John Williams and Kevin Puts

John Adams Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Kevin Puts Contact (First SLSO performances)

Intermission interviews with:
Stéphane Denève, conductor
Peter Henderson, SLSO Principal Keyboard
Charles Yang, violinist and member of Time for Three

John Williams  Excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind
John Williams “Adventures on Earth” from E.T.
John Williams Selections from Star Wars Suite

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

From Powell Hall at the Jack C. Taylor Music Center, this is the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Tonight, music director Stefan Deneve will lead the orchestra in a program that opens with John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine. The concert continues with Kevin Putt's Contact, Triple Concerto for two violins, bass, and orchestra, featuring Time for Three, Violinist Nicholas Kendall, Charles Yang, and double bassist Renan Meyer. After intermission, the concert will conclude with John Williams' excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Adventures on Earth from E.T., and selections from Star Wars Suite. Good evening, I'm Rod Milam, and welcome to another broadcast of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's 2025-26 season on St. Louis Public Radio and simulcast on Classic 107-3. You can listen to us online. See a copy of tonight's program notes and much more at stlpr.org/slash symphony. During the intermission, we'll talk with Stefan Deneve, SLSO principal keyboardist Peter Henderson, and Time for Three violinists Charles Yang. Joining us now is commentator Lauren Eldritch Stewart. Good evening, Lauren.

SPEAKER_06 1:05

Good evening, Rod.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Lauren, I understand that all three composers on this program are working with the theme of travel.

SPEAKER_06 1:11

Yes, if there's a unifying motif for this program, it's that of transport. Now, the modes of travel might vary widely. We begin with the most familiar, a car, albeit a fast one. Short Ride in a Fast Machine was inspired by the composer John Adams spin as a passenger in a friend's sports car. This fanfare was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra not long after that ride. When introducing the piece, Adam said, You know how it is when someone asks you to ride in a terrific sports car and then you wish you hadn't? This trip obviously made quite the impression. The first sound we'll hear is a wood block, and it sets up either the impression of a metronome or a racing heart. Fluttering woodwinds add to this tension, followed by insistent brass and various percussive syncopations designed to throw you off balance. The percussion section will be expansive. In addition to the wood block, past orchestrations have included xylophone, triangle, crotales, lockenspiel, sizzle symbols, suspended symbols, snare drum, tambourine, large tam tam, bass drums, and synthesizers. Although the minimalistic style of short ride in a fast machine puts a lot of emphasis on rhythm and repetition, there's also a textural element to listen for. Adams has commented on the lumbering low figures in the texture, writing that part of the fun is making these large instruments, the tuba and double basses and contrabasson, move. They have to boogie through this very resolute and inflexible pulse set up by the woodblock. Ultimately, although Adam started this piece by remembering a wild ride in a Ferrari, he concludes by writing that it's only at the very end that the orchestra feels free, as if it's the third stage of a rocket that's finally broken loose of Earth's gravity and is allowed to float. It's at that moment that we hear the triumphant real fanfare music in the trumpets and horns. And just like that, we've gone from the open road to outer space.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

You can see a copy of tonight's program notes at stlpr.org/slash symphony. You're listening to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra from Powell Hall on St. Louis Public Radio and online at stlpr.org. The orchestra has tuned, and we now have the entrance of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra music director Stefan Deneve and our first work for tonight, Don Adams. Short ride in a fast machine. This is the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

SPEAKER_06 8:11

And amidst rock of applause, Stephon Deneuve has invited the entire orchestra to rise.

SPEAKER_05 8:16

Wow. Good morning. Thank you, all the musicians of your St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and I are so happy that uh you are with us for this quite uh special program because it's dedicated uh to the three American living composers, John Williams, uh Kevin Put and John Adams. We three living geniuses and we just welcome you with uh John Adams a short ride in a fast machine. And I know I know this piece of uh actually John Adams said it was inspired by uh uh ride in a Italian supporter car, not a spaceship, but uh to me it's so fast, so virtuosic that uh at this speed you can but only uh go to space. And that's what we'll do for the rest of this program in the second part of our program, uh we'll perform pieces by uh John Williams will start with close encounters of the third kind. And uh it starts in a very uh dissonant, very uh full of uh anxiety and fear way. John Williams almost uh parodying the modernist avant-garde style of the 60s 50s. But uh very soon we learn that uh the aliens want to communicate with us, and the way they do it is the best possible way. They communicate uh through music with this famous five notes. And you know that uh music is a way to be united, and that will happen in this episode. Then my favorite movie, if I may admit, and we'll play Adventures on Earth and here it's also a friendship uh between humans in this kind of child and aliens, in this case. And at some point in the score, John Williams wrote Con amour, and he writes the most loving tender melody ever. And I'm glad because I think we do need tenderness. It's a rare quality in our world today, world today. Then we'll end with Star Wars. But uh but to uh uh to to to continue our concert now, I'm delighted to uh propose to you a fabulous and recent concerto by the St. Louis born composer Kevin Putter. And if you like his music at least as much as we do playing it uh for uh for you here on the stage, uh Kevin will be there next week in town for uh the performances of his concerto for orchestra that is this brilliant orchestra premiered and recorded. We can prepare the listening uh with according to our uh our version of it. And he composed a concerto called Compact, which is uh so inspired by the uh movie uh with Jodie Foster. And it's really a new energy, a new uh sound, and uh you will have some energy on the stage, I can guarantee you that, uh, because we're about to welcome uh three amazing musicians, Nick Candal, Charles Young, and Brandon Meyer. And uh please give them the huge warm welcome. Welcome the Amy and Grammy Awards group trio time for three.

SPEAKER_11 25:39

It is feeling so real at ten thirty in the morning. But now but now we continue. This is this is amazing.

SPEAKER_07 25:49

This is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 44:04

We just heard Kevin Hood's contact triple concerto for two violins, bass, and orchestra featuring Time for Three, violinists Nicholas Kendall, and Charles Yang and double bassist Renan Meyer. The Saint Little Symphony Orchestra was led by music director Stefan Deneve.

SPEAKER_06 44:21

And truly, members of the audience are on their feet. Stefan Deneve has descended from the podium, shaken the hand, or embraced each of the members of Time for Three. And members of the orchestra are also applauding, waving their bows in acknowledgement of this really, really fun performance. Also, there was a special vow for Callie Bannham. And also, wow, um, double bassist Renan Meyer, our guest soloist, has gone down and shaken the hand and also embraced Sarah Kaiser. The SLSO bassist Sarah Kaiser.

SPEAKER_01 45:04

And other members of the low bass as well. Yes. They were very interactive, I think, during the whole performance with the orchestra. They were turning around, acknowledging the conductor as well as the rest of the orchestra while they were playing and not just kind of standing up front as might normally happen with performers and soloists. And it looks like we might have another performance.

SPEAKER_06 45:24

As time for three was exiting the stage, they were also shaking the hand of both concertmaster David Halen, but also keyboardist Peter Henderson. And now they've re-entered the stage.

SPEAKER_01 45:36

Along with Stefan.

SPEAKER_06 45:38

And are gesturing for the audience to applaud the orchestra.

SPEAKER_01 45:44

Looks like Stefan might be hanging around. Looks like we might actually have an encore as the rest of the orchestra comes to their feet to receive the acknowledgement from the standing ovation that the crowd is offering for them. And I think we're going to hear some more music now. Let's listen in.

SPEAKER_11 45:58

Please be seated.

SPEAKER_09 46:02

We got morning service over here. It's awesome.

SPEAKER_11 46:05

St. Louis. Oh my goodness. Come on, St. Louis. Come on. Obviously, obviously, none of this energy. God, there's so many things. There's like, but there are a few points, but they're they're very specific. First of all, your brand new, beautiful venue. Secondly, an organization that believes in new music. That's two. Three is we have found such a kindred spirit and deep friendship with your maestro who takes the music seriously. I have five. Okay, we're on number four. Number four, and you'll you'll understand the order, I had to come up with it really quick. Number four is in order for this to feel as real, spontaneous, the energy coming off the stage, but it has to come back. That concerto felt requires a delivery system that is top level. Your St. Louis Symphony. Okay, fine. The reason why we were able to do that, and it's a gift for Time History, is because of this year, and you guys again decided to bring the amazing genius Kevin putts to the residency here at St. Louis Symphony. So congratulations to all of you.

SPEAKER_07 48:07

And just to echo Nick, um, I have 10 different things I'd like to bring up. Uh no, um, we'd love to meet you all in the lobby after the concert is finished, not during the intermission, but after the show is done. We'd love to get to know every single one of you. So if you have nothing to do the rest of the day, uh we'll just all hang out and have a great time. And the only other thing I'd like to say on an artistic note is we really don't want to ever leave this stage performing with this orchestra, playing for all of you as an audience. It's just fantastic.

SPEAKER_03 48:51

And only thing I gotta say is pretty good, Saint Louis.

Encore: Frankie Valli's Can't Take My Eyes Off You

SPEAKER_08 49:02

Pretty damn good. I got a cold, although you can do better than that. You guys are alien to me. Very good, very good.

SPEAKER_09 49:50

All right, this one we did not write. And it's not new either. Relatively new. What do you got?

SPEAKER_02 51:19

Yo, just go to the way still. Saturday sweet.

SPEAKER_08 51:58

This is the slowest version you ever heard.

SPEAKER_02 52:01

And if you feel like a fee, please know that it's right. I love you, baby. And if it's crowded, I need you, baby. Do I only nine I need you, baby? Trust me when I say, Oh, pretty baby. Don't leave it down, I'm praying, oh pretty baby. Now that I've got you stay, let me love you, baby. Let me love you. You are just stupid to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you. You feel like having to touch I do so much. And if you feel like I feel, please know that it's a reality. Sing along! I love you, babe! I need you to have a lonely and I need you, baby. Just leave when I say Oh pretty Don't let me down and pray, oh pretty baby. Now that I got you stay, let me love you, baby. Let me love you. We love you, St.

SPEAKER_01 55:17

Louis, so can't take my eyes off of you. Who's that by, Laura?

SPEAKER_06 55:28

That's by Bob Crew and Bob Gaudio, first popularized by Frankie Valley back in 1967, but a perennial favorite, and that was our encore for Time for Three, also accompanied by the audience.

SPEAKER_01 55:42

And the orchestra. They were leading both the orchestra and the audience in the rendition of that. I see our music director, Stefan Deneve, was sitting along with the orchestra. I saw him singing too. He'll be back here in just a couple of minutes, and I'll ask him about uh performing. He's been talking a lot from the stage.

SPEAKER_06 55:58

Yes, and as each member of Time for Three exits, they've been embracing Stefan Deneve on their way out.

Interview with Stéphane Denève, SLSO Music Director

SPEAKER_01 56:05

A reminder you can follow along with your own program notes by going to stlpr.org slash symphony. Again, during our intermission, we'll talk with Stefan Deneve, Peter Henderson, and Charles Yang. I'm Rod Mylam. That's Lauren Eldridge Stewart, and you're listening to a broadcast of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra on St. Louis Public Radio. From Paul Hall at the Jack C. Taylor Music Center, this is the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. I'm Rod Milam along with Lauren Eldridge Stewart. And joining us now, fresh from the stage, and learning the lyrics to the song that was just sung during the Encore. It's music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Stefan Deneve. Bonsoir. Bonsoir.

SPEAKER_04 56:47

I didn't know I would sing on stage with them. I love you, baby. I need you, baby. I want you, baby. That was fun.

SPEAKER_01 56:54

You need to do more singing from the podium. We saw you act a couple of weeks ago. Now you're going to start singing from this podium as well. I love show business. So there's an interesting combination of works that you put together for this concert. What was your thought process in putting all these seemingly disparate but not very disparate types of music together?

SPEAKER_04 57:13

No, it came from the concerto, actually, because I love contact. I did conduct this concerto with, of course, Time for 3, with the Philadelphia Orchestra. And I said, okay, I need to bring that home. And then I was like, what can be the connection? And I thought, ah, space is a connection, you know, the futuristic sci-fi aspect of it. And so I thought about John Williams' music because I love John Williams' music so much. And the opener came last, and I thought, well, a short ride in a fast machine, because that's really what it's about. We take a spaceship and we go to space together.

SPEAKER_01 57:47

Well, this entire program is hitting me directly at home because I was a child when all this music was coming out. All of this stuff is popping in at home. And speaking of home, I was born here in St. Louis. Kevin Putz was born here too, and he's the composer in residence. We already heard some work from him that you've programmed earlier on in this season. What's it like having him as a composer in residence added to this season? Because we're going to hear from him next week as well.

SPEAKER_04 58:11

Well, to be honest with you, it's called party time first because he's a very nice guy. We are dear friends. We enjoy very much speaking together and drinking some nice, not too much, but with moderation, but of French wine. No, no, but what it means actually is that we are very lucky that symphonic music has a future and is writing it. And I to be serious one second now, I think it's incredible that he was able to invent a kind of new sound for the orchestra, a new energy somehow. And and it's magic. I love the orchestra, as you know, as the this orchestra in particular, but the orchestra as a as a genre, as an art form, and it's really a magic toolbox because you can with almost the same instrument as Beethoven had more than two centuries ago, you have you have really uh a possibility to do something new. And and that's what I love with this piece, is that it gives me hope for the future that there's a lot more masterworks to be written. Contact is one of them.

SPEAKER_01 59:09

You've worked with Time for Three before, is that correct?

SPEAKER_04 59:12

Yes, I did work with them with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

SPEAKER_01 59:14

So is there any difference working with amplified musicians? They were amplified.

SPEAKER_04 59:20

Yes, only only them were slightly amplified because the idea is to be able to hear them all the time. And so very quickly, Kevin of course realized that this would be a challenge. And and then because of the nature of the piece and its kind of evocative aspect of the of the sci-fi, it's actually good to have this sound. So the orchestra was not amplified at all, and just the three of them have a little help, but it's it's moderate, it's not a lot.

SPEAKER_01 59:48

So I want to make sure we speak about the next pieces that are coming up by John Williams, again, the American composer of my generation. You have a special relationship with him. I think one year you even uh presented a preseason concert of his film music that was mixed in with selections of video that you did with him. Uh, where do you think he stands in the world of classical music as well as film music?

SPEAKER_04 1:00:09

Well, you know, John Williams wrote the soundtrack of our lives, and in a way, everybody has a special relationship with him. I'm very honored and privileged to be his friend, and we have a close relationship, and I treasure that so much. But I think he really wrote music that can be performed without any movie, and that's a amazing thing, is that the music is so great and has such a uh a musical structure that it doesn't need to be played with a film to have a musical logic. And that's what I love, and that's what I will show, I hope, uh today is that his music belongs also to the subscription concerts because uh it just entered the repertoire of Symphony Orchestra and it's here to stay forever.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:53

Well, let's let you get back to work and maybe you'll be singing. I don't know, from the from the from the end of the concert.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:58

That I try not to cry during E.T. because there is this moment con amore moment, this melody which is so tender, it just hit my my heart every time. So You did say it was your favorite. Oh yes. But we know I was the same age of uh as Elliot when the movie was out, uh released in 1982, and uh I connected deeply with uh with his story, of course. And and the film didn't age, by the way. There's a lot of people today, young people that don't know the movie, and I encourage them to look at it because it's still new today. It's it aged extremely well.

Interview with Peter Henderson, SLSO Principal Keyboard

SPEAKER_01 1:01:30

Well, I'll let you go get some recent pieces before you go back out on stage. That is music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Stefan Deneve, after intermission. He'll lead the orchestra in John Williams, excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Adventures on Earth from E.T. and selections from Star Wars Suite.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:46

And joining us now is Principal Keyboard, is Peter Henderson. Welcome, Peter.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:50

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:51

So we haven't talked with you this season yet. So what do you think of the Powell Hall renovations?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:57

Well, I think frankly, it's a triumph. It's been so great as an organization to come back together in a spirit of collaboration in this fresh space. Powell Hall always sounded incredible, but the facility wasn't really up to everything we needed, from rehearsal space to uh locker rooms for the women. It just really was a difficult space in which to work. And uh morale in our organization is so high now. We're just uh really pulling together from the stage hands, the staff, the musicians, and we're enjoying the acoustic is a little different now, a little bit brighter, a little friendlier toward the high frequencies. And that means rhythms cut a little better in the hall, I think. And we can see that in audience responses. But one thing for sure, every seat on the floor sounds better than it used to. So there's really not a bad seat in this house anymore. And it's incredible what the community has done building this. We're so grateful for this space in which to work.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:59

This is exciting. And speaking of sound and acoustics, you're playing a variety of keyboard instruments tonight. In the opening work, you played a synthesizer. Is this a first for you?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:10

No, we keyboardists have to be chameleons to a certain extent. I think all of us are more comfortable with some of the instruments than others. We play synthesizer pretty frequently because we often do movies here where the film is shown on a screen and then we provide the music live in person in the moment. And very often there are synthesized parts in those movies, so we get used to it. The touch is a little different, of course, than an acoustic piano, but we very often play celeste on stage as well. And that's a bell-like instrument. It's kind of like a softer Glockenspiel. And in order to play the Celesta, you have to have a slightly different touch than a piano, too. So we really get used to changing our touch for different things. Harpsichords, completely different animal. Organ, of course, the feet. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:00

A little while ago, we heard you playing the pianola offstage.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:03

Yes, that was a couple of weeks ago when we were overjoyed to welcome back an old music director David Robertson and wonderful artist and friend Orley Shahom to perform Bernstein's Second Symphony. And that actually, that particular moment is one of the terrifying moments in piano solos in the repertory because you're sitting on stage in brilliant lighting, reading your part, counting the rests, and being a part of the ensemble. And then you have to get up and walk off stage, meanwhile, still counting rests. You walk into the dark and you start to play a completely different instrument and hope that you're counting correctly. Count five bars of orally playing a passage and then four bars of the orchestra and then go. So it it's one of those kind of disembodied moments in a way, walking into the dark and playing a solo.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:53

Well, that certainly sounds like a unique challenge. And some people may think that playing film music is perhaps less challenging, but I understand that it has its own set of challenges. Could you elaborate a little bit on that?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:05

Well, if we're playing live with a film, the real problem there is synchronizing with the original film's soundtrack. And that puts a lot of the onus on the conductor. In a normal concert performance, the conductor can be responsive to little things that occur in timing in the group. So every performance is very slightly different, despite what we plan in rehearsal. But in a movie, if there are variances in timing, it really doesn't go well. For example, in The Wizard of Oz, you know, when the house falls on the Wicked Witch, if we don't land the music at the moment that the house lands, there's a problem in the dramatic presentation. So it really becomes a much more scientific timing, if you will.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:48

And I mean, I love listening to you speak because we're getting some of that sense of the pre concert lectures that you offer in advance. Are there any works or concerts in the remainder of the season that you're particularly looking forward to?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:00

Well, like everyone in the orchestra community, I loved the works of the living composer Kevin Putz, our composer in residence. And next week, we'll get a chance to revisit his brilliant concerto for orchestra, which we premiered and recorded a few seasons ago before we left Powell Hall. And it will be incredible to hear it in our beautifully renovated space, and also to get a chance to reflect upon the work. Because, of course, when you first play a premiere, the ink is almost not dry on the page, and there's that feeling of tension as you have microphones in your instrument and you want to get everything just right. And this time I think we'll be able to be a little more free, and I think it'll be even better, actually.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:41

Well, we're looking forward to it. We'll let you go ahead and get ready for the second half. Thank you so much for coming by, Peter.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:46

Thank you so much for having me.

Interview with Charles Yang, violin and member of Time for Three

SPEAKER_06 1:06:47

That was Principal Keyboardist Peter Henderson. And joining us now is a member of Time for Three, violinist and vocalist Charles Yang.

SPEAKER_08 1:06:57

Hello! Oh, I literally just got off stage. This is awesome.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:02

Well, I will let you catch a breath. I'll go ahead and start asking a few questions. You've performed with other symphony orchestras, but what has it been like this week working with Stefan Deneve and the SLSO?

SPEAKER_10 1:07:13

Well, we have worked with Stefan before with the Philadelphia Orchestra. We did the Bravo Vale Festival in Colorado, but now we get to come home to his uh amazing orchestra, your amazing orchestra, St. Louis Symphony is is uh, first of all, it's the idea of Powell Hall being renovated has been kind of circulating throughout our industry and even outside of our industry. Like, oh, you gotta check out Powell Hall. So to be there, to hear it, to be able to play this kind of instrument of a hall, and also to play with one of the world's great orchestras, uh, like the St. Louis Symphony, is just uh there's no better music making.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:50

And speaking of music making, so many different types of music. Time for Three Sound is a unique blend of several styles of music, and I mean we got to hear it both in the composition, but then also in the encore. How did you three get together and how did you develop this sound?

SPEAKER_10 1:08:07

You know, we're all rooted in classical music. You know, uh Nick and Renan went to Curtis, uh the Curtis Institute and actually founded the group uh 20 something years ago uh with another member, Zach Depew, and they kind of made the group solely based off of necessity. After orchestra rehearsals, they would just jam, you know, they'd jam and uh it didn't matter what genre, they would just play. They would stay after orchestra rehearsals, they just play different kinds of music and slowly started getting bookings and still slowly starting to find their voice. So I joined about 10 years ago. Of course, when you have a new member, uh the whole DNA changes. So we had to really find what that voice is, find what it was in the past, of course, but also what's the what's the new thing with uh with me in it? So I always loved singing, so that became a big part of what we do, and the guys opened up to singing for the first time, and we started songwriting and getting composers like Kevin putz to include vocals in these amazing concertos.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:03

So you'll return to the SLSO in January next year to perform as a solo violinist in Chris Bowers' concerto for a younger self. Can you tell us anything about that work, which is brand new to the SLSO?

SPEAKER_10 1:09:15

Yeah, no, this is a piece that Chris Bowers, uh amazing composer, but also just a giant Hollywood star, you know. Uh we went to school together, went to Juilliard together, and we were just very much cut from the same cloth. He was in jazz, I was in classical, of course, but he was always playing classical, he was always very curious about other sounds, same as a classical musician. So a couple years ago, an orchestra had commissioned a new concerto for me to play, and and they asked who I wanted, and I said, Chris Bowers, you know, he's got such a great color palette, so I asked him, and he wrote pretty much for younger self based off of our experience in New York City, coming to New York City for the first time and also going to Juilliard for the first time. So it's the journey of our experience there together. So it's very special.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:58

How do you balance your solo work? Because I understand that all of you do solo work as well as work as an ensemble.

SPEAKER_10 1:10:07

My girlfriend hates it. But uh it's uh it is a it's it's a tough thing, you know. But we have very supportive families, we have very supportive partners, and so you know, when I'm on the road with Time for Three and then a solo thing, and actually artistically it's it's very fulfilling, you know, because we can get in the same grind over and over again and um playing the same concertos, but it's great to kind of split things up. So the three of us all do different things, and we're just very proud of coming together as a almost a supergroup in a way.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:37

Well, we're looking forward to continuing to hear you. I know you have a Grammy-winning recording of works, both by Kevin Putz and Jennifer Higden, Letters for the Future. Any other recording projects on the works?

SPEAKER_10 1:10:49

We just released another Kevin Putts album called Emily No Prisoner Bee. Kevin wrote a whole song cycle pretty much for us and Joyce Di Donato, the wonderful singer. And we just went on our first tour, so that is out, and it's to the poetry of Emily Dickinson. So check it out, Emily No Prisoner B.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:05

We will absolutely check it out. Thank you so much, Charles. Thank you, thank you, thank you all. That was Charles Yang, one of the violinists and vocalists with Time for Three.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:14

Our concert tonight concludes with John Williams' excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Adventures on Earth from E.T., and selections from Star Wars Suite. Although John Williams has written a good deal of symphonic concert music, his name came to real prominence with his award-winning scores for favorite blockbuster movies. Right, Lauren?

SPEAKER_06 1:11:34

That is right, and many credit Williams for making those films the successes that they are. Noted director Steven Spielberg, who directed two of the three films whose music is performed tonight, said, without John Williams, bicycles do not fly, nor do brooms in Quidditch matches, nor do heroes in red capes. There is no force. Dinosaurs do not walk the earth, sharks do not terrorize idyllic summer beaches, and Jedi do not return. Without the magic of John Williams, audiences do not wonder or weep or believe. Williams is also credited with putting symphonic music back into films in the 1970s after a decade when electronic music in films was the norm. His inspiration and technique and devices came from composers from an earlier generation, such as Eric Kongold, Nino Roto, and Bernard Herman, who in turn were influenced by romantic opera and orchestral composers such as Wagner. The first of the three Williams pieces is excerpts from the 1977 Spielberg film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In the film, music plays an integral part of communication, and Williams was asked to write a five-note theme that would serve as the alien's communication motif. It is said that he tried hundreds of the possible 134,000 different combinations of notes before arriving on Rei, Mi, Do, Do, So. We were able to hear this referenced earlier in this concert from Charles Gang and Maestro Stefan Deneve. The film actually begins with music that sounds electronic, indicating the sci-fi nature of the work, but is produced by violins playing tone clusters at the top of their range. The score uses both complex ligatey and Pindaretsky-influenced sonorities to represent the mysterious aspects of the aliens, as well as some of the more threatening moments. Then these atonalities give way to uplifting lyricism in the climax of the film. Our next John Williams work is Adventures on Earth from another Spielberg film, E.T. The Extraterrestrial from 1982, and is a small tone poem made from the music of the final sequence when E.T. makes his frantic escape from his captures and then of his emotional departure. An example of the trust that it built up between composer and filmmaker occurred when Williams had trouble syncing the orchestra's performance to the action of the film and the final sequence, so Spielberg turned off the film and let Williams record with the phrasing and tempos his music required. Then Spielberg recut the film to accommodate the music. The film that cemented John Williams' name as a film score composer was George Lucas's Star Wars from 1977. To conclude our concert, we will hear three selections from a Star Wars suite, including the main title, Princess Leia's theme, and Darth Vader's theme, Imperial March. The main title that opens the film may be the most recognizable theme in film score history. Williams used brass to create a theme that, in his words, smacks you in the eye. It is followed by a more romantic and lyrical but still adventurous second theme. It is interesting to note that the opening is in the key of C to match the key used in the 20th Century Fox audio logo that precedes it. In his film music, Williams frequently uses the Wagner-inspired device of the leitmotif, a musical phrase indicating a particular person. This is quite evident in Princess Leia's theme. It conveys a main character who is beautiful, courageous, and vulnerable, particularly when played by a solo horn. It is also used when Obi-Wan Kenobi dies, and Princess Leia is just an observer. Another example of the leitmotif is in the final selection, Imperial March, Darth Vader's theme, which usually occurs when Vader makes an entrance. The theme is predominantly played by trumpets and trombones low in their registers to create a menacing but at the same time militaristic atmosphere. His Star Wars score earned John Williams an Academy Award and three Grammy Awards. The recording is still the highest-grossing non-pop orchestral recording of all time.

John Williams' Excerpt from Close Encounters of the Third Kind

John Williams' Adventures on Earth from E.T.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:36

A reminder, you can follow along at home with your own program notes. All you have to do is go to stlpr.org slash symphony. We now have the entrance of music director Stefan Deneve and our final work, John Williams Excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Adventures on Earth from E.T. and selections from Star Wars Suite. Composed by John Williams. This is the Single Symphony Orchestra. You just heard John Williams' Adventures on Earth from E.T., the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra was led by Stefan Deneuve.

SPEAKER_06 1:35:58

And Stefan Deneuve has invited applause for both Piccolo player and Schumak and also English Horn player Kelly Banner. He's invited the entire orchestra to rise and is now exiting the stage.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:23

This is the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra on St. Louis Public Radio.

SPEAKER_06 1:42:51

An immense audience applause. Stefan Deneu has invited the entire orchestra to rise.

SPEAKER_01 1:51:39

That was the Imperial March from the Star Wars suite by John Williams, and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra was led by music director Stefan Deneve.

SPEAKER_06 1:51:49

And Stefan Deneve has invited the entire orchestra to rise. He has shaken the hand of concertmaster David Halen and is now descending the podium and exiting the stage. Members of the audience are on their feet after this robust suite of John Williams themes. Stefan Deneve is now re-entering the stage. And has gestured towards the trumpets and the low brass. Now some acknowledgement and some love for the horns and the percussion section. They have definitely put in work tonight. Also, Peter Henderson, who we had the opportunity to talk to during intermission. And now the Wilwins. Also the double basses. Now the cellos and the violas. The second violins and the first violins. Now a grand recap for everyone. And also an acknowledgement of the score.

SPEAKER_01 1:53:28

That was his favorite. And he was rushing to get back on stage, although he has a special relationship with John Williams in general. And I'm sure that he loves the music as much as the audience and the orchestra does as well. You're listening to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra from Powell Hall on St. Louis Public Radio, Simulcast on Classic 1073, and online at stlpr.org. You can hear this concert in person tomorrow afternoon at 3 at Powell Hall. More information is available at slso.org. Tonight we heard the following works: John Williams excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Adventures on Earth from E.T., and selections from Star Wars Suite. Before that, Kevin puts contact, triple concerto for two violins, bass, and orchestra, featuring Time for Three, violinist Nicholas Kendall, and Charles Yang, and double bassist Renan Meyer. And we began the evening with John Adams' short ride in a fast machine.

SPEAKER_06 1:54:22

You're invited to join St. Louis Public Radio for the next live broadcast of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra next Saturday, March 28th. Music director Stefan Deneve will lead the orchestra in Ludwig van Beethoven's The Consecration of the House Overture, Moni Jasmine Gogh's The Sound of Where I Came From, Kevin Putz's Concerto for Orchestra, and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, featuring pianist Vikinger Olofson. That's the next live broadcast of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Saturday, March 28th at 7.30 p.m. on St. Louis Public Radio.

SPEAKER_01 1:54:55

We invite you to share your thoughts about our live broadcast of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra season. You can find us online at stlpr.org and on social media. Just search for and like the St. Louis Public Radio Facebook page. The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra broadcast is produced by Mary Edwards with audio engineered by Kyle Pike. Additional assistance is provided by Tim Munro, Kevin Putz, Yvonne Frendel, Greg Monteneux, Eric Dundan, Maggie Bailey, Rachel Madison, Sam Swain, Gino Belasi, Madeline Painter Tala, and Alex Rice. And a special thank you goes to all the musicians of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Local 2197. Live broadcasts of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, our production of St. Louis Public Radio. I am Lauren Oda Stewart. And I'm Rod Milam. Please join us again next week.