Adams Flashcards
What style did Adams embrace?
Adams came to embrace the emerging minimalist style developed in the 1960s and 1970s by composers such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass.
What generation of composers does Adams represent?
Adams represents “the next generation” of minimalist composers; he is often termed a post-minimalist.
Are Adams’s works tonal or Atonal?
Adams’s works are usually tonal and/or modal; he consciously rejected the atonal models to which he was exposed as a student.
What is Adam’s approach to rhythm?
Adams’s approach to rhythm and meter reflects minimalism’s penchant for incessant, driving rhythm (moto perpetuo).
What patterns does Adams use? A. Hemiola B. Ostinato C. Dotted eighth- Sixteenth D. Syncopation E. Polyrythms F. Monorythms
Adams frequently uses ostinato patterns, syncopation, and complex polyrhythms that result in a “rhythmic dissonance.”
True or False:
Adams’s orchestral works lean toward programmatic elements
True: Adams’s orchestral works lean toward programmatic elements, including evocative titles. (Short ride in a fast machine)
What kind of music does Adams write?
Drawn to the theater, Adams has written many operas in collaboration with leading librettists (Alice Goodman) and groundbreaking stage designers/directors (Peter Sellars).
What themes does Adams use?
Adams is frequently drawn to controversial themes (politics, terrorism, war, natural disasters) in search of the human stories buried among the rubble of world conflict and crisis.
What song of Adams’s does RCM use in its history course?
Short Ride in a Fast Machine
What is the genre of Adams’s song?
fanfare for orchestra
What is the composition date of Adams’s song?
Composition date: 1986
What is the structure of Adams’s song?
Structure: one movement (loosely divided into four sections as defined by the various sizes of wood block used)
What are the performing forces for Adams’s song?
Performing forces: large symphony orchestra and two synthesizers
What era is Adams?
The Modern Era
