The Official TreeSong Thread

[Miguel Andrade 1,260]

That actually brings to my mind John Adams!

[Jay 37,287]

I recently picked up this album on Amazon because I never had it - and had in fact never heard it before at all - and listened to it last week.

It's good!

 

Hearing the first violin concerto was an interesting comparison now that violin concerto #2 is a thing. Boy, they couldn't be more different, eh?

Treesong I liked more though, what a wonderful 20 minutes.  I definitely want to listen again already.

 

The three pieces from Schindler's List were also very good!  This is really a score that has lived on through new soloists performing these pieces moreso than a lot of his other scores.  Really looking for the cello version of the suite coming soon now!

[Tom 4,634]

Treesong, along with Heartwood for Cello, are top-tier medium-sized concerti.  They both deserve more performances. 

[Andy 4,083]

I copied Jay and picked it up too.  I haven't listened yet.  I'm trying to give the concertos my full attention, listening in a room without distraction.

[Jay 37,287]

Once I get all his concerti available on CD I'm gonna re-listen to them all in chronological order and read everything in this thread

[Andy 4,083]

Same. That thread has been pretty inspiring, along with the main page’s and @Bespin‘s discography.   I imagine print runs on some of these physical releases are small so I’m trying to move at a pace I can afford. 

[stravinsky 203]

I bought this disc when it was released 20 years and I've hardly played it. To me Treesong is a lot more approachable than the earlier Violin Concerto which is deeply in the serial mould. I came away thinking it's a great shame Williams never wrote a Piano Concerto although I think he premiered a Scherzo for Piano and Orchestra with Lang Lang a few years ago which I haven't heard. Also many of the instruments he utilises don't work for me as Concerto instruments I.e Tuba, Bassoon, Horn, Trumpet. I also find it curious why he seems to have restricted himself to writing mostly fanfares or Concerti. Still I'd love to hear his Viola Concerto but sadly there is no recording. 

[Thor 7,465]

32 minutes ago, stravinsky said:

 I came away thinking it's a great shame Williams never wrote a Piano Concerto although I think he premiered a Scherzo for Piano and Orchestra with Lang Lang a few years ago which I haven't heard. 

 

For many years, the only piano concert piece we were aware of was the piano sonata he wrote as a student at UCLA in 1951, a mere 19 years old. But it's never been heard outside the exam situation, and I doubt anyone will ever hear it (at least not in my lifetime). It was frustrating, because piano is his main instrument and he "refused" to write a concert piece for it; instead he wrote for practically all other instrument groups in the orchestra. You had to listen to his film scores to get extensive piano solos. Eventually, of course, we got both "Conversations" and "Scherzo for Piano and Orchestra", so the situation isn't as dire anymore, but I never connected very much to those. I'm still hoping for a piano piece that fires on all cylinders.

 

Oh yeah, and "Treesong" is great.

[Jay 37,287]

Why is everyone in this thread forgetting that Prelude for Piano and Orchestra is a thing that exists 

[Thor 7,465]

4 minutes ago, Jay said:

Why is everyone in this thread forgetting that Prelude for Piano and Orchestra is a thing that exists 

 

Probably because it's (now) part of the scherzo.

[stravinsky 203]

I guess it's a bit late in the day now to expect Williams to write a Piano Concerto. I must track down the Prelude and Scherzo you mentioned. As for the Sonata which I reckon is his very first concert work I'm guessing it'll be an atonal nightmare considering it was written in 1951 when the blind alley of serialism was really taking route. 

[TownerFan 4,983]

1 hour ago, stravinsky said:

I guess it's a bit late in the day now to expect Williams to write a Piano Concerto.

He actually told the New York Times last February that he’s finally planning to write one.

 

4 hours ago, stravinsky said:

I bought this disc when it was released 20 years and I've hardly played it. To me Treesong is a lot more approachable than the earlier Violin Concerto which is deeply in the serial mould. I came away thinking it's a great shame Williams never wrote a Piano Concerto although I think he premiered a Scherzo for Piano and Orchestra with Lang Lang a few years ago which I haven't heard. Also many of the instruments he utilises don't work for me as Concerto instruments I.e Tuba, Bassoon, Horn, Trumpet. I also find it curious why he seems to have restricted himself to writing mostly fanfares or Concerti. Still I'd love to hear his Viola Concerto but sadly there is no recording. 

 

Williams often said that he favoured concerti because they were occasions to write for specific musicians (in most cases, players of the BSO) and also because the format offered a chance to stretch a different set of muscles than he usually does with film, while the fanfares were mostly commissions for public events or specific occasions, so it’s closer to his film writing.

 

It also must be noted that the first Violin Concerto is not serial by any means. The theme that opens the first movement is certainly highly chromatic, but it’s not dodecaphonic at all. The work surely reflects influences from the violin concerti of the 20th century (especially Prokofiev, Bartok and Berg), but the work has a deeply post-Romantic vein that is unmistakably Williams. 

[stravinsky 203]

I must listen again. Thankyou for the info. I didn't realise Williams was planning to write a Piano Concerto. Amazing that at his advanced age he is still firing in all cylinders. Also your point about the Fanfare commissions makes sense. Cheers Raymond