The Music of America: John Williams

( 1 )

Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide - James Manheim
Each release in Sony's budget Music of America series offers three discs, devoted to the music of a single composer, accompanied by a brief booklet essay and some vintage photos. Most of the releases seem designed to provide one more go-round for the classics of the Columbia catalog from the 1950s and 1960s, by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the like. This selection of music by John Williams is a little different, and it's interesting purely in terms of how sharply Williams' reputation has risen since 1990, the year of the earliest recordings on the set. These come from the Boston Pops and, in the case of the music from Star Wars, the so-called Skywalker Symphony...
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Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide - James Manheim
Each release in Sony's budget Music of America series offers three discs, devoted to the music of a single composer, accompanied by a brief booklet essay and some vintage photos. Most of the releases seem designed to provide one more go-round for the classics of the Columbia catalog from the 1950s and 1960s, by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the like. This selection of music by John Williams is a little different, and it's interesting purely in terms of how sharply Williams' reputation has risen since 1990, the year of the earliest recordings on the set. These come from the Boston Pops and, in the case of the music from Star Wars, the so-called Skywalker Symphony Orchestra from George Lucas' Skywalker Studios in California. The most recent recording is of "Air and Simple Gifts," composed for the inauguration of President Barack Obama in January 2009 and recorded at that time by Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Gabriela Montero, and Anthony McGill. That work is reasonably well-known simply because of the prominent perch from which it made its debut, and the film scores certainly qualify as American classics, but it's a different story with the concert pieces on most of the first disc and part of the second. Most of these come from commissions from major symphony orchestras, who have given them their first performances and recordings, but few have entered the repertory. It's convenient, as Williams gains more general recognition, to have a collection of these in one place. One might argue that it is program and incidental music, in the most general senses of these terms, that fire the composer's imagination, but also that pieces like the bassoon concerto "The Five Sacred Trees" are worthy of more general recognition. At any rate, the balance between familiar material and novelties has been one of the strengths of Sony's series, and it's especially valuable here.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 6/8/2010
  • Label: Masterworks
  • UPC: 886977063626
  • Catalog Number: 770636
  • Sales rank: 17,580

Tracks

Disc 1
  1. 1 Air and Simple Gifts, for cello, clarinet, piano & violin - John Williams [composer] & Itzhak Perlman (4:33)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
  2. 2 American Journey, suite for orchestra: 1. Immigration and Building - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (5:37)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Los Angeles Recording Arts Orchestra
  3. 3 American Journey, suite for orchestra: 2. The Country at War - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (3:22)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Los Angeles Recording Arts Orchestra
  4. 4 American Journey, suite for orchestra: 3. Popular Entertainment - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (2:29)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Los Angeles Recording Arts Orchestra
  5. 5 American Journey, suite for orchestra: 4. Arts and Sports - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (2:37)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Los Angeles Recording Arts Orchestra
  6. 6 American Journey, suite for orchestra: 5. Civil Rights and the Women's Movement - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (3:26)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Los Angeles Recording Arts Orchestra
  7. 7 American Journey, suite for orchestra: 6. Flight and Technology - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (7:10)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Los Angeles Recording Arts Orchestra
  8. 8 Memoirs of a Geisha, film score: Sayuri's Theme - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (4:39)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Chicago Symphony Orchestra
  9. 9 Memoirs of a Geisha, film score: Going to School - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (4:16)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Chicago Symphony Orchestra
  10. 10 Memoirs of a Geisha, film score: The Chairman's Waltz - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (4:57)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Chicago Symphony Orchestra
  11. 11 Memoirs of a Geisha, film score: Brush on Silk - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (4:22)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Chicago Symphony Orchestra
  12. 12 Memoirs of a Geisha, film score: Chiyo's Prayer - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (5:28)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Chicago Symphony Orchestra
  13. 13 Memoirs of a Geisha, film score: Becoming a Geisha - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (5:05)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Chicago Symphony Orchestra
  14. 14 Song for World Peace, for orchestra - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (4:41)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Los Angeles Recording Arts Orchestra
Disc 2
  1. 1 Summon the Heroes, for orchestra - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (6:18)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Boston Pops Orchestra
  2. 2 A Hymn to New England, for orchestra - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (3:12)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Utah Symphony Orchestra
  3. 3–7 The Five Sacred Trees, concerto for bassoon & orchestra - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (25:36)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], London Symphony Orchestra
    1. 3 Eó Mugna
    2. 4 Tortan
    3. 5 Eó Rossa
    4. 6 Craeb Uisnig
    5. 7 Dathi
  4. 8 Sound the Bells!, fanfare for brass & percussion (or orchestra) - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (2:49)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Los Angeles Recording Arts Orchestra
  5. 9 Elegy for cello & orchestra - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (6:20)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Los Angeles Recording Arts Orchestra
  6. 10 Mission Theme for orchestra (Theme for NBC News) - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (3:31)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Los Angeles Recording Arts Orchestra
  7. 11 1941, film score: March - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (4:14)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Boston Pops Orchestra
  8. 12 Olympic Spirit, for orchestra - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (4:06)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Boston Pops Orchestra
Disc 3
  1. 1 Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope, film score: Main Title - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (5:45)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], London Symphony Orchestra
  2. 2 Jaws, film score: Theme - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (2:53)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], London Symphony Orchestra
  3. 3 Sugarland Express, film score: Theme - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (3:38)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Boston Pops Orchestra
  4. 4 E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, film score: Flying Theme - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (3:42)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], London Symphony Orchestra
  5. 5 Born on the Fourth of July, film score: Theme from Born on the Fourth of July - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (6:20)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Boston Pops Orchestra
  6. 6 Born on the Fourth of July, film score: Cua Viet River, Vietnam 1968 - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (3:33)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Boston Pops Orchestra
  7. 7 Born on the Fourth of July, film score: Massapequa ... The Early Days - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (4:08)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Boston Pops Orchestra
  8. 8 Schindler's List, film score: Theme - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (3:34)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
  9. 9 Jurassic Park, film score: Theme - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (5:32)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Boston Pops Orchestra
  10. 10 Empire of the Sun, film score: Cadillac of the Skies - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (5:01)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Boston Pops Orchestra, James H. Litton
  11. 11 Raiders of the Lost Ark, film score: Raiders March - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (5:13)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Boston Pops Orchestra
  12. 12 Close Encounters of the Third Kind, film score: Excerpts - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (9:47)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Boston Pops Orchestra
  13. 13 Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope, film score: Throne Room / Finale - John Williams [composer] & John Williams [composer] (7:57)
    Composed byJohn Williams [composer]
    Conducted byJohn Williams [composer]
    Performed byJohn Williams [composer], Skywalker Symphony Orchestra
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Sort by: Showing 1 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Excellent Synopsis of Williams's Career

    While this compliation contains previously released pieces, it is a definitive overview of Williams's career. Moreover, it contains some pieces that are not available economically elsewhere, particularly the Memoirs of a Geisha Suite for Cello and Orchestra featuring Yo Yo Ma. This suite alone is worth the purchase price. It combines the best of Williams's approaches to composing concert works and film scores. The result is a veritable cello concerto that ranks, in my opinion, among the top twenty extended pieces ever composed for the cello. The inclusion of Five Sacred Trees lends additional gravitas to the collection and the selection of film and ceremonial works is very well done.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Sort by: Showing 1 Customer Reviews