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


Miguel Andrade

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Cool.  I was hoping for such a confirmation.  And the processional--well that could be a dream come true.  He will dig down deep for that one.  

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Well, that is quite an honor.  The traditionalist in me does not like to see such pieces with their own rich histories replaced (even if by Williams), but such is life. 

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8 hours ago, Tom said:

Well, that is quite an honor.  The traditionalist in me does not like to see such pieces with their own rich histories replaced (even if by Williams), but such is life. 

I doubt that the piece will permanently be replaced. The VPO is way too proud of its tradition for that to happen. But I think we may very well get to see JW conduct at the annual Vienna Philharmonic ball sometime. 😃 (don't know whether there will even be a ball in February of next year) 

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1 hour ago, Tom said:

Crazy to think the Strauss piece was written less than 10 years before Williams was born.

 

Well, Strauss's Vier letzte Lieder were written just 11 years before Williams wrote Daddy-O.

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Williams life really does stretch back to a whole different era in music and history.  I just looked up who was president when he was born--Herbert Hoover, who in turn was born less than 10 years after Lincoln was assassinated.  Not sure why I find that noteworthy, but there you go.  

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Given that Williams loves writing for particular strengths of a given orchestra and acoustics of the hall, can you imagine the writing for the Vienna horns?  And the nature of the piece calls for it to begin with.  I am looking forward to the violin concerto, but this little piece excites me a bit more.  

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On 7/3/2020 at 11:14 AM, Tom said:

Williams life really does stretch back to a whole different era in music and history.  I just looked up who was president when he was born--Herbert Hoover, who in turn was born less than 10 years after Lincoln was assassinated.  Not sure why I find that noteworthy, but there you go.  

 

And Williams was born less than 6 years after Lincoln's son Robert died, who was 22 when Lincoln was assassinated and was at his deathbed in the Petersen House.

 

Incidentally, Robert was an eyewitness to President Garfield's assassination in 1881, and just outside the building where President McKinley was assassinated in 1901.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/30/2020 at 9:17 PM, Fabulin said:

He also said that he has just finished working on the Violin Concerto!

 

This is amazing news! More concert works by Williams! More recordings of concert works by Williams!

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  • 1 month later...

I wonder if we will hear from that Liebknecht dude that Williams replaced Richard Strauss by ripping off Richard Strauss

 

Anyway, a collegial orchestra asking a guest to write them a new signature piece is just such a charming way to say thank you :)

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  • 2 months later...
  • 9 months later...

Quoting some relevant information from another thread, to get it into this thread

 

Earlier, this thread states:

 

On 6/30/2020 at 9:16 PM, Miguel Andrade said:

In his conversation with Dudamel at KUSC, Williams just mentioned that he was asked to write a processional for the Vienna Philharmonic annual ball.

He also confirmed that the idea is to premiere the new Violin Concerto at Tanglewood, Summer 21, covid allowing.

 

But the update from another thread is:

 

On 3/26/2021 at 10:49 AM, TownerFan said:

The processional for the Vienna Philharmonic Ball was actually supposed to premiere in January 2021, but the ball was canceled because of the pandemic, so it's supposedly being premiered next year in Vienna.

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  • 3 months later...

The famous Wiener Opernball, which usually takes place in February, has recently been cancelled again for 2022 due to the pandemic. I expect chances are the same thing may happen to the Philharmoniker's ball. We might have to wait another year for the fanfare.

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  • 11 months later...
On 12/11/2022 at 2:31 PM, Pawel P. said:

80th Vienna Philharmonic Ball is on January 19th.  So we have just over 2 months left to the premiere of the new Williams' composition. :) I really hope that my theory that Maestro recorded it in Vienna in March this year in Musikverein, during rehearsals for concerts, will be confirmed and that composition will be included in the planned Vienna II album.

 

And if it doesn't, hopefully it'll be released in near future on another album.

 

https://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/en/vienna-philharmonic-ball/2023

 

2 x NN...?

 

Andris Nelsons will be with the VPO in January 2023 so a likely conductor at the ball.

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  • 2 weeks later...

80. Ball der Wiener Philharmoniker

Feierliche Eröffnung: Wiener Philharmoniker
Dirigent: Andris Nelsons

80. Ball der Wiener Philharmoniker - Wiener Philharmoniker

 

 

John Williams, Andris Nelsons and Seiji Ozawa meet backstage at Boston's Symphony Hall in November 2015. (Courtesy Michael Blanchard)

Longtime BSO Maestro Seiji Ozawa's Winding Road To Stardom In Japan | WBUR News

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6 hours ago, Tom said:

Do we have any official confirmation that the new Williams's piece is premiering at the ball in January?

 

None that I know of, but as far as I remember, the piece was expressly commissioned as an opening fanfare for the annual ball, and this is the first time the ball actually takes place since it was composed, so it seems quite certain that it should premiere there.

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12 hours ago, crumbs said:

Is it possible Williams could make a surprise appearance at the ball in January to conduct the piece?

 

Possible? Certainly. I estimate the likelihood to be about 0.001%.

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So it's been ready since June last year. That's nice. Hopefully, we'll be able to hear it somehow, so that it doesn't become another "A Toast!", which was unheard for years. 

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3 hours ago, crumbs said:

 

And for those who can't read German:

 

Even the start of the ball has everything this time to go down in history. For the arrival of the guests, the Vienna Philharmonic 2023 have a surprise ready, which can without exaggeration be booked as a sensation. John Williams wrote a fanfare for it.

 

Almost a hundred years after the first performance of Richard Strauss' Philharmonic Fanfare in 1924, at the first ball of the Vienna Philharmonic, the sonorous signet has a pendant, written by the most famous composer of contemporary music.

 

After the concerts that John Williams gave together with the Philharmoniker, the orchestra board launched the idea. And the much sought-after gladly accepted. As early as June 2020, Williams sent his, as he put it, "little experiment". After all, according to the composer modestly in the accompanying letter to the Vienna Philharmonic, who could shake hands with Richard Strauss?

 

Both fanfares will be heard at the 80th Philharmonic Ball: that of Richard Strauss, without which the ball would simply be unthinkable, and the new one by John Williams.

 

I was just reading this in the hard copy of the Musikfreunde mag that arrived today!

20230104_170358.jpg

20230104_170032.jpg

 

 

Does anyone know whether the show will be broadcast or streamed?

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