Cécilia Tsan shares what it’s like to work with legendary film composer John Williams, ahead of a recording release of arrangements of his acclaimed scores transcribed for trio of flute, cello and piano, which Williams described as ‘one of my best birthday gifts’
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Being part of this unique recording presenting movie scores written by John Williams and arranged for trio by pianist Simone Pedroni, with Sara Andon on flute, is definitely a privilege and a joy.
To me, it is quite moving to reminisce about the genesis of my personal encounter with John Williams. The very first time we met was when my childhood friend Yo-Yo Ma recorded his Elegy for Cello and Orchestra in Los Angeles, for which I also played. The interaction between Yo-Yo and the Maestro was intense as they delved deeply into the sophisticated harmonies, colours and emotions. John Williams was very intrigued and touched by our long time friendship from our early years in Paris. Our families knew each other before our births in France and, after hearing Yo-Yo play the cello so beautifully (he was then four!), I begged my mother to play the cello. His father introduced me to Yo-Yo’s first teacher in France and the rest is history.
A few years later, we interacted again when we recorded the score for Memoirs of a Geisha. The two soloists playing John Williams music were Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma again. We performed at Royce Hall in Los Angeles and I will never forget the immense emotions these three musicians offered us. The following year, I was asked to play the solo of Geisha with two different orchestras and, to my surprise, John Williams, after hearing about those upcoming concerts, asked me to play the piece for him! That was the beginning of a great adventure. My friend, pianist extraordinaire, Simone Pedroni and I went to his home and played Memoirs of a Geisha and the Elegy. What an immense joy and honour to have the great composer take the time to listen and express his appreciation! Two hours of pure bliss.
In the meantime, Robert Townson produced a piano solo recording of John Williams’ music featuring Simone Pedroni. Then, from his visionary mind came the idea of having Simone arrange several of John’s film scores for trio (flute, cello and piano). It definitely was the first arrangement for this type of chamber music ensemble for any movie score, and historically remarkable. When he asked me to be part of this unique project, I was incredibly excited and happy.
It definitely was the first arrangement for this type of chamber music ensemble for any movie score, and historically remarkable
Playing that repertoire was a challenge since none of us wanted to distort or betray the original symphonic ideas. Thankfully, Simone’s arrangements made it fully understandable, credible and respectful: they sound like they have originally been written for that piano-flute-cello instrumentation.
Each piece required some ’instrumental’ adjustment to meet the original purpose of the film music. For instance, in the Images score, the horror movie by Robert Altman, the cue In Search of the Unicorn included some repeated improvisatory passages. On the cello, I used some glissandi, ponticello, seagull effect and frotté on the strings to re-create a scary and menacing effect. In Memoirs of a Geisha, it was interesting to find different types of vibrato and glissandi to feature the ’Asian’ aspect of the movie without either using the regular ’melodramatic’ one or without overdoing it as a simplistic cliché.
In this album, the cello is used as a substitute for various instruments, such as trumpet, horn and guitar. For the Pony Ride (The River), the cello serves as a guitar for a while. This lengthy use of pizzicato required me to put my bow down to ‘free’ my right-hand fingers and make it sound ‘fluid,’ which was not that obvious at first! The Schindler´s List theme is one of my favourites as it is emotionally charged in such a poignant way. Yes, it was originally written for violin but, apparently, audiences everywhere feel equally moved by the cello voice. When I have performed it recently, we could sense a very intense and emotional reaction from the audience, especially when, in 2023, we played it at the Krakow Film Music Festival, the very city where the Oskar Schindler’s factory still exists.
Performing several times for John Williams was truly a gift, especially after we received his enthusiastic approval for this project. I will always remember the day our trio went to play for him for the first time all together. It was around his 90th birthday and, of course, he was celebrated everywhere. Hearing him telling us: ’This was one of my best birthday gifts’ after we played The Face of Pan (Hook), was the ultimate reward for which I will eternally be grateful.
John Williams: Reimagined is released on Warner Classics on 23 August
Read: John Williams at 90: Anne-Sophie Mutter’s ‘respect for this gigantic musician’
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