Ravinia 2026 Issue 2

varied colors offered a far broader palette than the piano ever could. Fast forward almost 60 years. Williams re- turned, now as a concert composer, to the piano. The idea for Conversations , a four-movement work for solo piano written in 2013, began with an imaginary dialogue between jazz pianist Phineas Newborn Jr. and Elizabeth Freeman, who successfully sued the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for freedom from enslavement. These jazz-inflected conversations continued in the remaining three movements: Claude Thorn- hill and Thelonius Monk, Chet Baker and Miles Davis, and Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington, and Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins. Grammy-win- ning pianist Gloria Cheng gave the world pre- miere of the complete four-movement work on November 12, 2013, as part of the Piano Spheres series at The Colburn School in Los Angeles. The following year, Williams composed the Scherzo for Piano and Orchestra for conductor Long Yu, who conducted the premiere on July 3, 2014, at the Beijing Poly Plaza International The- atre with the China Philharmonic Orchestra and soloist Lang Lang. Seven years later, Williams added a Prelude for Gloria Cheng, who intro- duced the complete Prelude and Scherzo for Pi- ano and Orchestra at the Palau de la Música in Barcelona on June 21, 2021, with the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès and conductor Marc Timón. Not long after, in 2022, Williams began writing the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra for pianist Emanuel Ax. Though this composition marked his 20th concerto, it was the first full-scale con- certo for his beloved instrument. After reading an interview in which Williams mentioned the possibility of writing a piano concerto, Ax sent an encouraging note to the composer: “Dear Mr. Williams, If you really mean that you are going to work on one, I would be thrilled to play it.” Williams agreed without hesitation and pledged to forward the concerto when it was fin- ished. The score Ax received contained tributes to three legendary jazz pianists who influenced John Williams at the piano Williams during his formative years: Art Tatum, Bill Evans, and Oscar Peterson. Instead of imi- tating each master, Williams infused aspects of their piano playing and improvisational styles into his own music. Ax, who describes himself as “generally a piano buff, but certainly of jazz piano,” did not know what to expect from this new composition. To him, “the whole thing was a discovery … and it was wonderful.” Williams felt a measure of trepidation, fully aware of the piano concerto’s weighty history. “Composing a piano concerto was, for me, par- ticularly challenging given the enormous canon of rich and diverse piano and orchestral master- works created over the past centuries. Although my effort here is not a jazz piece per se, much of the impetus to write it down has been my mem- ory of the particular ‘sound’ produced by three legendary jazz pianists. Past this simple concept, the music is in no way an attempt to serve as a portrait of each of these artists, but merely to suggest and remember the unique artistic per- sonalities of three men who greatly inspired me along with so many other lovers of the piano around the world. “Firstly, Art Tatum. When I was 15 or 16 years old, I remember a scene in a Los Angeles jazz club which welcomed underaged patrons, pro- viding they didn’t drink. I saw a large man who was clearly not sighted being carefully guided to his place at the piano. The lights were turned down so as not to offend his eyes. He seemed to be huge. His piano also seemed enormous … not with the usual 88 keys, but seemingly with 12 additional keys at either end of the key- board, accommodating his massive reach. The size of his sound was awesome and reminded one of Rachmaninoff. He played three chords, listened, and played them again with an added note or two. He seemed satisfied and then be- gan with a brief cadenza which served as his warm-up. The avalanche of gems that followed could hardly be imagined. “Secondly, Bill Evans. The second movement be- gins with a viola solo. Why? This may be because Bill was a quiet and very ethereal man who, when he approached the piano, always seemed to be less interested in playing than listening to what the piano may have to tell us. His piano eventually joins the viola, supporting Bill’s ethe- real mood while further investigations ensue. “Thirdly, tall, handsome Oscar Peterson emerg- es, looking like an NFL wide receiver on his day off. After a brief salutation from the timpani, he begins with a bristling and famous bebop passage, composed by whom we do not know, but often attributed to Oscar and to the late Phineas Newborn, who also possessed a sim- ilar technical prowess. It serves as a reminder of Oscar’s athletic affinity, which he always dis- played with taste and the most graceful control. “I’ve always so greatly admired pianist Emanuel Ax, who is universally celebrated for his techni- cal brilliance, refined elegance, and great artistic sensibilities. He is also one of the most gracious gentlemen I’ve had the privilege to know. When I first met Manny years ago, I asked him if in his travels he ever encountered a bad piano. He replied simply, ‘all pianos are my friends.’ I had only mentioned to a few friends and associates that I might be interested in writing a work for piano and orchestra. You can imagine my sur- prise and delight when Manny called me to say, ‘if you write it, I will play it!’ I could not have been more grateful and honored.” The Boston Symphony Orchestra, conductor Andris Nelsons, and pianist Emanuel Ax gave the world premiere of John Williams’s Concer- to for Piano and Orchestra on July 26, 2025, at Tanglewood. SERGE RACHMANINOFF (1873–1943) Symphonic Dances , op. 45 Scored for two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets and bass clarinet, alto saxophone, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, tambourine, glockenspiel, xylophone, tam-tam, bells, cymbal, bass drum, harp, piano, and strings Rachmaninoff closed the door on each facet of his legendary, multifaceted career one-by- one after fleeing the Russian Revolution with his family on December 23, 1917, eventually settling in the United States in November 1918. The physical strain of conducting forced him to abandon the podium and focus on piano per- formance. The stream of compositions slowed almost as rapidly. Rachmaninoff traveled to the United States with unfinished scores for two majors works, the Piano Concerto No. 4 and Symphony No. 3, which he completed in 1926 and 1936, respectively. Beyond that, the few new entries in his compositional catalog included the Variations on a Theme of Corelli , op. 42, for solo piano and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini , op. 43, for piano and orchestra. The creative well finally ran dry in 1940 after the completion of the Symphonic Dances , op. 45, for orchestra. Rachmaninoff continued to tour as a recitalist and concerto soloist, averaging 50 performanc- es per year. The 1942–43 tour opened on Oc- tober 12 in Detroit to the customary acclaim. Writing for the Detroit Free Press (October 13, 1942), J.D. Callaghan described the musician’s awe-inspiring performance before 5,000 audi- ence members at the Masonic Temple: “Rach- maninoff remains a phenomenon of unchang- ing grandeur as the years pass. Miraculously, somehow, his genius continues and, if age has touched him, it is only in the silvering of that bristling head of hair.” RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 95