NEW John Williams concert work: Markings, for solo violin, strings, and harp - Premiering Sunday, July 16th 2017 at Tanglewood

[MikeH 768]

27 minutes ago, karelm said:

It should be called "Carvings" since it has to be about trees.  The carvings represents memories of his youth on the backyard tree as seen from the perspective of an old man.

 

Maybe there's some inner turmoil going on because he's trying to reconcile his love for trees with his love for paper...

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

2 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Yes, I'd be very interested to read thoughts from our music theory familiar members!

 

There's like, cool notes and chords that give me the feels with emotional epic violins. 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Just now, TheGreyPilgrim said:

 

There's like, cool notes and epic chords with emotional epic violins. 

 

Whoa.  My mind has been opened to a new dimension of music appreciation.

[The Psycho Pianist 216]

How anyone could still look down their nose at Williams from a classical sensibility after hearing that...I don't know. Sounds like something Sibelius or Finzi would've written if they were still here today.

[artguy360 1,843]

I've listened Markings several times now, and I like it. The piece is a very comfortable edition to JW's concert library. It is a little predictable though. It has all the tension, strain, and rhythmic changes I've come to expect from JW's concert works. It's a nice piece but not surprising in the way Rounds was when I first heard it.  

[publicist 4,643]

It closely resembles the Williams year 1987: the sardonic material from 'Witches of Eastwick' and impressionist touches from 'EOTS' are very much present.

[Bryant Burnette 654]

My impression on listening to it just once is that it's some of the darkest music Williams has written.  I wouldn't call music "scary" or "terrifying," per se, but if I did, I'd call this that.

 

Very good.  I'm happy to have been able to hear it without having to wait years!

[Marcus 390]

Gorgeous piece!

 

And what rich, wonderful colors and textures, even within an essentially monochrome ensemble. 

 

Love Williams in this darkly lyrical, expressive mode.. Also really like the polymodality of the main melodic idea, which stays pretty consistently in a dual state of upper phrygian explorations pitted against a warm D major b13. 

 

The final duet between soloist (in the lower octave) and first violins (in the higher octave) towards the very end is notable for inverting what would have been the conventional sonic distribution between these forces. 

 

The G-string accellerando/tremolo idea is unusual for Williams, as it seems to stem from a kind of "sturm und drang"-abandon. I suspect this is somehow informed by his take on Mutter's personality as a violinist. And it really suits her playing, instantly lending a dramatic flair which adds to the overall gravitas of the piece. 

 

Despite its relative brevity, I think the piece feels complete, and completely satisfying. 

[TJH132 48]

This new work would make a great slow section of a larger violin concerto.

[Thor 7,478]

6 hours ago, Marcus said:

The G-string accellerando/tremolo idea is unusual for Williams...

 

Oooh.....G-string.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Was that a joke?

[Incanus 5,713]

The whole concert including Markings is now available in WGBH's Boston Symphony Orchestra's On-Demand series

[Bespin 8,480]

Markings, well it's movie music... without a movie.  At bit too dramatical for my tastes, but not bad!

[aviazn 273]

On 11/22/2016 at 3:57 AM, Jay said:

And also, Andre Previn once told a story about how Mutter asked Williams to write a piece for her!

 

Quote

I admire Johnny Williams. He’s very good at what he does, and he writes very good themes. Now, Anne-Sophie made him an offer. She said, “Why don’t you write me a concerto?” And he said, “Oh, I don’t write that kind of music.” And she said, “Yes, you do. You write beautiful themes.”

FJO: But he wrote a trombone concerto?

AP: Did he?

FJO: It’s a pretty solid piece.

AP: He also wrote a bassoon concerto, which I like very much. Anyway, he back pedaled on that, but she kept asking and just recently he said, “Look, I’m not going to write one. I’m just not. I can’t do it. I haven’t got the background for it, and I don’t think I want to.” And she said O.K. But she said to me, “This is silly, because I’d play it everywhere.” I’ve known Johnny ever since we were both rehearsal pianists at a ballroom dancing school on La Brea Avenue. We used to take turns playing “Blueberry Hill.” Oh boy. Anyway, I don’t think he is willing to gamble with his own talent. He’s wonderfully talented and a tremendous orchestrator, but he doesn’t believe it. And a big piece—it’s a lot of pages. I don’t think that he has belief enough in his own talent, even though he has more than enough talent to do it.

FJO: Maybe it’s taking him too far out of his comfort zone in terms of the context.

AP: Comfort zone? He’s a millionaire.

FJO: I mean his comfort zone creatively.

AP: Oh, sure.

 

 

http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/andre-previn-how-lucky-i-am-now/

 

Previn just told another version of this assessment of JW's talent to The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Quote

Q: And now, John Williams has written some concert works …

 

Previn: He’s an old friend … and so talented. I keep saying, “John, stop it with Star Wars!” And he said, “Let me ask you a question: Your first opera, Streetcar, was a success everywhere. And [the second opera] Brief Encounter was not. Are you ever going to write another one?” I’m writing it now.

 

I asked, “Don’t you feel like gambling on your talent?” And he said no.

 

When I finish a piece, it’s time to write another one. I wrote a string quartet that I very diffidently mentioned to the Emerson Quartet. And they said, “Where is it?” I’m not used to that, to people saying yeah, right, sure … The damnedest cities play my music! I wonder, where do they even hear about it?

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/arts/andre-previn-says-he-keeps-telling-john-williams-john-stop-it-with-the-star-wars-20171012.html

[MikeH 768]

Lol!  

 

Previn: I keep saying, “John, stop it with Star Wars!” And he said, “Not until I've written a love theme!" 

[Will 2,215]

Today, finally, this piece really "clicked" with me!!

 

The very opening is absolutely sublime, and the first bit of the dance-like episode in the middle is super fun. The very end is also pretty interesting, with the impossibly high sustained note. 

[nightscape94 965]

Bizarrely, I did not see any of these developments for "Markings" over the last few months.  I will listen to it the moment I get back home.  It was interesting reading Mutter's comments about wanting a longer piece, she's definitely not shy about hiding her desire for a more significant work.

[Will 2,215]

I can see where Mutter's coming from. When the fast section started I was like, "Oh yeah, s--t's about to get real." And then, just as quickly as it began, the section ended. 

 

However, I've since come to appreciate how this piece lets us experience Williams' concerto style with a much smaller time investment compared to a proper full concerto.

[artguy360 1,843]

Markings is interesting to listen to and I appreciate it for all the different orchestrations and textures they create. It seems like pretty standard JW concert music where there are a lot of ideas but also a few tender moments. 

[nightscape94 965]

Just listened to it.  Wonderfully elegant, and such a well-constructed piece for something under 10 minutes.  I share in Mutter's thirst that this be extended, even just a bit.  I feel like there's even more territory for Williams to explore in that little world he's created with those colors.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

The complex emotions, the dark ambiguity, are what got me into this piece from the first listen.

[A24 4,326]

On 21-7-2017 at 3:54 AM, TJH132 said:

 

 

I love this cover. Is it real?

[Thor 7,478]

Looks fanmade?

[A24 4,326]

It should be a legit cover even though I don't think Williams would want a cover with just his face on the cover.

[Incanus 5,713]

41 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

It should be a legit cover even though I don't think Williams would want a cover with just his face on the cover.

Like this?

[A24 4,326]

Hey, that's where the cover comes from!

[KK 3,307]

So somehow I missed this whole affair entirely.

 

Lovely work. Wonderful to hear the maestro, still regularly finding inspiration.

[Jay 37,319]

Obvious fan-made cover is obvious

[WilliamsStarShip2282 308]

Does anyone have the program note for this?

[Miguel Andrade 1,262]

On 11/26/2019 at 5:23 AM, WilliamsStarShip2282 said:

Does anyone have the program note for this?

 

From the program book:

 

Quote

John Williams (b.1932)
“Markings,” for solo violin, strings, and harp (2017)
This is the world premiere performance of “Markings.”
Demonstrably the most beloved, critically acclaimed, and decorated film composer
of all time, John Williams is a thoroughgoing, well-rounded musician. His broad-based,
sixty-plus-year career has also encompassed performance as a pianist and conductor,
arranging, television and film scoring, and concert music; he was Conductor
of the Boston Pops Orchestra, succeeding Arthur Fiedler, from 1980 to 1993, and
has remained an integral part of the BSO/Boston Pops/Tanglewood family
since that time. He currently holds the title of Conductor Laureate of
the Boston Pops, and conducts the orchestra annually at Tanglewood. This
Tanglewood season he appears on the podium for Tanglewood on Parade
(August 1) and the annual “John Williams’ Film Night” (August 19).
In parallel with his activity in film and on the conductor’s podium, John
Williams has been an active concert-music composer, a pursuit that picked
up while he was conductor of the Boston Pops and has held steady for thirty
years. Most of his orchestral and chamber music scores are composed on
request from, or as tribute to, particular musicians of his acquaintance.
Concertos have naturally figured prominently in his catalog, including several
written for members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra—the Tuba Concerto for
former BSO tubist Chester Schmitz; an oboe concerto for Keisuke Wakao; a viola
concerto for Cathy Basrak (all premiered with the Boston Pops Orchestra); and a
harp concerto, On Willows and Birches, for former BSO principal harp Ann Hobson
Pilot (premiered with the BSO under James Levine). Williams wrote the violin and
orchestra work TreeSong for Gil Shaham, who has also performed and recorded
the composer’s Three Pieces from Schindler’s List and his earlier Violin Concerto.
Receiving its premiere this afternoon, Markings is the newest of his concerto-like
pieces, written at the request of violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, who for thirty years
has been active in commissioning and premiering new works. The stylistic range of
contemporary composers she has championed is impressively wide, including Sofia
Gubaidulina, Witold Lutosławski, Wolfgang Rihm, Krzysztof Penderecki, André
Previn, Henri Dutilleux, and Sebastian Currier.
John Williams’s new work is scored for solo violin with harp and strings, an ensemble
that recalls Bernstein’s 1954 Serenade (after Plato’s Symposium), which is for solo
violin with harp, strings, and percussion. Although the correspondence is coincidental—
Williams didn’t have Bernstein’s piece in mind when he wrote Markings—
it’s nice to think that both composers hit upon this idea independently, particularly
since it was Williams who commissioned the sculpted bronze head of Leonard
Bernstein that resides on the first floor of Tanglewood’s Highwood manor house.
Williams’s piece contains a certain “American” gestural drama and lyricism in the
violin solo part, and an episode of great rhythmic vitality that fits the tradition in
which Bernstein worked, but overall Markings is music of very different scope and
effect than the Serenade.
Markings opens with the hushed string orchestra creating an atmospheric foundation.
The soloist’s opening gesture, marked “reflectively,” is like an intake and
release of breath—a rising arpeggio (hinting at the central motif of Berg’s Violin
Concerto, a piece significant in Mutter’s repertoire) followed by an accelerating/

decelerating gesture mostly on the open G (the lowest string). The soloist’s series
of fast, freely articulated arpeggios across the four strings of the violin lead to a
glissando up to its highest range. After a pause, a defined but still introspective
chordal figure in lower strings underpins a yearning melody for the soloist expanding
over four octaves. Increased rhythmic activity in the string accompaniment,
with an accelerando, leads to a dancelike episode. The harp is introduced finally
as part of the ensemble texture, creating a sparkling aura. The initial alteration
between 3/4 and 5/8 meter in this passage adds a destabilizing and energizing
element. The solo violin part becomes more aggressive and syncopated, big leaps
in register countering short bursts of scales. Following a climactic series of sforzando
quadruple stops in tandem with the harp, the solo violin releases tension with rapid
rising and falling scales and an unaccompanied, notated cadenza. A coda revisits
the lyrical passage and takes us to an introspective close, the solo violin rising into
the stratosphere.
ROBERT KIRZINGER
Composer/annotator Robert Kirzinger is Associate Director of Program Publications of
the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

 

[WilliamsStarShip2282 308]

thanks very much!!! funny williams did not write one himself, which he did for most of them.

[TJH132 48]

On 06/02/2018 at 1:17 AM, AC1 said:

 

I love this cover. Is it real?

 

Hey, thanks! 

 

I happened to be checking around JWFan.com and saw that "Markings" is listed as "unreleased," when we all know it was released with the deluxe "Across the Stars" album.  I even have it on vinyl!

 

About the album cover I made:  I do believe my creation pre-dates the piano solos disc with a very similar concept by a little bit, or at least I hadn't seen it before making mine.  That close up photo of Williams had been circulating around the time and I liked how it really showed off his facial features.  I used an Android app that was also popular at the time (though I can't remember the name of it) to juice up the image.  Offsetting the picture to allow for text was really my only "creative" decision.

 

Anyway, I'm glad someone liked it.  I know I always appreciate when more talented folks on here make album art for all the concert rips we've been getting.

[Jay 37,319]

I like it too!