Stories and features related to American composer John Williams
In response to a previous inaugural post, reader Richard asked, Was that piece composed based on one by Aaron Copland? Quick explanation: composer John Williams did write the piece, but used the old tune “Simple Gifts,” which became well-known when Copland used it in his own “Appalachian Spring.” And Williams definitely employed some other Copland-esque […]
Judging by the number of online comments, there’s a lot of curiosity about the instrumental piece played at yesterday’s inaugural ceremonies. It’s called “Air and Simple Gifts,” by John Williams, and it was performed by Yo-Yo Ma, Anthony McGill, Gabriela Montero and Itzhak Perlman. Yesterday’s performance was the world premiere, so there aren’t lots of […]
Aretha Franklin isn’t the only musician on the program for Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 20th. Composer and film music legend John Williams has been commissioned to write a new piece, to be performed by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, pianist Gabriela Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill. I can’t find anymore information about the […]
