John Luther Adams

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American composerThis article is about the formerly Alaska-based composer. For other people named John Adams, see John Adams (disambiguation).

John Luther Adams

John Luther Adams (born January 23, 1953) is an American composer whose music is inspired by nature, especially the landscapes of Alaska, where he lived from 1978 to 2014. His orchestral work Become Ocean was awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

1 Early life
2 Career
- 2.1 Influence of nature
3 Awards and honors
4 List of works
5 Discography
6 Writings
7 References
- 7.1 Sources
8 Further reading
9 External links

Early life

Born in Meridian, Mississippi, Adams began playing music as a teenager as a drummer in rock bands. He attended the California Ins*ute of the Arts as an undergraduate in the early 1970s, studying with James Tenney and Leonard Stein, and graduated in 1973. After graduating, Adams began work in environmental protection, and through this work Adams first travelled to Alaska in 1975. Adams moved to Alaska in 1978 and lived there until 2014. He now splits his time between New York and the Sonoran desert in Mexico, though his time in Alaska continues to be a prominent influence in his music. From 1982 to 1989, he performed as timpanist and principal percussionist with the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and the Arctic Chamber Orchestra.

Career

Adams's composition work spans many genres and media. He has composed for television, film, children's theater, voice, acoustic instruments, orchestra, and electronics. From 1998 to 2002, Adams served as *ociate Professor of Composition at Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

Influence of nature

Adams has described his music as, " 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".

His love of nature, concern for the environment and interest in the resonance of specific places led him to pursue the concept of sonic geography. Early examples of this idea include two works written during Adams's sojourn in rural Georgia: Songbirdsongs (1974–80), a collection of indeterminate miniature pieces for piccolos and percussion based on free translations of bird songs, and Night Peace (1977), a vocal work capturing the nocturnal soundscape of the Okefenokee Swamp through slow-changing and sparse sonic textures.

His work, Sila: The Breath of the World, represents the "air element", following the representation of water in Become Ocean and the "earth element" in Inuksuit, an outdoor percussion piece. His music, he says, is "our awareness of the world in which we live and the world's awareness of us".

His more recent works include, Across the Distance, for a large number of horns, was premiered on the 5th of July, 2015 at the Cambo estate in Fife, Scotland as part of the East Neuk Festival. His recording of Ilimaq ("spirit journeys"), a solo work for percussion, played by art-music percussionist, composer, and Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche, was released in October 2015. A combination of contemporary cl*ical music, Alaskan field recordings, and found sounds from the natural world, it evokes the travels of a shaman riding the sound of a drum to and from the spirit world.

Awards and honors

In 2014 Adams won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his orchestral piece Become Ocean, which Alex Ross of The New Yorker called "the loveliest apocalypse in musical history". It was premiered in 2013 by Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony and performed by the same conductor and orchestra at the 2014 Spring For Music music festival at Carnegie Hall. Adams had never been to Carnegie Hall before hearing his work played there to a sold-out house. The surround-sound recording of Become Ocean on Cantaloupe Music debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Traditional Cl*ical Chart, stayed there for two straight weeks, and went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Cl*ical Composition. All his works are published by Taiga Press (BMI) and available from Theodore Front Musical Literature n.d..

In October 2015, Adams received the William Schuman Award from Columbia University. The events surrounding the award included a series of concerts of his music at the Miller Theater, including Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing, For Lou Harrison, and In the White Silence.

On February 8, 2015, Adams was awarded a GRAMMY in the category Best Contemporary Cl*ical Composition for his Become Ocean.
In November 2014, Adams was named the Musical America 2015 Composer of the Year.
Adams was the recipient of the 2010 Nemmers Prize in Music Composition. He was cited by the selection committee for melding the physical and musical worlds into a unique artistic vision that transcends stylistic boundaries.
The Callithumpian Consort's recording of Adams' Four Thousand Holes was noted as one of The New Yorker's Best Cl*ical Recordings of 2011.
In 2012, he received the 17th Annual Heinz Award with a special focus on the environment.
In 2006, Adams was named one of the first United States Artists Fellows. 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 received a 1993 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award.

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 P*ing (1983) for flute choir
up into the silence (1978/84) (poem by E. E. *mings) for voice and piano
How the Sun Came to the Forest (1984) (poem by John Haines) 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 Lopez) for theater
Sauyatugvik: the Time of Drumming (1995) for orchestra
Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing (1991–95) for orchestra
Sauyatugvik: The Time of Drumming (1996) version for 2 pianos, timpani, and 4 percussion
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 b* drums
Time Undisturbed (1999) for 3 shakuhachis, 3 kotos, 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, contrab* instrument
The Farthest Place (2001) for violin, vibraphone, marimba, piano, double b*
After the Light (2001) for alto flute, vibraphone, harp
Dark Wind (2001) for b* 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 Haines) 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
The Light Within (2007) for alto flute, b* clarinet, vibraphone/crotales, piano, violin, cello and electronic sounds
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 (2010) for piano, percussion, and electronic sounds
The Wind in High Places (2011) for string quartet
I L I M A Q (2012), a drum-kit opera, premiered at the University of Texas at Austin, performed by Glenn Kotche
Become Ocean (2013) for orchestra, premiered at the Seattle Symphony, June 20, 2013, conducted by Ludovic Morlot
Become River (2013) for chamber orchestra, premiered by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, April 3, 2014, conducted by Steven Schick
Ten Thousand Birds (2014) for chamber orchestra, premiered by Alarm Will Sound, October 19, 2014
Sila: The Breath of the World (2014) for choir, percussion, strings, br*, and woodwinds premiered at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, July 25, 2014, led by Doug Perkins
Across the Distance (2015) for horns in multiples of 8, premiered at the East Neuk Festival at the Cambo estate, July 5, 2015, led by Alec Frank-Gemmill
untouched (2015) for string quartet, commissioned by the University of North Carolina for Brooklyn Rider
Canticles of the Holy Wind (2013) for four choirs (SATB) and solo voices, with percussion, commissioned by The Crossing and others, premiered at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 29, 2016
Everything That Rises (2017) for string quartet, commissioned by SF Jazz
The Wind Garden (2017), a permanent public artwork commissioned by the Stuart Collection at the University of California San Diego
Become Desert (2018), a work for five ensembles, premiered at the Seattle Symphony's Benaroya Hall, 29 March 2018, conducted by Ludovic Morlot
Lines Made by Walking (2019), string quartet, commissioned by the Tippet Rise Art Center
Arctic Dreams (2020) for 2 sopranos, 1 alto, and 1 b* voice, violin, viola, cello, and double b*, commissioned by Synergy Vocals
An Atlas of Deep Time (2022) for orchestra, Premiered by the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra for their Centennial Finale, April 30, 2022, conducted by Delta David Gier

Discography

songbirdsongs (1981), Anne McFarland, Kevin Culver, Michel Cook (ocarina), John Luther Adams, Kevin Culver, Scott Douglas, Tim Embry (perc.), Anne McFarland, Michel Cook (picc, fl), LP, Opus One, Number 66
A Northern Suite/Night Peace (1983), The Arctic Chamber Orchestra, Gordon Wright (cond.), The Atlanta Singers, Cheryl Bray (sop.), Joan Rubin (harp), Billy Traylor (perc.), Kevin Culver (cond.), LP, Opus One, Number 88
Forest Without Leaves (1987), Arctic Chamber Orchestra, various vocal soloists, Byron McGilvray (cond.), LP, Owl Recording, OWL-32
The Far Country (1993), CD, New Albion, NA 061

Dream in White on White The Apollo Quartet and Strings, JoAnn Falletta (cond.)
Night Peace The Atlanta Singers, Cheryl Bray Lower (sop.), Nella Rigel (harp), Michael Cebulski (perc.), Kevin Culver (cond.)
The Far Country of Sleep The Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta (cond.)

Earth and the Great Weather (1995), Michael Finkel (vcl), Robert Black (cb), Amy Knoles, John Luther Adams, Robert Black, Robin Lorentz (perc.), Robin Lorentz (vln), Ron Lawrence (vla), John Luther Adams, Michael Finkel (cond.), CD, New World Records, 80459-2
Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing (1997), The Apollo Chamber Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta (cond.), CD, New World Records, 80500-2 – nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award in the Best Cl*ical Contemporary Composition and Best Orchestral Performance categories
Dark Wind (2002), Marty Walker (b* cl), Amy Knoles (vibraphone, marimba), Bryan Pezzone (piano), CD, Cold Blue Music, CB0009
The Light That Fills the World (2002), Marty Walker (b* cl), Barry Newton (double b*), Nathaniel Reichman (keyboards, sound design), Bryan Pezzone (piano), Amy Knoles (vibraphone, marimba), Robin Lorentz (violin), CD, Cold Blue Music, CB0010

The Farthest Place
The Light That Fills the World
The Immeasurable Space of Tones

In the White Silence (2003), The Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, Tim Weiss (cond.), CD, New World Records, 80600-2
Strange and Sacred Noise (2005), Percussion Group Cincinnati, CD and DVD, Mode Records, mode 153
The Mathematics of Resonant Bodies (2006), Steven Schick (perc.), CD, Cantaloupe Music, CA21034
for Lou Harrison (2007), Callithumpian Consort, Stephen Drury (cond.), CD, New World Records, 80669-2
red arc/blue veil (2007), CD, Cold Blue Music, CB0026

Dark Waves Stephen Drury, Yukiko Takagi (piano)
Among Red Mountains Stephen Drury (piano)
Qilyuan Scott Deal, Stuart Gerber (b* drum)
red arc/blue veil Stephen Drury (piano), Scott Deal (Vibraphone, Crotales)

The Place We Began (2009), CD, Cold Blue Music, CB0032 – appears on 2009's Best (Mostly) 'New Music', from WNYC
Four Thousand Holes (2011), Callithumpian Consort, Scott Deal (perc.), Stephen Drury (cond.), CD, Cold Blue Music, CB0035

Four Thousand Holes
. . . and bells remembered . . .

songbirdsongs (2012), CD, Mode Records, mode 240

songbirdsongs Callithumpian Consort, Stephen Drury (cond.)
Strange Birds P*ing New England Conservatory Contemporary Music Ensemble, John Heiss (cond.)

Inuksuit (2013), So Percussion Ensemble, Doug Perkins (cond.). CD and DVD recording. Cantaloupe Music .
Become Ocean (2014), Seattle Symphony; Ludovic Morlot, conductor, Cantaloupe Music CA 21101
The Wind In High Places (2015), JACK Quartet, Northwestern University Cello Ensemble, Cold Blue Music, CB0041
Ilimaq (2015), Glenn Kotche, Cantaloupe Music
Everything That Rises (2017), JACK Quartet (CD, Cold Blue Music CB0051, February 2018)
Become Desert (2019), Seattle Symphony; Ludovic Morlot, conductor, Cantaloupe Music CA 21148
The Become Trilogy (2020), Seattle Symphony; Ludovic Morlot, conductor, Cantaloupe Music - contains Become Ocean, Become Desert (remastered) and Become River (previously unreleased).
Lines Made by Walking (2020), album also includes untouched, JACK Quartet, Cold Blue Music CB0058

Writings

The Place Where You Go To Listen – In Search of an Ecology of Music (Wesleyan University Press, 2009)
"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", In The Best Spiritual Writing 2002, edited by Philip Zaleski (Harper Collins, 2002), pp.:1–21.
"Winter Music. A Composer's Journal", Musicworks 82 (February, 2002)
"The Place Where You Go to Listen", In The Book of Music and Nature, edited by David Rothenberg and Marta Ulvaeus (Wesleyan University Press, 2000), pp.:181–182.
"Winter Music. A Composer's Journal", In Reflections on American Music, edited by James R. Heintze and Michael Saffle (Hillsdale, NY: 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.

References

Sources

Adams, John Luther. 2014. "On Become Ocean". Cantaloupe Music website (retrieved 19 September 2014).
Adams, John Luther. 2019. "On Become Desert". Cantaloupe Music website (retrieved 20 September 2019).
Anon. n.d. "John Luther Adams". Deep Listening Ins*ute. Retrieved December 21, 2010.
Anon. n.d.(b). "1990s Grants to Individuals". Foundation for Contemporary Arts (archive from April 2, 2015, accessed April 30, 2016).
Anon. n.d.(c) "The Heinz Awards: John Luther Adams". The Heinz Awards website (accessed August 26, 2016).
Clements, Andrew. 2015. "Adams: Ilimaq review – work of great power and surprising stark beauty". The Guardian (November 18). Retrieved 19 June 2016.
Davis, Helga, and John Luther Adams. 2014. "Watch Live: Become Ocean Listening Party with John Luther Adams". New York: WQXR Radio (8 September). Retrieved 8 September 2014.
Feisst, Sabine. 2013..
Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna da. 2014. "A Composer Attuned to the Earth's Swirling Motion: A New York Premiere for John Luther Adams's Become Ocean". The New York Times (6 May): C1.
Friedman, Lisa. 2014. "Wilderness Campaigner's Obsession with 'Place' Led to Symphony about Climate Change". ClimateWire (13 May). (Retrieved 8 September 2014).
Garland, Peter. 2007. "John Luther Adams". Liner notes to John Luther Adams – For Lou Harrison. New World Records.
Huizenga, Tom. 2014. "Alaskan Composer Wins Pulitzer for 'Become Ocean'". Deceptive Cadence, from NPR Cl*ical. NPR.org (14 April).
Kosman, Joshua. 2001. "Adams, John Luther". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
Molleson, Kate. 2015. "Across the Distance review – serene and persuasive". The Guardian (July 7). Retrieved 19 June 2016.
Moore, Judy (29 April 2010). "John Luther Adams Wins Nemmers Composition Prize". Northwestern University.
NewMusicBox Staff. 2014. "John Luther Adams Named Musical America's 201 Composer of the Year". NewMusicBox (November 5, accessed November 15, 2014).
Oestreich, James R. 2015. "Review: John Luther Adams, Lauded and Played at Columbia". The New York Times (September 24). Retrieved 19 June 2016.
Patner, Andrew. 2012. "As Rain Enhances a Percussion Premiere, Hundreds Soak It All In". Chicago Sun-Times (26 August). Retrieved 8 September 2014.
Presto Cl*ical. The Wind in High Places, recording details
Presto Cl*ical. Lines Made by Walking, recording details
Ross, Alex (December 6, 2011). "The Best Cl*ical Music Recordings of 2011". The New Yorker.
Ross, Alex. 2013. "Water Music: John Luther Adams's Become Ocean at the Seattle Symphony". The New Yorker (8 July): 92–93 (accessed 8 September 2014).
Service, Tom. 2015. "John Luther Adams: A Force of Nature". The Guardian (2 July) (accessed 3 October 2016).
Sigler, Andrew. 2012 "John Luther Adams and Glenn Kotche Go on Spirit Jurneys with Ilimaq". NewMusicBox (December 7). Retrieved March 7, 2016.
Smith, Erica. 2014. "Alarm Will Sound Premiering Two Pieces In St. Louis This Weekend"". St. Louis Public Radio website (October 17).
Theodore Front Musical Literature. n.d.. 2014. "Search Results for John Luther Adams". Santa Clarita, California: Theodore Front Musical Literature Inc. Retrieved 8 September 2014.

External links

Official website
John Luther Adams's Recordings on Cantaloupe Music
Cold Blue Music: John Luther Adams
Video: John Luther Adams's 'Inuksuit'
NonPop Show 006 – "The Place" interview
Sila on YouTube, complete performance, Lincoln Center
Interview with John Luther Adams, January 27, 1989

Portal:Cl*ical music