Located in the UK
Located in the USA
Located in Europe
- John Luther Adams
there is no one, not even the wind (2017)
- Taiga Press (BMI) (World)
Co-commissioned by Camerata Pacifica, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (with the generous support of Linda and Stuart Nelson), Chamber Music Northwest, Emerald City Music, and Redlands Symphony
- 1+afl.0.0.0/0000/2perc/pf/str(1.0.1.1.1)
- 26 min
- 15th January 2025, Southam Hall, Ottawa, ON, Canada
- 16th January 2025, Southam Hall, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Programme Note
After living in Alaska for much of my life, I now make my home in the Sonoran Desert.
there is no one, not even the wind comes directly from my experience of the space and solitude, the stillness and light of the desert.
Like all my recent music, this piece embraces layered time and physical space as central elements. The instruments are widely dispersed, and there are six simultaneous tempos.
The title is a variation on words of the great Mexican poet Octavio Paz. His poem Piedra Nativa (Native Stone) contains this line:
No hay nadie ni siquiera tú mismo
(which translates: “There is no one, not even yourself”).
I take this one step further and remove not only myself, but even that very last person — the wind.
John Luther Adams
there is no one, not even the wind comes directly from my experience of the space and solitude, the stillness and light of the desert.
Like all my recent music, this piece embraces layered time and physical space as central elements. The instruments are widely dispersed, and there are six simultaneous tempos.
The title is a variation on words of the great Mexican poet Octavio Paz. His poem Piedra Nativa (Native Stone) contains this line:
No hay nadie ni siquiera tú mismo
(which translates: “There is no one, not even yourself”).
I take this one step further and remove not only myself, but even that very last person — the wind.
John Luther Adams