# John Luther Adams



## Praeludium

Hello,

any info ? Does someone know his works well ?

I love what I've heard from him. My first experience was from a DVD called "Strange and Sacred Noises", and I confess I found it very strange and even a bit disturbing - it's for percusion quartet, that might well be the cause since I'm not used at all to this kind of ensemble. 
But I was intrigued nonetheless. I have recently began to think about him again and what I've found on YouTube immediatly pleased me. Some pieces are really accessible - Strange and Sacred Noises was much more difficult than all those works.

Very accessible :





An other piece (which I happen to find accessible too) :





About him : he lives in Alaska and is very concerned with the protection of the nature. That's pretty much all I know about him as a person. Of course, there's much more than that...


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## PetrB

Here's a little interview link you may have missed, in which I am delighted to hear a composer say, "I am no longer / not interested in telling a story: I am not interested in trying to make a picture.":




and another which tells us something about what and how he thinks...





Thanks for the link to the newer '_Dark Waves_.' I'd read the review and looked forward to it with interest.

There is an accompanying short piece to '_Letter M_' - '_Letter N_'





This (perhaps) less characteristic ditty _Songbirdsong_





_The Light Within_, commissioned by and here performed by the California EAR Unit





another shorter piece, _Red Arc, Blue Veil_, for piano, percussion and taped sounds.





and three other larger scale works ~ 
_The Light That Fills the World
_








_The Farthest Place_









_The Immeasurable Space of Tones
_


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## GioCar

I have just listened to *Become Ocean*










It's a weird piece of about 40 minutes where nothing really happens, except for 3 huge crescendos equally spaced over its length, and over a low brass "pedal" somehow reminding the beginning of Rheingold. All a bit hypnotic.

The piece won the Pulitzer Prize for Music this year, and afaik it received many positive reactions included that by Alex Ross ("may be the loveliest apocalypse in musical history").

Just wondering if some others gave it a try...


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## hreichgott

Haven't heard "Become Ocean" yet, but "In the White Silence" is a long piece where nothing really happens, and I love it intensely.


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## clavichorder

I can't stand Become Ocean. I find it stupid. Its the kind of music that makes me very disillusioned with the contemporary composition scene.


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## Nereffid

GioCar said:


> It's a weird piece of about 40 minutes where *nothing really happens*, except for 3 huge crescendos equally spaced over its length, and over a low brass "pedal" somehow reminding the beginning of Rheingold. All a bit hypnotic.


Huh, I've listened to it twice now and from what I could hear there was stuff happening _all the time_.

Yeah, I know what you mean.  But for me it's static in the same way that the ocean is static, i.e., not at all.

One of my favourite releases of the year so far; I'm really looking forward to the European premiere in Dublin next March.


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## clavichorder

I think Become Ocean would have been more effective if it ended at the 22 minutes mark or so with the last big crescendo. The piece is basically a palindrome, I think, and I didn't find that effective. I did find it kind of hypnotic, but at that half way point, I felt that would have been a really good place to end.


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## starthrower

Nereffid said:


> Huh, I've listened to it twice now and from what I could hear there was stuff happening _all the time_.
> 
> Yeah, I know what you mean.  But for me it's static in the same way that the ocean is static, i.e., not at all.


Perfect analogy. I'm listening now.


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## starthrower

clavichorder said:


> I think Become Ocean would have been more effective if it ended at the 22 minutes mark or so with the last big crescendo. The piece is basically a palindrome, I think, and I didn't find that effective. I did find it kind of hypnotic, but at that half way point, I felt that would have been a really good place to end.


I don't think I'd pay to go here it performed. It strikes me as music that could make for an effective soundtrack. When I think of other static pieces by someone like Ligeti, this doesn't have the suspense or drama to keep me captivated as a listener.


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## Guest

Seems to be a Marmite composer. I'm intrigued and want to see if it tickles my tastebuds!


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## Guest

clavichorder said:


> I can't stand Become Ocean. I find it stupid. Its the kind of music that makes me very disillusioned with the contemporary composition scene.


+1. Repetitive drivel in my opinion.


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## Guest

Dream of the Canyon Wren.

Not repetitive, but very evocative of nature sounds. 

For me, worth investigating further.


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## Guest

Has he ever considered using note values shorter than multi-measure whole notes and perhaps a semblance of rhythm?


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## Adam Weber

I like Inuksuit much more than Become Ocean, but that piece got much less attention. Rhythmic, hypnotic drumming for about an hour, with a slow build up, and it's absolutely crushing once you "get in the groove." More varied than Become Ocean, in my opinion, even if all the instruments are unpitched. It's the only fast piece by Adams that I can think of. I love his music, but I do question his range and abilities sometimes.


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## Grizzled Ghost

I'm also not terribly impressed by Become Ocean. I think I've listened to it three times now.

Someone once said that Hollywood does a pretty good job of giving Oscars to the best actors/actresses/etc, but not always for their best works. Sometimes an actor does a really good job in one or more movies for which he is not recognized, but then gets an Oscar for a weaker movie a year or two later.

Maybe the Pulitzer Prize for Music works similarly. Maybe John Luther Adams was belatedly being recognized for his earlier, better works?


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## Albert7

Which piece should I start off with from him


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## Art Rock

Albert7 said:


> Which piece should I start off with from him


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## Guest

I'm listening to _Strange And Sacred Noise_ as we speak (on the 5th of 6 pieces). Whether you actually _enjoy_ the music or not, I simply can't agree with anyone that would hear this guy's music and think "nothing's going on". Whether he's capturing the ocean or the arctic wind or the interspersed resonance of four gongs, one thing we can say is that his music is in _constant_ motion. I suppose people might miss that fact as this motion is on the order of magnitude of microvariations and whatnot, but it's clear as day over here.


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## seven four

For years I thought he was sort of like Morton Feldman, maybe the influence seemed obvious. I listened closer and JLA is deeper than that. There's a lot of detail going on under the surface.


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## seven four

WQXR/Q2 streaming audio
Listen: West Coast Premiere of John Luther Adams's 'Become River'

.


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## Nereffid

seven four said:


> WQXR/Q2 streaming audio
> Listen: West Coast Premiere of John Luther Adams's 'Become River'.


Thanks for this, I've fallen behind in my Q2 listening. A nice treat!


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## millionrainbows

I think this is a good starting point:










The title caught my attention, from John Lennon: "I read the news today, oh boy, four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire...and though the holes were rather small, they had to count them all.""


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## SanAntone

Albert7 said:


> Which piece should I start off with from him


I would suggest one of his shorter works, _In a Treeless Place, Only Snow_ , for celesta, harp, 2 vibraphones, and string quartet. Also, _Become River_, which was written the same year (2013) as his Pulitzer Prize winner, _Become Ocean_, but much shorter, will give you an idea of his more recent work.

Here's his most recent work for string quartet, _Everything That Rises_


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