John Adams

Question 1

overview

Answer 1

american clarinetist, composer, teacher, conductor. Graduate of Harvard. influenced by music heard growing up in New England

Question 2

musical style and contributions

Answer 2

• came to embrace the emerging minimalist style developed in the 1960s and 1970s by composers such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass
• representing the next generation of minimalist composer, post minimalist
• usually tonal and or modal, conscious rejection of the atonal models to which he was exposed to as a student
• approach to rhythm and meter reflects minimalisms perchant for incessant, driving rhythm, frequently uses ostinato patterns, syncopation, and complex polyrhythms resulting in rhythmic dissonance
• orchestral works lean toward programmatic elements, including evocative titles
• drawn to the teatre
  drawn to controversial themes

Question 3

genres

Answer 3

orchestral, chamber, piano, operas, opera-oratorio, choral, film scores