John Williams, classical guitar virtuoso, is known for his wide-ranging approach to repertory, which includes appearances playing electric rock guitar and international music. John's father Leonard (Len) Williams was an accomplished guitarist who emigrated from Britain to Australia, married a Melbourne woman of Chinese-British descent, and was best known there for his jazz playing. As he taught John to play guitar, it soon became apparent thatRead more the boy was a gifted guitarist, and the family planned to move back to London so that he could pursue further studies. To afford the trip, Len Williams took an additional job as a hippo-keeper at the Melbourne Zoo.
They eventually moved to London in 1952. John performed at Conway Hall in London in 1955, making enough of an impression that the famous guitarist Andrés Segovia invited John to study at his courses at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy. John accepted and became a student of the pioneering guitar soloist from 1957 to 1959.
Williams made his official debut at London's Wigmore Hall in 1958, and received reviews that noted a strong, clean tone and a polished though undemonstrative technique. However, Williams does not give Segovia or his other official teachers a large share of the credit for his technique. He says that most of these teachers were too "authoritarian" in their approach, not excluding Segovia who, he says, had a tendency to expect his pupils to adopt his interpretive "mannerisms," and would get quite angry when they didn't. The guitarist with whom he formed the closest association is Julian Bream, a fellow student of Segovia. Bream has often appeared in concert and on recordings as a guitar duo with Williams.
Williams has toured throughout the world. He has performed and recorded nearly the entire standard guitar repertory, plus a large quantity of transcriptions. Several of these transcriptions are by his own hand. He was a professor of guitar at the Royal College of Music in London from 1960 to 1973. However, he also has a strong tendency to explore music outside the classical tradition. He does session work on film soundtracks, has arranged Beatles songs, and plays electric guitar in Sky, a classical-rock fusion band. He has also formed his own ensembles, John Williams and Friends and Attacca, to explore other music. On a CD release called The Guitarist, he uses Turkish and Greek rhythms and harmonies to support Medieval music. The 2002 album, The Magic Box, examines African music. Read less
Label: Sony
Catalog: 88985393632
Release Date: 08/18/2017
Number of Discs: 46
Composer:
Alban Berg,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky,
Carl Stamitz
...
Performer:
Daniel Barenboim,
Saschko Gawriloff,
Halina Lukomska,
Pinchas Zukerman
...
Conductor:
Pierre Boulez,
Daniel Barenboim,
Zubin Mehta
Orchestra/Ensemble:
BBC Symphony Orchestra,
English Chamber Orchestra,
New York Philharmonic
...
Label: Sony
Catalog: 518338
Release Date: 05/06/2016
Number of Discs: 10
Composer:
Sergei Prokofiev,
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky,
Antonín Dvorák,
Jean Sibelius
...
Performer:
Vladimir Ashkenazy,
Itzhak Perlman,
John Williams,
Pinchas Zukerman
...
Conductor:
Erich Leinsdorf
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Juilliard String Quartet
Label: Altus Records (Wyastone Sub)
Catalog: 1
Release Date: 03/11/2016
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Richard Harvey
Performer:
Richard Studt,
Ben Kingsley,
Eamonn O'Dwyer,
Roger Chase
...
Conductor:
Richard Harvey
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Oxford New College Choir,
New London Children's Choir,
English Chamber Choir
Label: Sony
Catalog: 301333
Release Date: 11/24/2014
Number of Discs: 67
Composer:
Béla Bartók,
Alexander Scriabin,
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Alban Berg
...
Performer:
Karl Dönch,
Isabel Strauss,
Walter Berry,
Fritz Uhl
...
Conductor:
Pierre Boulez,
Anton Webern
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Philharmonic,
Camerata Singers,
Schola Cantorum New York
...
Recommendation
Label: Jcw Recordings
Catalog: 3
Release Date: 09/09/2014
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Recorded Sound,
Stephen Goss,
Horacio Salinas,
Ross Edwards
Performer:
John Williams,
Horacio Durán,
Richard Harvey,
Caroline Dale
Conductor:
Paul Daniel
Label: Sony
Catalog: 5438882
Release Date: 03/25/2014
Number of Discs: 9
Composer:
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Antonio Vivaldi,
Johannes Brahms,
Ernest Chausson
...
Performer:
Isaac Stern,
Itzhak Perlman,
Pinchas Zukerman,
Daniel Barenboim
...
Conductor:
Zubin Mehta,
Erich Leinsdorf,
André Previn,
John Williams
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New York Philharmonic,
Juilliard String Quartet,
Boston Symphony Orchestra
...
Recommendation
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 91975
Release Date: 05/08/2012
Number of Discs: 4
Composer:
Franz Joseph Haydn,
Sir Edward Elgar,
Robert Schumann,
Camille Saint-Saëns
...
Performer:
Jacqueline Du Pré,
Daniel Barenboim,
Pinchas Zukerman,
Stephen Kovacevich
...
Conductor:
Sir John Barbirolli,
Daniel Barenboim
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Symphony Orchestra,
New Philharmonia Orchestra,
English Chamber Orchestra
...
Label: Sony
Catalog: 64349
Release Date: 06/02/2011
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
George Gershwin
Performer:
George Gershwin,
Harold Jones,
Sarah Vaughan,
George Gaffney
...
Conductor:
Michael Tilson Thomas,
Morton Gould,
Andre Kostelanetz,
Eugene Ormandy
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Columbia Jazz Band,
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra,
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
...
Label: Sony
Catalog: 88082
Release Date: 05/31/2011
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Isaac Albeniz,
Agustín Barrios Mangoré,
Silvius Leopold Weiss
...
Performer:
John Williams,
Julian Bream
Conductor:
William Goodchild,
János Rolla,
Richard Tognetti,
Louis Frémaux
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra,
Australian Chamber Orchestra,
Philharmonia Orchestra
Label: Sony
Catalog: 64340
Release Date: 04/22/2011
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Joaquin Rodrigo,
Manuel de Falla,
Isaac Albeniz,
Enrique Granados
...
Performer:
John Williams,
Shirley Verrett,
Teresa Llacuna,
Philippe Entremont
...
Conductor:
Eugene Ormandy,
Leopold Stokowski,
Pierre Boulez
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philadelphia Orchestra,
New York Philharmonic
Recommendation
Label: Sony
Catalog: 69054
Release Date: 04/05/2011
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Joaquin Rodrigo,
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Performer:
John Williams
Conductor:
Daniel Barenboim
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English Chamber Orchestra
Recommendation
Label: Sony
Catalog: 756166
Release Date: 11/10/2009
Number of Discs: 5
Composer:
Isaac Albeniz,
Joaquin Rodrigo,
Heitor Villa-Lobos,
Niccolň Paganini
...
Performer:
John Williams,
Itzhak Perlman,
Julian Bream
Conductor:
Daniel Barenboim,
Sir Charles Groves
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English Chamber Orchestra
Label: Sony
Catalog: 53361
Release Date: 06/30/2008
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Peter Sculthorpe,
Nigel Westlake
Performer:
John Williams
Conductor:
Richard Hickox,
Paul Daniel
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Australian Chamber Orchestra,
London Symphony Orchestra
Label: Decca
Catalog: 001041302
Release Date: 01/08/2008
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Antonio Vivaldi,
John Dowland,
Domenico Scarlatti
...
Performer:
Andrés Segovia,
Göran Söllscher,
Pepe Romero,
Ida Presti
...
Conductor:
Kenneth Sillito,
Sir Neville Marriner,
Nick Ingman,
Mats Rondin
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Musici,
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields,
Budapest Film Orchestra
...
Label: Sony
Catalog: 714332
Release Date: 10/23/2007
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Michael Praetorius,
Traditional,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Franz Xaver Gruber
...
Performer:
Frederica Von Stade,
Kathleen Battle,
Marilyn Horne,
Michael Bolton
...
Conductor:
André Previn,
John Williams,
Jerold Ottley,
Steven Mercurio
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Orchestra of St. Luke's,
American Boychoir,
Tanglewood Festival Chorus
...
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Catalog: 000477202
Release Date: 10/11/2005
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Joseph Brackett,
Stanley Myers,
William Gould Tomer,
Stephen Sondheim
...
Performer:
Bryn Terfel,
John Williams,
Simon Keenlyside,
Aled Jones
Conductor:
Barry Wordsworth
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Symphony Orchestra,
London Voices
Recommendation