POP REVIEW : Lightweight Set From Williams

John Williams polished off his Hollywood Bowl concert with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra in a neat two hours on Sunday. And it was just as well, since the program was so ephemeral that had it gone on any longer, it might have floated away into the Hollywood sky.

In an evening in which most of the pieces were as epigrammatic as network news sound bites, Williams’ “Suite From JFK” was the single work that made any special intellectual demands upon either the orchestra or the audience. Filled with buzzing and rumbling sound effect-like timbres, it was a perfect example of well-written film music’s power to transcend its original, illustrative intent.

A few Leonard Bernstein works (arranged by Sid Ramin) from “On the Town” and “West Side Story” and composer Pat Williams’ Coplandesque “Appalachian Morning” were the only other compositions with significant musical substance.

Almost everything, however--including a medley of big-band swing numbers and a spirited closing set of train-related songs--benefited from Williams’ ability to generate a remarkable sense of musical clarity from his players.

Unlike the Boston Pops, which is composed of members of the Boston Symphony, the Esplanade group is simply staffed with Boston-based musicians. Even so--and despite one or two uncertain passages from the horns and occasionally muddy woodwind entrances--Williams has welded the Esplanade Orchestra into an attractive-sounding summer pops ensemble.