United States Williams: Cleveland Orchestra / John Williams (conductor). Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, Cleveland, 13.11.2022. (MSJ)
John Williams – ‘Olympic Fanfare and Theme’; Suite from Far and Away; Selections from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Born on the Fourth of July, E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, Superman, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones 5, Adventures of Tintin, Sabrina, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: A New Hope
There was a time not so long ago when classical music snobs would have been very arch in naming their list of top orchestral composers of our lifetime. Some would argue for a traditional modernist like Pierre Boulez or a popular post-minimalist like John Adams. Others might argue for a stylistic polyglot like Esa-Pekka Salonen or a severe mystic like Arvo Pärt. One could point out the number of performances of a Philip Glass or a Mason Bates work. But if I had to cite evidence of an orchestral composer who has resonated in more people’s lives than any other, I would point to the instant cheering and standing ovation that greeted John Williams when he stepped onto the stage of Mandel Concert Hall this week to conduct the Cleveland Orchestra.
At age 90, Williams has a lifetime of work behind him scoring films, writing concert works, conducting and arranging. The gatekeepers used to decry his music as derivative of Richard Strauss, Mahler, Korngold, Copland and Prokofiev, and they sniffed that he was a composer of manipulative clichés, an assembler of workaday background music. Is there derivation in Williams’ work? Are clichés used? Damned right there is, and there are, because he knows what works. John Williams is a consummate craftsman who gets the job of illustrating movie scenes done in a classy, effective way that still leaves room for inspiration. Best of all, Williams is free of pretense, admitting that he backed his way into a career scoring films by starting as a musician in scoring ensembles, and then simply staying around to help arrange material as needed. His role kept expanding until he became the premier scorer of the late-twentieth and early-twenty-first centuries, one very aware of the giants’ shoulders upon which he stands.
The Cleveland Orchestra has often played Williams’ music before, but this concert was the first time that he conducted the ensemble, and it was an occasion to treasure. The composer crafted a selection of excerpts from his film scores that demonstrated both his range and his strengths. The only non-film work was the opening ‘Olympic Fanfare and Theme’, though a number of the featured scores were less familiar. One was the atmospheric Far and Away suite, which drew upon Irish music gestures alternating lively and moody moments. ‘The Duel’ from Adventures of Tintin proved to be a swashbuckling scherzo.
In his comments to the audience, Williams admitted that his title music from Born on the Fourth of July was not played often, but he said that he had two reasons for programming it: one was simply that he wanted to hear the Cleveland Orchestra play the piece, and the second was that it contains a prominent trumpet solo which would be played by the orchestra’s outstanding principal trumpet, Michael Sachs. Williams wrote a trumpet concerto for Sachs which is about due for a revival. Sachs lent his rich, soulful sound to the solo in this piece, a dark and brooding work.
First associate concertmaster Peter Otto has soloed in Williams’ music before, playing the theme from Schindler’s List. On this occasion, he was featured in the theme to the 1995 romantic comedy Sabrina, demonstrating lyrical warmth and flair. The strings were given ample opportunity to shine in ‘Helena’s Theme’, a selection from the music Williams recently completed for Indiana Jones 5, which will be released next year. The theme was an outstanding demonstration of Williams’ skill at writing wistfully yearning, lyrical music.
More familiar and beloved fare was plentiful, including ‘Hedwig’s Theme’ from the Harry Potter films. It was a joy to hear how gently and intently the Cleveland Orchestra treated this music. No offense to the original orchestras that played on the soundtracks, but this orchestra cradled Williams’ music in warmth, with a rich sound that was little short of magical.
It was charming to see many long-time players clearly having the time of their lives with this concert. The orchestra’s willingness to step up allowed the aged composer to direct with simple flicks of the baton. He pointed them in the right direction and then got out of the way, allowing the players to soar. Each time the music had to shift in a new direction, Williams was unfailingly there to steer them.
A group of excerpts from the Star Wars movies brought the official concert to a close but, unsurprisingly, the audience wasn’t about to let Williams go. Continuing ovations – with the orchestra more than once refusing to stand, forcing Williams to take solo bows – drew multiple encores. First was the musing and quirky ‘Yoda’s Theme’ from The Empire Strikes Back, and then the main title sequence from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Finally, the expected encore came, to an explosive round of cheers (with one audience member leaping into the air in excitement), when the orchestra tore into the ‘Imperial March’ from Star Wars.
After that, Williams took up the microphone once more and said, ‘You’ve all been so nice to me, I might have to live to be a hundred!’ When the ovation threatened to keep going interminably, he finally folded his hands and laid his head on them to indicate he was tired and was going to leave now. It was both historic and beautiful to see audience members so enthused about this man and the music he has written, which has been the soundtrack not merely to many movies, but to many of our very lives. Not bad for a composer disrespected by snobs who once pushed music that now sits around, gathering dust.
At the end of the day, there is only this: Life is hard. If something moves your heart, even the movie music of John Williams, grab it and hold it close. It matters.
Mark Sebastian Jordan