|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Editorial Reviews
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
From International Record Review - subscribe now
There's a strangely reluctant lyricism within both John Towner Williams's Treesong and the Violin Concerto. Robert Kirzinger's interesting notes speak of a 'singing quality' and a 'lyrical energy', and one sees what he means, but there is, I feel, an undertow of darkness which, in conjunction with the frequent changes of mood, means that the music does not on first acquaintance strike one as being quite so shiningly song-like as might be expected from this composer. Both works are, in fact, characterized by extended melodic writing, but it is often intrinsically chromatic and seeks to explore the violin's vast range in mercurial changes of atmosphere. The Violin Concerto, dedicated to the memory of Williams's late wife, is certainly the more elegiac of the two pieces, but its restless energy suggests rather a reflection, perhaps upon her character, perhaps upon a shared life. It's a work that benefits from several concentrated listenings – though one is instantly aware of its quality, it does not immediately surrender all its secrets. Treesong is a less tangible, more mysterious work, reflecting (like the bassoon concerto The Five Sacred Trees) on Williams's love of nature, in this case the magnificent metasequioa trees of Boston. What strikes me most about the work is the remarkable subtlety with which Williams uses the orchestra; he is a great colorist, though certainly not only that. The Three Pieces from 'Schindler's List' are more recognizably by Williams the film composer (this was a Spielberg film, for those who may have forgotten), with a more immediate appeal. They are equally well crafted and beautifully orchestrated, however. Gil Shaham is a dazzling, liquid soloist with a glowing tone, and the Boston Symphony under the composer's baton play with élan; the recorded sound is correspondingly excellent. Ivan Moody
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unique Sound Worlds,
By
This review is from: John Williams: Treesong; Violin Concerto; 3 Pieces from Schindler's List (Audio CD)
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.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's not supposed to sound like Star Wars,
By
This review is from: John Williams: Treesong; Violin Concerto; 3 Pieces from Schindler's List (Audio CD)
If you're not familiar with any of John Williams' concert music, may the listener beware. It sounds nothing like his film scores. It is dissonant, and often difficult to listen to. But it is usually a rewarding experience. What it lacks in melodic themes, it makes up for in colorful orchestations and moments of striking beauty. The third movement of Treesong is a good example of this. It begins on a note that seems out of place, but eventually resolves.
Not everything can or should sound like Star Wars. Film music, by its very nature requires a differnet kind of writing. There is certainly room for Williams to write concert music in a modernistic style that departs from the Wagnerian influence of his movie scores. Oh well. If you prefer his soundtracks check out Close Encounters of the Third Kind; now thats pretty modern!
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What exactly IS "classical" music?,
By
This review is from: John Williams: Treesong; Violin Concerto; 3 Pieces from Schindler's List (Audio CD)
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.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
