B.S.O. celebrates 25 years with John Williams

August 1, 2004 performance, by Dave Conlin Read

Boston Pops Conductor Laureate and Tanglewood Artist in Residence John Williams' 25 years as a member of the B.S.O. family was celebrated in the Koussevitsky Music Shed at Tanglewood on Sunday August 1, 2004 with Williams conducting the B.S.O. in a program that included three of his own compositions plus Aaron Copland's Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson, with Dawn Upshaw as soloist.

The concert opened with Soundings, which was commissioned for last fall's inauguration of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The piece is one extended movement divided into five sections, described by the composer as "an experimental piece for the Hall in which a collection of colorful sonorities could be sampled in the orchestra's new environment." Since that new environment (architect, Frank Gehry) is as unlike the Shed (architect, Eliel Saarinen) as two music halls can be, Soundings didn't ring quite true today.

Another new work did, though, Williams's Horn Concerto, commissioned last year for the Chicago Symphony's Dale Clevenger, opening the second part of the program. With B.S.O. principal hornist James Sommerville soloing, this was the composer at his best, creating a musical score that turned the listener's mind into a miniature movie theatre where an entertaining and enchanting montage of images tumbled forth.

Comprising five movements, named Angelus, The Battle of the Trees, Pastorale, The Hunt, and Nocturne, the concerto evoked a full range of emotion and had a satisfying beginning-middle-end feel.

Tanglewood Music Center alumna Dawn Upshaw did a beautiful job with the Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson, infusing them with humor and pathos with her radiant voice and compelling presence. Williams' deft touch kept the B.S.O. and Ms. Upshaw in harmonious proportions in support of Copland's art so that the full measure of the poetry could be absorbed.

Three tableaus from Williams' score for Steven Spielberg's film American Journey (1999) closed the program, which was very well recieved by the sparse audience of 5,794.