John Williams : Hector Villa-Lobos - Prelude no.3

[sammyenjosh]

This man doesn't simply play the music. He takes the notes, gives them each a heart and a soul, lets them breathe and dances making each of them feel special and unique. I can only dream to play with that amount of feeling ever in my life.

[classicoALEX]

This and prelude #1 are some of my all time favorites for the guitar

[lamecasuelas2]

@MrOvercaffeinated or you can say that he is really concentrated,he was sucked inside by his guitar,he is feeligs the nothes inside his body

[Hecateize]

I will call John Williams of Joãozinho Williams now.

sasahsuahshhauhshauhasah

[cjamo9]

i learnt to play it by listenning to him. i cant play the guitar for shite but hearing him play made me want to learn

[Itscaj]

@MrOvercaffeinated I disagree, musically he lacks the expression of the other great guitarists. I guess its a matter of taste to some extent, he plays every piece void of a single mistake but lacks the emotive prowess that you get with Bream, Segovia and Dowland for instance.

[cjamo9]

@Itscaj can you put links to there versions on here id love to hear them

[mten84]

@MrOvercaffeinated I'm just happy he doesn't look like he's having an orgasm every time he hits a note, like some other classical guitarists do.

It's almost like they are doing it just for doing it, if you catch my meaning.

But everyone is different i guess ^^

[Viertelhausen]

In Villa-Lobos' published works, it is written that this piece is an homage to J.S. Bach. Can you hear it?

[DHTCF]

@Viertelhausen Interesting that you mention Bach, because much as I admire Williams, I prefer Bream when it comes to Bach or to Villa Lobos.

[altulenko]

The level of discourse in these comments doesn't come up to the level of playing herein. Too bad.

[robuyube]

ughhh....kills this piece. Sorry. JW is a great guitarist, but he is lost here. :(

[thevideomaster96]

@robuyube what don't you like about it? :O i think he played excellent

[robuyube]

@thevideomaster96 He is certainly technically fine and plays according to the rhythm as it is written perhaps, but I think this is a very sad and longing piece and I don't feel that is expressed here. I just now searched around and found a youtube recording by a guitarist named Giuseppe Corso - he does a pretty fine job, although not technically perfect and the recording could be better. My comments are left there. Cheers.

[VincentBrooke1]

@robuyube I adore JW but I must say I agree with you. He just seems to play that little too fast in little bits. The emotion of the piece is lost in the speed... :/

[Itscaj]

@VincentBrooke1 Really? Williams interpretation is one of the slowest I've heard, if you lose the emotion through speed than that's just a poor performance. Speed can enhance emotive aspects just as well as a rallantando can.

[ianandspencer]

I think it's safe to say that Andres Segovia is the best, but Williams is excellent as well

[prtky]

dont tell that people dont have feeling when they are playing guitar with that skill. No one that plays that well is just going to play that without some personal feeling envolved. People who like music and play know that...i guess, at least i do.

[maxwelloliveira]

Fenomenal!!!

[VincentXXValentine]

I'm playing this for state level UIL contest in two months. And the musicianship is tough

[Nielsmeire]

what a tone

[hadedorus]

@MrOvercaffeinated no it has nothing to do with the facial expressions. I had discs of his works long before I ever saw a vid of him. I think that he has always been cold and now he is even colder than he used to be back in his early recordings. He does however have some very good ideas in his interpretations I'll give him that (some of which by the way he tents to omit in his scores) but there is always something missing in his sound...

[ipoodaily]

@hadedorus ur retarted.

[jsbach40]

I heard the best description of JW's playing: someone said it's a black and white pencil sketch of the music. He takes the notes and plays them as they are written. Bream, on the other hand, is more a renaissance oil painting, which I prefer most of the time.

[JPastorius3]

Can't wait to see him play all 5 in November.

[dohrt]

The younger Williams played very stoically and very much like a machine. His focus was too technical. But that's as good a motivation to keep going as any. As he got older he allowed feeling and spirit to permeate his playing. This piece sounds very rich with emotion... I like the "older" Williams. Wu wei and the ox cutter; all roads lead to real mastery, but each player who gets there does it in a different way. Let Williams be Williams. He is one of a very few greats.

[MrRandheer]

I'm 67 now. I stopped playing too many years ago. I could once play #3. I listen now. It brings tears. And John Williams is still so excellent.

[93orestis]

@MrOvercaffeinated totally agree....

[mathmoser]

extrem gut!!!!!!!!

[ally451]

I usually don't think theres enough emotion in Williams performances. However this is an exception. Wonderful!

[alucardisdumb]

@MrOvercaffeinated the way his melodies seem to float around him says more than any expression i've ever seen from any musician's face honestly.

classy stuff indeed.

[cicero3267]

Um dos melhores violonistas de todos os tempos numa interpretação impecável do maior compositor brasileiro de todos os tempos.

Brilhante!!

[SolarReturn]

Greetings, amigos. Just a correction: HEITOR and not Hector. :o) warm regards from São Paulo, Brasil.... thank you for posting

[jabbermule]

Great music written by Hector House-Wolf

[Terrorhuyg]

It's Heitor, not Hector.

[tonnze]

great

[genjuro23]

João Uílians is a big guitarrist

[keto6789]

about time he played something slow instead of rushing like he's off to lunch. Good interpretation!

[guga380]

his name is heitor not hector

do not translate names for people

i dont call john willians as joão guilherme

[FrOmXwithin]

How exactly do you pronounce Heitor? Is it like.... Hay-Tor?

[guga380]

Hay-tor, but not tór

hay is the tonic

[brtherjohn]

Williams has actually rethought the tempo for this prelude. His recording from 1975 is MUCH slower than this. Painfully, in fact. The pacing here is near perfect...

[thejugglenaut91]

haha one of my teachers was telling me about that

[ksarex]

well ... i think is slow. But that's how john williams chose to perform . All musicians can have a different opinion of how a piece is best played...

[JoaoVSchultz]

It´s a magnificent Prelude, I just would like to say that the composer name is Heitor Villa-Lobos, not Hector. He´s Brasilian like I am.

[Orange1117]

I agree with you JoaoVSchultz, I really hate when people translate a composer's name, it's like calling, for example, John Williams, Jose Wiliams (spanish) or Giose Williams (italian) =/

By the way, this performance is just perfect, it's so inspiring to watch Willams play.

[nosferatusymphony]

I agree with flutiste94. This version of the piece is performed with some kind of tiredness, with no true effort and emotion. Bream is a better guitarist when it comes to this peace.

[asxefv]

i feel old when i listen to this piece

[flutiste94]

although i m a big fan of williams this version of the piece it s not as i expected to be.....it s slower that the real one.....however nobony can question his abilities on playing the guitar, this is just my opinion....i prefer julian's bream version!!!

[bruno280678]

uno dei pezzi più belli mai scritti per chitarra

[guitarra1711]

excelso sin duda un gran maestro!

[o0o0oo00oo00]

Very cold and mechanical playing.

I recommend Parkening's recording in "In spanish style"

[bdisha]

to o0o0oo00oo00....you have no idea what you're talking about

[MagicDonDino]

I agree with bdisha!

[aNitaAspecial1]

Brillant Mind makes Beautiful sounds

[strattororro]

wiiliams toca muy igual a la partitura,

que a diferencia del maestro bream toma mas libertades y creo que pone un poco mas de sentimentalismo a la pieza,

pero villa-lobos, que en muxas de sus obras da clara muestra de su admiracion por bach, hay que intermpretarlo con mucha clase, y williams lo consigue.

[Deerse]

Love to see a clip of Norbert Kraft playing this piece on his Bernabe .

[skingaz]

I think this is, for the most part, a great performance; but I really cannot STAND the sound of these Smallman guitars.

I'd love to hear him play this on the Bernabé that he recently bought.

[esl63]

according to what I read on another site, he was given that guitar, but he returned it, as it was not his type of guitar.

[ourasia]

Quelle sensibilité! quand on aime tout devient BEAU.

Merci et bravo MISTER WILLIAMS.

[MrNadeeo]

His name is Heitor but I believe he used to write it both ways.

You can still call John Williams Joao Williams : that wouldn't be the first time some culture utterly destroys the name of another culture's person.

[Rexicano]

This is some of Williams best playing; he takes the single note phrases at a nice sensitive feel.

I think those who think he should be marching through it are all wrong. Ususally Willimas is not this lyrical to my ears so this is a real treat.

I also used to love Parkening's interpretation a lot but it's been years since I heard him do it.

I often dislike Williams guitar sounds and wonder which instrument this is because it sounds great here.

[RandomMocker]

This is going to sound wierd, but this seems too "in time" for my liking. I think with this piece you just really need to not bother as much with the metronome. Or at least speed it up a little.

[FluteRules]

That might be the first time in history anyone has said that John Williams is playing "too slow!"

[RandomMocker]

haha, probably, and I take it back too. It's a perfect speed, I was showing my immaturity as a musician with that last comment ;)

I think i was tryig to say that this piece or more accurately, interpretation was played too much like a classical piece and lacked some of that 'rough-around-the-edges' Brazillian spirit.

[FluteRules]

Haha well he is a classical musician!

But certainly I guess the "A" section could use more interpretation on his part.

But the "B" section is clearly Lobos' homage to Bach so it would be wrong to treat it as anything other than a classical piece,

[Igmarus]

totally quote!!!

[ArthurAnderaos]

It's HEITOR Villa-Lobos for God's Sake, don't translate the man's name, would you like me to call John Williams "João Williams"?!?!?!

[ricointx]

@ArthurAnderaos It's probably an honest mistake. Hector is more common and recognizable among Asians and Americans than Heitor.

[kpirooz92]

@ArthurAnderaos

Or João Guillermo? 

[FamilyPrisonerBlues]

@ArthurAnderaos They always call him HECTOR on WCPE classical radio station which comes from Wake Forest ,North Carolina,USA ,but they always claim you can listen to that radio station anywhere in the world. That is why in order for me to find out more about this musician and look his music up on YouTube I wrote his name down on paper as HECTOR.

[ColtonBrook]

@ArthurAnderaos Jehova > Jesus > jesu > etc it's called transliteration. But you are right still, his name IS Heitor...

[ipoodaily]

@eddypfunk ur retarded hes not even dissing him

[arieromigor]

@ArthurAnderaos What about "Hector Village-Wolfs" lol

[santgil]

@ArthurAnderaos Pior: seria "João Uíliam"

[jamma246]

@ArthurAnderaos Why are you going onto all these videos saying that. I don't give a fucking shit, and I wouldn't give a shit if he had put João Williams evem though I'm English. People have such national pride it's pathetic.

[ScottiSmokesPotty]

@jamma246 if u keep on giving up ur prides, your going to be left with nothing. It's best to have some sort of pride rather than just letting everyone stomp over you.

[jamma246]

@ScottiSmokesPotty No, it's not, fucking nationalists ruin this world.

People who live in England are proud of living in England, people who live in Spain are proud of living in Spain. Do you see the void of logic here?

I like where I live, and want to add to society. I don't have to have some sort of unjustified love of my country just because it happens to be the place where I was born.

[axisgirl]

This is my favorite prelude, I used to dream when studying it, and John Williams made the best version I've ever heard.

btw It is Heitor Villa Lobos-Lobos

[AntonIceChill]

its fun to play

nice interpretation btw!;)

[whisperdark]

Grande perfomance..per tocco, pulizia e interpretazione.Sicuramente uno dei più grandi chitarristi di tutti i tempi..così come Villa lobos personalmente il mio preferito insieme a Albeniz.

[atijufehninoj]

maravilhoso... john williams eh realmente fora do comum em materia de sentimento sem descaracterizar a musica. Pra quem quiser ver uma versão com um toque mais popular, existe uma versão do eterno rafael rabelo tocando esse preludio muito boa também.

[tudofluinodevir]

Nunca entendi essa piada de sentimento descaracterizar uma música. Ele só relê a mesma. Pior coisa do mundo é máquina tocando. Zaralho...

[atijufehninoj]

O sentimento eh uma particularidade da musica muito pessoal. Na verdade eu não posso dizer que o sentimento que o john williams colocou na música eh o melhor, na verdade eh apenas que tem mais haver comigo.

Eu não posso explicar o q eh esse sentimento, mas tem haver com interpretar o q está escrito na partitura encaixando acentuações e aplicando a dinamica. desculpe se você não entender o q eu quero dizer, mas sentimento eh algo realmente complexo, na maioria das vezes sem lógica. abraço cara!

[phelpa13]

Simplesmente maravilhoso,

que interpretação.

Que musicos !

Ainda bem que isto existe .

[salsichamusical]

fantastico essa maravilhosa obra de villa lobos representada por um dos maiores violonista do mundo pois sua tecnica e sentimento demostra toda a vida e sentimento nessa bela musica de villa lobos um genio no Brasil e amado pelo mundo

[pansydan]

This is a great performance...but that would be expected since it is the great John Williams! I just don't like how he repeats the whole thing. That has become the accepted way of playing it. But when Villa-lobos wrote them, he only wanted them played through once...Segovia changed it later.

[blurgop]

pansydan isn't Segovia a great master too, just as H. Villa-Lobos ?

(and of course his name's Heitor)

[pansydan]

He of course is a great master too. My argument is that he is not the composer and that the standard performance of this piece is not that of the composer but of Segovia. Anyone who plays classical and doesn't like Segovia is an idiot.

[blurgop]

Yeah you're right

[AntonIceChill]

That last should NOT be printed on the cover of the bibel or something, that would make people think that EVERYTHING in it is true. XD

[axelinsky]

I really really don't think so, the "standard" performance, the "standard" guitarrist is Segovia, and the classical guitar is not made only by standards, but of non-standards, and that statement, anyone who doesn't like Segovia is an idiot? Well the idiot maybe the one who thinks there's only one point of view...Just my opinion.

[albatross111]

I hate Segovia's phrasing, it seems 'conveniently' used around technically difficult areas

[thejugglenaut91]

agreed

[reynaldina]

pansydan:I agree about the repeat part, in the original sheet of Villa Lobos there's no repeat.

but the playing of Williams is awesome anyhow.

[pansydan]

Thanks...it's always good to have a little backup. Is there something wrong with the statement I made or am I just explaining wrong?

[okialbaholics]

I agree the repeat is a bit.. much. At least he changes it up the second time though; I don't like it when people don't use repeats to their advantage! When I played this, I left out the repeat.. probably just cause I was being lazy though hahaha. John Williams can get away with it.

[paganiniGOGO]

Is this piece hard to play?

[okialbaholics]

Not really hard to play it, but it's hard to play it well. Technicially speaking, you could actually play this song with a pick. So the challenge lies in the expression.

[karlkrall]

nice version.. i'm playin this song too right now

[fatapf]

Correct BJJ415N, HEITOR.

[dlwzach]

amen fatapf

[BJJ415N]

Not Hector. Heitor. Please.

[thinkpad20]

Lovely performance, but I have a recording of his of this piece which I think is even better. He REALLY slows down in the "bach parts" (you know what I mean) and it just drips with emotion.

[TheWestinator]

Beautiful

[abnamrol]

shut up people, john williams is on

[jackman29hcr]

A interpretação do artísta é perfeita a melhor que eu já ouvi

[Charliefan4]

Now that's called the great guitarist, slow and steady, WELL DONE!!!

[edgaropolous]

u don't know nothing, I mean, he IS John Williams. He's not good cuz he plays slow, c'mon

[DrumGit89]

"No 'cause the best guitar players in the world are shredders!" Come on man, listen to the tone he gets out of that guitar. Everyone can train themselves to shred scales and arpeggios up and down for ever and ever and ever and ever. But, not everyone knows ho to get the most out of each and every single note they play. You should go listen to some slow jazz (Gary Burton on the song Origin from the album "Origin") and try learning something about music.

[edgaropolous]

What I mean is that being a good guitarrist is way more than playing slow or fast or at whatever speed; it is interpreting the song and effectively transmitting the "feeling" or the essence of the song as the composer wrote it.

[DrumGit89]

okay, now we are on the same page :p sorry for the aggressive tone in the reply, but I just get so irritated some times (at people that makes idiot comments) and you caught my attention in a bad mood :( but now I see that you actually know more than I thought when reading your comment the first time... No hard feelings? :)

[DrumGit89]

that last comment of mine is directed at "edgaropolous"...

[edgaropolous]

No problem, man.

Peace!!

[angels666]

"Heitor Villa Lobos - "

[ThisDream]

Piss off moron.

[edgaropolous]

What do you mean, who is the moron? I mean, I cannot approve or ban ur comment if I don't know what you're talking about.

[ThisDream]

Just ban the comment, I don't even know what its about. Someone else must have typed it.

[DonAnzalone]

Great!!!

[PaloPhalo]

Don't say that yo!!!

[johngolden]

You nailed it, John. But if you'd get rid of that Smallman guitar and use my Ramirez, you could make the whole world cry!

[ThisDream]

Yes because this recording is something to go on. Fool!