JW Chamber Music

[fililando 19]

Good evening everyone! I am working on a thesis about chamber music written by film music composers (Korngold, Nino Rota, Rozsa to name a few..). I'd like to include Williams' chamber works to this list. Do you have any informations, cool stories, analysis about the maestro chamber style? Everything is useful to me. I am interested especially on the Elegy for cello since I am going to play it.

Thank you!

 

 

[Dixon Hill 4,232]

The La Jolla Quartet is really something.

[pete 902]

“Festivity at Thornfield”, a sprightly string quartet piece in Jane Eyre 

[tannhauser 101]

There's Air and Simple Gifts, and also the three pieces from Memoirs of a Geisha for piano + cello that he recorded with Yo Yo Ma.

[Bespin 8,472]

Three Pieces for Solo Cello (2001)

Duo Concertante (2007)

Air and Simple Gifts (2009)

Quartet La Jolla (2011)

A Young Person’s Guide to the Cello (2011)

Rounds (2012)

Conversations (2013)

[tannhauser 101]

Thanks - I'd forgotten about the Duo Concertante - haven't listened to that in years!

[lairdo 726]

While not composed by Williams, I think it is cool that he performed piano on the Prokofiev/Ward-Steinman cello and piano album (1974). 

 

A number of his themes have been arranged and recorded as chamber works - a bunch on solo piano (Example Dan Redfield "Across the Stars."). Nice piano and violin examples are by Orli and Gil Shaman (sister and brother) with 3 tracks from Schindler's List (Hebrew Melodies, 2013).

 

 

[fililando 19]

Thank you everyone! I'll listen to this works. Do you find passages and techniques in this concert music which sounds very similar to some film music cues? I am analyzing his Elegy and the melodic line, harmonic language, modulations recalls 7 years in Tibet. That's obvious since as far as I know he wanted to use this theme for the movie actually

[TownerFan 4,983]

6 minutes ago, fililando said:

Thank you everyone! I'll listen to this works. Do you find passages and techniques in this concert music which sounds very similar to some film music cues? I am analyzing his Elegy and the melodic line, harmonic language, modulations recalls 7 years in Tibet. That's obvious since as far as I know he wanted to use this theme for the movie actually

 

It's actually the other way around. He repurposed the theme heard in the final scene of the film (a.k.a. "Regaining a Son") for the piece. It was originally written for the funeral service of the sons of a LA musician who regularly performed with him.

 

It's actually the only concert work from JW which reuses material originally written for films. All his other chamber works are quite different from his film style, in terms of lexicon and musical grammar. It's truly "private" music where JW usually explores textures, ideas and feelings coming from a very personal space, imho.

[Thor 7,451]

I think you've actually chosen the best JW chamber piece to work on, fililando. The elegy is one of my favourites. Closer to his film work in its sheer lyrical beauty, as previously mentioned, but all the more powerful for me. Never heard the original funeral service performance, though, and I don't think anyone has that wasn't there.

 

 

[pete 902]

I always thought the term "chamber music" excluded pieces written for solo instruments such as Rounds and Conversations?

I also wouldn't have thought of the elegy, at least the recorded version as it's scored for cello and orchestra. I guess the original would qualify - it was originally written for cello and piano, right?  

[Thor 7,451]

7 minutes ago, pete said:

I always thought the term "chamber music" excluded pieces written for solo instruments such as Rounds and Conversations?

I also wouldn't have thought of the elegy, at least the recorded version as it's scored for cello and orchestra. I guess the original would qualify - it was originally written for cello and piano, right?  

 

That's right. I agree the recorded version may be too "big" to be considered a chamber piece.