Music Album Review: 'A Celebration: John Williams & the Boston Pops Orchestra'

(C) 2012 Decca Records

On February 21, 2012, Decca Records released A Celebration: John Williams & the Boston Pops Orchestra, a 2-CD compilation album with over two hours’ worth of film themes, show tunes, easy listening compositions, and light classical works. Originally produced in 2004 by the same British label, A Celebration was re-issued in honor of Maestro Williams’ 80^th birthday.

To mark the eightieth birthday of the renowned composer and conductor John Williams, Decca celebrates his time as principal conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. In this quintessentially American programme. Williams’ unrivaled contribution to film music is showcased through performances of his most memorable themes and other Hollywood favourites, complemented by a second disc of Broadway numbers and timeless songs. – Producer’s blurb, A Celebration: John Williams & the Boston Pops Orchestra

Produced by Raymond McGill, A Celebration presents 30 orchestral works, divided evenly among two compact discs. Disc One is devoted to film music – seven compositions by Williams, the rest by other well-known composers from Europe and the U.S., including Henry Mancini, Max Steiner, Vangelis, and Manos Hadjidakis. Derived primarily from a plethora of albums recorded for the Philips label in the 1980s and early 1990s, the first disc features some of the most iconic movie music in the repertoire, including the Star Wars main theme, the march from Superman, and – from the Golden Age of Hollywood – Tara’s Theme from Gone with the Wind. 

CD 1: John Williams & The Boston Pops Orchestra - A Celebration

John Williams (1932 - )

Star Wars

1. Main Title 5:39

2. Princess Leia's Theme

E.T.

3. Flying Theme

Superman

4. March 

5. Love Theme 

Raiders of the Lost Ark

6. March

Vangelis

7. Main Theme [Chariots of Fire]

Max Steiner (1888 - 1971)

8. Tara's Theme (Gone with the Wind)

A Summer Place

Arr. Lee Holderidge

9. Love Theme

Henry Mancini (1924 - 1994)

The Pink Panther

10. Main Theme

Manos Hadjidakis (1925 - 1994)

Never on Sunday

11. Arr. Richard Hayman

Hugh Martin (1914 - ), Ralph Blane (1914 - 1995)

12. The Trolley Song [from Meet Me in St. Louis]

Arthur Freed (1894 - 1973), Nacio Herb Brown (1896 - 1964)

13. Singin' in the Rain

Leigh Harline (1907 - 1969) et al

14. Arr. Morton Stevens
Pops Salutes the Oscars (includes songs from Pinocchio, Swinging on a Star, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Way We Were, and The Sandpiper)

John Williams (1932 - )

15. Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Suite

CD 2: John Williams & The Boston Pops Orchestra - A Celebration

Leonard Bernstein (1918 - 1990)

1. Overture from Candide

John Kander (1927 - ), Fred Ebb (1932 - 2004)

2. New York New York

Stephen Sondheim (1930 - )

A Little Night Music

Orch. Tunick

3. Night Waltz ... Send in the Clowns

Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948 - )

Cats

4. Memory (Arr. Eric Knight)

Irving Berlin (1888 - 1989)

Annie Get Your Gun

5. There's No Business like Show Business

Frederick Loewe (1904 - 1988)

Gigi

Arr. Ralph Burns

6. I'm So Glad I'm Not Young Anymore and other songs

Eric Coates (1886 - 1957)

7. By the Sleepy Lagoon

Glenn Miller (1904 - 1944)

8. Moonlight Serenade

Duke Ellington (1899 - 1974), Billy Strayhorn (1915 - 1967)

9. Satin Doll

Joseph C. Garland (1903 - 1977)

10. In the Mood

Louis Prima (1911 - 1978)

11. Sing, Sing, Sing

Marvin Hamlisch (1944 - 2012)

A Chorus Line

Arr. Marvin Hamlisch

12. Overture

Meredith Willson (1902 - 1984)

The Music Man

13. Seventy-Six Trombones

Alex North (1910 - 1991)

14. Unchained Melody

Leonard Bernstein (1918 - 1990)

On the Town

15. New York, New York

The Boston Pops Orchestra, John Williams

My Take

On February 8, 2012, John Towner Williams celebrated his eightieth birthday. Naturally, since Maestro Williams is one of the most popular and influential active composers in various genres – most notably film scores, but also contemporary classical music, post-romanticism, and Williams’ early love, jazz, there were many 80^th Birthday tribute recordings made that year – including A Celebration.

This 2-CD set commemorates, as the producers’ blurb states, Maestro Williams’ tenure as the Boston Pops Orchestra’s principal conductor. Chosen to replace the late and beloved Arthur Fiedler – who led the Pops from 1930 till his death on July 10, 1979 at the age of 84 – Williams led “America’s favorite orchestra” from 1980 to 1993 and has been its Laureate Conductor since 1994. Together, the Boston Pops and Williams recorded a successful series of albums – first with Philips, then with Sony Classical.

Most of the music on A Celebration was released originally on many of the Philips albums, so if you are a devoted Boston Pops Orchestra fan you probably are already familiar with the material presented here. (I recognize tracks from 1982’s Aisle Seat, 1987’s By Request: The Best of John Williams and the Boston Pops, and 1991’s The Very Best of the Boston Pops, where Pops Salutes the Oscars [track 14] was originally featured.)

Still, this 147-minutes long album is a wonderful sampler of film themes, Broadway tunes, and orchestral versions of popular songs such as Unchained Melody. There are even two Big Band-era compositions – Moonlight Serenade and In the Mood – both of which were big hits for the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

As for Williams…the five-time Oscar winner (and second-place holder for most Academy Award nominations after Walt Disney – 51 as of this writing!) and multiple Grammy Award holder (24 so far) is still busy composing and conducting. Since A Celebration was dropped six years ago, Maestro Williams has written scores for his long-time friend Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, War Horse, The Adventures of Tin Tin, The BFG, The Post, and Ready Player One.

In addition, Williams has contributed scores to the saga which many of his fan identify him the most – Star Wars. Since 2015, he has written the music for Star Wars – Episode VII: The Force Awakens and Star Wars – Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. He has announced that he will write the score for 2019’s Star Wars – Episode IX, after which he will retire from the franchise.