Wednesday, January 21, 2009

"Air And Simple Gifts"



Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Anthony McGill and Gabriela Montero perform "Air and Simple Gifts" by John Williams at the inauguration ceremony.

A lovely moment.

Thanks to Ann.

17 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this. I had to listen to my little FM radio yesterday -- felt very 20th Century -- so nice to see the performance -- Some of my favorite artists!

    ReplyDelete
  2. KJ, my favorites, too. What a fine group of musicians playing a beautiful composition!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Where can i find the sheet music or score for this piece in this style for violin? I have played the simple version of this in school a long time ago and it was only called Simple Gifts...I'm not sure who's version it was then....but I want this version!!! Got to have!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sullen, welcome to my blog. I hope that my answer won't make you more sullen, but I don't know where the score or sheet music can be found, and I don't have time to search right now. I presume you've tried Google. I'll search later, when I have time.

    ReplyDelete
  5. My favorite part of this was the performance. The sheer pleasure Yo-Yo Ma displayed while playing was moving and inspiring.

    I'm glad you got this up. I was going to go look for it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rmj, I noted, too, that the performers seemed to be greatly enjoying themselves as they played.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This was definitely a highlight of the inauguration - wonderful stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Since this piece was specially written for the Inauguration, I doubt that there is any score or sheet music publicly available. There may never be, unless Williams or the Library of Congress decide to release it publicly. Copland's version should be available somewhere in hardcopy, but I'm fairly certain it's still under copyright, so it probably won't be online. Best bet for a public domain version would be a collection of Shaker hymns.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Kishnevi, thank you. You saved me from a fruitless search.

    ReplyDelete
  10. That was the point when I started to cry.

    ReplyDelete
  11. It wasn't quite as lovely in person. I enjoyed it, but the crowd wasn't in the mood given the 25 degree temperatures, and grew restless and inattentive halfway through, sadly.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Jane, I cried several times, as I watched.

    WE, I'm sorry to hear that. Well, those of us at home enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great performers, wasted on one more pastiche by Mr Starwars. Derivative, middlebrow stuff, Mimi. Anne Midgette of the Washington Post nailed its shortcomings cautiously but firmly - Simple Gifts

    So long, and thanks for all ...

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have heard that other major quartets are scrambling to get a copy of this new work. The volume of Mr. Williams musical works are numerous.
    "Mr. Starwars" humph!!!
    Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  15. Lapin, "so long...." because of disagreement over a piece of music? I can hardly believe that. I'm sorry to see you go, if you mean that.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hhmmm, the NYT reports that this was prerecorded because of the weather...

    ReplyDelete
  17. BillyD, yes it was. I understand why they did it. Here's the link to the story.

    ReplyDelete

Anonymous commenters, please sign a name, any name, to distinguish one anonymous commenter from another. Thank you.