Harmonium (Adams) Explained

Harmonium is a composition for chorus and orchestra by the American composer John Adams, written in 1980-1981 for the first season of Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, California. The work is based on poetry by John Donne and Emily Dickinson and is regarded as one of the key compositions of Adams' "minimalist" period.[1]

The work was premiered by the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Symphony Chorus, with conductor Edo de Waart, on 15 April 1981, and subsequently recorded it.[2] The UK premiere was on 13 October 1987 at Birmingham Town Hall, with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) conducted by Simon Rattle.[3] Rattle and the CBSO gave the London premiere on 28 July 1990 at The Proms.[4]

Music

Each movement is a setting of an entire poem:

"Because I could not stop for Death" ends with an orchestral interlude that segues into "Wild Nights" without a pause. A typical performance takes about 35 minutes.

Timothy Johnson has discussed various aspects of the harmonic language of Harmonium in detail.[5] K. Robert Schwarz has noted the influence of the musical techniques of Steve Reich on Harmonium, and also has commented on the less schematic and more "intuitive" manner of Adams' composition in the work.[6]

"Negative Love" is featured in the film Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol (1990).

Instrumentation

Chorus
  • soprano, alto, tenor, bass; minimum of 90 performers
    Woodwinds
  • 4 flutes (2nd, 3rd, and 4th doubling on piccolo)
  • 3 oboes
  • 3 clarinets in B (1st and 2nd doubling clarinet in A, 3rd doubling bass clarinet)
  • 3 bassoons (3rd doubling contrabassoon)
    Brass
  • 4 horns in F
  • 4 trumpets in C (1st doubling B and D trumpets; 2nd, 3rd, and 4th doubling B trumpet)
  • 3 trombones
  • tuba
    Timpani and Percussion, 4 players
  • 2 marimbas
  • metallophone
  • xylophone
  • tubular bells
  • crotales
  • glockenspiel
  • suspended cymbal
  • sizzle cymbal
  • crash cymbals
  • triangle
  • bass drum
  • tom-toms, medium and large
  • anvil
  • cowbells
  • tambourine
    Keyboards

    piano (or synthesizer)

    celesta

    Strings
  • harp
  • violins
  • violas
  • cellos
  • double basses

    Recordings

    Bibliography

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Heisinger . Brent . American Minimalism in the 1980s . American Music . 187 . 430–447 . 1989 . 10.2307/3051914 . 4 . American Music, Vol. 7, No. 4 . 3051914.
    2. News: John Rockwell . Expanding on Minimalist Music . The New York Times . 10 February 1985 . 2008-02-20.
    3. Clements . Andrew . Reports: Birmingham . The Musical Times . 128 . 1738 . 706–709 . December 1987 . 10.2307/964828 . The Musical Times, Vol. 128, No. 1738 . 964828.
    4. Rye . Matthew . Opera, Concert and Festival Reports: London, Proms 1 . The Musical Times . 131 . 1773 . 606–620 . November 1990 . 966196 . 10.2307/966196.
    5. Johnson . Timothy A. . Harmonic Vocabulary in the Music of John Adams: A Hierarchical Approach . Journal of Music Theory . 37 . 1 . 117–156 . Spring 1993 . 10.2307/843946 . Journal of Music Theory, Vol. 37, No. 1 . 843946.
    6. Schwarz . K. Robert . Process vs. Intuition in the Recent Works of Steve Reich and John Adams . American Music . 8 . 3 . 245–273 . Autumn 1990 . 10.2307/3052096 . American Music, Vol. 8, No. 3 . 3052096.

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