John Williams: Cello Concerto
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- Опубликовано: 26 авг 2024
- John Williams: Cello Concerto (1994/2016)
Live recording from the European first performance on May 28, 2016 at the Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen.
Tivoli Copenhagen Phil conducted by Lawrence Foster
Toke Møldrup, Cello
- Theme and Cadenza
- Blues (10:21)
- Scherzo (13:20)
- Song (17:52)
John Williams on his Concerto for Cello and Orchestra:
"My cello concerto resulted from a suggestion by Seiji Ozawa that I write a piece for cello and orchestra expressly with Yo-Yo Ma in mind. Discussions on this project developed and the Boston Symphony agreed to commission the work, requesting that it be premiered at the opening of the new Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, Massachusetts, during the summer of 1994 - I conducted the first performance with Yo-Yo Ma as soloist.
I had known Yo-Yo Ma for quite a few years before this event. Together we had performed concertos of Elgar, Dvorák, and Haydn among others, and on several occasions I had accompanied him at the piano. Over the years we’ve become close friends, and I looked forward to writing for him with great pleasure. Given the broad technical and expressive arsenal available in Yo-Yo’s work, planning the concerto was a joy. I decided to have four fairly extensive movements that would offer as much variety and contrast as possible, but that could be played continuously and without interruption.
The first movement, Theme and Cadenza... attempts to put the cello on display in the time-honored sense of “concerto,” and as the hero’s theme is developed, it “morphs” into a cadenza in which I tried to create an opportunity for exploration of the theme that would be both ruminative and virtuosic.
The second movement I call Blues… In my mind, and without any conscious prodding on my part, the ghosts of Ellington and Strayhorn seemed to waft through the atmosphere. Invited or not, this was for me very welcome company. I set up clusters in piano and percussion that form a frame within which the cello unveils its misty quasi-improvisations.
The Scherzo is about speed, deftness, and sleight of hand. The music romps along in triple-time over a treacherous landscape where athletic exchanges are periodically and suddenly interrupted by a series of fermati, as the orchestra and cello try to dominate and out-do each other. There’s a short tutti where it appears that the orchestra might prevail, but the cello outwits and outlasts it.
In thinking about the finale of the concerto, I was always aware of the fact that Yo-Yo’s ability to “connect” personally and even privately with every individual in his audience is perhaps the greatest of his abundant gifts. I therefore tried in Song, the concerto’s finale, to create long lyrical lines that would give the cello the opportunity to address the audience in the manner of a clear and direct soliloquy.Whatever virtues the concerto may have can never surpass, for me, the experience of knowing and working with Yo-Yo Ma. Happily, and with complete justice, the world loves and reveres this man as do I, and working with him is always a joyous journey to be treasured.
- John Williams
The concerto was revised in 2016 
Видеоклипы
Absolutely adore the Scherzo section!
This is one of my favorite cello concertos of all time, and I think there's no other video of a live performance on RUclips. Thank you very much for sharing your beautiful rendition with us.
Thank you, Dion!
You can find a video performance of the second and fourth movements played by Yo-Yo Ma and the National symphony orchestra on RUclips.
Wonderful. Williams is much a modern Korngold I think.
Bel concerto.
I don’t know why he has meddled with it so much. The 2002 version was so perfect, and he has made it blander. It’s still a great piece, but not as great.
I disagree. The opening, for instance, is far richer and more nuanced in the last version, both harmonically and timbrically. And I think the first movement is more "balanced" now. You've got the "soft" introduction at the beggining, and then a "louder" instance of the same material just before the cadenza section, which makes for a very satisfying contrast and adds to an overall sense of "direction". In any case, it's a huge improvement on the original 1994 version, IMHO.
@@dionbaillargeon4899 Well I guess your mileage may vary. The incarnation recorded with Yo-Yo Ma in 2002 opened with one of the most arresting and original in the cello literature. And the cello writing was so unlike any other composer, similar to his own Heartwood - those search intervals. This new version sounds much more similar to many other contemporary cello concertos, the intervals have lost their piquancy, it's just blander. Thank god we still have a recording of the previous version. I've talked to other composers who agree with me too, so I know I'm not alone. I'm glad that some people at least enjoy the new one.
@omentsofopera7170 You are correct. I can still enjoy these new revisions for what they are but his original version of the concerto as recorded with Yo-Yo Ma in '02 is fucking sublime. There was never a reason to alter it past that. Doing away with that startling, spirited, ear-catching opening from the first movement is criminal.
@@dionbaillargeon4899 This and the 2021 revision are still perfectly listenable but "huge improvement" on the original version, they are not.
@@Jockolantern To each its own. I think the revision is miles better than the original version. And if Williams himself believes so, who am I to disagree.
Would there happen to be a study score available?
Hi Cameron, thanks for your interest in this magnificent concerto. I think you'd have to contact the Hal Leonard Corp. to rent a study score. Good day, Toke