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NEW Concert work: "Highwood’s Ghost", a fantasia for cello, harp and orchestra for cellist Yo-Yo Ma and harpist Jessica Zhou (Premieres August 19th at Tanglewood)


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  • 1 month later...

Here's the important part from the program notes (hat tip to @Miguel Andrade for bringing them to our attention):

 

Spoiler

Highwood’s Ghost is about all these facets of the Tanglewood “spirit,” but derives directly from John Williams’s memories of Leonard Bernstein, who remains present here—or as Williams puts it in his comments on the piece (see below), “The music, as you may notice, is a little haunted by Lenny.” The piece begins in slow, lyrical mode, the solo harp taking the lead at first before the entrance of the cello. The two soloists work as an accompanied duo thereafter, with relatively sparse orchestral coloring. After this long rhapsodic section, an energetic and rhythmically tricky passage subsides into a sustained, suspended, quiet conclusion. The composer’s note on Highwood’s Ghost appears below.

 

...

 

Highwood is one of the grand old houses of the Tanglewood campus, which stands today with dignity and grace as it has since 1846. I well remember one night, as Lenny was making his way up the first stairwell, exclaiming “this place is haunted!” Coincidentally, I’m told that a number of people who worked at the house over the years have also felt Highwood to be haunted. In any case, it may be expected that Lenny, genius that he was, might have had a special ability to receive transmission from the sphere of spirits and signs. I thought a little piece about this history might be fun, and provide the unusual combination of harp and cello an opportunity to set the stage for an ectoplasmic visit. The music, as you may notice, is a little haunted by Lenny, but it is not suggested that he is the ghost. You’re invited to listen and make your own guess as to the identity of this seemingly very pleasant spirit… I have my own ideas. - JOHN WILLIAMS

 

(I put it in a spoiler tag because it tells a little bit about the structure of the piece, which some of you may not want to know until you actually hear it)

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5 minutes ago, King Mark said:

Can;t wait to hopefully hear this

 

Is there any other Williams stuff broadcast on that concert?

No. There's some Copland and Bernstein, though.

http://www.classicalwcrb.org/post/world-premiere-yo-yo-ma

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The ghost is surely Serge.  I personaly don't know his music... Perhaps JW will use some quotes... but if we don't know Serge's music, we may lost some winks.

 

WE NEED AN EXPERT!!!

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1 hour ago, Bespin said:

The ghost is surely Serge.  I personaly don't know his music... Perhaps JW will use some quotes... but if we don't know Serge's music, we may lost some winks.

 

WE NEED AN EXPERT!!!

 

He’s a legend for me first and foremost because of his championing and commissioning of works by Copland.  Also Ravel, Gershwin, etc.  But his long relationship with Copland is what first brought him to my interest. 

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4 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Is Williams conducting the piece?

Edit: Nevermind I see it’s Nelsons conducting 

 

Yeah for some reason he never seems to conduct concert work premieres anymore. Maybe he thinks his music seems more "serious" when someone else conducts it?

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6 hours ago, Bespin said:

The ghost is surely Serge.  I personaly don't know his music... Perhaps JW will use some quotes... but if we don't know Serge's music, we may lost some winks.

 

WE NEED AN EXPERT!!!

 

While I do believe Kousevitsky did write some music, he is mostly remembered as a conductor, for his tenure with the BSO and for creating Tanglewood.

Since there are some quotes in disguise of Bernstein's music, one can speculate that the Ghost might be Lenny.

 

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19 minutes ago, Miguel Andrade said:

 

While I do believe Kousevitsky did write some music, he is mostly remembered as a conductor, for his tenure with the BSO and for creating Tanglewood.

 Since there are some quotes in disguise of Bernstein's music, one can speculate that the Ghost might be Lenny.

 

 

For what it's worth, Williams seemingly denied that intention (albeit somewhat ambiguously) in the portion of the program guide I pasted above:

 

The music, as you may notice, is a little haunted by Lenny, but it is not suggested that he is the ghost. You’re invited to listen and make your own guess as to the identity of this seemingly very pleasant spirit… I have my own ideas. - JOHN WILLIAMS

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John Williams also told that Lenny himself told Williams that the Mansion was haunted. So all this starts with a conversation between Lenny and John Williams.

 

So it's very clear.  The new work is about John Williams thinking of Lenny, who's thinking of Serge Koussevitzky being the ghost... but dedicated to Yo-Yo Ma.

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5 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Haha, that didn't have a plot!

 

 

What are you talking about, Indy says the whole thing within the first 15 seconds of this clip!

 

People diss Koepp, but they fail to see he's a master of efficiency! Other screenwriters might use character's actions to outline the plot, but all Koepp needs is 3 seconds for a character to just spit it out! Now you can just focus on all of the exciting action!

 

 

(PS @Jurassic Shark I answered your PM)

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Well, he doesn't suggest directly that Lenny is the Ghost, but at the same time lets the listener make his own mind who might be the Ghost. So each one can freely speculate.

 

By the way, the TMC Orchestra only played one piece on the concert before the Williams, that one being the Outdoor Overture by Aaron Copland. 

 

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