John Adams, part 3 of 3

[calimac]

This was the chamber music concert. Fortunately, because the sound of chamber music tends to get lost on the way to Davies' upper balconies, I didn't have to sit up there; in fact, I think nobody sat up there.

Maybe it was too much of a good thing; although the works are in fact rather different in idiom, it became difficult to absorb so much chunking and chugging. We had Road Movies, which is for violin and piano; Shaker Loops, which is for string septet, yes, septet; Hallelujah Junction, which is for two pianos; and String Quartet, which is for, er, string quartet (don't laugh: a composer once wrote a piece called String Quartet which wasn't). Shaker Loops, the earliest work, is the most blatantly minimalist; Hallelujah Junction is exceedingly jumpy and rather similar; Road Movies blends its piano with a more long-lined violin; and String Quartet is more varied than any of the others, using a wide spectrum of techniques.

It may not have been a good idea to head up to North Beach for dinner afterwards (I was actually in search of a particular restaurant, which turned out to be closed on Sunday), as it took half an hour to maneuver past the garbage trucks, construction zones, and Christmas shoppers along Stockton Street back to the freeway. Phew.

Comments

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

So, inspired by your concert review the other day I gave "El Nino" a try. Didn't care for it much on a first listen, but I'll give it another try. I also downloaded Simon Rattle's recording of the full "Harmonielehre" (the I Am Love soundtrack has the second and third movements, but not the first), and I really, really like it. It was only when I started doing some reading about it that I realized that one reason I've found it so attractive is that it's in dialogue with Sibelius. Definitely a Eureka moment. Of course!