[(The John Adams Reader )] [Author: Thomas May] [Jun-2006]

by Thomas May

The John Adams Essential Writings on an American Composer is the first full-length book in English devoted to the work of John Adams, among the most frequently performed living American composers in the sphere of classical music. Sometimes called America's "composer laureate," John Adams has proved to be that rare bird—an enduring, if often controversial, figure in contemporary art music.Although branded a minimalist early in his career, Adams has composed in many styles and forms, from opera, choral, and orchestral pieces to multimedia stage works and tape and electronic compositions. Here essays by leading music commentators and critics explore the Adams oeuvre with insights pro and con.

Genres: Essays, Music

Unknown Binding

First published June 19, 2006

About the author

Apart from playing trombone in the school band and the usual radio pap, I discovered music in a serious way at a relatively late age – when I was around 12. That was around the time I went crazy over an abandoned piano and thought I could learn to play all the Ludwig van Beethoven sonatas in a year or so “if I applied myself.” At least I didn’t lack for foolhardy ideas about how music actually works. A year or so later I began my first attempt to compose a symphony — to “prepare the way” for the opera on "King Lear" for which posterity had destined me — when I discovered with horror that my main theme in E major had been stolen by Anton Bruckner. But I’ve been trying to make up for lost time ever since, and music is a passion inseparably bound to my love of theater, fiction, poetry, film, and the other arts.
After starting my writing career as a freelancer for "The Washington Post" under Tim Page, I was lured to resettle on the West Coast when I was hired as part of the first team of music editors at Amazon.com. Nowadays I’m a full-time freelance writer focusing on music. My interests are voracious, from early music to Nico Muhly, and I have a serious passion for exploring how contemporary composers are transforming the legacy of “classical music” (imploring indulgence for the quotation marks: it’s just that I’ve found they’re the most efficient way to deal with that burden of a misnomer).
These days I write for the online newspaper crosscut.com, Listen magazine, and Gramophone; I also regularly contribute to the program books of some of the leading institutions in the music world. Since 2009 I’ve served as the English writer and program editor for the Lucerne Festival; I also translate German for the Lucerne Festival and other institutions.

Reviews

[Bruce · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was published in 2006 as "the first full-length book in English to be devoted to [contemporary American composer John Adams]," only to be rendered wholly superfluous by the composer's own autobiography published at the tail end of last year (a far better, much more insightful look into Adams' life, philosophy, modus operandi, and works). So you can take a pass on this, unless you're desperate for a volume that compiles Nonesuch liner notes and occasional articles from the Arts section of various newspapers. My reactions to Adams (of whom I'm a modest fan, with big flag waving for certain of his theater pieces) are already documented in my review of Hallelujah Junction (at http://apps.new.facebook.com/good_rea...), so I'll just follow up with a few examples of the crit-crud presented by the Reader.

(1) From a 2001 New Yorker article by Alex Ross on page 33: "[Adams] resumed Copland's populist mission, but without any trace of big-city knowingness. His open prairies became modern, moody spaces, lit up with neon red and bathed in television blue." Leaving aside the prickly problem of whether visual metaphors translate meaningfully to holistic descriptions of orchestral sound, how do you get lit up by neon and television "without any trace of big-city knowingness?"

(2) See also at page 193, The Atlantic's David Schiff re the Pulitzer Prize winning 9/11 commission On the Transmigration of Souls.: "[W]ithout sounding in any way like popular music -- the work has no memorable musical theme or melody -- it is more successfully populist." So, a piece that is inherently unmemorable should nonetheless appeal to a wider audience?

(3) At page 355, from an LA Times article by Mark Swed: "[F]or anyone searching for what differentiates new classical music from the popular culture, [piano concerto Century Rolls] is a good place to begin. Pop music's immediacy speaks in a common tongue to and about the moment. New classical music has a larger view of the past and fancier language. But when it works as well as Adams's music does, its freshness feels permanent." Unreasonably sweeping generalization aside, which is fresh again, pop music or new classical? Swed's statement about permanence seems completely undercut when you consider that even works from the repertory of Tin Pan Alley (to cite but one example) are called "standards." But don't take my word for it. It's right there on page one of this book's Introduction, "[T]he sad truth is that the vast majority of contemporary art music is condemned to a ritual of once-only performance at its premiere, never to be heard from again save, perhaps, in a curriculum vitae listing."

Ah pretentious gibberish. And I haven't even touched the Richard Taruskin screed from The New York Times who, in the context of advocating for a production boycott says (p. 339), "Censorship is always deplorable, but the exercise of forbearance can be noble," as though opting not to go to the opera wasn't an option (maybe not for him). To make matters sillier, editor Thomas May introduces the Taruskin essay by saying he disagrees with it, yet chooses not to present any rebuttal, not even the one written by Adams himself. Um, hello?

The rock bottom moment for me was Thomas May's interview with the composer. Now, as noted in Hallelujah Junction, Adams' formative years as a composer took place during the "golden age" of rock music in the late 1960s/early 1970s when one could "be in the world of rock and still be a real artist" and not appear to be "selling out?" (May's words, at p. 9) Given this, I felt the big question Adams left unanswered was why Adams nevertheless chose to work in an idiom which he felt had become "anachronistic and musically sterile." This problem is elaborated in Joshua Kosman's article on p. 60, "the idea that America's leading musical spokesman would be writing for symphony orchestras is itself passe. It's likely that Bruce Springsteen speaks for, and to, the American populace as a whole more convincingly than Adams or any of his colleagues do; certainly The Rising will be heard by more listeners than On the Transmigration of Souls." Right! This is one of the things that made inclusion of the musique concrete Revolution 9 on the White Album so significant; it gave widespread exposure of an avant-garde work to mainstream audiences. At long last, Adams himself provides an answer: "I didn't want to become a pop musician because it just wasn't musically challenging."

What the flugelhorn?! That's it??? There's no follow-up or challenge to this answer? I'm telling you, if Kindle ever makes it possible for readers to scream at the author through the pages of their electronic books, sales will go through the roof.

[James Grinwis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing about music well means that the average reader 'gets it' and feels the music and the descriptions of the music swirling around in the gut in a kind of dance. This book does this, but you have to like the music first, probably a requisite for all musical criticism. Who is going to bother reading a book about music they do not like to listen to? Adams is the greatest American composer in many years. This collection of writings follows the path of his career and is fueled by playbills, interviews, and critical notes. If you are interested in the music of John Adams, it's a good accompaniment. If you love his music, it's not a must but you'd really like it.

[Koji Mukai · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I love the music of John Adams (yes, this is the composer John Adams, not the 2nd president of the US), I got far less from this book than I was hoping to.

[Stevtomato · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite an enjoyable book to read. I jut wished there had been more analysis on the music.