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John Williams: Treesong
John Williams, Gil Shaham, Boston Symphony Orchestra
John Williams: Treesong
Genres: Jazz, Pop, Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (9) - Disc #1

Though best known for his film scores, John Williams also has to his credit numerous orchestral works and concertos for string and wind instruments, which were often tailored to specific players. One of these is TreeSong, ...  more »

     

CD Details

All Artists: John Williams, Gil Shaham, Boston Symphony Orchestra
Title: John Williams: Treesong
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Original Release Date: 1/1/2001
Re-Release Date: 9/18/2001
Genres: Jazz, Pop, Classical
Styles: Easy Listening, Forms & Genres, Concertos, Instruments, Strings, Symphonies
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 028947132622

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Though best known for his film scores, John Williams also has to his credit numerous orchestral works and concertos for string and wind instruments, which were often tailored to specific players. One of these is TreeSong, composed and premiered in 2000 by its dedicatee, the splendid violinist Gil Shaham. Clearly written to his strengths, it exploits Shaham's brilliant technique with two cadenzas and lots of fast passages, which display his sumptuous, beautiful tone in warm, singing melodies and its silvery radiance in long stretches in the highest register. The piece begins and ends in dreamy languor. It is full of sound effects, but despite an explanatory note by the composer, its connection to the ancient tree that inspired it is not perceptible to the naked ear. The orchestrations are inventive and colorful, and both here and in the Concerto, written in 1974 and revised in 1998, there are substantial, massive orchestral interludes, while the solo passages are carefully scored for maximal transparency. The Concerto is somewhat reminiscent of Prokofiev, especially in the angularity of the fast sections and the shimmering stratospheric ones. It is dedicated to Williams's late wife, but only the end of the slow movement has an elegiac air, then the orchestra leads into the Finale with all stops out. The Three Pieces from Schindler's List are well known. Shaham, though he slides a lot in keeping with the style and quasi-Jewish idiom, plays them with great feeling but so much nobility that the lamentatiousness never becomes cheap or sentimental. --Edith Eisler

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CD Reviews

Unique Sound Worlds
Joshua Grasso | Oxford, OH USA | 11/21/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a life-long fan of Williams' film music, I have only recently discovered his more "serious" pieces. Like many versatile composers before him (think Korngold, Waxman, etc.), Williams is able to function in both worlds, writing rousing, effective scores and introspective, yet extremely dynamic works for concerto and orchestra. Treesong, in particular, is a masterful evocation of the wonders of nature, though many might not find any obvious signs of "nature" in the music. Williams chooses to evoke an altogether different environment, relying less on derivative new-agey techniques than the musings of a solo instrument as it encounters a strange and fantastic realm of "trunks, branches, and leaves." The sound world Williams conjures up is completely original in my mind and bears his distinctive stamp (as does his other piece for trees, Five Sacred Trees). The earlier Violin Concerto is from the same stylistic world, yet seems to probe deeper into personal emotions, with a profoundly melodic core. While Bartok's Violin Concerto can be seen behind it, it, too, is an extremely unique piece and only grows with repeated listenings. The addition of three pieces from Schindler's List was charming and highly appropriate, especially as a means of showing of Gil Shaham's talent.
In short, a wonderful disc that does justice to the seemingly inexaustible talents of John Williams, one of our most brilliant and remarkable composers. 5 stars."
What exactly IS "classical" music?
James Leatherbarrow | Kent, OH United States | 11/19/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well Mr Jose Martinez-Canas made a bold statement below, declaring in no uncertain terms that John Williams is not a classical composer. If we are going to be picky about it, Mahler wasn't a classical composer either. Nor were Prokofiev and Shostakovich. The 20th Century brought about an incredibly wide range of styles in orchestral music, some of which inspired movie composers, and some of which was in turn inspired BY movie music. One of the great things about contemporary music is that anything and everything is possible. One only has to listen to John Adams "Slonimsky's Earbox" or the recent music of Einojuhani Rautavaara to hear how the harmonies and motivic developments of the silver screen have found their way back into the concert hall. John Williams contribution to movie music is without question, but we must also remember his numerous works away from the movies. This latest piece "Treesong" is a beautifully reflective essay on nature and tranquility. Gil Shaham's playing is every bit as exquisite as the sweeping contours of the melodic lines, and the orchestra respond well to Williams' expression both on the page and on the podium. The three short movements form a delicate whole, rippling harmonies suggesting wind in the branches. Although the music soars in places the overall feeling is one of calm, and the tempo remains fairly leisurely throughout. As ever Williams' shows his mastery of orchestration throughout the piece. "Treesong" compliments his Violin Concerto nicely. The Concerto is presented here in a new revised form. I have only heard the original version once and so am unable to talk informatively about the revisions, but it seems to me as though the orchestration is rather grander and more full on this revised version. The CD ends with a set of pieces from Schindler's List. Shaham has a lot to live up to here (the original was performed by Itzhak Perlman!) and he does so admirably, matching some of Perlman's articulations where appropriate but adding a few nifty touches of his own to make these truly original interpretations. Enjoy."
Film = Modern Opera
Daniel Matz | 02/23/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Think about it Jose, film is our modern-day opera. Opera was "pop music" 1-2 hundred years ago. People say we have no major modern classical composers...in fact the MEDIUM has changed."