Concerto: The Dharma of John Adams
I have followed the work of John Adams since my return from India. At that time, minimalism was all the rage in classical music. I can handle most minimalism, similarly with – say – bluegrass music, only for maybe a half hour. Then I want to go screaming down the street, arms flailing, from the repetition and insane sameness of it all. Philip Glass in particular, though he is critically acclaimed , drives me up the wall and strikes me as enormously overrated. But things were always different for me with Adams . The repetitiveness of his minimalist style always had something added. I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was. His early works like Common Tones in Simple Time (1979), Shaker Loops (1983), Short Ride on a Fast Machine (1986) or the Chairman Dances (1987; from his opera Nixon in China ) were ornately rhythmic pieces I wanted to listen to again and again. Even now I enjoy listening to them. Common Tones remains a particular favorite of mine. Ironically being the earl