to associate it with Itzhak Perlman and the sound of the violin, I find this cello version equally successful. In some respects the darker timbre of the cello even enhances the work. Of course, the Theme is so hauntingly beautiful in its sadness that anything following it would seem anticlimactic. The Warsaw Ghetto, nonetheless, engages with its Jewish dance figures, and the Remembrances poignantly concludes the piece with the cello theme peeking through near the end and accompanied by harp, flute, bassoon and strings.
“With Malice Toward None” from Lincoln is scored for cello and strings and in its brief duration “evokes the spirit of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural address,” per David Foil’s CD note. The piece begins with the solo cello followed by the strings in an elegiac melody that sounds peculiarly American. “A Prayer for Peace” from Munich, on the other hand, is scored solely for cello and guitar with no orchestral accompaniment. The two musicians interact throughout, as equals, in this short and plangent work.
I found much pleasure, for the most part, in this John Williams celebration both as to the selections and especially the performances. The recording, apparently not directly from a live concert, is also first-class. Only Sony’s glossy booklet leaves something to be desired. While it contains many full-colour photos of the artists, there is insufficient information on the works and a lack of composition dates. There is, however, a full listing of the orchestra members.
Leslie Wright
