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Review: Symphony soars in tribute to John Williams

Under the baton of Sean O’Loughlin their principal pops conductor we heard 12 very different scores
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Victoria Symphony principal pops conductor Sean O’Loughlin. (Photo by Kevin Light)

By Mike Mills

What an evening! The Victoria Symphony Orchestra all dressed in summery white tuxedos brought us a birthday salute to the great film score composer John Williams who turned 90 on Feb. 8.

Under the baton of Sean O’Loughlin their principal pops conductor we heard 12 very different scores or pieces on Feb. 10. O’Loughlin managed to make each section of the orchestra shine to the max.

The opening piece was the main title theme from Star Wars which gave the brass section and the augmented percussion section a chance to show off their prowess and they did in great style. This powerful piece was a great start to an eclectic mix of bombastic and also gentle music. After this opening O’Loughlin gave an amusing introduction to each following piece, which added tremendously to the understanding of the music. He brought in his personal experiences of the films and his work with Williams and Steven Spielberg.

The next piece featured the wizardry of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the wonderful eerie world of wizardry and we felt the excitement of wand wars rather than Star Wars and the gentle swish of flying broomsticks.

The next piece was a surprise for all of us as it was music composed for the first inauguration of Barack Obama as U.S. president. It was a blend of new music composed by Williams but slid into a beautiful blend of traditional Shaker music well known to most people. It was played by the strings of the orchestra only with a strong solo from Christi Meyer, the concert master for the evening.

The next piece, the Prologue to the music from JFK, the film dealing with the death of J.F.K., allowed Ryan Cole the principal trumpet to really shine as he portrayed the both the heroism and the hesitancy of late president. I detected hints of the last post in the score and in the middle of the piece the harp had a poignant solo.

Next, more film music with Viktor’s Tale from the Terminal. It featured the principal clarinetist Keith MacLeod who portrayed the frustration of Viktor, an east European trapped in an airport due to visa problems. I wondered if Williams was anticipating an east European tennis player stuck with visa problems in Australia.

Next, selections from Jurassic Park, with the tuba manfully playing the part of the dinosaur and the cymbals representing its clashing jaws! In the quiet moments when the dinosaur was not around the harp again had a strong gentle solo. It has been said that without the music of Williams dinosaurs would never have roamed the earth.

After intermission we were treated to the Olympic Fanfare written for the 1984 games in Los Angeles. An appropriate piece for today!

The next was the music from Schindler’s List beautifully played by Meyer as a solo piece on her violin. She managed to capture the pathos of this tear jerker of a movie. It is said that when Williams saw the movie without music he told Spielberg that he was not good enough to compose the music for this film. Spielberg said, “I know, but all the others are dead.”

Next we were back to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade with a Scherzo for Motor Cycle and Orchestra. The cellos and basses managed to give a great impression of a Harley Davidson fleeing from Germans on their BMWs! The theme from Memoirs of a Geisha which followed was a peaceful contrast to the chase scene but the poor percussionist had to run between the vibraphone and the glockenspiel sounding very Japanese and then leap up to play the chimes. Hard work but she seemed to pull it off effortlessly.

It has been said that the only opening notes of a piece of music better known than the first two notes of Jaws are the three notes that start Beethoven’s 5th. Certainly everyone has learnt to flee out of the water when these two are heard. The tension built with the percussion and the strings as O’Loughlin got the ultimate scary effects as the famous shark approached.

The final piece of the program was a welcome relief as everybody said goodbye to their favourite alien as ET was sent back to space. By the end of the concert every section of the orchestra had been allowed to strut their stuff to the full. O’Loughlin had complete control of the orchestra and allowed the many solo parts to stand out clearly.

A great concert brought to us by the Cowichan Symphony Society and we look forward to the next concert on April 8 when Christian Kluxen will bring us the VSO and soloist Timothy Chooi the renowned violinist from Victoria. Timothy will play the Violin Concerto of another movie score composer, the Austrian/American Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The concert will also feature Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 don’t miss this great end to the season.

Mike Mills is a Cowichan Symphony Society board member.