Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Violin Concerto, 1st Movement
John McLaughlin Williams, Violin
South Carolina Philharmonic
Nicholas Smith, Conductor

Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Violin Concerto: I. Moderato Nobile

John McLaughlin Williams - Violin
David Riley - Piano

This work is one of the greatest of 20th century violin sonatas.  Clues to the content of the music may be discerned in the sonata's title, "Sonate libre en deux parties enchaînées" (free sonata in two linked parts), and its subtitle, "ad modem clementis aquae" (in the manner of peaceful water). However, this music is far from completely peaceful, and though it is even at time violent, the relentless flow of the work does suggest the inexorability and elementally of water. Though identifiably French in aesthetic, the composer charts an individualistic path through the outlines of sonata form, and in a fearsomely complex approach to rhythm. Schmitt's style will be instantly recognizable to any who have previously heard his works. For those who haven't, this work of Olympian difficulty is a gripping introduction to a truly great French composer.

Florent Schmitt: Sonate libre en deux parties enchaînées (ad modem clementis aquae)

Live performance with South Carolina Philharmonic

Korngold  Violin Concerto - II. Romance

Korngold:  Violin Concerto - III. Allegro Assai Vivace

Max Hobart, Conductor; Civic Symphony Orchestra of Boston
Performance in Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory

Béla Bartók: Violin Concerto No.1 - John McLaughlin Williams, Violin

The Stephane Grappelli/Yehudi Menuhin arrangement of the jazz standard, performed by John McLaughlin Williams (doing Menuhin), Gerry Mordis (doing Grappelli), and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra conducted by the legendary Harry Rabinowitz.

Dinah (JMW, Gerry Mordis, Harry Rabinowitz & Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra)

Samuel Coleridge Taylor's (1875-1912)concert setting of the well known spiritual "Keep Me From Sinking Down" was performed only once in the composer's lifetime; it was never published. The composer's piano reduction and a full score was given to me in 1997 by William Thomas of Philips Academy Andover, and from the full score I created new performance material. Through the years I played it many times with piano, but it wasn't until 2011 that I gave the first modern performance with orchestra, playing it with Adam Riccinto and the Ypsilanti Symphony. This performance is from New York City in 2015, with the Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra conducted by Thomas Cunningham in the cavernous sanctuary of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Keep Me From Sinking Down (Negro Spiritual setting for Violin & Orchestra)

Here's my live performance of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's gorgeous Romance for Violin and Orchestra. Unlike his Violin Concerto and Keep Me From Sinking Down, this piece has enjoyed quite a number of performances through the years. The Romance can be classified as a lyrical-virtuouso work in that while the melody always reigns supreme, the figuration called for can be rather involved. This performance is with the Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra, conducting by Thomas Cunningham. I didn't know this work too well before Tom asked me to perform it with him, but I'm so very glad he did, because it's a gem.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Romance For Violin & Orchestra

Live performance
John McLaughlin Williams, Violin
Shan-Shan-Sun, Piano

Darius Milhaud:  Violin Sonata No.2

A full orchestral version of the National Song of the Cayman Islands. Composed in 1930 by Leila Ross-Shier in a parlor waltz style, it was regarded unofficially as the country's National Song for decades and was adopted officially as that in 1993. The nation has lacked a version that can be played at official and international events. I was commissioned by Ross-Shier's family to create something that would be representative of the beauty of the Song and the nation. It was recorded by the Northwest Sinfonia in Seattle and conducted by me.

Beloved Isles Cayman

I composed this work in 1996 as part of the requirements for an MM in Composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music. At the time I was still playing with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra during the summers, and I originally conceived the work as a showpiece for that group. It is a technically difficult piece that calls for virtuosic playing from all sections. In character it is inspired by the Shakespeare overtures of Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and as such explains the rather jocular mood of the work. Here it is played by The Cleveland Institute Of Music Orchestra, conducted by me.



John McLaughlin Williams: Symphonic Minutes (Concert Overture for Orchestra)

An excerpt from an unfinished orchestral work titled Some Stray Elling-Tones. The work is a set of variations on the Billy Strayhorn tune "Take the A Train", which features a concertante vibraphone solo. I wrote part of the introduction and four variations in 2000, but then put it aside. The variations themselves have strikingly different characters; this variation is a parody of the tune.

Some Stray Elling-Tones- Var. 1 (Variations on Take the A Train for Orchestra & Vibraphone Solo)

John McLaughlin Williams is a four-time GRAMMY nominee, and the first African-American conductor to win a GRAMMY award.  He has received acclaim from international publications Gramophone, Classic FM, International Record Review, Fanfare, American Record Guide, and the distinguished French recording journal Diapason. His career has brought conducting engagements throughout the United States, and he is known particularly for his advocacy of music by American and minority composers.  John McLaughlin Williams’ musicianship crosses musical genres; in addition to his classical conducting he has been active in Broadway performances, orchestral pops concerts, and as orchestral conductor for artists such as Al Jarreau, Brian McKnight, The Winans, and the Celtic ensemble Colcannon. His guest conducting appearances include the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony and National Radio Orchestras of Ukraine, Chicago Sinfonietta, Classic FM Symphony Orchestra (Sofia, Bulgaria), Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Macon Symphony Orchestra, Cayman Islands Arts Festival (B.W.I.), and the Britt Festival Orchestra.  John received a Grammy Award in 2007 for his performance of Messiaen’s Oiseaux Exotiques, recorded with the Cleveland Chamber Symphony and pianist Angelin Chang. John has since received three more Grammy nominations for his recordings of the Ernest Bloch and Benjamin Lees Violin Concerti with soloist Elmar Oliveira, and the Complete Viola Works of Quincy Porter with violist Eliesha Nelson.


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