Williams composing for the Vienna Philharmonic - "Fanfare for the Vienna Philharmonic Ball"

[GerateWohl 4,338]

I think, it is quite appropriate or even more interesting than the "Wiener Opernball" as an event.

A Korngold fanfare would probably be wasted here.

[Steve 589]

Maybe Williams told the VPO that they need a better composer than him for the fanfare?

[BB-8 3,461]

23 minutes ago, Steve said:

Maybe Williams told the VPO that they need a better composer than him for the fanfare?

 

And he continued: "A fanfare can be many things, but one thing it is definitely not: a commission you can say no to."

[Marian Schedenig 8,173]

3 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Nice, but kind of uninteresting. I wonder what Korngold would have written.

 

I think it's quite lovely, and prominent horn parts are certainly fitting for those glorious Wiener horns. Interesting though that Strauss, who more than once enjoyed writing (stereo)typical Viennese waltzes (cf Der Rosenkavalier) decided to not do so in this instance. I wonder if Williams's new piece makes any allusions to Viennese music. But yes, your average Williams celebratory fanfare has more substance overall.

 

Btw, they misspellt "Strauss" in the video's title caption.

[rough cut 1,714]

Agreed, a bit harsh to call it uninteresting.

 

I can’t see the spelling error you’re referring to, it all seems correct to me?

[Marian Schedenig 8,173]

51 minutes ago, rough cut said:

I can’t see the spelling error you’re referring to, it all seems correct to me?

 

He's credited as Richard Strauß, with a "scharfes S" (sz ligature) as the last letter. The Viennese Strauß dynasty, famous for their waltzes, were named Strauß, but Richard Strauss is spelt with a double s.

[rough cut 1,714]

👍🏼

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

On 05/01/2023 at 3:39 PM, rough cut said:

Agreed, a bit harsh to call it uninteresting.

 

I can’t see the spelling error you’re referring to, it all seems correct to me?

 

Well, I did say it was nice, and just kinda uninteresting.

[King Mark 3,625]

The Strauss piece is EXACTLY the type of style I want Williams to go for . Glorious and bombastic to the max.

 

I bet Williams  won't stray to far from the tone of the original and he could top it easily. Anyways i'm less worried he'll go for something more atonal like A Toast of Just down the Street something

[BB-8 3,461]

I wonder whether he actually studied the Strauss fanfare or just heard of it.

[BB-8 3,461]

Btw, any JWFan actually going to the ball?

 

Source: Google picture search

_________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

viennaphilharmonic

Verifiziert

Preparations are in full swing for the 80th Vienna Philharmonic Ball! ✨💃🕺

We are excited that Maestro @andrisnelsons will conduct this year’s opening ceremony.
This year also marks the world premiere of the “Fanfare for the Vienna Philharmonic Ball” by John Williams. Conductor and Composer John Williams composed this Fanfare for the 80th Vienna Philharmonic Ball 2020. We will perform the Fanfare after the traditional Richard Strauss Fanfare for the very first time. 🎶
We are immensely grateful to John Williams for this extraordinary gift. 🙏

Further info about the Vienna Philharmonic Ball via the link in our bio.

 

Wiener Philharmoniker (@viennaphilharmonic) • Instagram-Fotos und -Videos

 

[Tom 4,639]

I love when Williams titles pieces so matter of factly.  

[MSM 126]

Very exciting indeed🎉 From the program booklet:

[Tom 4,639]

Crazy that a guy in 2022 overlaps so considerably with a guy born in 1864.  

[BB-8 3,461]

So it'll be conducted by Anton Mittermayr and not Nelsons!?

 

It seems that the premier of Richard Strauss' VPO Ball Fanfare (on March the Force, 1924) was done without conductor.

 

EDIT:

Anton Mittermayr is a timp player of the VPO.

He played in JW's return concerts in March 2022.

https://muk.ac.at/studienangebot/lehrende/details/anton-mittermayr.html

[rough cut 1,714]

The fanfare premieres today! I hope a recording makes it out of the ball!

[BB-8 3,461]

@JayAccording to the program provided by @MSM VPO's Anton Mittermayr will be conducting members (Mitglieder) of the VPO for the premier of the fanfare. Nelsons and the full orchestra seem to be coming in later for one piece by Suppé.

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

Perhaps JW received more cookies from Anne-Sophie than Andris?

[BB-8 3,461]

 

8 hours ago, rough cut said:

The fanfare premieres today! I hope a recording makes it out of the ball!

 

Need to monitor this space to see if it is live streamed (it currently still contains the 2020 recording).

 

80. Ball der Wiener Philharmoniker - Wiener Philharmoniker

 

https://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/de/ball-der-wiener-philharmoniker/2023

[BB-8 3,461]

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Perhaps JW received more cookies from Anne-Sophie than Andris?

And Andris ate them all by himself?

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

6 minutes ago, BB-8 said:

And Andris ate them all by himself?

 

Then they had a falling out.

[Jay 37,287]

4 hours ago, BB-8 said:

@JayAccording to the program provided by @MSM VPO's Anton Mittermayr will be conducting members (Mitglieder) of the VPO for the premier of the fanfare. Nelsons and the full orchestra seem to be coming in later for one piece by Suppé.

 

Ok. 

 

Why am I tagged for this info? 

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

This is important. You need to know.

[Jay 37,287]

I just realized it's because of the main page @Ricard

[MSM 126]

On 19/1/2023 at 9:24 AM, BB-8 said:

@JayAccording to the program provided by @MSM VPO's Anton Mittermayr will be conducting members (Mitglieder) of the VPO for the premier of the fanfare. Nelsons and the full orchestra seem to be coming in later for one piece by Suppé.

Yes the fanfares will sound during the opening ceremony when the VIPs enter. After the debutants entered, there is one piece performed by the VPO & Nelsons.

 

I also hope the two Vienna concerts and the commissioned Fanfare will be credit enough to make JW “Ehrenmitglied” (honorary member), like Strauss, that would be just amazing🙏🏼!!

[BB-8 3,461]

Stories • Instagram

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,173]

On 17/01/2023 at 10:55 AM, BB-8 said:

Btw, any JWFan actually going to the ball?

 

Not even a JW world premiere is enough to get me to attend this thing. I've always been deeply suspicious of the whole ball culture.

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

Really? You're opposed to dancing?

[BB-8 3,461]

7 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Not even a JW world premiere is enough to get me to attend this thing. I've always been deeply suspicious of the whole ball culture.

And it seems that this year, "this thing" is particularly exclusive..or is there a live-stream somewhere?

[DangerMotif 1,037]

It premiers tonight?

[BB-8 3,461]

1 minute ago, Gibster said:

It premiers tonight?

It should be over by now.

[Marian Schedenig 8,173]

39 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Really? You're opposed to dancing?

 

At least to my own dancing. And to all these remnants of aristocratic superiority culture.

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

Then you should join the dance as a middle class worker.

[Tom 4,639]

39 minutes ago, BB-8 said:

It should be over by now.

I thought it was alright.  I could have done without Tony Dorsett talking over the whole thing.  

[DangerMotif 1,037]

I assume we'll have footage of it?

[King Mark 3,625]

34 minutes ago, Gibster said:

I assume we'll have footage of it?

[Bayesian 1,359]

7 hours ago, BB-8 said:

Stories • Instagram

 

Why does the date say Jan 21 if it premiered today??

[DangerMotif 1,037]

1 minute ago, Bayesian said:

Why does the date say Jan 21 if it premiered today??

It also says 2021

[Bayesian 1,359]

4 minutes ago, Gibster said:

It also says 2021

Oh right, good catch.

 

I got so tripped up by the first 21, I must have overlooked the second one. 

 

OK, so now we can double down on the question, what's with the date??

[Ricard 2,242]

45 minutes ago, Bayesian said:

 

OK, so now we can double down on the question, what's with the date??

 

The 80th edition of the ball was supposed to take place on that date, but it didn't happen.

[Matthias 267]

Here's a little snippet from the rehearsal that was included in Austrian TV news.

 

https://clipchamp.com/watch/vkhmvU3xUHk

 

Maybe we'll get something more complete from the ball itself tomorrow. A recording would be nice, though. (maybe in conjunction with his entire 2nd Vienna concert?)

[BB-8 3,461]

Wait a sec, I see Mittermayr on timps and some other arms moving air.

 

EDIT:

Just a look-alike. There are two bald heads showing here.

Screenshot from VPO's Instagram

[King Mark 3,625]

Holy shit, that little bit sounded really cool . Sounds like I predicted .

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

Now we almost have it!

[BB-8 3,461]

1 hour ago, Joni Wiljami said:

Now we almost have it!

Amazing - already framed!

 

7 hours ago, Ricard said:

 

The 80th edition of the ball was supposed to take place on that date, but it didn't happen.

[Thanks to "that thing" named COVID-19]

.________________________________________________________________________

 

Wiener Philharmoniker (@viennaphilharmonic) • Instagram-Fotos und -Videos

[Matthias 267]

What we can see in the video on the far left of the formation is that JW included a Wagner Tuba and an Althorn (tenor horn) in the score, a nice touch. 

 

Otherwise it probably follows the already lavish instrumentation of the Richard Strauss fanfare. 

2 timpani

2 (normal) tubas

6 trumpets

6 trombones 

6 horns + Wagner tuba + Althorn (8 horns in the RS piece) 

 

Edit: It's a bit difficult to tell exactly which instruments they are, since there's a lot in that horn family that look similar. One's definitely smaller than the other, though. 

[BB-8 3,461]

At least here's the lavish Strauss fanfare, confirming that Nelsons was part of the parade.

 

https://youtu.be/PlUsDPeiGlM?t=184

 

7 hours ago, Matthias said:

Here's a little snippet from the rehearsal that was included in Austrian TV news.

 

https://clipchamp.com/watch/vkhmvU3xUHk

 

Maybe we'll get something more complete from the ball itself tomorrow. A recording would be nice, though. (maybe in conjunction with his entire 2nd Vienna concert?)

Note the red light provided by Emil Berliner Studios in the photo of JW taken March 2022!

[Matthias 267]

Another (tiny) snippet, from Instagram 

 

[BB-8 3,461]

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[alawill75 39]

Sounds great!