For the Alaska-based postminimalist composer, see John Luther Adams.

John Coolidge Adams (born February 15, 1947) is an American composer, with strong roots in minimalism. Several notable people have been named John Adams: John Adams, 2nd President of the United States John Adams (Blessed), (?-1586), Catholic priest and martyr under Elizabeth I. John Adams (mutineer), on the HMS Bounty John Adams (merchant), Nova Scotia merchant and president of the colonial Nova Scotia Council Professor John... John Luther Adams (born 1953) is a composer whose music embodies the landscapes of Alaska, his home since 1978. ... is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Minimalist music is an originally American genre of experimental or Downtown music named in the 1960s based mostly in consonant harmony, steady pulse (if not immobile drones), stasis and slow transformation, and often reiteration of musical phrases or smaller units such as figures, motifs, and cells. ...

Life and career

John Adams first recorded work was included on Brian Eno's Obscure Records LP "Ensemble Pieces", 1975. He won a Grammy Award in 1989 in the Best Contemporary Composition category for Nixon in China and in 1998 in the same category for El Dorado. Brian Eno (pronounced ) (born Brian Peter George St. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition was first awarded in 1961. ... Promotional flier for the Nixon in China opera. ...

Adams' work On the Transmigration of Souls, a choral work commemorating the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks, won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Music. However, after winning the award Adams expressed "ambivalence bordering on contempt" since he felt that the prize had "lost much of the prestige it still carries in other fields" because "most of the country's greatest musical minds" have been ignored in favor of academy composers and musicians. [1] On the Transmigration of Souls, for orchestra, chorus, children’s choir and pre-recorded soundtrack is a composition by composer John Coolidge Adams commissioned by The New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center’s Great Performers (and an anonymous but well known New York family) shortly after the September... A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly... The Pulitzer Prize for Music was first awarded in 1943. ...

For information prior to 2003, please see the Pulitzer Prize committee's biography, linked to below.

Adams's newest opera, Doctor Atomic, which premiered October 1, 2005, is also a collaboration with Sellars. The action of the opera is centered on the very first test of the atomic bomb, and is mainly about Robert Oppenheimer. Adams later adapted some of the music from the opera to form a standalone symphony. Doctor Atomic is an opera by the contemporary minimalist American composer John Adams, with libretto by Peter Sellars. ... J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, served as the first director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, beginning in 1943. ...

John Adams became the BBC Symphony Orchestra's Artist in Association in June 2003. In the words of Adams himself, "the position is sufficiently unstructured and flexible to allow any number of wild things to happen." The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain. ...

On 23 November 2004, the British Academy presented a Fellowship of the Academy to John Adams at the Barbican, London, following a concert with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by the composer and including his work Harmonium. is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Barbican in Kraków Barbican (from mediæval Latin barbecana) - a fortified outpost or gateway, such as an outer defence to a city or castle and any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defence purposes. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The BBC Symphony Chorus is one of the finest and most distinctive amateur choruses in the United Kingdom and celebrated its 75th Anniversary during the 2003-04 season. ... Harmonium, by the American composer John Coolidge Adams, is a richly-textured, large-scale work for orchestra and chorus based on poetry by John Donne and Emily Dickinson. ...

In 2005, the premiere recording of On the Transmigration of Souls (with Lorin Maazel conducting the New York Philharmonic) won three Grammy awards: Best Classical Album, Best Orchestral Performance, and Best Classical Contemporary Composition. The 47th Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2005 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. ... On the Transmigration of Souls, for orchestra, chorus, children’s choir and pre-recorded soundtrack is a composition by composer John Coolidge Adams commissioned by The New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center’s Great Performers (and an anonymous but well known New York family) shortly after the September... Lorin Varencove Maazel (born March 6, 1930) is a conductor, violinist and composer. ... The New York Philharmonic is the oldest active symphony orchestra in the United States, organized during 1842. ... Grammy Award statuette The Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music... The Grammy Award for Best Classical Album has been awarded since 1962. ... The Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance has been awarded since 1959. ... The Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition was first awarded in 1961. ...

Other recent prizes include the Harvard Arts medal for 2007.

Works

Stage

Promotional flier for the Nixon in China opera. ... The Death of Klinghoffer is an opera by the contemporary American composer John Adams to an English libretto by the poet Alice Goodman. ... I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky is a 1995 musical/opera written by John Adams, with a libretto by June Jordan. ... El Niño is a nativity oratorio by the American minimalist composer John Coolidge Adams. ... Doctor Atomic is an opera by the contemporary minimalist American composer John Adams, with libretto by Peter Sellars. ... A Flowering Tree is an opera in two acts composed by John Coolidge Adams with libretto by Adams and Peter Sellars, and commissioned by the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna, the San Francisco Symphony, the Barbican Centre in London, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York...

Orchestra

Harmonium, by the American composer John Coolidge Adams, is a richly-textured, large-scale work for orchestra and chorus based on poetry by John Donne and Emily Dickinson. ... Written in 1978 by the American composer John Adams, Shaker Loops was originally written for string septet. ... Harmonielehre is a 1985 composition written by John Adams. ... The Chairman Dances is a 1985 composition by John Adams. ... Tromba Lontana is a piece written by American minimalist composer John Adams in 1986. ... Short Ride in a Fast Machine (Fanfare for Great Woods) by John Coolidge Adams is one of the most frequently requested and performed encores in American concert-halls. ... Written in 1993 by the American composer John Adams, the Violin Concerto is more sophisticated than conventional minimalist works. ... The Grawemeyer Award is a prestigious and lucrative award presented each year by the University of Louisville in the state of Kentucky, United States. ... Lollapalooza is a short piece composed by American minimalist composer John Adams in 1995. ... Slonimskys Earbox is a 13-minute orchestral piece written by the prominent American composer John Adams. ... Century Rolls is a 1997 piano concerto written by the American minimalist composer John Adams and commissioned by Emanuel Ax. ... On the Transmigration of Souls, for orchestra, chorus, children’s choir and pre-recorded soundtrack is a composition by composer John Coolidge Adams commissioned by The New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center’s Great Performers (and an anonymous but well known New York family) shortly after the September...

Voice and orchestra

• (1987) The Nixon Tapes
• (1988) The Wound-Dresser

The Wound-Dresser is a nineteen minute-long piece by minimalist composer John Adams for orchestra and baritone singer. ...

Chamber Music

• (1970) Piano Quintet
• (1992) Chamber Symphony
• (1978) Shaker Loops
• (1994) John's Book of Alleged Dances
• (1995) Road Movies
• (1996) Gnarly Buttons

Written in 1978 by the American composer John Adams, Shaker Loops was originally written for string septet. ... Johns Book of Alleged Dances is a composition by John Coolidge Adams for string quartet and recorded prepared piano. ... Road Movies is a 1995 composition for piano and violin by American minimalist composer John Adams. ... Gnarly Buttons is a composition for solo clarinet and chamber ensemble by the American composer John Coolidge Adams. ...

Other ensemble works

• (1973) American Standard
• (1973) Christian Zeal and Activity
• (1975) Grounding
• (1982) Grand Pianola Music
• (1996) Scratchband
• (2001) Nancy's Fancy

Chorus

• (1973) Ktaadn
• (1980) Harmonium
• (1991) Choruses from The Death of Klinghoffer
• (2002) On the Transmigration of Souls

Harmonium, by the American composer John Coolidge Adams, is a richly-textured, large-scale work for orchestra and chorus based on poetry by John Donne and Emily Dickinson. ... On the Transmigration of Souls, for orchestra, chorus, children’s choir and pre-recorded soundtrack is a composition by composer John Coolidge Adams commissioned by The New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center’s Great Performers (and an anonymous but well known New York family) shortly after the September...

Tape and electronic compostions

• (1971) Heavy Metal
• (1976) Studebaker Love Music
• (1976) Onyx
• (1983) Light Over Water
• (1992) Hoodoo Zephyr

Piano

• (1977) Phrygian Gates
• (1977) China Gates
• (1996) Hallelujah Junction
• (2001) American Berserk

Phrygian Gates is a piano piece written by minimalist composer John Coolidge Adams in 1977-1978. ... China Gates is a short piano piece composed by the minimalist American composer John Adams in 1977. ... Hallelujah Junction is a piece written for two pianos by the American composer John Adams. ...

Film score

• (1982) Matter of Heart
• (1999?) An American Tapestry

Arrangements and Orchestrations

• (1990) The Black Gondola (orchestration of Franz Liszt’s La Lugubre Gondola)
• (1991) Berceuse Élégiaque (arrangement of Ferruccio Busoni’s original)
• (1993) Le Livre de Baudelaire (orchestration of four songs from Cinq poèmes de Charles Baudelaire by Claude Debussy)
• (1995) La Mufa (orchestration of an Astor Piazzolla tango)
• (1996) Todo Buenos Aires (orchestration of an Astor Piazzolla tango)
• (1989-1993) Six Songs by Charles Ives (arranged of songs by Charles Ives)

Portrait by Henri Lehmann, 1839 Franz Liszt (Hungarian: Liszt Ferenc; pronounced , in English: list) (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian [1] virtuoso pianist and composer of the Romantic period. ... Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (April 1, 1866 – July 27, 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, music teacher and conductor. ... Claude Debussy, photo by Félix Nadar, 1908. ... Photograph of Piazzolla playing his bandoneon. ... Tango music is traditionally played by an orquesta típica, a sextet which includes two violins, piano, doublebass, and two bandoneons. ... Photograph of Piazzolla playing his bandoneon. ... Tango music is traditionally played by an orquesta típica, a sextet which includes two violins, piano, doublebass, and two bandoneons. ...

Further reading

• May, Thomas. The John Adams Reader (ISBN 1-57467-132-4)

External links

• John Adams official site (earbox.com)
• Pulitzer Prize biography (2003)
• Doctor Atomic website for the opera

Interviews

• John Adams in conversation with David Robertson
• NewMusicBox: John Adams in conversation with Frank J. Oteri, 2000

Streaming audio and downloads

• Audio: John Adams on KPFA's Ode To Gravity Series, 1973. Includes recordings of early works Heavy Metal, Hockey Scene, Period 1, and American Standard
• Epitonic.com - John Adams featuring tracks from Shaker Loops
• Art of the States: John Adams