Sound the Bells! Two Rare John Williams Concerts Coming to CD in June

A pair of distinctive concert events carried out by the legendary John Williams are making their manner in print on CD for his or her widest launch but. Prolific classical label Naxos will subject John Williams and “The President’s Own” Vol. 1 & 2 On June 19, consisting primarily of two units the place Williams led the United States Marine Band, endeavors fairly totally different in make-up to the regular philharmonic and symphony orchestras he’d conduct for the display screen and (till just lately) in live performance.

The first befell at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC on July 12, 2003, a day after the 205th anniversary of the ensemble. The set balanced choices from Oscar-winning movie scores together with Star Wars, ET The Extra-Terrestrial and Schindler’s List; fan favorites from The Cowboys and the harry potter sequence; a then-new suite from Williams’ most up-to-date movie credit score, the Steven Spielberg caper Catch Me If You Can; and a few particular choices to match the personnel and solemnity of event, together with Williams’ famed Olympic fanfare, the brass-forward theme to Oliver Stone’s J.F.Okay. and “Sound the Bells!” – a 1993 composition written for the marriage of the Japanese crown prince and princess.

Five years later, as the Marine Band turned 210, Williams was again with them at the Kennedy Center for a second gala live performance, this time hitting totally different highlights. The most traditional themes had been saved for a collection of excerpts in tribute to Spielberg and George Lucas; the physique of the live performance was devoted to themes from different blockbusters together with Close Encounters of the Third Kind and superman; Spielbergian deep cuts from The Sugarland Express, 1941 and the current Tom Hanks comedy Terminal; and Williams’ “Liberty Fanfare,” commissioned for the centennial of the Statue of Liberty in 1986. The disc closes with a particular recording of Williams with the Marine Band in 2013, in a rousing rendition of an authentic composition he wrote for the ensemble’s 215th anniversary.

The live performance was first launched by the Marine Band as a free obtain in 2018; this model supplied a barely longer presentation than what a 2CD set can enable; the bodily version loses some commentary from Maestro Williams in the 2003 set however skips a efficiency of a then-new piece from the fourth Indiana Jones movie in the 2008 live performance. This bridged program was first pressed onto CD by the Marine Band and given away without cost at a 3rd Kennedy Center live performance the then 91-year-old composer placed on with the ensemble. (At the time, the Marine Band instructed this efficiency could be launched in some unspecified time in the future, which has but to come to move.) Thus, this new launch will likely be Williams and The President’s Own, collectively in their widest bodily availability but.

John Williams and “The President’s Own” is well-timed to subsequent month’s launch of Spielberg’s thirtieth movie with a Williams rating, the sci-fi thriller Disclosure Dayin addition to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence – effectively commemorated by the spirit and optimism that John Williams’ work brings. You can order it under forward of its June 19 launch; As an Amaon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

John Williams & The United States Marine Band, John Williams and “The President’s Own” Vol. 1 & 2 (Naxos, 2026) (Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1: Live At The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC – 12/7/2003

1. Introduction by Col. Timothy W. Foley, USMC (ret.)
2. Sound the Bells!
3. Overture from The Cowboys
4. Theme from J.F.Okay.
5. Comments by John Williams
6. Excerpts from Far and Away
7. Olympic Fanfare and Theme
8. Escapades for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra (from Catch Me If You Can) – I. Closing In
9. Escapades for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra (from Catch Me If You Can) – II. reflections
10. Escapades for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra (from Catch Me If You Can) – III. Joy Ride
11. Introduction by John Williams
12. Theme from Schindler’s List
13. Raiders March (from Raiders of the Lost Ark)
14. Adventures on Earth (from ET The Extra-Terrestrial)
15. The Nimbus 2000 (from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)
16. Main Title from Star Wars
17. The Mission Theme (from NBC News)

Soloists on Tracks 8-10: MSgt. Gregory Ridlington, alto saxophone; MGySgt. Glenn Paulson, vibraphone; MGySgt. Glen Dewey, double bass
Soloist on Track 12: MGySgt. Peter Wilson, USMC (ret.), violin

Disc 2: Live At The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC – 7/20/2008 and bonus observe (14)

1. The Star-Spangled Banner
2. March from superman
3. Excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind
4. Introduction to The Reivers
5. Suite from The Reivers
6. March from 1941
7. Liberty Fanfare
8. Out to Sea/The Shark Cage Fugue (from JAWS)
9. Harry’s Wondrous World (from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)
10. Theme from The Sugarland Express
11. Tributes to George Lucas and Steven Spielberg: Excerpts from JAWS/Star Wars/Raiders of the Lost Ark/ET The Extra-Terrestrial
12. The Tale of Viktor Navorski (from Terminal)
13. The Imperial March (from The Empire Strikes Back)
14. For “The President’s Own”

Narrator on Track 5: The Honorable Alan Simpson
Soloist on Track 10: MGySgt. Gail Gillespie, USMC (ret.), flute
Soloist on Track 12: MSgt. Jihoon Chang, USMC (ret.), clarinet
Track 14 recorded at John Philip Sousa Band Hall at the Marine Barracks Annex, Washington DC – 10/7/2013