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		Compositions: Concert Hall
		Liberty Fanfare
Compositions: Concert Hall Concertos Fanfares Symphonic works Vocal works Miscellanea		For the festivities accompanying the centennial of the Statute of Liberty, John Williams was commissioned by the Statute of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation to write a fanfare to be performed at the televised ceremonies on July 4, 1986. Prior to the work's premiere, Williams told the Boston Globe's Richard Dyer that it is "about five minutes long, and it has a one-minute detachable frontpiece that will be the signature music for all of the ABC presentations connected with the Fourth of July.  I've tried to create a group of American airs and tunes of my own invention that I hope will give some sense of the event and the occasion.  The first public performance of the work was given on June 4, 1986 by the Boston Pops under the direction of the composer.  A month later, the Williams led the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra in the work as part of a live national telecast. Reviewing the Boston performance, Anthony Tommasini wrote that "as fanfares go, [it] is a humdinger.  It's got two great tunes: a brassy and boisterous fanfare riff, all roulades and flourishes and forward motion; and a long-lined tune for hushed-up strings that sounds like lots of others Williams has composed for Hollywood, but still gets you right in the back of the throat." The score of the work calls for two flutes,  piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, piano and strings.
Philips 420 178-2 RCA/BMG 09026 63516 2		Recordings Williams recorded his Liberty Fanfare with the Boston Pops in May of June of 1986 before the public premiere; this recording was released on the CD By Request...The Best of John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra (Philips 420 178-2) in 1987.  The fanfare has been recorded several other times, including a second recording by the Pops, under the direction of Keith Lockhart, on their 1999 album Splash of Pops (RCA/BMG 09026 63516 2) Sheet Music Hal Leonard has published the full score (HL 04490133) and orchestra parts (HL 04490132) to this work as part of their "John Williams Signature Edition." References "Getting ready for a big date," Richard Dyer Boston Globe, April 22 1986, 16:2 "Liberty Fanfare premieres at Pops," Anthony Tommasini Boston Globe, June 5 1986, 81:1 Links Information on the work from a student at West Chester University A performance of a band arrangement (with narration) by the USAF Heritage of America Band
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