John Williams, guitarist, talks about the Bach Chaccone, his favourite recordings and what performers influenced his playing style.

John Williams, guitarist, talks about the Bach Chaccone, his favourite recordings and what performers influenced his playing style.

Australian Guitar Journal 1990 - John Williams cover

Australian Guitar Journal 1990 - John Williams cover

From the "Australian Guitar Journal" interview by Austin Prichard-Levy
(early 1990's).

AP-L: A lot of people feel that the Bach Chaconne has been almost a signature piece of yours over the years. How do you view it?

JW: Funnily enough, I do feel it very much as a guitar piece rather than just a piece that works well on the guitar. Apart from the fact that it is a tour de force of the virtuoso variation style, and therefore a logical choice for a soloist, I very much feel its Iberian origins, both as a dance form and its Spanish style harmonies, and that's certainly very guitaristic in a sense. It's also the only one of its kind that Bach wrote - the Goldberg Variations were a set of variations on a tune, whereas the Chaconne is kind of an extended 4 bar baroque blues! So in that sense, it has a fascinating and magnificent mixture of folk music and high art, and the popular element in it strengthens the piece rather than trivializes it.

John Williams performing the Concerto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo in 2005 at the Prom Concerts

Also, although there are difficult sections in it, there are more difficult guitar pieces around. It's a rewarding piece technically, because difficult parts sound like they're worth it, which is not always the case with guitar music. From a musical point of view, it's also very colorful because it doesn't have the rigid formality of separate dance movements that you find in the normal baroque suite, but rather it moves along with a great variety in its melodic and rhythmic aspects, so its always a very enjoyable piece to play. I would cheerfully pick up the Chaconne almost any day of the week whether I'd practiced or not, because even if it wasn't particularly clean, it would always sound good, and I'd never have a problem in deciding to include it in a concert program at the last minute, even if I haven't played it in a while.

AP-L: Of all the prolific recordings you've done through your career, do you have any favorite albums you've recorded?

JW: Well, when it comes it solo records, not unnaturally I usually feel best about the ones I've done most recently, like the baroque album and the "Spirit of the Guitar." That doesn't mean I hate what 1 did in the sixties with Albeniz, but I feel I have done it better now on the Smallman; I will be re-recording more Spanish music in a couple more years like Granados' Valses Poeticos. In some ways, the older records I feel fondest of are the collaborative efforts, like the Theodorakis with Maria Farandouri and the albums with Cleo Laine. Also, I still like the "Streets of London," for sentimental reasons.

John Williams performing the Concerto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo in 2005 at the Prom Concerts

AP-L: Guitarists generally talk about their "influences", the other guitarists or musicians who helped to shape their sound and style. Who were your main influences in that respect, aside from Segovia?

JW: I have always loved fiddle playing, so if anything I think 1 have been more influenced in some ways by violinists like Alan Loveday who was at the Royal College with me in the late 1950's, especially in the baroque style of playing. I also learned a hell of a lot from Rafael Puyana, the harpsichordist, for things like Scarlatti, Bach and French music. Itzak Perlman is my favorite fiddle player, and I've done a record with him as well.

One thing I feel strongly is that it is the way someone plays is more important than whether it is "authentic" - for example, if you hear Heifetz or PerIman playing Bach, it could be argued that they are not playing in true baroque style, but their playing is far more enjoyable to listen to than a historically correct performance that is as dry as a bone. I think in regard to Baroque music it would be hard not to be impressed and influenced by some of the electrifying performances of baroque music that are around today, and the interpretation of baroque ornamentation has also advanced greatly compared to the boring stuff that was common years ago.

John Williams performing the Concerto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo in 2005 at the Prom Concerts

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