Artsource
MUSIC ®
The Music Center’s Study Guide to the Performing Arts
TRANSFORMATION
ENDURING VALUES
CLASSICAL
1. CREATING (Cr)
CONTEMPORARY
2. PERFORMING, PRESENTING, PRODUCING (Pr)
EXPERIMENTAL
3. RESPONDING (Re)
MULTI-MEDIA
4. CONNECTING (Cn)
Creators: Composer: John Adams b. 1947
THE HUMAN FAMILY
THE POWER OF NATURE
FREEDOM & OPPRESSION
Title of Work: Short Ride in a Fast Machine
ARTISTIC PROCESSES
TRADITIONAL
some kind of vehicle… skirting through a field of meteors.”
Creative Process of the Artist or Culture: When a composer attempts to create an impression, or convey a specific idea, the challenge is to write
Background Information:
so that this idea or impression is adequately
John Adams, an American composer, was born in
expressed in terms of the music. The capabilities
Worcester, Massachusetts. His boyhood was spent in
and limitations of the various instruments must be
Vermont and New Hampshire. He began clarinet
recognized. The possible effects that can be created
lessons with his father and later studied with a member
by the interaction of the elements of music (i.e.
of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. A short while after
melody, rhythm, harmony, etc.) must be realized.
earning his undergraduate and graduate degrees at
Success is achieved when the listener can successfully
Harvard, Adams moved to the West Coast. He became
comprehend the musical message. Adams describes
head of the composition department at the San
Short Ride in a Fast Machine as a “bright, happy
Francisco Conservatory, where he stayed for ten years.
piece of music.” He has created a delightful,
In 1978 he became ‘new music’ adviser for the San
exciting and speedy musical trip. In minimalist
Francisco Symphony, and later composer-in-residence.
style, the composition contains much repetition;
Adams is recognized as a minimalist composer, i.e.
however, there is nothing in the least that could be
achieving maximum effect with stringent use of
labeled ‘boring’ about this piece. In fact, Adams
harmonic and melodic organization, employing the
states, “The piece is actually very difficult to play,
simplest units of musical structure and using a great
but quite a bit of fun.” Each section of the
deal of repetition. He is also considered a modernist
orchestra
among minimalists because he has pioneered new ideas.
perform at a challenging tempo. It is indeed a
About the Artwork:
has interesting patterns of rhythm to ‘Fast Machine.’
Adams calls Short Ride in a Fast Machine a fanfare for a
California
large symphony orchestra. Traditionally, fanfares were short tunes for trumpets, used as signals for ceremonies, military functions or hunting purposes. This composition expands the fanfare idea, while presenting the brasses in a way that retains the original fanfare concept. When composing the piece Adams had a mental image of “moving through space at tremendous speeds, while in
“I am thrilled to write for, and work with an orchestra. The sounds that they produce create a sense of excitement.” John Adams.