John Luther Adams
Encyclopedia
John Luther Adams is a composer
whose music is inspired by nature, especially the landscapes of Alaska
where he has lived since 1978.
, through which he discovered Edgard Varèse
and Morton Feldman
(Kosman 2001). Similarly, Varèse's liner notes brought him to John Cage
. But it was not until Adams discovered Morton Feldman
that he found his calling.
Adams attended Cal Arts as an undergraduate in the early 1970s, where he studied with James Tenney
and Leonard Stein, graduating in 1973 (Kosman 2001). His group of classmates includes the composers Lois V Vierk
and Peter Garland
.
After graduating from Cal Arts, Adams began work in environmental protection. This work first brought him to Alaska in 1975. His deep love for the location led to his permanent migration there in 1978. It continues to be the driving force in his music to this day. From 1982 to 1989, he performed as timpanist and principal percussionist with the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and the Arctic Chamber Orchestra (Kosman 2001).
In 2006 Adams was named one of the first United States Artists Fellows. Previously he has received awards and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Rasmuson Foundation, and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.
Adams's musical work spans many genres and media. He has composed for television, film, children's theater, voice, acoustic instruments, orchestra, and electronics.
His frequent use of static textures and subtle changes show his obvious affinities with minimalism
, and his tendencies toward extended, meditative, and intuitive structures convey his true love of the music of Morton Feldman
.
Lou Harrison
said he is "one of the few important young American composers," while Adams himself says: "My music has always been profoundly influenced by the natural world and a strong sense of place. Through sustained listening to the subtle resonances of the northern soundscape, I hope to explore the territory of 'sonic geography' - that region between place and culture...between environment and imagination."
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
whose music is inspired by nature, especially the landscapes of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
where he has lived since 1978.
Biography
Like many composers of his generation, John Luther Adams did not grow up immersed in scored music. Adams began playing music as a teenager, as a drummer in rock bands. Through his experience in rock bands, friends introduced him to the music of Frank ZappaFrank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, through which he discovered Edgard Varèse
Edgard Varèse
Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse, , whose name was also spelled Edgar Varèse , was an innovative French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States....
and Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
(Kosman 2001). Similarly, Varèse's liner notes brought him to John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
. But it was not until Adams discovered Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
that he found his calling.
Adams attended Cal Arts as an undergraduate in the early 1970s, where he studied with James Tenney
James Tenney
James Tenney was an American composer and influential music theorist.-Biography:Tenney was born in Silver City, New Mexico, and grew up in Arizona and Colorado. He attended the University of Denver, the Juilliard School of Music, Bennington College and the University of Illinois...
and Leonard Stein, graduating in 1973 (Kosman 2001). His group of classmates includes the composers Lois V Vierk
Lois V Vierk
Lois V Vierk is a "post-minimalist" or "totalist" composer who lives in New York City.She received a B.A. degree in piano and ethnomusicology from UCLA in 1974. She then attended Cal Arts, studying composition with Mel Powell, Leonard Stein, and Morton Subotnick, receiving her M.F.A. in 1978...
and Peter Garland
Peter Garland
Peter Garland is a composer best known for publishing Soundings Press, one of the few sources of new music scores and articles while in print...
.
After graduating from Cal Arts, Adams began work in environmental protection. This work first brought him to Alaska in 1975. His deep love for the location led to his permanent migration there in 1978. It continues to be the driving force in his music to this day. From 1982 to 1989, he performed as timpanist and principal percussionist with the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and the Arctic Chamber Orchestra (Kosman 2001).
In 2006 Adams was named one of the first United States Artists Fellows. Previously he has received awards and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Rasmuson Foundation, and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.
Adams's musical work spans many genres and media. He has composed for television, film, children's theater, voice, acoustic instruments, orchestra, and electronics.
His frequent use of static textures and subtle changes show his obvious affinities with minimalism
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
, and his tendencies toward extended, meditative, and intuitive structures convey his true love of the music of Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
.
Lou Harrison
Lou Harrison
Lou Silver Harrison was an American composer. He was a student of Henry Cowell, Arnold Schoenberg, and K. P. H. Notoprojo Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer. He was a student of Henry Cowell, Arnold Schoenberg, and K. P. H. Notoprojo Lou Silver Harrison...
said he is "one of the few important young American composers," while Adams himself says: "My music has always been profoundly influenced by the natural world and a strong sense of place. Through sustained listening to the subtle resonances of the northern soundscape, I hope to explore the territory of 'sonic geography' - that region between place and culture...between environment and imagination."
List of works
- Green Corn Dance (1974) for percussion ensemble
- Night Peace (1976) for antiphonal choirs, solo soprano, harp, and percussion
- songbirdsongs (1974–80) for 2 piccolos and 3 percussion
- Strange Birds Passing (1983) for flute choir
- up into the silence (1978/84) (poem by e. e. cummingsE. E. CummingsEdward Estlin Cummings , popularly known as E. E. Cummings, with the abbreviated form of his name often written by others in lowercase letters as e.e. cummings , was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright...
) for voice and piano - How the Sun Came to the Forest (1984) (poem by John HainesJohn HainesJohn Haines was an American poet and educator who had served as the poet laureate of Alaska.John Meade Haines, who was born in Norfolk, Virginia, published nine collections of poetry. He was appointed the Poet Laureate of Alaska in 1969. A collection of critical essays about his poetry, The...
) for chorus and alto flute, English horn, percussion, harp, and strings - The Far Country of Sleep (1988) for orchestra
- Giving Birth to Thunder, Sleeping With His Daughter, Coyote Builds North America (1986–90) for theater
- magic song for one who wishes to live and the dead who climb up to the sky (1990) for voice and piano
- Dream in White On White (1992) for orchestra
- Earth and the Great Weather (1990–93) for theater, libretto published in the book "Inukshuk" edited by ARBOS - Company for Music & Theater, Vienna 1999, ISBN 3-85266-126-9
- Five Yup'ik Dances (1991–94) for solo harp
- Crow and Weasel (1993–94) (story by Barry LopezBarry LopezBarry Holstun Lopez is an American author, essayist, and fiction writer whose work is known for its environmental and social concerns.-Biography:...
) for theater - Sauyatugvik: The Time of Drumming (1995) for orchestra
- Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing (1991–95) for orchestra
- Five Athabascan Dances (1992/96) for harp and percussion
- Strange and Sacred Noise (1991–97) for percussion quartet
- Make Prayers to the Raven (1996/98) flute, violin, harp, cello, and percussion
- In the White Silence (1998) for orchestra
- Qilyaun (1998) for four bass drums
- Time Undisturbed (1999) for 3 shakuhachiShakuhachiThe is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
s, 3 kotoKoto (musical instrument)The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument, similar to the Chinese guzheng, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and the Vietnamese đàn tranh. The koto is the national instrument of Japan. Koto are about length, and made from kiri wood...
s, and shō - In a Treeless Place, Only Snow (1999) for celesta, harp, 2 vibraphones, and string quartet
- The Light That Fills the World (1999–2000) for orchestra
- Among Red Mountains (2001) for solo piano
- The Immeasurable Space of Tones (1998–2001) for violin, vibraphone, piano, sustaining keyboard, contrabass instrument
- The Farthest Place (2001) for violin, vibraphone, marimba, piano, double bass
- After the Light (2001) for alto flute, vibraphone, harp
- Dark Wind (2001) for bass clarinet, vibraphone, marimba, piano
- Red Arc / Blue Veil (2002) for piano, mallet percussion and processed sounds
- The Mathematics of Resonant Bodies (2002) for solo percussion and processed sounds
- Poem of the Forgotten (2004) (poem by John HainesJohn HainesJohn Haines was an American poet and educator who had served as the poet laureate of Alaska.John Meade Haines, who was born in Norfolk, Virginia, published nine collections of poetry. He was appointed the Poet Laureate of Alaska in 1969. A collection of critical essays about his poetry, The...
) for voice and piano - for Lou Harrison (2004, premiere 2005) for string quartet, string orchestra, and 2 pianos
- ...and bells remembered... (2005) for bowed crotales, orchestra bells, chimes, vibraphone and bowed vibraphone
- for Jim (rising) (2006) for three trumpets and three trombones
- Always Very Soft (2007) for percussion trio
- Dark Waves (2007) for orchestra and electronic sounds
- Little Cosmic Dust Poem (2007) for voice (medium) and piano
- Nunataks (Solitary Peaks) (2007) for solo piano
- Three High Places (2007) for solo violin
- Sky with Four Suns and Sky with Four Moons (2008) for four choirs
- the place we began (2008)- four electro-acoustic soundscapes
- Inuksuit (2009) for nine to ninety-nine percussion
- Four Thousand Holes (2011)
Awards and Recognition
- 2010 Nemmers Prize in Music Composition - John Luther Adams has been named the recipient of the 2010 Nemmers Prize in Music Composition. JLA was cited by the selection committee "for melding the physical and musical worlds into a unique artisitc vision that transcends stylistic boundaries."
Discography
- songbirdsongs (1981)
- A Northern Suite/Night Peace (1983)
- Forest Without Leaves (1987)
- The Far Country (1993)
- Dream in White on White
- Night Peace
- The Far Country of Sleep
- Earth and the Great Weather (1995)
- Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing (1997) - nominated for the 1999 Grammy awards in the Best Classical Contemporary CompositionGrammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary CompositionThe Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition was first awarded in 1961. This award was not presented from 1967 to 1984.The award has had several minor name changes:...
and Best Orchestral PerformanceGrammy Award for Best Orchestral PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance has been awarded since 1959. There have been several minor changes to the name of the award over this time:*From 1959 to 1964 it was awarded as Best Classical Performance - Orchestra...
categories - Dark Wind (2002)
- The Light That Fills the World (2002)
- The Farthest Place
- The Light That Fills the World
- The Immeasurable Space of Tones
- In the White Silence (2003)
- Strange and Sacred Noise (2005)
- The Mathematics of Resonant Bodies (2006)
- for Lou Harrison (2007)
- red arc/blue veil (2007)
- The Place We Began (2009) - appears on 2009's Best (Mostly) 'New Music', from WNYC
Writings
- "The Immeasurable Space of Tones," Musicworks 91 (Spring, 2005)
- "Sonic Geography Alaska," Musicworks 93 (Fall, 2005)
- "Winter Music: Composing the North" (Wesleyan University Press, 2004)
- "Global Warming and Art," Orion (September - October, 2003)
- "Global Warming and Art," Musicworks 86 (Summer, 2003)
- "Winter Music. A Composer's Journal," The Best Spiritual Writing 2002 (Harper Collins, 2002)
- "Winter Music. A Composer's Journal," Musicworks 82 (February, 2002)
- "The Place Where You Go to Listen," The Book of Music and Nature (Wesleyan University Press, 2000) pp 181-182.
- "Winter Music. A Composer's Journal," Reflections on American Music (Pendragon Press, 2000) pp 31-48.
- "Strange and Sacred Noise," Yearbook of Soundscape Studies (Vol. 1: "Northern Soundscapes," ed. R. Murray Schafer and Helmi Järviluoma, 1998), pp 143-146.
- "The Place Where You Go to Listen," Terra Nova, 2/3, 1997, pp 15-16.
- "From the Ground Up," The Utne Reader, March-April, 1995, p 86.
- "Resonance of Place, Confessions of an Out-of-Town Composer," The North American Review, January/February, 1994, pp 8-18.
Sources
- Adams, John Luther. 2004. Winter Music: Composing the North. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University PressWesleyan University PressWesleyan University Press is a university press that is part of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The Press is currently directed by Suzanna Tamminen, a published poet and essayist...
. ISBN 0-8195-6742-6. - Adams, John Luther. 2009. The Place Where You Go to Listen: In Search of an Ecology of Music. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 978-0-8195-6903-5.
- Alburger, Mark. 2000. "A to Z: Interviews with John Luther Adams". 21st-Century Music 7, no. 1 (January): 1–12.
- Feisst, Sabine. 2001. "Klanggeographie—Klanggeometrie: Der US-amerikanische Komponist John Luther Adams". MusikTexte: Zeitschrift für Neue Musik, no. 91 (November): 4–13.
- Gann, Kyle. 1997. American Music in the Twentieth Century. New York: Schirmer Books; London: Prentice Hall International. ISBN 002864655X.
- Kosman, Joshua. 2001. "Adams, John Luther". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley SadieStanley SadieStanley Sadie CBE was a leading British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , which was published as the first edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.Sadie was educated at St Paul's School,...
and John TyrrellJohn Tyrrell (professor of music)John Tyrrell was born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia in 1942. He studied at the universities of Cape Town, Oxford and Brno. In 2000 he was appointed Research Professor at Cardiff University....
. London: Macmillan Publishers. - Morris, Mitchell. 1999. "Ecotopian Sounds, or, The Music of Luther Adams and Strong Environmentalism". In Crosscurrents and Counterpoints: Offerings in Honor of Bengt Hambræus at 70, edited by Per F. Broman, Nora Engebretsen, and Bo Alphonce. 129–41. Skrifter från Musikvetenskapliga Avdelningen 51. Göteborg: Göteborgs Universitet. ISBN 91-85974-45-5.
- Ross, Alex. 2008. "Song of the Earth: A Composer Takes Inspiration from the Arctic". The New Yorker 84, no. 13 (May 12): 76–81.
- Young, Gayle. 1998. "Sonic Geography of the Arctic: An Interview with John Luther Adams". Musicworks: Explorations in Sound, no. 70 (Spring): 38–43.