The first movement, Theme and Cadenza, after an opening salvo of brass, immediately casts the cello in a kind of hero’s role, making it the unquestioned center of attention. It’s a movement that attempts to put the cello on display in the time-honored sense of “concerto,” and as the hero’s theme is developed, it “morphs” into a cadenza in which Williams creates an opportunity for exploration of the theme that would be both ruminative and virtuosic. 
 
The second movement, Blues, is haunted by the ghosts of Ellington and Strayhorn wafting through the atmosphere. Williams sets up clusters in piano and percussion that form a frame within which the cello unveils its misty quasi-improvisations. 
 
The Scherzo is about speed, deftness, and sleight of hand. The music romps along in triple time over a treacherous landscape where athletic exchanges are periodically and suddenly interrupted by a series of fermatas, as the orchestra and cello try to dominate and outdo each other. There’s a short tutti where it appears that the orchestra might prevail, but the cello outwits and outlasts it. 
 
In Song, the concerto’s finale, Williams seeks to create long lyrical lines that give the cello the opportunity to address the audience in the manner of a clear and direct soliloquy. 

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Duration: 28 minutes
Premiere Date: 1994
Revised: 2021