JOHN ADAMS (b. 1947)

The John Adams Earbox

The Chairman Dances: Foxtrot for Orchestra (1985) [12:28]
    San Francisco Symphony
    Conducted by Edo de Waart

Chamber Symphony (1992) [21:48]

  • Mongrel Airs [7:45]
  • Aria with Walking Bass [8:08]
  • Roadrunner [5:45]
    London Sinfonietta
    Conducted by John Adams

Christian Zeal and Activity (1973) [10:06]
    San Francisco Symphony
    Conducted by Edo de Waart

Common Tones in Simple Time (1979) [20:36]
    San Francisco Symphony
    Conducted by Edo de Waart

Extracts from The Death of Klinghoffer {Libretto by Alice Goodman} (1990-1991)
Prologue

  • Chorus of the Exiled Palestinians [8:33]
  • Chorus of the Exiled Jews [8:33]
Act I
Scene 1
  • "It was just after 1:15" [8:09] - Captain
  • "My Grandson Didi, who was two" [5:10] - Swiss Grandmother, Captain, First Officer
  • "Give these orders" [2:01] - Molqi, Swiss Grandmother
  • "So I said to my grandson" [1:18] - Swiss Grandmother, Molqi
  • "We are sorry for you" [1:16] - Mamoud, Captain
  • Night Chorus
Act II
  • Hagar Chorus [5:23]
Scene 1
  • "I've never been a violent man" [3:29] - Leon Klinghoffer
  • "You are always complaining of your suffering" [5:11]
  • "Rambo"
Scene 2
  • Aria of the Falling Body (Gymnopédie) [7:24] - Leon Klinghoffer, Mamoud
  • Day Chorus
    Sanford Sylvan - Leon Klinghoffer
    Shelia Nadler - Marilyn Klinghoffer
    James Maddalena - The Captain
    Thomas Hammons - The First Officer/ "Rambo"
    Thomas Young - Molqi
    Eugene Perry - Mamoud
    Stephanie Friedman - Omar
    Janice Felty - Swiss Grandmother Austrian Woman/British Dancing Girl
    The London Opera Chorus (Richard Cooke, director)
    Orchestra of the Opéra de Lyon
    Conducted by Kent Nagano

El Dorado (1991) [28:49]

  • Part I. A Dream of Gold [12:35]
  • Part II. Soledades [16:09]
    The Hallé Orchestra
    Conducted by Kent Nagano

Eros Piano (1989) [14:52]
    Paul Crossley - piano
    Orchestra of St. Luke's
    John Adams, conductor

Fearful Symmetries (1988) [28:02]
    The Orchestra of Saint Luke's
    Conducted by John Adams

Gnarly Buttons (1996) [{24:24]

  • The Perilous Shore [9:55]
  • Hoe-down (Mad Cow) [5:45]
  • Put Your Loving Arms Around Me [8:32]
    Michael Collins, clarinet
    London Sinfonietta
    Conducted by John Adams

Grand Pianola Music (1982) [30:59]

  • First Movement [15:13]
  • Second Movement [7:47]
  • Third Movement: On the Dominant Divide [7:54]
    London Sinfonietta
    Conducted by John Adams

Harmonielehre (1984-1985) [40:13]

  • Part I [17:04]
  • Part II. The Anfortas Wound [12:17]
  • Part III. Meister Eckhardt and Quakie [10:36]
    San Francisco Symphony
    Conducted by Edo de Waart

Harmonium (1980-1981) [31:46]

  • Negative Love [10:32]
  • Because I Could Not Stop for Death [9:41]
  • Wild Nights [11:33]
    San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
    Conducted by John Adams

Extracts from Hoodoo Zephyr (1992-1993) [29:09]

  • Tundra [10:29]
  • Disappointment Lake [8:10]
  • Hoodoo Zephyr [10:18]
    John Adams, electronics

Extracts from I Was Looking at the Ceiling
and Then I Saw the Sky {Libretto by June Jordan} (1995)
From Act I

  • Ensemble - I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky [8:00] - Company
  • A Sermon on Romance [3:07] - David, Leila
  • Consuelo's Dream [4:51] - Consuelo
  • Mike's Song about Arresting a Particular Individual [3: 18] - Mike
  • Tiffany's Solo [4:49] - Tiffany
  • Song about the On-Site Altercation [2:45] - Dewain, Tiffany, Leila, Mike
  • Song about the Bad Boys and the News [6:14] - Tiffany, Consuelo, Leila
  • Your Honor My Client He's a Young Black Man [5:38] - Rick, Dewain
  • Leila's Song: Alone (Again or at Last) [4:14] - Leila
From Act II
  • Three Weeks and Still I'm Outta My Mind [5:08] - David, Leila
  • Crushed by the Rock I Been Standing On [4:34] - David, Consuelo, Tiffany, Rick
  • Dewain's Song of Liberation and Surprise [5:28] - Dewain
  • Este Pals!/ This Country! [4:24] - Consuelo, Dewain
  • One Last Look at the Angel in your Eyes [1:57] - Consuelo, Dewain
  • Finale [4:36]
    Company:
    Audra McDonald - Consuelo
    Michael McElroy - Dewain
    Welly Yang - Rick
    Angela Teek - Leila
    Darius de Haas - David
    Marin Mazzie - Tiffany
    Richard Muenz - Mike
    (Grant Gershon - vocal director)
    Janne Murto - saxophone
    Kari Tenkanen - clarinet, bass clarinet
    Jari Nieminen - guitar
    Seppo Kantonen, Marja Markku Tabel - keyboards
    Hannu Rantanen - electric bass, double bass
    Jari-Pekka Karvonen - drums
    Conducted by John Adams

John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994) [36:17]

  • Judah to Ocean [2:30]
  • Toot Nipple [1:15]
  • Dogjam [2:31]
  • Pavane: She's So Fine [6:32]
  • Rag the Bone [2:59]
  • Habanera [4:45]
  • Stubble Crotchet [2:39]
  • Hammer & Chisel [1:11]
  • Alligator Escalator [3:49]
  • Standchen: The Little Serenade [4:52]
  • Judah to Ocean (Reprise) [2:31]
    Kronos Quartet:
    David Harrington, John Sherba - violins;
    Hank Dutt - viola; Joan Jeanrenaud - cello

Lollapalooza (1995) [6:42]
    The Hallé Orchestra
    Conducted by Kent Nagano

Extracts from Nixon in China {Libretto by Alice Goodman} (1985-1987)
Act 1 - Scene 1

  • Opening [2:53]
  • "Soldiers of heaven hold the sky" [2:48] - Chorus
  • "The people are the heroes now" [2:49] - Chorus
  • Landing of the Spirit of '76 [2:23]
  • "Your flight was smooth, I hope?" [1:20] - Chou En-lai, Nixon
  • "News has a kind of mystery:" [7:09] - Nixon, Chou En-Lai, Kissinger
Act 1 - Scene 3
  • "Ladies and gentlemen, Comrades and friends," [6:37] - Chou En-lai
  • "Mr. Premier, distinguished guests" [2:37] - Nixon
  • Cheers [3:45] - Nixon, Chou En-Lai, Pat Nixon, Kissinger, Chorus
Act II - Scene 1
  • "This is prophetic!" [8:26] - Pat Nixon
Act II - Scene 2
  • Opening [2:54] - Chorus
  • "Oh what a day I thought I'd die!" [4:48]
  • Kissinger (as Lao Szu), Chorus (as Wu Ching-hua)
  • "Whip her to death!" [2:30]
  • Kissinger (as Lao Szu), Pat Nixon, Nixon
  • "I am the wife of Mao Tse-tung" [6:30] - Chiang Ch'ing
Act III
  • "Let us examine what you did." [2:44]
  • Mao, Chiang Ch'ing, Chou En-lai
  • "When I woke up…" [1:21] - Nixon, Pat Nixon
  • "I have no offspring" [1:55] - Chou En-lai, Mao, Chiang Ch'ing
  • "I can keep still" [2:11] - Chiang Ch'ing
  • "After that - /The sweat/ had soaked my uniform" [2:28] - Nixon, Pat Nixon, Mao, Chou En-lai
  • "Peking watches the stars" [2"43] - Chiang Ch'ing, Mao
  • "You won at poker" [3:14] - Pat Nixon, Nixon
  • "I am old and cannot sleep" [4:24] - Chou En-lai
    Sanford Sylvan - Chou En-lai
    James Maddalena - Richard Nixon
    Thomas Hammons - Henry Kissinger
    Carolann Page - Pat Nixon
    Trudy Ellen Craney - Chiang Ch'ing (Madame Mao Tse-tung)
    John Duykers -Mao Tse-tung
    Mari Opatz, Stephanie Friedman, Marion Dry
      -Secretaries to Mao (Contraltos)
    Orchestra of St. Luke's
    Conducted by Edo de Waart

Shaker Loops (1978, rev. 1983) [24:24]

  • Shaking and Trembling [8:25]
  • Hymning Slews [5:08]
  • Loops and Verses [6:55]
  • A Final Shaking [3:56]
    The Orchestra of Saint Luke's
    Conducted by John Adams

Slonimsky's Earbox (1996) [13:21]
    The Hallé Orchestra
    Conducted by Kent Nagano

Two Fanfares for Orchestra (1986)

  • Tromba Lontana [4:13]
  • Short Ride in a Fast Machine [4:15]
    Glenn Fischthal, Laurie McGaw, trumpets
    San Francisco Symphony
    Conducted by Edo de Waart

Violin Concerto (1993) [34:06]

  • Part I [14:56]
  • Part II Chaconne: "Body through which the dream flows" [11:31]
  • Part III. Tocarre [7:40]
    Gidon Kremer, violin
    The London Symphony Orchestra
    Conducted by Kent Nagano

The Wound-Dresser (1989) [19:06]
    Sanford Sylvan, baritone
    Naoko Tanaka, violin
    Chris Gekker, trumpet
    Orchestra of St. Luke's
    Conducted by John Adams

IVES/arr. JOHN ADAMS: Five Songs (1915-1919, orch 1989) [9:04]

  • Thoreau [1:29]
  • Down East [2:24]
  • Cradle Song [1:21]
  • At the River [1:13]
  • Serenity [1:58]
    Dawn Upshaw, soprano
    Orchestra of St. Luke's
    Conducted by John Adams

{Nonesuch 79453, 10 CDs}

The John Adams Earbox
Order from Amazon
RealPlayer [22 seconds]
RealAudio sound clip
from John Adams:
Slonimsky's Earbox
Key: AMC member =AMC Member AMC Founder =AMC Founder AMC letter of distinction =AMC Letter of Distinction
Select Another Composer
Find by Label
Share this page
amazon.com
Search for:
Free Real Player 5.0
If you need
RealPlayer 5.0,
you can download it free
here.