"A Gathering of Friends" Williams / Yo Yo Ma album with Pablo Sainz-Villegas & Jessica Zhou

[Amer 2,212]

Ok

[Thor 8,238]

Didn't the New York Times article say that he's working on a new piece for Yo-Yo? Presumably, that would be on there, in addition to the existing pieces.

[Jay 39,241]

This album was already recorded last year

[Thor 8,238]

Oh, OK.

[Jay 39,241]

Pictures from the recording are on the first page of this thread

[Pawel P. 738]

Here we go  

 

 

And the album is called 'A Gathering of Friends'. Release date 20/05/2022

https://www.amazon.co.jp/Gathering-Friends-John-Williams/dp/B09TWRQ6DT

[Nemesis 254]

Wow, beautiful playing by YYM!

[Tom 5,042]

Now that is a full CD.  Great to see Highwood's Ghost.  I wonder if Lincoln/Munich are reworkings for guitar, cello, or both.  

[Jay 39,241]

Nice track list!! 

 

Cello Concerto (2021 Revision)

1 I. Theme & Cadenza

2 II. Blues

3 III. Scherzo

4 IV. Song

 

Three Pieces from Schindler's List

5 I. Theme

6 II. Kraków Ghetto - Winter '41

7 III. Remembrances

 

8 Highwood's Ghost

9 With Malice Toward None from Lincoln

10 A Prayer for Peace from Munich

[Disco Stu 15,501]

It says “2021 revision” for the cello concerto. I wonder how different it is (if at all) from the version recorded by Slatkin 7 or 8 years ago

[Henry Sítrónu 525]

Great, can't wait. The 2001 Yo-Yo Ma album is on of my favourite JW CDs.

[Tom 5,042]

13 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

It says “2021 revision” for the cello concerto. I wonder how different it is (if at all) from the version recorded by Slatkin 7 or 8 years ago

We can be sure he tweaked it until the end, but my guess is not radically so.  I wonder why this concerto in particular has had so many revisions.  By this point, the thing is like the Ship of Theseus.

[Jay 39,241]

[JohnnyD 1,306]

2 hours ago, Pawel P. said:

Here we go  

 

 

And the album is called 'A Gathering of Friends'. Release date 20/05/2022

https://www.amazon.co.jp/Gathering-Friends-John-Williams/dp/B09TWRQ6DT

 

1 hour ago, Jay said:

Nice track list!! 

 

Cello Concerto (2021 Revision)

1 I. Theme & Cadenza

2 II. Blues

3 III. Scherzo

4 IV. Song

Three Pieces from Schindler's List

5 I. Theme

6 II. Kraków Ghetto - Winter '41

7 III. Remembrances

8 Highwood's Ghost

9 With Malice Toward None from Lincoln

10 A Prayer for Peace from Munich

Sweet! I cannot wait to get this!

[igger6 948]

I, for one, find this tracklist a rather crushing disappointment.

[Amer 2,212]

1 hour ago, igger6 said:

I, for one, find this tracklist a rather crushing disappointment.

Any particular music you were hoping for? 

[Holko 10,158]

The cello concerto was already recorded and released with him on their other album, and Schindler is a bit overdone even if cello arrangements will be interesting to hear. Still looking forward to it!

[lairdo 740]

I'll be happy to have Highwood's Ghost as an official audio release to go with my capture from the radio broadcast and the rip off the Bernstein 100 blu-ray.

 

I am so glad they brought Jessica Zhou over to NY to record her part since it was written for her too. A quick search of Presto music only brings up 2 other albums, and neither has her as prominently featured as this. 

 

I agree with the comments on Schindler's List but the playing is so lovely on the first track released today that I don't mind too much.

 

Will be cool to hear Lincoln with the cello prominent. 

[Thor 8,238]

Could also have done without yet another version/recording of the cello concerto and SCHINDLER'S, but I suppose it's something I need to get, if only for "Highwood's Ghost" alone. My John Williams want list of remaining holes is getting up there in size now:

 

Goodbye Mr. Chips (3CD)
Stanley & Iris/Pete'n'Tillie
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (2CD)
Solo (theme)
Live in Vienna (Blu-ray)
Live in Berlin (Blu-ray)
Across the Stars
Violin Concerto No. 2
A Gathering of Friends 

[TownerFan 5,098]

2 hours ago, lairdo said:

I agree with the comments on Schindler's List but the playing is so lovely on the first track released today that I don't mind too much.

 

It's played really beautifully. By the way, creating an arrangement for solo cello of Schindler's List for Yo-Yo Ma was an idea Williams expressed during an interview back in 1994, right after he wrote the Cello Concerto for him. Interestingly, in that interview he also said that he was planning to record his Cello Concerto and the Korngold one with Yo-Yo for the same album.

 

The actual arrangement was done I think in 2001 and it was likely planned as part of the sessions with Ma and the LA studio orchestra for the Sony album released in 2002, but alas it was never recorded (or at least never released). It officially premiered in 2017 in a concert with the Cincinnati Pops conducted by John Morris Russell and then recorded by the LSO for their 2018 album "John Williams - A Life In Music". Hal Leonard also published the sheet music (both for orchestra and the reduction for cello and piano) around the same time.

 

It's interesting that JW went back and re-arranged the whole 3-movement suite for Yo-Yo.

[GerateWohl 4,987]

Is this really going to be released on CD?

On amazon.de it can be pre-ordered as digital and vinyl, but not CD.

 

[Pawel P. 738]

2 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

Is this really going to be released on CD?

On amazon.de it can be pre-ordered as digital and vinyl, but not CD.

 

 

Of course it's going to be released on CD. The vinyl is scheduled for August 19, and the CD for May 20. And it's on Amazon.de, but without the price for now.

 

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B09TWRQ6DT/

[Luke Skywalker 1,933]

So more classical music from Williams not on the Sony boxset...

[Matt S. 583]

6 hours ago, lairdo said:

Will be cool to hear Lincoln with the cello prominent. 

 

Wouldn't this just be the same version from "Spielberg/Williams Vol. III?"

 

3 hours ago, TownerFan said:

and then recorded by the LSO for their 2018 album "John Williams - A Life In Music".

 

Yes but that album only included the Theme, since they packed it so full.  It will be nice to hear the rest of the suite!

 

I would have loved it if they included the cello/orchestra arrangements from Angela's Ashes.  Or even something from Seven Years in Tibet -- I wonder why JW has never gone back to that score?  I've never heard of him ever playing it in concert either (there's nothing on the BSO archive about it).

[Marian Schedenig 8,934]

8 minutes ago, Luke Skywalker said:

So more classical music from Williams not on the Sony boxset...

 

They shouldn't have done more?

[Andy 5,110]

31 minutes ago, Luke Skywalker said:

So more classical music from Williams not on the Sony boxset...

 

This is maybe a dumb question, but for clarification... Johnny's previous contract with SONY was an exclusive thing, but now he is free to appear on the label for releases like this?

[Jay 39,241]

This is a Sony album.  You didn't see the giant logo they put on the cover?

[Disco Stu 15,501]

We're now expecting boxsets to include music not yet released???

[Thor 8,238]

I can't help thinking about this every time I see the title.

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,970]

2 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

We're now expecting boxsets to include music not yet released???

 

Indeed, and preferably also music not recorded.

[Jay 39,241]

Yea we actually have a thread about the 3-piece Schindler's List for Cello

 

https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/27623-new-jw-arrangement-of-schindlers-list-for-cello-and-orchestra/

[Marian Schedenig 8,934]

 

Is Yo-Yo getting tired of the anecdote? 

[MaxTheHouseelf 331]

Do we know in which piece(s) guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas is involved? I'm most interested in hearing this. The pre-release Schindler's List recording sounds very nice, Yo-Yo Ma always produces a fantastic sound, but I'm not particulary excited about it either.

[Jay 39,241]

This is on Amazon US now

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TWRQ6DT

[MaxTheHouseelf 331]

3 minutes ago, Jay said:

This is on Amazon US now

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TWRQ6DT

Quote A Prayer for Peace from Munich - John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, Pablo Sáinz-Villegas

Thanks, so its 'A Prayer for Peace' he's involved in.

 

[Jay 39,241]

On 26/09/2021 at 9:16 PM, Matt S. said:

Can anyone get a hi-res zoom of those pictures so we can read the titles on the sheet music?

 

EDIT: Now that I look very closely, the third pic from the top, with the cello laying on its side, the music clearly has a four-word title, and I'm wondering if it's "With Malice Toward None."  The cello is set up as a soloist, at the front of the orchestra...

In addition, the fourth pic down from the top (with the music showing through the harp) shows a piece with a long title and four movements, the last three having one-word titles.  I'm thinking:

 

"Concerto for Cello and Orchestra"

 

1. Theme and Cadenza

2. Blues

3. Scherzo

4. Song

 

Nailed it on both counts

 

On 26/09/2021 at 11:00 PM, Tom said:

I would love for this to be true, though if so, 50 bucks says he has revised it again.  Getting this piece right for him is like his white whale.  

 

You nailed that too

[Andy 5,110]

34 minutes ago, Jay said:

This is a Sony album.  You didn't see the giant logo they put on the cover?

 

No, I get that.. what I meant was I didn't expect to see any more JW on the Sony label since his contract ended.  Or am I not understanding the contract?

[Luke Skywalker 1,933]

Yeah it seems williams is not exclusive to deutsche grammophone. 

[Jay 39,241]

6 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Is Yo-Yo getting tired of the anecdote? 

 

Haha, looks like it!

[Andy 5,110]

Right, that's sort of what I was getting at.  Seems like he's not exclusive to any label.

[Jay 39,241]

7 minutes ago, Andy said:

No, I get that.. what I meant was I didn't expect to see any more JW on the Sony label since his contract ended.  Or am I not understanding the contract?

 

I don't think anyone on JWFan has ever seen the contract

 

All we can observe is that he released 20 albums mostly with the Boston Pops on Sony from 1990->2001, and then Spielberg Williams III in 2017 and A Gathering of Friends in 2022 each with different orchestras.

[Luke Skywalker 1,933]

1 minute ago, Jay said:

 

I don't think anyone on JWFan has ever seen the contract

 

All we can observe is that he released 20 albums on Sony from 1990->2001, and then Spielberg Williams 3 in 2017 and A Gathering of Friends in 2022.

Many osts from the 2000s were sony too: star wars, geisha, Tintin.. So unless the film company had an exclusive label, sony released the osts. 

[Andy 5,110]

Ah I see.  You know, honestly I think I was confusing Sony's hold on the SW music with JW's contract.  Thanks for clarifying and putting up with my damaged brain.

[Jay 39,241]

2 minutes ago, Luke Skywalker said:

Many osts from the 2000s were sony too: star wars, geisha, Tintin.. So unless the film company had an exclusive label, sony released the osts. 

 

I doubt official score albums being on Sony Music had anything to do with his Boston Pops re-recording contract, other than the fact that Sony could mix them together for compilations like Greatest Hits 1969-2019 and the 80th birthday CD

[Sunshine Reger 3,584]

39 minutes ago, Thor said:

I can't help thinking about this every time I see the title.

 

 

[Jay 39,241]

Whatever that video is supposed to be doesn't show for us in America

[Disco Stu 15,501]

Should be noted that Sony Classical is Yo-Yo Ma's label and has been for decades

[Luke Skywalker 1,933]

50 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

I doubt official score albums being on Sony Music had anything to do with his Boston Pops re-recording contract, other than the fact that Sony could mix them together for compilations like Greatest Hits 1969-1999 and the 80th birthday CD

I dont know but giacchino switched from varese to sony so there is a contract there regarding osts. I thi k that williams had a contract with sony for the classical side, and some of his osts being sony too he probanly had a contract too because he already knew them. So as not entangle himself signing contracts with other labels. 

[Matt S. 583]

I would think the OST contracts had more to do with the film studios, who actually own the music, rather than Williams himself.  But I could certainly be wrong about that.

[bespinGPT 8,680]

Wow all these live concerts and new albums, JW gives us so many gifts!