John Williams: Treesong

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Though best known for his film scores, John Williams also has to his credit numerous orchestral works and concertos for string and wind instruments, which were often tailored to specific players. One of these is TreeSong, composed and premiered in 2000 by its dedicatee, the splendid violinist Gil Shaham. Clearly written to his strengths, it exploits Shaham's brilliant technique with two cadenzas and lots of fast passages, which display his sumptuous, beautiful tone in warm, singing melodies and its silvery radiance in long stretches in the highest register. The piece begins and ends in dreamy languor. It is full of sound effects, but despite an explanatory note by the composer, its connection to the ancient tree that inspired it is not perceptible to the naked ear. The orchestrations are inventive and colorful, and both here and in the Concerto, written in 1974 and revised in 1998, there are substantial, massive orchestral interludes, while the solo passages are carefully scored for maximal transparency. The Concerto is somewhat reminiscent of Prokofiev, especially in the angularity of the fast sections and the shimmering stratospheric ones. It is dedicated to Williams's late wife, but only the end of the slow movement has an elegiac air, then the orchestra leads into the Finale with all stops out. The Three Pieces from Schindler's List are well known. Shaham, though he slides a lot in keeping with the style and quasi-Jewish idiom, plays them with great feeling but so much nobility that the lamentatiousness never becomes cheap or sentimental. --Edith Eisler

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There's a strangely reluctant lyricism within both John Towner Williams's Treesong and the Violin Concerto. Robert Kirzinger's interesting notes speak of a 'singing quality' and a 'lyrical energy', and one sees what he means, but there is, I feel, an undertow of darkness which, in conjunction with the frequent changes of mood, means that the music does not on first acquaintance strike one as being quite so shiningly song-like as might be expected from this composer. Both works are, in fact,... read more

John Williams: Treesong

Tracks:

TreeSong: Dreamly. 'Doctor Hu And The Metasequoia'
TreeSong: Dreamly. Twice As Fast - Deciso. 'Trunks, Branches And Leaves'
TreeSong: Dreamly. Tempo Primo. 'The Tree Song'
Con: Moderato
Con: Slowly (In Peaceful Comtemplation)
Con: Broadly (Maestoso) - Quickly
Three Pieces From 'Schindler's List': Theme. Lente
Three Pieces From 'Schindler's List': Jewish Town (Krakow Ghetto - Winter '41). Andante
Three Pieces From 'Schindler's List': Remembrances. Andante

Amazon.com

Though best known for his film scores, John Williams also has to his credit numerous orchestral works and concertos for string and wind instruments, which were often tailored to specific players. One of these is TreeSong, composed and premiered in 2000 by its dedicatee, the splendid violinist Gil Shaham. Clearly written to his strengths, it exploits Shaham's brilliant technique with two cadenzas and lots of fast passages, which display his sumptuous, beautiful tone in warm, singing melodies and its silvery radiance in long stretches in the highest register. The piece begins and ends in dreamy languor. It is full of sound effects, but despite an explanatory note by the composer, its connection to the ancient tree that inspired it is not perceptible to the naked ear. The orchestrations are inventive and colorful, and both here and in the Concerto, written in 1974 and revised in 1998, there are substantial, massive orchestral interludes, while the solo passages are carefully scored for maximal transparency. The Concerto is somewhat reminiscent of Prokofiev, especially in the angularity of the fast sections and the shimmering stratospheric ones. It is dedicated to Williams's late wife, but only the end of the slow movement has an elegiac air, then the orchestra leads into the Finale with all stops out. The Three Pieces from Schindler's List are well known. Shaham, though he slides a lot in keeping with the style and quasi-Jewish idiom, plays them with great feeling but so much nobility that the lamentatiousness never becomes cheap or sentimental. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

It's not supposed to sound like Star Wars.......2005-02-28

If you're not familiar with any of John Williams' concert music, may the listener beware. It sounds nothing like his film scores. It is dissonant, and often difficult to listen to. But it is usually a rewarding experience. What it lacks in melodic themes, it makes up for in colorful orchestations and moments of striking beauty. The third movement of Treesong is a good example of this. It begins on a note that seems out of place, but eventually resolves.
Not everything can or should sound like Star Wars. Film music, by its very nature requires a differnet kind of writing. There is certainly room for Williams to write concert music in a modernistic style that departs from the Wagnerian influence of his movie scores. Oh well. If you prefer his soundtracks check out Close Encounters of the Third Kind; now thats pretty modern!

Shaham's Playing is Fine, But...........2002-12-30

Diehard fans of John Williams's music will certainly want to acquire this CD, but fans of Gil Shaham's playing may not be disappointed either. Shaham's performances demonstrate much of the passionate lyricism I've heard from him elsewhere, shown to good effect in these three John Williams pieces. Unfortunately, the most successful is the concert suite from the "Schindler's List" score; the other works sound more like ill-fated efforts at conjuring Webern's, Schoenberg's, or even Boulez's music, than significant violin works belonging to the current modern musical canon. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is in fine form too, especially in the "Schindler's List" suite.

weak music, for the most part.......2002-04-05

...this CD is simply not very good music. I have the utmost respect for Williams' film scores (regardless of perhaps legitimate claims that much of his themes and motifs fall just short of plagiarism of earlier music). But he seems to have saved ideas from the bottom of the barrel for his concertpieces. This is not the Korngold Concerto, in which a beloved film composer has written an excellent work in sweeping, cinematic style. Williams' violin concerto drags on interminably, with little of any real interest contained within. Treesong is somewhat better, largely due to the more interesting orchestrational color, but the work is still not on par with Williams' film music. Shaham's always-fine playing is the only thing that makes either piece bearable. The addition of music from Schindler's List, one of Williams' best scores, is helpful, but too little too late. Skip this disc (and his equally dreary Five Sacred Trees). Buy the Star Wars soundtrack. You can't go wrong there.

Film = Modern Opera.......2002-02-24

Think about it Jose, film is our modern-day opera. Opera was "pop music" 1-2 hundred years ago. People say we have no major modern classical composers...in fact the MEDIUM has changed.

Unique Sound Worlds.......2001-11-21

As a life-long fan of Williams' film music, I have only recently discovered his more "serious" pieces. Like many versatile composers before him (think Korngold, Waxman, etc.), Williams is able to function in both worlds, writing rousing, effective scores and introspective, yet extremely dynamic works for concerto and orchestra. Treesong, in particular, is a masterful evocation of the wonders of nature, though many might not find any obvious signs of "nature" in the music. Williams chooses to evoke an altogether different environment, relying less on derivative new-agey techniques than the musings of a solo instrument as it encounters a strange and fantastic realm of "trunks, branches, and leaves." The sound world Williams conjures up is completely original in my mind and bears his distinctive stamp (as does his other piece for trees, Five Sacred Trees). The earlier Violin Concerto is from the same stylistic world, yet seems to probe deeper into personal emotions, with a profoundly melodic core. While Bartok's Violin Concerto can be seen behind it, it, too, is an extremely unique piece and only grows with repeated listenings. The addition of three pieces from Schindler's List was charming and highly appropriate, especially as a means of showing of Gil Shaham's talent.
In short, a wonderful disc that does justice to the seemingly inexaustible talents of John Williams, one of our most brilliant and remarkable composers. 5 stars.

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