Download JOHN WILLIAMS

55th Dubrovnik Summer Festival
2004
Croatia
JOHN WILLIAMS
guitar
Rector's Palace Atrium
3 August
9.30 pm
Agustin Barríos Mangoré: LA CATEDRAL
Trad. 16th century: THREE DANCES
Peter Sculthorpe: DJILILE
Isaac Albéniz: CORDOBA
Carlo Domeniconi: KOYUNBABA
***
Ignacio “Indio” Figueredo: PASAJE “Los Caujaritos”
Benito Canonico: EL TOTUMO
Antonio Carillo: COMO LLORA UN ESTRELLA
Pedro Lopez: LOS PERDICES
Ovelio Riera: NO ME OLVIDES
Antonio Lauro: ANGOSTURA
Heraclio Fernandez: EL DIABLO SUELTO (Valse)
Vicente Emilio Sojo: SALVE
Vicente Emilio Sojo: FIVE PIECES
Antonio Lauro: ROMANZA
Raúl Borges: VALS VENEZOLANO
Antonio Lauro: VIRGILIO
Antonio Lauro: SEIS POR DERECHO
Famous guitar player John Christopher Williams (1941) was born into a family of
English emigrants in Melbourne. His father Leonard Williams was a very respected
jazz guitarist whose interests had slowly turned towards the classical music. He
therefore started to teach his three years old son in classical technique, which proved
crucial for the young man’s virtuoso career. In 1952 the family returned to London,
where Leonard Williams set up The London Guitar centre, which successfully
continues its work today. In London John met the creator of the modern classical
guitar Andres Segovia, who was impressed with the 11-year-old and invited him to
attend his master courses at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana di Siena. John
Williams at the same time attended the Royal College of Music in London from 1956
to 1959, where he studied the piano and the music theory because the College did not
provide a Guitar curriculum at that time. Shortly after his graduation, however, John
Williams was invited to be one of the lecturers at the newly created Guitar department
and remained there till 1973. He has since been a Hon. Fellow both there and at the
Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. John Williams made his
professional debut at the Wigmore Hall in London in1958. The concert bill included a
short quote from Segovia, which announced the future world career of the young
artist. Which later happened indeed. One of the most popular and esteemed classical
musicians nowadays, John Williams’ other activities include new, experimental
projects, even the electric guitar. During the seventies he discovered the Chilean
group Inti Illimani, with which he has been collaborating until present time. A bit later
he founded the group John Williams and Friends that is still active, although some
of the members have changed. It was a great shock for John Williams’ classical
colleagues when, together with four other musicians, he founded the group Sky. With
an equal interest in all styles of expression – for, as they say, there is no classical or
non-classical, but only good or bad music – John Williams releases both classical and
popular recordings that have been top ranked for decades. In 1971 the CBS Records
gave him a special award to celebrate having sold one million records of classical
music and in 1979 his release of Cavatina, used as the theme for the film The Deer
Hunter, immediately reached No. 3 in the UK pop charts. At the same time, The
Shadows released their own version, and for a while the charts saw the two singles of
the same music vying for the top of the hit parade. It was the beginning of Williams’
film career that has continued up the present time. As composer, performer and
arranger he took part in numerous films including A Fish Called Wanda and
Schindler’s List and in 1996 he released the CD John Williams at the Movies with his
interpretations of the film music themes. During his five-years engagements with The
Sky, he did not stop his classical engagements and therefore worked with equal
enthusiasm with the classical, rock and pop icons. For instance, during the series of
concerts masterminded for the Amnesty International by John Cleese, he played a
duet with Pete Townshend of The Who and, to mark the Organisation’s 30th
Anniversary, The Sky played a concert in Westminster Abbey, the to date only rock
group to perform there. In 1983 he re-formed John Williams and Friends into all stars
band with Paco Peña and Gerald Garcia, which has since had an incredibly successful
career. Very important in John Williams’ career anyway is his collaboration with
other musicians and composers, particularly with Julian Bream, Itzhak Perlman,
André Previn, Cleo Laine and John Dankworth, while many composers composed
exclusively for him including Stephen Dodgson, André Previn, Peter Sculthrope,
Steve Gray, Richard Harvey, Paul Hart and Tôru Takemitsu. In 1984 he become
Artistic director of the South Bank Summer Music Festival, created in 1968 by Daniel
Barenboim as a rival to the renowned Proms concerts. He remained in that post for
two seasons only and then refused not only to run the festival but also to appear there
in protest against reduction of governmental funding. His two seasons however
remained memorable for great artistic and financial success, as well as for an
educational concert series for children. In 1980 he was awarded the Order of the
British Empire by the Queen (John Williams, O.B.E.), one of the highest honours
available to non-British citizens (Williams remained an Australian national). Williams
has however never used the title and it is seldom mentioned in his official
biographies. For his productive and huge discography (84 various releases so far) he
received many prestigious awards and acknowledgements. On his first American
appearance in the USA Williams signed and exclusive contract with the CBS
Masterworks, which later became Sonny Classical. Since 1964 he kept on making at
least one release a year for them, but also works with other recording companies.
Augustin Pio Barríos Mangoré (1885) was born in San Juan de las Misiones,
Paraguay, into a large family very much interested in music and literature. He began
to play the guitar at an early age. A child prodigy, aged 13, he was granted a
scholarship to study at the National College, where, in addition to music, he majored
in mathematic, journalism and literature. He learned the four major languages, as well
as Guarani and original Paraguayan. A great master of improvisation, he also had
excellent working skills enabling him to compose over 300 guitar pieces, which trod
the path for the generations of young composers. Never satisfied with his work, he
often changed and re-arranged his own pieces, many of which have several versions.
He died in 1944. His probably greatest success is La Catedral. John Williams
claimed the piece to be the proof that Augustin Pio Barríos Mangoré was a more
significant composer than Sor or Giuliani and even more important than Villa Lobos
when the guitar music is concerned.
Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe (1929), born in Launceston (Tasmania),
studied at the Melbourne University and Wadham College in Oxford. He studied
composition with E. Rubbra and Egon Wellesz. Since 1963 he lectured at the Sydney
University educating the generations of young Australian composers including Anne
Boyd, Ross Edwards and Barry Conyngham. Aiming to enliven the original
Australian music, he often employs folklore in his huge opus consisting of varied
music kinds and forms. Among his best-known orchestral works are Sun Music I-IV,
Music for Japan and Music of Rain, Earth Cry, Kakadu and Little Nourlangie for
organ and orchestra. The most outstanding among his chamber works are The
Loneliness of Bunjil for string trio, Teotihuacan for string quartet, thirteen string
quartets, Tabuh Tabuhan for wind quintet and percussions, Interlude for brass
instruments and percussions, Irkanda I for violin solo, Sonata for viola and
percussions, Irkanda IV for violin, strings and percussions, Sabai for voices and organ
and Parting for cello and piano. His vocal pieces include The Fifth Continent for
reciter and orchestra, Canto 1520 for choir and percussions, Sea Chant for voice and
piano, Love 200 for two singers, pop group and orchestra, The Stars Turn for voice
and orchestra, Child of Australia for reciter, soprano, choir and orchestra, as well as
the choirs Night Piece, Morning Song, Autumn Song, Ketjak and The Birthday of Thy
King. He has been working with the famous Kronos Quartet for a long time, which
first performed his String Quartet Jabiru Dreaming. His recently composed piece My
Country Childhood for strings signifies the return to the rural themes of his homeland.
The Djilile is an often-performed series of effective pieces for various music
formations, including those for the guitar, cello, piano and percussion quartet.
The best part of the output of the Spanish composer and pianist Isaac Albéniz (1860 1909) is his piano music, which made him one of the founders of the Spanish national
style. His virtuoso piano style is influenced by Franz Liszt, and his expression,
stemming from the Spanish colourite, acquires the colours of the French
impressionism in its mature period. Albéniz composed several cycles of lyrical
miniatures out of which the trembling images and hot, sometimes harsh rhythms from
various parts of his homeland arise. His effective Cordoba reveals all major features
of Albéniz' music which, guided by his reliable instinct, successfully abandons all
formal frames and traditional rules.
Italian guitarist and composer Carlo Domeniconi (1947) was born in Cesena. Aged
13, he began to study the guitar with Carmen Lenzi-Mozzani, and later started to
compose himself. At the age of 17 he graduated from the Pesaro Conservatory, and
continued to study composition at the Berlin College of Art, where he later lectured
from 1969 to 1992. From 1977 to 1980 he taught guitar at the Istanbul Conservatory.
He composed thirteen concertos for one or two guitars and orchestra, in addition to a
series of pieces for guitar solo, i.e. for guitar and various chamber ensembles. In his
works, he employs the Indian, Arabic and Turkish melodic-rhythmic systems,
skilfully blending them with his own expressional style. The most popular among his
works are Variations on a Turkish folk song and Sinbad, fairy tale for guitar solo,
Sonata for flute and guitar, Prana for two guitars, To Play or Not to Play and Toccata
in Blue for guitar solo. His most successful guitar concertos are Medium Sweet Guitar
Concerto and Concerto Mediterraneo (for two guitars and orchestra). His pieces were
performed by the world famous artists such as John Williams, Los Angeles Guitar
Quartet, Assad Brothers, Dale Kavanagh and Alvaro Pierri. The Koyunbaba is a
four-movement suite for classical guitar solo composed in a particular notation: since
the piece requires the instruments to be tuned all the time, the upper line shows the
notes and the lower one the fingering. Tonight, we have an opportunity to listen only
to the first movement from this 12-minutes-piece.
Having opened the Pandora's box of African sounds, John Williams turned to the
South America and, listening to the sounds of the Venezuelan guitar, recorded an
interesting musical mixture of Indian, Spanish and African culture on a CD called El
Diablo Suelto. Some of the pieces resemble the Spanish classical guitar for their
elegant waltzes with the meaningful breaks and passionate melodic passages;
including (like in Vals venezolano by Raul Borges) the temperamental and
rhythmically complex, specific Venezuelan national waltz joropo. Other pieces (like
Ovelio Riera’s Seis por Derecho) are inspired by folk tradition, in which the
interchanges of the 6/8 and 4/4 metre remind of the African models and John
Williams employs them to show the cyclic unity of his unmatched performing
mastery one more time.
The Venezuelan guitarist and composer Ignacio «Indio» Figueredo (1900 – 1995)
had his guitar début at the age of eleven in San Juan de Payar. A fourteen years old
boy, he composed his first pieces (including El gaban) based on the national music
idiom. Followed his popular pieces Las 3 damas, Guayabo negro, El verdun, El
guachamaron and La periquera. Among the artists who performed his music are
Angel Custodio Loyola, Adilia Castillo, El Carrao de Palmarito, Simon Diaz, Kvintet
Cantaclaro, Hugo Blanco, Lilia Vera, Lila Morillo, Juan Galea, El Cuarteto, Cecilia
Todd and Anselmo Lopez.
Antonio Lauro was born in Bolivar, Venezuela, in 1917. His father immigrated to
Venezuela from Italy during the World War II. Antonio studied at the Caracas Music
School with Vicente Emilio Sojo and Juan Bautista Plaza. He at first chose to play the
piano, yet, having met the Paraguayan guitar virtuoso Agustin Barríos Mangoré, he
dedicated himself to the guitar. He composed and arranged many pieces, the majority
of which has not been published. In addition to his guitar pieces, he composed many
orchestral, choir, chamber and solo pieces. He found his inspiration mainly in the
Venezuelan folk music. He died in Caracas in April 1986.
One of the most prestigious Venezuelan composers and music theoreticians Vicente
Emilio Sojo was born in Guatire, 1887 and died in Muere near Caracas in 1974. He
began to study with Regul Rico in Guatire. He moved to Caracas in 1906, where he
took many jobs in order to make a living. In 1910 he started to attend the music
school, where he began to compose his first pieces for various music formations,
instructed by the professional musicians. Since 1921 he became a music theory
professor at the same school and also organised and founded several music
institutions in his homeland. He founded and headed the Venezuelan Symphony
Orchestra, initiated many projects and educated numerous young composers at the
José Angel Lamas School of Music. He founded the modern Venezuelan composing
school and composed many pieces, the most outstanding of which are the Misa
cromatica (1922 - 1923) and Hodie super nos fulgebit lux (1935). He collected and
arranged over 200 Venezuelan folk songs. In 1951 he was awarded the National Prize
for his achievements in music.
Venezuelan composer Raúl Borges was born in Caracas, 1882 and died there in
1967. He belongs to the generation of Augustin Barrios, Heitor Villa-Lobos and
Manuel Ponce. At an early age he started to play the cuarto and the bandolin, and later
the guitar as well. An employee of the Venezuelan Embassy, he lived in Europe
learning from its music tradition. He composed his two major pieces there: Vals sobre
Motivos Franceses and Sueño de Opio. Having returned to his homeland he
completely dedicated himself teaching the classical guitar and numbered celebrated
students including Antonio Lauro, Rodrigo Riera and Alirio Diaz. A huge part of his
output has not been published, with an exception of his recently published collection
including the pieces Canción Antigua, Canción de Cuna en D y G Mayor, Sueño de
Opio, Fuente Morisca, Valse sobre Motivos Franceses, Estudio, El Criollito, Marisol,
Valse Venezolano, Danza for three guitars and Adios for voice and guitar.
D. Detoni