MovieMusicMaestro 33 Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 PSO, pianist to perform Williams' inaugural pieceThe Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will play the first performance of composer John Williams' Air and Simple Gifts following its premiere at today's presidential inauguration. The piece will be played just before President-elect Barack Obama takes his oath.Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero, who performs it today with violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Yo Yo Ma and clarinetist Anthony McGill, will perform it this weekend (Friday and Sunday) in Heinz Hall with PSO members. She will also solo in Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.www.pittsburghsymphony.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie 45 Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Umm... so... I'm guessing it'll still be in its chamber instrumentation with four soloists? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wojo 2,453 Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Correct, Bowie. But it's not mentioned at the PSO's website, it might be too new.Montero, coming to Pittsburgh to solo in George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" at Heinz Hall, will play the new music at Heinz Hall with symphony first-desk players Andres Cardenes, David Premo and Michael Rusinek.The rest of the symphony program is unchanged, with Cardenes conducting Samuel Barber's Symphony No. 1, the Gershwin and Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5.The concerts start at 8 p.m. Friday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Heinz Hall, Downtown. Admission is $17.50 to $79.Details: 412-392-4900.http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburgh...e/s_607880.htmlSadly, I've no intention to drive two hours to watch either show with a recorder and get this for y'all. Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryant Burnette 654 Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Well, I hope to hear this at some point. Seems like the sort of thing that'd pop up eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wojo 2,453 Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 The piece has already popped up, at http://media2.foxnews.com/012009/williams_obama_W700.wmv.The Pittsburgh performance, well, that remains to be seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisAfonso 186 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 You should drive there just for the Barber symphony... an amazing piece! I'm yearning to hear it live, but there's little chance of that here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryant Burnette 654 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 The piece has already popped up, at http://media2.foxnews.com/012009/williams_obama_W700.wmv.The Pittsburgh performance, well, that remains to be seen.Yeah, sorry, I just meant the piece in general, not specifically the Pittsburgh performance.Am I wrong, or was this piece just refried Aaron Copland? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hlao-roo 389 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 The piece has already popped up, at http://media2.foxnews.com/012009/williams_obama_W700.wmv.The Pittsburgh performance, well, that remains to be seen.Yeah, sorry, I just meant the piece in general, not specifically the Pittsburgh performance.Am I wrong, or was this piece just refried Aaron Copland?Many would agree with you. Even Williams, in his interview with Burlingame, makes no secret of his intention to let Copland have his belated moment in the inaugural limelight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wojo 2,453 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 That's what an arrangement is! It's a refried rendition of somebody else's theme. If the original theme is totally unrecognizable, it is either a very bad arrangement, or an original composition stuck in the wrong category. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryant Burnette 654 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 All that is fine, but there was no mention of Aaron Copland when the piece was introduced at the inauguration, and there really should have been. How many millions of people heard it called "an original composition by John Williams" (not the exact wording, but close, I think)? Nothing wrong with using Copland, but the guy should have been credited, in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hlao-roo 389 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 All that is fine, but there was no mention of Aaron Copland when the piece was introduced at the inauguration, and there really should have been. How many millions of people heard it called "an original composition by John Williams" (not the exact wording, but close, I think)? Nothing wrong with using Copland, but the guy should have been credited, in my opinion.Well, it's debatable how much Copland is actually in the piece. One could (perhaps) make the case that Williams's "exuberant rendering" of the Shaker melody does not depart tremendously from Copland's treatment in his Appalachian Spring, but I don't believe that is an argument for obligating Williams to credit Copland. Ought Williams have credited Copland for The Cowboys? For The Unfinished Journey? For The Patriot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wojo 2,453 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 The lady who introduced it said the piece was "a composition arranged for this occasion by John Williams." I just checked the YouTube feed because the FOX News clip is no longer linked at our front page, and that is the word for word description, which is 100% accurate. She does not say "original composition" so there was no misdirection.These people were on a budget for time. As it stood, they were already running behind. Mentioning Copland was superfluous. If they credited Copland, you'd complain that they didn't credit Elder Joseph Brackett for writing the original Shaker song. It was an inauguration, not a concert and not a history lesson. Sure, it would only have taken five extra seconds to say, but five seconds here and five seconds there, and now you're way over time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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