Composer-conductor John Williams has assembled an international ensemble of musicians - including famed Chinese cellist Yo-Yo Ma - to play on the soundtrack of "Memoirs of a Geisha." (Source: Shanghai Daily)
Several years ago, Yo-Yo Ma got a book in the mail from Oscar-winning composer John Williams.
Even though there were no concrete plans then to make a film out of the book, "Memoirs of a Geisha," the cellist recalls that Williams was already thinking of a way to illustrate the project musically.
"Early on, he was thinking somehow in the recesses of his mind that 'Hey, maybe we should do that,' and I know he was interested in the possibility of setting the book to music," Ma said.
Williams' vision came true when the best-selling novel about the geisha culture in Japan was made into a film. And when Williams needed someone to perform the sumptuous music for the movie, Ma, who has worked with Williams on previous film scores, was one of the first on board, along with friend Itzhak Perlman.
"I think it's pretty rare to have the opportunity to work with so many people that I admire in one project," said Ma, the score's featured performer. The score for the film, which stars Zhang Ziyi, Ken Watanabe and Michelle Yeoh, has been nominated for a Golden Globe award. Williams' sweeping compositions utilize Japanese instruments for an overall sound that complements the era it was made for.
"He made a score that in some ways is very spare, which fits with the period that is represented in the film, which is actually a unique period in Japanese history because it was a period of transition," said Ma. "Hence, you have all these instruments in transition as well."
Still, despite the Japanese influence, Ma says the soundtrack is unmistakably a Williams score, which he describes as "always just right on the dot." "He's just so much a master of the material, and that's also based on the deep knowledge of the jazz world, of the American musical theater," Ma said. "By having had such a wide and deep history in all these different musical genres he can pick and choose at any moment what needs to be and it's always organic, it's always him, because all of these worlds are a part of him."
One of the compositions Williams wrote for the piece had a sentimental element for Ma; the composer came up with a duet for Ma and his good friend, fellow cellist Steve Erdody, on the final day of recording.
"It was just so sweet," said Ma. "It was personally sweet but what he did was actually emotionally right, for the score."
The "Geisha" score is the second Ma project this year with an Eastern accent; earlier, he released his second album with his Silk Road Ensemble featuring musicians from countries ranging from China to Iran.
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Several years ago, Yo-Yo Ma got a book in the mail from Oscar-winning composer John Williams.
