Located in the UK
Located in the USA
Located in Europe
- John Luther Adams
The Immeasurable Space of Tones (2001)
- Taiga Press (BMI) (World)
- vibraphone/pf.synth/vn and contrabass instrument
- 30 min
Programme Note
Number 5, 1950 was Mark Rothko's last painting before the breakthrough into his mature format. In it the luminous colour fields of a classic Rothko are are inscribed across the middle with three delicate lines.
Describing this painting and its pivotal position in Rothko's work, Brian O'Doherty observes: "After this the lines disappear completely."
In recent years gesture and figuration have disappeared from my music. What used to be background has emerged to become a musical world composed entirely of floating colour fields.
In this new world I've changed media, moving from the orchestra to smaller combinations of acoustical instruments and electronically-processed sounds. I still think in orchestral terms, but this hybrid medium allows me to create orchestral textures for more practical and readily available ensembles.
Initially I imagined this as a kind of monolithic music - an entire piece as one rich and complex sound. Then I came to hear it as homophonic or heterophonic. And now - in this musical world that I thought was completely free of lines - I've come to hear a polyphony of harmonic clouds.
Maybe the lines never disappear completely. Maybe Christian Wolff was right when he quipped: "No matter what we do, sooner or later it all sounds melodic."
John Luther Adams
Describing this painting and its pivotal position in Rothko's work, Brian O'Doherty observes: "After this the lines disappear completely."
In recent years gesture and figuration have disappeared from my music. What used to be background has emerged to become a musical world composed entirely of floating colour fields.
In this new world I've changed media, moving from the orchestra to smaller combinations of acoustical instruments and electronically-processed sounds. I still think in orchestral terms, but this hybrid medium allows me to create orchestral textures for more practical and readily available ensembles.
Initially I imagined this as a kind of monolithic music - an entire piece as one rich and complex sound. Then I came to hear it as homophonic or heterophonic. And now - in this musical world that I thought was completely free of lines - I've come to hear a polyphony of harmonic clouds.
Maybe the lines never disappear completely. Maybe Christian Wolff was right when he quipped: "No matter what we do, sooner or later it all sounds melodic."
John Luther Adams