- 232 pages
- English
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About This Book
Winner of the 2022 Vincent H. Duckles Award, Music Library Association
John Adams: A Research and Information Guide offers the first comprehensive guide to the musical works and literature of one of the leading American composers of our time.
The research guide catalogs and summarizes materials relating to Adams's work, providing detailed annotated bibliographic entries for both primary and secondary sources. Covering writings by and interviews with Adams, books, journal articles and book chapters, newspaper articles and reviews, dissertations, video recordings, and other sources, the guide also contains a chronology of Adams's life, a discography, and a list of compositions. Robust indexes enable researchers to easily locate sources by author, composition, or subject.
This volume is a major reference tool for all those interested in Adams and his music, and a valuable resource for students and researchers of minimalism, contemporary American music, and twentieth-century music more broadly.
Frequently asked questions
Information
Chronology of John Adamsâs Life
- 1947ââBorn in Worcester, Massachusetts, on February 15, 1947 to Carl John Vincent Adams and Elinore Mary Coolidge. Both parents were amateur musicians. Carl, who was a clarinetist, provided Johnâs earliest musical training.
- 1950ââFamily moved to Woodstock, Vermont.
- 1954ââMoved to Concord, New Hampshire, prompted by a new job for Carl at an industrial hardware company.
- 1955ââBegan clarinet lessons with his father.
- 1956ââFirst lessons in composition, harmony, and theory under the instruction of an unnamed teacher from Saint Paulâs Preparatory School.
- 1960ââClarinet lessons under the tutelage of Felix Viscuglia, bass clarinetist of the Boston Symphony.
- 1962ââJoined the New Hampshire State Hospital Auxiliary Orchestra. John Adams composed and conducted an unpublished suite for string orchestra. Attended a summer music camp in western Maine where he conducted Schumannâs Piano Concerto.
- 1964â65 Private studies in conducting lessons from music director Mario di Bonaventura, who was a student of Nadia Boulanger and Igor Markevitch. Studied keyboard harmony and analysis from Luise Vosgerchian, student of Nadia Boulanger and professor at Harvard University. Met Walter Piston, professor emeritus of Harvard University. During his senior year in high school, Adams was a member of the Greater Boston Youth Symphony.
- 1965â69 Undergraduate studies at Harvard University. Instruction in harmony from Harvard professor Elliot Forbes, followed by studies in counterpoint from David Del Tredici. In 1966 Adams joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra as a substitute and performed the American premiere of Schoenbergâs Moses und Aron. In the summer of 1966 Adams heard Duke Ellington perform in person. In 1967 Adams, together with actor John Lithgow, staged six performances of Mozartâs Le Nozze di Figaro. As a junior, Adams was the student conductor of Harvardâs Bach Society Orchestra, which performed repertoire ranging from Bach to contemporary music. Adams wrote a letter to Leonard Bernstein about the state of contemporary music and the cognitive dissonance it was eliciting for Adams. Bernstein responded shortly thereafter of his own struggles with avant-garde music. In 1968 Adams declined an invitation to attend the conducting program at Tanglewood. During his last years at Harvard, Adams took private lessons in composition and analysis from Earl Kim and Leon Kirchner, both of whom were Arnold Schoenbergâs pupils. In spring 1969 Adams performed Pistonâs Clarinet Concerto at Carnegie Hall in a concert performed by the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra. Adams completed his undergraduate studies in July 1969.
- 1969ââBegan graduate studies in composition at Harvard University.
- 1970ââMarried Hawley Currens, music teacher in Boston schools and daughter of a cardiologist.
- 1971ââCompleted a masterâs degree in composition at Harvard University. Shortly after graduation, Adams and his wife moved to Berkeley, California. During this time, Adams worked as an apartment building manager assistant and subsequently at a warehouse in Oakland called Regal Apparel.
- 1972ââAdamsâs friend Ivan Tcherepnin informed Adams of a music-composition vacancy at the San Francisco Conservatory. Adams joined their faculty and remained there for ten years. In addition to his teaching duties, Adams was responsible for directing the New Music Ensemble for the schoolâs series of New Music concerts.
- 1974ââAdams and Hawley Currens divorced. Adams relocated to San Francisco.
- 1978ââBecame New Music Advisor for the San Francisco Symphony.
- 1981ââMet his future wife, Deborah OâGrady, at the New Music America Festival.
- 1982ââResigned from his teaching post at the San Francisco Conservatory. In the same year, Adams received a three-year commission as composer-in-residence with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra through the Meet the Composer Orchestra Residencies Program.
- 1983ââMet Peter Sellars at the Monadnock Music Festival.
- 1984ââAdamsâs daughter, Emily Davis Adams, was born on May 30, 1984. The week after Emilyâs birth their family moved back to Berkeley.
- 1985ââIn December Adams was introduced to Alice Goodman by Peter Sellars, to begin working on Nixon in China
- Adamsâs son, Samuel Carl Adams, was born on December 30, 1985.
- 1988ââWon the Grammy Award for the Best Classical Contemporary Composition for Nixon in China.
- Named Creative Chair of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. He served with this orchestra for two years as conductor and advisor.
- In the spring Adams accepted an invitation to be resident of the American Academy in Rome. While living in Rome, Adams received an invitation to attend the Third International Music Festival for Humanism, Peace and Friendship Among Nations to be held the same year in Leningrad, Russia. While at the festival Adams formed a friendship with composer John Cage. At the Festival, the Lithuanian orchestra performed Harmonielehre.
- 1992ââBegan integrating musical ideas from Nicolas Slonimskyâs 1947 compendium titled Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns in his compositions. Adams acknowledged this influence on his works since the Chamber Symphony. The two composers formed a friendship at an unknown date after Slonimsky had moved to California.
- 1993ââWon the Royal Philharmonic Award for his Chamber Symphony.
- 1995ââWon the Grawemeyer Award for Violin Concerto.
- 1997ââWon the Grammy Award for the Best Classical Contemporary Composition for El Dorado.
- 2002ââReceived a commission to write a work in memorial of September 11. He titled the work On the Transmigration of Souls.
- 2003ââWon the Pulitzer Prize in Music for On the Transmigration of Souls.
- Received a commission to write for the opening of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Adams titled his new composition The Dharma at Big Sur.
- Appointed Artist in Association with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and composer-in-residence at Carnegie Hall.
- 2004ââWon the Grammy Award for the Best Classical Contemporary Composition for The Transmigration of Souls.
- Won the Nemmers Prize in Composition from Northwestern University. Along with the cash award and a performance of the composerâs works with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Adams was granted a residency with the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music.
- 2007ââAwarded the Harvard Arts Medal, a distinction for demonstrated achievement in the arts by a Harvard alumnus.
- 2008ââRecipient of the Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University.
- 2009ââWon the National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors Award.
- Appointed Inaugural Creative Chair of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
- Recipient of the Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Duquesne University.
- 2012ââRecipient of the Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Harvard University.
- 2013ââRecipient of the Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Yale University.
- 2015ââRecipient of the Honorary Doctor of Music degree from the Royal Academy of Music.
- 2016ââNamed composer-in-residence at the Berlin Philharmoniker.
- 2017ââAwarded the San Francisco Opera Medal.
- 2019ââAwarded the Erasmus Prize by The Netherlandsâ Praemium Erasmianum Foundation for exceptional contribution in the arts.
Writings by Adams
Books
Table of contents
- Cover
- Half Title
- Series
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1. Chronology of John Adamsâs Life
- 2. Writings by Adams
- 3. Books
- 4. Journal and Magazine Articles, Book Chapters
- 5. Select Interviews
- 6. Doctoral Dissertations, Masterâs, and Honors Theses
- 7. Select Newspaper Titles, News Articles, and Reviews
- 8. Select Video Recordings
- 9. Other Internet Sources
- 10. Related Writings on Minimalism
- 11. Miscellaneous
- 12. Encyclopedia Entries
- A. Discography of Adamsâs Compositions and Arrangements
- B. List of Compositions
- C. Index of Authors
- D. Index of Compositions and Arrangements
- E. Subject Index