RECORDINGS
Tone paintings of Alaska and Okefenokee Swamp, performed by the Arctic Chamber Orchestra and the Atlanta Singers. Recorded on the New Albion CD.
"No, not that John Adams. This one is from Alaska and his music is appropriately icy, distant and spacious." John Schaefer, New Sounds
A collaboration with Alaskan poet, John Haines, performed by the Arctic Chamber Orchestra and Choir. "...a work which is both moving and coherent, with a message whose time has come." Chorus!
The
Far CountryNew recordings of three major works spanning sixteen years. Included are: Dream In White On White (1992), Night Peace (1977), and The Far Country of Sleep (1988). "...Wondrous soundscapes of place and the imagination." San Francisco Chronicle
Item number AJ-CD-1; Out of Stock
Earth
and the Great Weather"A Sonic Geography of the Arctic," weaving Native languages, natural sounds, thundering drums and justly-intoned strings in to a sonic tapestry of epic proportions. "...An act of profound respect toward the cultural insights of Iñupiat and Gwich'in peoples and an artistic statement about a primal and indissoluble link between physical landscapes and human emotion." Barry Lopez
VIDEOTAPES
A retrospective of films by pioneer abstract filmmaker, Jordan Belson, with music by John Luther Adams, including excerpts from A Northern Suite, Night Peace and The Far Country of Sleep. "...Our greatest abstract film poet: he has found how to combine the vision of the outer and inner eye." Gene Youngblood
"The Passage of Gifts" - the first of a five-part PBS series exploring the spirituality and life-ways of the Koyukon Athabascan people of Alaska. Based on the book by Richard K. Nelson and narrated by Barry Lopez, with original music by John Luther Adams. "Here, Nature is not governed by God...Nature is God." Richard Nelson
SCORES
Five of the pieces recorded on the Opus One album, including Apple Blossom Round, Morningfieldsong, Meadowdance, Joyful Noise and Evensong. These are delightful small songs, echoing rare moments and places where the voices of birds have been clear. Scored for piccolo(s) and percussion, with optional additional parts included. "...Art of beauty, power and intellectual integrity." American Record Guide
Four more of the pieces recorded on the Opus One album, including Mourning Dove, Wood Thrush, August Voices and NotQuiteSpringDawn.
Music from the music-theater collaboration with Barry Lopez, scored for clarinet (e-flat and bass), violin, doublebass and two percussion. Pieces include Coyote's Dance, Water Music, A Little Joke, Coyote's Complaint and Death and the Meadowlark. "Threatening and horrific like a gale wind, and nurturing and comforting like a heartbeat..." Bangor Daily News
Works that combine the spirit of native American drumming with the energy of rock 'n roll: Invocation, Consecration, Playing With Fire, Giving Birth to Thunder and Always Coming Home.
An homage to the classic percussion works of Cowell, Cage and Harrison, and to the rich traditions of native American drumming.
This recent orchestral work pays homage to the imaginary landscapes of Feldman's music and evokes the unbroken distance and silences of the arctic. "...A ravishingly beautiful landscape..." San Francisco Examiner
A pristine nightscape (recorded on the New Albion CD). "Night Peace is what new choral music is all about." John Schaefer, New Sounds
A setting of poems by John Haines, recorded on Owl album #32. "...Sensitive, stately, solemn, dramatic..." Option magazine
A translation of the fractal forms of "Cantor dust" into musical time. This is the first piece in Strange and Sacred Noise, an extended cycle for percussion quartet which explors chaos, fractal geometry and noise.
Two songs for voice and piano, with texts from the Ammassalik and Thule Eskimo.
Short pieces for solo harp, based on the indigenous music of the Yup'ik Eskimo people of Western Alaska.
Explosive, ecstatic pieces grounded in the driving, asymmetrical rhythms of Inuit drumming and dancing. Recorded on the New World CD. "...Powerful...evokes something profound - a deep experience we can get only at a rare moment." In Tune
Scored for string quartet, solo harp and string ensemble. A sweeping musical landscape in the acoustically perfect tones of Pythagorean diatonic tuning, evoking the treeless, windswept expanses of western Alaska. Recorded on the New Albion CD.
WRITINGS
Subtitled "Confessions of an Out-of-Town Composer,"
this essay explores the powerful influence of the physical and cultural geographies
of the Far North on twenty years of Adams' work. Containing numerous musical
illustrations, this is the complete version of a piece which has appeared in
The North American Review, The Utne Reader and several other publications.
Item Number AJ-W-1; Written Work $7.00
Adams has been called "one of the few important young American composers" by Lou Harrison and "one of Alaska's great artistic resources" by the Anchorage Daily News. He has received commissions, awards and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Lila Wallace Trust, the Rockerfeller Foundation, and the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, among others. He is currently composer-in-residence with the Anchorage Symphony, the Anchorage Opera and the Alaska Public Radio Network, as part of the Meet the Composer "New Residencies" program. About his work, Adams says: "My music has always been profoundly influenced by the natural world and a strong sense of place. Through sustained listening to the subtle resonances of the northern soundscape, I hope to explore the territory of 'sonic geography' - that region between place and culture...between environment and imagination."
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