It's good to be back here. It has been quite a while since I listened to this. The exact same emotions and impressions that overtook me when I first heard this piece return like clockwork as soon as I press play. Absolutely gorgeous.
The transition at 13:40 has always gotten me. This piece, along with Reich's Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards, and Music for 18 Musicians, pretty much helped preserve my sanity for a couple of decades. Or maybe they're why my sanity needed preserving, I'm still figuring that out.
Fabulous composer, i had the great chance to premiere his piano concerto Century Rolls in France in 2014 with the National Orchestra de Lorraine, amazing pieces!
Reminds me of walking into the Luxor in Las Vegas with the sound of slot machines bouncing off the ceilings and reverberating everywhere in that cavernous space. But much more elevating. The ending is just incredible.
An effect that Adams uses in some of his orchestrations is to run a violin bow against the ends of vibraphone keys causing a shimmery and haunting sound. Very nice effect.
Bruce Taylor It's used in a lot of wind symphony pieces and they use cello rather than violin bows. My favourite use is in Strange Humours by John Mackey.
Steve Reich does this as well. Not to say one "copies" the other or anything, but if you like that sound you might enjoy his "Sextet" ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YgX85tZf1ts.html
Am following Farflonger's suggestion of 2 years ago: "try opening this video up in 10 tabs at separate intervals! its crazy!!!" WOWWW!!! Magic! Thanks!!!
I did what you suggested (opening video on separate tabs at intervals), but with Tibetan singing bowls instead I got so blissed out that I was glowing for hours afterward. Caution: could also produce a whopper headache in some people.
Enemy's army....hmm. And who else? Don't you know the impact of a nuclear bomb? The army's enemy would not be the only ones annihilated. People are scary!
Esta obra es capaz de provocar muchas imágenes en mi mente. Pero en especial, cada vez que cierro los ojos al escuchar esta maravilla, me transporta a un sitio lleno de reflejos de luz fragmentados, como los que se ven en la superficie del mar en un día sin nubes y muy cálido. En esos días la luz tiene una consistencia saturada, como si todo brillase, que hace sentirme eufórico. Al escuchar casi siento el viento del océano, el canto de las gaviotas, el ruido incesante de las olas y la inmensidad del océano me traspasa el alma: un misterio remoto en el tiempo, una sensación de pertenencia al drama de trillones de criaturas desaparecidas hace eones que susurran mantras entre la música, tristeza, alegría, muerte y vida, pero al mismo tiempo paz, un estado de gracia. Todo eso me hace sentir esta obra de John Adams, es prácticamente una experiencia espiritual, ¡pero lo que mas me impresiona es que esta obra tan sencilla pueda provocar en mi todo esto! Gracias por subirla.
Estuve en Santa Bárbara un día al lado del Océano Pacífico, pero en un lugar muy alto. Vi el fenómeno que se escribe sobre. Fue tan hermoso. A veces me sentía que estaba recibiendo un mensaje secreto del Cosmos. Era un mensaje que no se tradujo en palabras sino que provocó una euforia definido.
Noe Berengena Creo que todo el balbuceo que hice en palabras tu lo resumiste de manera perfecta: "Se siente como si estuvieras recibiendo un mensaje secreto del Cosmos". Suelo sentir eso cuando me encuentro en lugares altos, especialmente si hay montañas alrededor y la luz es como la mencioné (aunque he llegado a sentir lo mismo en otras situaciones que no tienen nada que ver con lo que describo). Y tienes razón, se siente como euforia mezclada con una sensación cálida de bienestar o paz... algo como una euforia contemplativa, por contradictorio que suene eso.
Jesús Héctor Domínguez Sánchez Escribo ahora en Inglés porque es mi primera idioma. Soy incapaz de escribir en español como Usted lo hace con tanta facilidad. Espero que esto esté bien. I really liked what you wrote. It was poetic and spiritual. I've copied it into my notebook for future reference. For several years I lived in San Francisco and the most wonderful thing about those days was the quality of the light and the changing atmospherics. In one day it was possible to witness a wide range of fogs, mists, golden light, reflections, hard shadows, etc… And strangely, sometimes I could be happily fascinated just watching sunlight tracking on the ribbed flooring of a city bus. As prosaic as that sounds it was unlike being on a bus in any other city. I hold these memories in a shrine inside my heart. The last 5 minutes of this Adams piece give me a similar deep sense of belonging to something that is beyond the ordinary, a situation that involves me extensively and invites me to surrender my sense of separate identity. I do it willingly every time -- with pleasure.
Noe Berengena I actually think your Spanish is really good, but I understand that it is easier to write in one's childhood language: this is the reason I wrote my post in Spanish due to my English vocabulary limitations. I live very close to Mazatlán in México's west coast, and I have experienced some of the events you describe, and they somehow pop into my mind every time I hear this Adams piece. What really amazes me is how music is capable of transcending concepts to actually make you feel those fleeting moments of life (even when the intention of the composer is another one or he is thinking in very abstract terms). Keep treasuring those moments, that is what gives life its magic, wonder and mystery; I surely do. Greetings.
Beautiful. Funny thing is, that I was doing some homework about this guy who wrote this piece and I was listening to this while I was doing the homework. It's just beautiful.
I love this music! It's simplistic yet elaborate, repetitive yet free-form. It seems to almost capture the spirit of nature world in it's slowly changing patterns and growing complexity.
When I listen to this work of art, I picture the lifetime of a great person, like Abraham LincolnThe intro is his upbringing, during which he builds up character, at 1:50 he realizes his ambition and pursues itAround 6:00 he faces with many struggles and hurdles achieving those dreams, basking in his feats around 7:20At 9:30 he wields power and uses it to cement the fate of society around himAt 12:20, he retires, old and frail but accomplished before meeting his Creator13:33 is when his legacies on Earth are revered by the generations to come
You can rent it on Schirmer dot com :) I don't know if it's available to buy, Usually modern orchestral scores aren't (sometimes, you can buy the study score).
Well I'm only 3 minutes in, but I'm hearing just one major scale, which is what I assume the title implies... oh, hold on, there's a flat 7th. Never mind...
pink elephants PINK P I N K we are in a zoo we are standing on top of clouds, over the water the moon is right there dude! touch it! nope, now we're back down into the underground tar city i need to go buy some things from the store, i'll be right back wait, here's 7$, get me some cigarettes, the little yellow ones with ketamine in them i need to feel nothing so that i can feel EVERYTHING ok, but when he was gone, some sketchy shit was going down i started feel as if everyone would suddenly vanish and leave behind only their clothes, like how Obi Wan dies (we're back again in my virtual Sicilian home [overlooking mystical crystal ocean]) (and i'm painting this here reality / but you see, i don't need that old style of thinking anymore, i tell you i can grow buildings as bright as the rainbow and stretch my arms as wide as the branches of those brilliant trees i get inspired by them and their immensity and i want to be them, with every breath i become more like my environment and at the same time i, like an engineer in the control room of the universe, keep the miracle running my eyes give light a reason to exist, my ears give sound a reason to exist, my mouth gives plants a reason to exist, but i never forget to give back my love with song and dance, pure joy for the universe, here's my joy
Beautiful! And the section at the end is amazing, wrapping up the piece unexpectedly, and yet, in its most minute components, in the vibrations of sound that remain, and slowly fade, so naturally, and organically. It's like listening to, and having to pay attention to, harmonics, which we don't generally listen to, or even hear, and which are so interesting as they almost have a life of their own! One can see how, for instance, Ravel's "Oiseaux Tristes," could be a precursor of Adams' piece (Menahem Presler: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jxb56lsGEXY.html). Btw: which orchestra is playing, and under whose direction? Edo de Waart? Wonderful performance, the best!
It is used in Civilization IV. ;-) John Adams contributed a large portion of his work to Civ 4 - this, Grand Pianola, Harmonielehre (which is my favourite Adams work btw), Shaker Loops, one part of Nixon in China... probably missing something.
AgentDC76 I did actually forget a couple Adams contributions on the list - The Chairman Dances (which IMO is probably the most suitable of his tracks for the game, sounds almost like the frenetic nature of the "rat race" :-p), Christian Zeal and Activity, his Violin Concerto (at least, part of it), and Tromba Lontana are also in the game.
I don't think so lol It seemed very relaxed and chill at that point, why would you want something strident? It would disturb the dramatic line of the piece.
@Vodoo Child I recognized the performance. It is from John Adams "The Chairman Dances" album recorded by the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Edo de Waart.
At the very end there is a sequence that has some wonderful fat bass tones that have to be generated by a synth , I think. I have adored this piece since I first heard it back in 1985 or 6. The Elektra/Nonesuch Adams compilation this is on is a fantastic comp... not a dull moment .... Christian Zeal & Activity is a stately piece , has grace and grandeur, like the instant piece here.
Zoiks! No one so far has mentioned the obvious links to Robert Fripps `Frippertonics`- The minor 3rd trills, the booming fifths descending downwards,.Come on, People.
paul wright There is a lot of "serious" music which is written and performed solely on a computer. It is studied at the best schools and conservatories. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musique_concr%C3%A8te en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_music
he later used synthesisers, but seems to use the orchestra like a big additive synth...so i don't think that's necessarily the case, just the same methods based on overtones, finding new sounds that a synth tinkerer or builder would use based on theory of sound, drones etc..
I feel like I have my water tap on all the time with that sound. despite the waste of resources, there is always a way to produce more intelligently a very positive sound, john adams got us used to very fascinating but also very scary sounds in allusion to global overproduction.
ένα ηχητικό σύμπαν που αναδημιουργείται συνεχώς με την παράθεση πληθώρας μουσικών μοτίβων ποικίλης χροιάς....δεν αναμένεται κάποιο μήνυμα...το ίδιο το σύμπαν είναι το γεγονός...
Oh dear, I'm just not getting it. Yes it is decorative, pensive, and mood-setting, but that's all I'm getting. I have tried and tried to love John Adams. I thought maybe I was just a stick-in- the-mud about modern music, but then I listened to Thomas Ades and got swept away. Who knows why? I always wish I could fly to the future and see which contemporary composers are still being listened to 100 years from now. That would be a test of sorts!
This music is not in any key! Adams just prefers to use consonant harmonies that stem from triads. Certainly no functional harmony going on here! Beautiful piece though.
The twentieth century is over and the stifling attenuation, serialism and musical developments coming from the traditional folk music, sometimes abstruse that ensue, are in the process of reappearing! In the 21st century, it’s again acceptable for composers to write beautiful, spiritual, tonal or opposite music, which gives rise to absolute indifference or disgust !!
This music is tonal. Traditional tonality is long dead and won't reappear again. The most close sound of traditional tonality is among Philip Glass and American minimalists ouvre. The new tonalism is expanding, and is far from its climax.
