Located in the UK
Located in the USA
Located in Europe
- John Luther Adams
Become River (2010)
- Taiga Press (BMI) (World)
New York performances reserved through April 2020
- 2(pic).2.2.2/2.2.2.0/timp.2perc/str
- 16 min
- 1st March 2025, Numerica PAC, Wenatchee, WA, United States of America
Programme Note
Steven Schick and I were having dinner together.
I was just beginning work on a large-scale piece for the Seattle Symphony. So when Steve asked me if I might be interested in composing a new piece for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, I must have hesitated.
Deftly, Steve asked me to tell him a little about the Seattle piece.
I went on at length about the music I'd begun to imagine, finally concluding:
"It's called Become Ocean. The title comes from a poem that John Cage wrote in honor of Lou Harrison."
Cage observes that the breadth and variety of Harrison's music make it "resemble a river in delta." He concludes that:
LiStening to it
we becOme
oceaN.
"So you're already composing a symphonic ocean," Steve said.
"Maybe for a smaller orchestra you could go ahead and compose that river in delta."
Steve had me, and I knew it. Within a week I'd begun work on Become River.
From a single high descending line, this music gradually expands into a delta of melodic streams flowing toward the depths.
I now imagine this river and its related ocean, as part of a larger series of pieces encompassing desert, mountain, tundra and perhaps other landscapes and waterscapes.
John Luther Adams
I was just beginning work on a large-scale piece for the Seattle Symphony. So when Steve asked me if I might be interested in composing a new piece for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, I must have hesitated.
Deftly, Steve asked me to tell him a little about the Seattle piece.
I went on at length about the music I'd begun to imagine, finally concluding:
"It's called Become Ocean. The title comes from a poem that John Cage wrote in honor of Lou Harrison."
Cage observes that the breadth and variety of Harrison's music make it "resemble a river in delta." He concludes that:
LiStening to it
we becOme
oceaN.
"So you're already composing a symphonic ocean," Steve said.
"Maybe for a smaller orchestra you could go ahead and compose that river in delta."
Steve had me, and I knew it. Within a week I'd begun work on Become River.
From a single high descending line, this music gradually expands into a delta of melodic streams flowing toward the depths.
I now imagine this river and its related ocean, as part of a larger series of pieces encompassing desert, mountain, tundra and perhaps other landscapes and waterscapes.
John Luther Adams
Media
John Luther Adams: Become River
Scores
Features
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- Celebrate the environmental consciousness of Wise Music Group composers as we explore the meeting of art and activism in compositions which echo the urgent call of our planet.
Discography
More Info
- Catch John Luther Adams' "Become" works across the UK and Europe
- 6th September 2024
- The coming months bring several performances of John Luther Adams' work across the UK and Europe. Find out when and where to catch them here!