Martin Grubinger's 'John Williams: The Special Edition' - New arrangements for percussion and orchestra performed by the Berlin Philharmonic

[Jurassic Shark 12,054]

First Grubinger, and soon JW. Looks like anybody may get a go with them.

[Jay 37,346]

I just finished listening to this.  I really, really did not like it.

 

It's just various bits of his most popular scores, seemingly randomly strung together, sometimes extended with...... weird percussion-based bridges.  None of it was particularly interesting or groovy, it was all just... weird.

The Olympic Fanfare at the end sounded great though

[aj_vader 534]

I've never heard the Berlin Philharmonic play The Imperial March, so I was very excited when I heard the first few notes... but then... It's just awful. Trying to push Williams' music into a space it really doesn't belong. It's that bad I can't believe the Berlin Philharmonic did that. 

[BrotherSound 2,242]

On 6/29/2021 at 5:47 AM, carlborg said:

 

Um…ok.
 

Why didn’t he just bring along a sax player and do ‘Escapades’? That’s a much more impressive showcase for a solo percussionist than this.

 

I do hope JW will get around to a proper percussion concerto at some point. There’s not a lot of classics in that category, and he’s got a better shot than anyone I could think of to potentially write one.

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

Williams gets a mention in this (German language) article about Grub(l)inger's retirement:

https://salzburg.orf.at/stories/3208485/

 

Quote

Der Schlagwerker moderierte die Wiener Festwochen und regelmäßig eine bayrische Kultur-Sendung. Er war Gast beim Bundespräsidenten. Friedrich Cerha komponierte für ihn. Und der mehrfache Oscarpreisträger John Williams aus den USA schwärmte über Grubingers Künste.

 

ChatGPT's translation (because I'm lazy):

Quote

The percussionist moderated the Vienna Festival Weeks and regularly hosted a Bavarian cultural program. He was a guest at the Federal President's. Friedrich Cerha composed for him. And the multiple Oscar winner John Williams from the USA raved about Grubinger's skills.

 

[alawill75 39]

On 04/01/2019 at 3:52 PM, Josh500 said:

Source?

 

As Grubinger ended his career this year, I think it's rather safe to say that there won't be a "Percussion Concerto" from JW... And it's also safe to reveal Martin Grubinger as the "secret source".

 

Since the concert did not take place in Vienna, it was rescheduled for a premiere at the "Waldbuehne" with Berlin Philharmonic.

 

Be that as it may: unfortunately I don't know why it didn't come to a performance in the end.

[Thor 7,493]

4 minutes ago, alawill75 said:

As Grubinger ended his career this year, I think it's rather safe to say that there won't be a "Percussion Concerto" from JW...

 

Perhaps not for Grubinger, but we can hope for someone else down the line. I'd love to hear a JW percussion concerto, regardless who the percussionist is.