| American Journey |
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Composed by John Williams |
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Conducted by John Williams Performed by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Utah Symphony, The Boston Pops Orchestra, and the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles Produced by John Williams and Ken Wannberg Release Date: 2002 |
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It has been my pleasure to experience the film scores of John Williams over the years along with the concert versions of different cues from his films. But aside from those albums, I’ve never experienced any of his actual concert pieces. Thankfully, such a void is about to be filled, as I've received a couple Williams concert CDs this year. This CD presents the concert works that Williams composed for the Olympic Games among other pieces including the focal six movement work that serves as the basis for the album, American Journey. The music is at once easily identifiable as John Williams, but at the same time it is Williams unrestrained by the confines of a film. American Journey is the sole exception in that the score was part of an overall multimedia presentation that took place in Washington D.C. as part of the Millennium celebration, but it is still less-restrained than the typical film score. In the linear notes, Williams speaks of his purpose as a composer: to provide uplifting music. Such is the case with this album. There are a few moments of dark tone, but the music is generally light and hopeful. This makes for a pleasurable listen and for some great enjoyment to be had out of the music. This is especially true with American Journey, which offers a continually patriotic sound that heralds the nation. There are many segments which echo the musical sentiments found in The Patriot, and fans of that score will definitely find a lot to enjoy about those similar moments in American Journey. While American Journey is the undeniable the focus of the album, the other works are by no means tossed on in a casual manner. The CD is excellently produced and the music is arranged quite well among the remaining tracks, though they are not tied into any of the other pieces as the six movements from American Journey are. The two Olympic themed tracks are quite good, culminating the last track, Summon the Heroes, which makes for a fitting end to the CD. I did not know that Williams was the composer for the NBC News, but that piece is included here in its entirely. For New York is a fun piece of work that presents Williams own variations of different themes from composer Leonard Bernstein. The performances from all involved are quite good and there are a lot of powerful moments throughout this CD. If you're a big fan of Williams' film scores (and there are quite a lot of you), you'll get a lot of enjoyment out of this album. So do yourself a favor and check it out. **** |
| Track Listing - Total Running Time: 60:45 | |
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