Portuguese John Williams Site
by Miguel Andrade
We continue our occasional series of guest articles
by film music webmasters with an excerpt from the only Portuguese-language
John Williams site. If you run a film music website and would like to spotlight
your work in our column, go
here. -LK
About a year ago another site dedicated to maestro John
Williams appeared on the net. Yeah, it was mine. Not as famous as others,
in part for lack of time to promote it, the site has already found a small
number of loyal visitors. When a year earlier I began thinking of doing
a web page, working out one about Williams' music seemed to be my best
shot. He's my favourite composer but how could I do something new, different
from what already exists? There are many Williams sites and every now and
then appears a new one. So I went on with this idea: share my knowledge
of Williams music and career with other in my mother tongue: Portuguese.
And there it was: The John Williams home page in Portuguese. Special features,
include a page dedicated to Williams work as orchestrator and pianist in
his earlier years in Hollywood. Also, I'm trying to create the most complete
as possible listing of recordings including music composed and/or arranged
and/or performed by Williams.
Not too original, but the only one in Portuguese; as a sampler I translated
a review of "Angela's Ashes", that as been released in Portugal
a couple of weeks ago.
Pay it a visit at http://paginas.teleweb.pt/~williams/index.html
Angela's Ashes (Decca Records 466 761-2), without
dialogue
Williams' newest effort seems to me a sort of "Jane Eyre"
meets "Seven Years in Tibet". To the earlier masterpiece (witch
Williams have stated to be one of his favourites) the new work borrows
the English or Irish like idiom and the use of ensemble. "Angela's
Ashes" uses an orchestra without percussion and brass, in an identical
way to "Jane Eyre", also presenting several solo passages for
cello, oboe, piano and harp, something that also happened in the 1971 tele-film
score (not with the same instruments, or exactly in the same way). My reference
to "Seven Years in Tibet" as to do also with the use of solo
cello, but even more to the way Williams work out is melodies. In these
last years Williams as found a very personal style for this sort of scores,
which to me seems more close to his concert works. That is noted on "Seven
Years in Tibet", as is in this last work. Williams' melodies are more
complex to ear, but, at least for me, seem to remain on my head longer,
almost as a musical ghost. Its sounds haunt my ear and my mind. Yet, the
particular mention of "Seven Years in Tibet" is not occasional.
Compare the main title track's main theme of the earlier score to the solo
cello on "Lord, Why Do You Want The Wee Children?". The use of
the soloist in conjunction with the melody is quite identical. But these
are not the only scores to which Williams' looks back. The piano playing
has hints of the extraordinary, yet poorly known "Presumed Innocent"
(1990).
The first track on the CD presents to the listener the main themes used
in the score. A first theme is presented on the piano (a reminiscent from
"Presumed Innocent") to quickly move to the second theme. The
flute and the strings pick up these two themes and develop them; Williams
will feeds is soloists and orchestra with them through the score. Strings
then build up to a new quasi-religious theme - this one will be heard again,
in his more expanded way in "Angela's Prayer"; this is one of
the most used themes, besides the two others mentioned. This theme uses
the string ensemble in the same way Williams has been using over this past
few years when the occasion needs it. He made identical use of the string
ensemble in "Arlington" from "JFK"(1991) and "The
Meeting With Mao" from "Nixon"(1995). The track also includes
short solo passages for the oboe and harp, presenting all his soloists
in this opening piece. As in many Williams works, Williams pay homage to
his musical heroes: in this one is to the British masters. Half way into
track one a short passage, begun with harp, then oboe leads to the string
section playing of a musical figure that to me recalls Sir Edward Elgar's
main theme from the first movement of his Cello Concerto (Williams knows
this piece well, as for some years ago he conducted the Boston Symphony
on it, with Yo-Yo Ma as soloist.) Williams uses that passage again in "Plenty
Of Fish And Chips In Heaven". The piece concludes with new presentations
of the two main themes, by the soloists and strings, and of the third one
on the piano.
The score, following the two main themes is somewhat elegiac and painted
with some sad colours... I don't know much about the film; I just know,
at the time of writing this, that is a self-biography of Frank McCourt.
This enables me to ear the score almost as an abstract piece of music.
Williams presents several variations through the all score of the two main
themes, but also finds moments for more thematic material. There is "The
Lanes of Limerick", a beautiful piece for solo harp full of Irish
spirit. This remains in the territory described above. Sad, elegiac, introspective.
Lighter moments are presented by pizzicato strings in "My Dad's Story"
or "Delivering Telegrams". A moment of magic appears in spectral
"Watching the Eclipse".
Warmer moments are brought by "Back To America", with more
American colours, replacing the more Irish sound of the score for some
few moments, introducing a more optimistic view to it. This is also the
only moment in the entire score we ear brass instruments. First the french
horns accompany the rest of the ensemble on this new theme, lending their
warm sound; then the remaining brass instruments take over to bring the
piece to a close, along with the strings, on a somewhat somber note, mixing
feelings of hope with others of struggle and suffer.
Williams music sounds all that to me. A musical tale of struggle, suffering,
but still (as in Mahler's music) full of hope for a shiner future. I won't
go on saying that this is Williams ultimate masterpiece, but I find that
"Angela's Ashes" is pretty good, up there with some of his best
work.
As far as the album is concerned, it's another one to get and treasure.
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