John Adams: Complete Piano Music

Rate It! Avg: 4.5 (30 ratings)
Sample Album
John Adams: Complete Piano Music album cover
Album Information
EDITOR'S PICK

Total Tracks: 4   Total Length: 52:01

eMusic Review 0

Avatar Image
Seth Colter Walls

eMusic Contributor

Seth Colter Walls has worked as a political correspondent in cities such as Beirut and Washington, though now he writes about books, movies and music -- often w...more »

08.05.11
Ralph Van Raat, John Adams: Complete Piano Music
Label: Naxos

Aside from the original “Shaker Loops,” the other highlight of Adams’s early career is his writing for solo piano. These pieces are most efficiently collected on this single disc from Naxos. “Phyrgian Gates,” at 30 minutes, sees Adams’s ambitions testing the limits of pure minimalism: The pieces feel at times as though it wants to burst out into the wild, orchestrated colors of a full-throated symphony…though no philharmonic has commissioned Adams to write one yet. (Don’t worry: they will, in time.)

Write a Review 1 Member Review

Please register before you review a release. Register

user avatar

untitled review

Nereffid

No, 4 pieces doesn't seem like much for a complete ouevre, but fans of John Adams' not-quite-minimalism will find plenty to enjoy here. Phrygian Gates and its little sibling, China Gates, are among his earliest works so they probably qualify as classics of the genre now. Adams certainly knows how to name a piece. American Berserk is suitably raucous, while Hallelujah Junction is driven by railroad rhythms and the sort of religious fervour found in Shaker Loops. This (for 2 pianos) is my favourite on the disc - the propulsion grinds to a halt halfway through, to give way to an increasing lyricism, rising to some glorious music before the whole thing goes off the rails in a very Ivesian conclusion.

Recommended Albums

eMusic Features

0

Keyboard Classical

By Gavin Borchert, eMusic Contributor

It's odd, actually, that the three instruments represented on this list are classified together, since they work in three quite different ways. An organ is a wind instrument, with sound produced by air blowing through what's essentially a whistle, opened or closed by the keys. A harpsichord is a plucked instrument, a harp in a box; press a key and the other end of the lever pushes a tiny pick past a string, giving it… more »