John Williams (b. 1932)
Violin Concerto No 2 (2021)
Theme from The Long Goodbye
Han Solo and the Princess from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Marion’s Theme from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin)
Boston Symphony Orchestra/John Williams
rec. 2021, Symphony Hall, Boston
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4861698 [51]
I have noticed that when concert hall composers branch out and write film music, the public takes it in their stride, but when composers known primarily for their film music write concert works, the public tends to be suspicious, even disdainful. I well remember that when Korngold was primarily known for his film music, his concert music received short shrift, but when it became better known and its merits were undeniable, it was his film music that tended to be forgotten, as the films were no longer current. Ordinary music lovers are suspicious for a reason: film music by definition is written to be the background to something else, and what sounds well in its original context may not seem self-sufficient out of it. Howard Shore’s scores for The Lord of the Rings, for example, were haunting and evocative, but when he tried to make them into a symphony, the result was embarrassing. But there are examples the other way: Vaughan Williams’s score for Scott of the Antarctic is rewarding on its own, even without considering the Sinfonia Antartica, which he drew from it.
All this is by way of a preamble to this disc, given primarily to what is definitely a concert work, Williams’ second violin concerto. He has in fact written a good deal of concert music, including a large number of concertos, with a previous one for violin (review), but as it happens I had not heard any of them until this disc came along, and I listened to it with a good deal of curiosity.
The first thing to say is that the work is a real concerto, and not disguised or covert film music. Williams’ idiom is markedly more modernistic than in those of his films I have seen, and if I suggest Prokofiev, Walton or the mellower Bartók of the 1940s rather than the more aggressively modernistic one of the 1920s, you will have a sense of it. There are four rather than the usual three movements, and the booklet reminds us that Brahms’ second piano concerto is also in four movements, with a scherzo, an unusual movement for a concerto. The four movements here all have titles: Prologue, Rounds, Dactyls and Epilogue. (A dactyl is the metrical term for a unit consisting of one long syllable followed by two short ones.) The harp is prominent at the opening and occasionally later and the solo violin plays nearly continuously. The lyrical writing is more chromatic than I expected, and at times sounds almost Bergian – this is a compliment. There is a good deal of rhythmic vitality and some forceful writing for the brass. There are several opportunities for cadenzas, with a big one in the Dactyls movement, which is the scherzo, accompanied by the timpani, a device deriving from Beethoven’s violin concerto. All in all, this is a good work, and one which I hope will be taken up by other players.
The three other works are new arrangements made by the composer of themes from his film music. They all feature lyrical writing for the violin over lush harmonies in the orchestra and are attractive to listen to but rather cloying. They lack that element of grit which Williams needs and supplies in the concerto.
The concerto and the other arrangements were written for Mutter and her lustrous tone and impeccable technique makes them shine. Williams himself conducts: I assume he conducts his own film scores but he turns out to have also conducted the Boston Pops for a number of years and so has a track record in other music as well as his own. The solo violin has been slightly boosted in the recording but not excessively so. The booklet, on which I have drawn, is helpful. The concerto is a rewarding one and well worth hearing. I now plan to investigate Williams’ first violin concerto.
Stephen Barber
Published: November 16, 2022
