Daniel Morriss
Mr. Ratliff
Writing About Music
2nd April 2013
Harmonielehre
Harmony
occurs when two separate sound waves join forces to form something better than
the individual parts, making the whole greater than the sum of its parts. John
Adams, an American conductor, composer, and creative thinker, wrote a concerto
named “Harmonielehre,” which literally means “a lesson in harmony.” In this
minimalist symphony, Adams begins with a massive fanfare of horns and strings
that constantly intertwine, gaining and losing momentum to each other
throughout the piece. A theme extends through the entire symphony involving the
symbiosis and synchronization of different sections of the orchestra working
together to fulfill harmonic ends. The entire composition had an air of calming
and fluidity about it, like the diverse sounds of a river acting in accord to
produce a beautiful concerto of nature.
John
Adams currently lives in San Francisco, and has an illustrious repertoire of
knowledge and experience in the fields of musical composition and creativity.
His reputation has garnered him many accolades from universities including
Harvard, where he studied as a college student. He worked as
composer-in-residence for the San Francisco Symphony at one point, and spear-headed
their “New and Unusual Music” series, which was a success. Minimalism, one of
John Adams prevalent styles, involves honing in on the absolute purest essence
of something and instilling it into artwork without including any of the
arguably unnecessary aspects which other styles may include.
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