I just read that Air and Simple Gifts has been published. This is the chamber ensemble piece composed by John Williams for the 2009 Presidential Inauguration. It was "performed" by Yo-Yo Ma and company, miming the piece while the crowd heard a pre-recorded track. This actually made a lot of sense, as it was 15 degrees in Washington DC that day, and there was no way those acoustic instruments would be able to stay in tune. You can read my previous blog about it here.
When I first heard it, I thought it was a lovely bit of Americana, and I still do. If you would like to see a sample of the score or purchase the work, it is available here (click on "Closer Look.") You can also purchase the original track on iTunes or listen to it below, courtesy of Lala.com. And finally, if you'd like to see one musicologist's opinion about the political ramifications of performing the piece, check out the Dial M for Musicology blog. It's an interesting entry, albeit from a decidedly liberal stance.
Showing posts with label John Williams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Williams. Show all posts
Friday, September 4, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Inaugural Chamber Music
If you missed hearing the lovely piece John Williams wrote for the presidential inauguration, you can hear it here. It's posted on one of my favorite blogs, The Rest Is Noise. The blogger is Alex Ross, NY Times classical music critic and author of a wonderful book by the same name about music in the 20th century.
The piece, Air on Simple Gifts, is based on an old Shaker song that was also used by Aaron Copland in his ballet, Appalachian Spring. The instrumentation of violin, clarinet, cello, and piano was used most famously by French composer Olivier Messaien for Quatour pour le fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time) which he wrote while in a German POW camp during WWII. He used the instrumentation because those were the musicians he had as fellow prisoners.
Williams' arrangement was, in my opinion, a wonderful addition to the ceremony. The many faces of America were represented by the performers: Itzhak Perlman, a white, Jewish, differently-abled senior citizen; Yo Yo Ma, a middle aged Asian man; Anthony McGill, a young African-American; and Gabriela Montero, a young Latina. What a wonderful tribute to American diversity!
If you get a chance, listen to the piece and post your own comments below.
Update: It turns out that the music heard live over the speakers and on television was a recording the musicians made earlier. They were playing the piece live on the stage along with the recording, but because of the sub-freezing temperatures, they did not want to risk breaking a string and ruining such a solemn occasion. Those people who were close enough to the musicians heard both the live and recorded versions, but the rest of us only heard the recording. Read the details here.
The piece, Air on Simple Gifts, is based on an old Shaker song that was also used by Aaron Copland in his ballet, Appalachian Spring. The instrumentation of violin, clarinet, cello, and piano was used most famously by French composer Olivier Messaien for Quatour pour le fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time) which he wrote while in a German POW camp during WWII. He used the instrumentation because those were the musicians he had as fellow prisoners.
Williams' arrangement was, in my opinion, a wonderful addition to the ceremony. The many faces of America were represented by the performers: Itzhak Perlman, a white, Jewish, differently-abled senior citizen; Yo Yo Ma, a middle aged Asian man; Anthony McGill, a young African-American; and Gabriela Montero, a young Latina. What a wonderful tribute to American diversity!
If you get a chance, listen to the piece and post your own comments below.
Update: It turns out that the music heard live over the speakers and on television was a recording the musicians made earlier. They were playing the piece live on the stage along with the recording, but because of the sub-freezing temperatures, they did not want to risk breaking a string and ruining such a solemn occasion. Those people who were close enough to the musicians heard both the live and recorded versions, but the rest of us only heard the recording. Read the details here.
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