John Williams: Horn Concerto

John Williams has always been my hero. I live in Michigan, and rehearse at Orchestra Hall every Saturday with the Detroit Civic Orchestra. I've met Pituch several times, and I'm a horn player. To combine Pituch with the DSO with Williams was a dream come true, and it did not disappoint.

I can't stand anything more than film composers who write a concert piece and it sounds nothing like the film music that their public knows and loves. I know most of Williams' concert work and I think he gets shortchanged. Initially maybe audiences might not hear the bombast and triumphant trumpets playing in fifths, however, upon close listening the music is unmistakably Williams in every way that we know and love. His personal sense of harmony, sense of cadence, everything. The difference I would say is subject matter. Most of Williams major concert works are in some way programmatic, usually finding their inspiration in nature, in trees to be more precise. So the often somber bent that these pieces possess if often quite different from say the appropriate tone an emotions he complemented in star wars. In the end, these works are very personal and quite beautiful. Bravo to Slatkin for championing Williams as as concert composer for so long. His commitment to the music dates to the 1970s. And bravo to the Detroit Symphony who despite the economic problems in their city and organization found the artistic vision and wearwithall to create such wonderful recordings.

Excellent composition!. Williams wrote the work for principal horn player Dale Clevenger of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2003 from a commission from the Edward F. Schmidt Family Commissioning Fund. It's premiere performance took place on November 29, 2003. This work is technically demanding of the performer, and Williams himself described it as a symphonic poem that explores a variety of colors and moods. Detroit Symphony sounds great as well as the Soloist Karl Pituch.