Piano sonata

[Feto 0]

There is a 1951 work by John Williams called Piano Sonata, but I don't see any sheet music or recording anywhere in the Internet.  Will Mr. Williams be making his early works available for those of us who wish to know him better through his evolution?

[pete 907]

I doubt we'll ever hear this one. He was 19 when he wrote it. I think it's just too far in the past for Williams to consider it for release, and I believe it was a student piece - something perhaps akin to a homework assignment. I'm certainly with you in being curious about it, and would love to hear it. He did mention it in a recent interview, so he hasn't totally forgotten it. 

 

I wonder if Williams has it in his personal library? Anyone know?

[karelm 2,913]

I think it would be part of the Juilliard collection.  All his music, including sketches, will reside there after he's gone.  The press release said:  "The Juilliard School announced today that it has received a bequest from Academy Award-winning composer and conductor John Williams of his complete library of concert music and film music scores as well as his sketchbooks."  A bequest is a gift made as part of a will, so this will happen after he died.  This would probably include incomplete works and sketches, anything that survives.  We'll likely find lots of abandoned works some nearly complete and some only tantalizing clues of what might have been.  

[michael_grig 472]

1 hour ago, karelm said:

I think it would be part of the Juilliard collection.  All his music, including sketches, will reside there after he's gone.  The press release said:  "The Juilliard School announced today that it has received a bequest from Academy Award-winning composer and conductor John Williams of his complete library of concert music and film music scores as well as his sketchbooks."  A bequest is a gift made as part of a will, so this will happen after he died.  This would probably include incomplete works and sketches, anything that survives.  We'll likely find lots of abandoned works some nearly complete and some only tantalizing clues of what might have been.  

This will be one of the most important resources for the research of composers ever (also film music in particular, of course).

I hope so much that this will all be digitized and become publicly available.

If not, I will pursue an academic career specifically for this and hope to be able to study it this way!