Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life
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Review
This new book confirms that Adams is not in the least self-regarding; he is a populist in the most disciplined and widely read sense...this exciting text should turn the reader back to the music. --Classical Music, October 2008
Review
Absorbing, frank and often amusing.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
An enjoyable and enlightening account of the composer's life. I most enjoyed his evocation of childhood in New England and the descriptions that really brought 70s San Francisco to life in all its giddy excitement, post-hippy cultural exploration.
I thought his comments on elders (Boulez, Ives, etc) illuminating though I am already a sympathiser regarding the cul de sac of atonality. His writing on Cage, Cardew and Harrison demonstrates a real affection but not blind to their limitations.
Adams' writing is always thoughtful but sometimes I wished for a bit more passion. Interestingly this was my criticism of his music on first exposure - wonderful glittering surfaces but real depth? However, on greater acquaintance, I have been really moved by much of his output - Harmonielehre, The Wound Dresser, El Dorado, Gnarly Buttons to name a few - and would now rank him as the most significant composer of his generation. He brings much-needed enjoyment back to this serious business!
I thought his comments on elders (Boulez, Ives, etc) illuminating though I am already a sympathiser regarding the cul de sac of atonality. His writing on Cage, Cardew and Harrison demonstrates a real affection but not blind to their limitations.
Adams' writing is always thoughtful but sometimes I wished for a bit more passion. Interestingly this was my criticism of his music on first exposure - wonderful glittering surfaces but real depth? However, on greater acquaintance, I have been really moved by much of his output - Harmonielehre, The Wound Dresser, El Dorado, Gnarly Buttons to name a few - and would now rank him as the most significant composer of his generation. He brings much-needed enjoyment back to this serious business!
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have always enjoyed John Adam's chamber and orchestral music, though I have never been a fan of vocal music (his or anyone else's). Thus I was keen to read what he had to say about himself. From the first page, I was absorbed. It really did bring out 'an American life' as in the title. He begins with his parents, giving much detail about his family life and that of his parents. This contrasts with the paucity of information he gives on his own family life. Happily for him, he was (fairly) easily able to get to university and get his batchelor's and master's degrees, largely as a result of his ability to earn money as a performer and jobbing musician.
Of course, John Adams recounts the genesis of many of his well-known pieces, especially his operas, with some penetrating insights into the American musical and political contexts. He also includes a number of discourses on the wider musical scene in America, although these sometimes do seem to be interpolations into the narrative.
I did have a few criticisms; there were a few things that I would have liked to have known, but this information was sparse or missing. What sort of money does one get from being a composer? At one point he does say that he gave up his 'day job' to concentrate full-time on composing, and it is clear that he must have made enough to buy a rather nice house. I don't want to see his accounts, but an indication of commission money or royalties would give perspective to a composer's life.
The other aspect he seems to be shy of is his family life. We know he marries his first wife when young, and this lasts around four years, but that is about it. We are introduced to Deborah as his new love interest, then we learn she is pregnant, only later does he refer to her as his wife. From the book I get the impression that they are indeed a devoted couple, so this seems odd.
I read John Adams immediately after reading a book on the history of imported English words. The contrast in style was amazing. John Adams writes lucid prose, whereas the English 'expert' does not!
Despite these caveats, this is a thoroughly enjoyable book. I would commend it to anyone interested in twentieth- and twenty-first-century music and its genesis.
John Rostron
Of course, John Adams recounts the genesis of many of his well-known pieces, especially his operas, with some penetrating insights into the American musical and political contexts. He also includes a number of discourses on the wider musical scene in America, although these sometimes do seem to be interpolations into the narrative.
I did have a few criticisms; there were a few things that I would have liked to have known, but this information was sparse or missing. What sort of money does one get from being a composer? At one point he does say that he gave up his 'day job' to concentrate full-time on composing, and it is clear that he must have made enough to buy a rather nice house. I don't want to see his accounts, but an indication of commission money or royalties would give perspective to a composer's life.
The other aspect he seems to be shy of is his family life. We know he marries his first wife when young, and this lasts around four years, but that is about it. We are introduced to Deborah as his new love interest, then we learn she is pregnant, only later does he refer to her as his wife. From the book I get the impression that they are indeed a devoted couple, so this seems odd.
I read John Adams immediately after reading a book on the history of imported English words. The contrast in style was amazing. John Adams writes lucid prose, whereas the English 'expert' does not!
Despite these caveats, this is a thoroughly enjoyable book. I would commend it to anyone interested in twentieth- and twenty-first-century music and its genesis.
John Rostron
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
8 reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Superb in Every Way
5 Jan 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
So as not to diminish my thoughts on this book, I should first mention that I am a great lover of Adams' music, and as a composer always interested in what other composers have to write about themselves. That being said, this is a wonderful book in every way. Adams is a graceful and charming writer, and the book runs on several parallel and intertwined courses that are mutually supportive, like elegant counterpoint. He recounts his personal and professional life, and along the way examines himself, his art and the music of other colleagues. His critical evaluation of his own work and that of others is exceptionally clear, well-considered and wise, and his thoughts on what it takes to be a composer, what he feels is the right path, and his own experiences of the difficulties of living as a serious, creative artist in America are sober and courageous. I find myself constantly re-reading passages simply for the pleasure of the insight of his thoughts and his ability to express them.
This is a book for all readers, not just specialists or fans. It's an exceptional autobiography of any kind, of any figure in contemporary American life, and for anyone interested in classical music in general, and the current iterations, this book demands to be read. This will be as essential a part of the literature of music as Adams' own work is an essential part of the history of music itself.
This is a book for all readers, not just specialists or fans. It's an exceptional autobiography of any kind, of any figure in contemporary American life, and for anyone interested in classical music in general, and the current iterations, this book demands to be read. This will be as essential a part of the literature of music as Adams' own work is an essential part of the history of music itself.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Composer as Storyteller
18 Jan 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
John Adams' background, rise, and development to perhaps the foremost American classical composer alive is well examined in this autobiography. A fan of his compositions from the outset and having seen many of their performances sometimes with Adams conducting, I find additional resonance with his rich and lively descriptions of nearby locales, characters, musics, and events, since I, just two years his senior, had lived under similar and often the same musical and socio-cultural influences in the Bay Area. Adams' takes on John Cage, early electronica, and Miminalism's Steve Reich and Philip Glass are keen, full of peer insights. Adams acknowledges that he discovered his voice, his own unique compositional style, at age 30 after a long series of avant-garde experimentation. His influences besides classical composers, including Wagner and Ives, were psychedelic rock (e.g., Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrex, Janis Joplin, and the Grateful Dead) as well as jazz greats (e.g., Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Eric Dolphy, and John Coltrane). Adams is a Boomer composer who lived the alternative and experimental musical life. In 1981, his choral symphony "Harmonium" premiered at the inaugural of Davis Symphony Hall of the San Francisco Symphony. It launched him, providing an international reputation and a major record label, Nonesuch. (Later, his "Dharma at Big Sur" celebrated the opening of Disney Hall, home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.) His second punch was "Grand Pianola Music", whose conceptual source was an LSD memory of his attending a Rudolf Serkin concert of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto; the keyboard of Serkin's Steinway seemed to be continually expanding.
The early years of Adams' upbringing, training, surviving with odd jobs, and becoming established were the most interesting for me, as it illustrates the social forces and dispositions that make the person. The later and current years are the increasing successes of an international musical leader, and the parade of orchestras, conducting, travels, and assorted musical stars are as we expect, although much of the details of creating a composition and performance are particularly worthy. I found his perspectives on music, musicians, and the actual work and struggle of composing always edifying. Reading the autobiographies and biographies of composers have a historical and analytical purpose, but this nontechnical book is contemporary in every way, making it attractive to the general reader, not just the musicologist or classical music fan. Adams is only in his early 60s and far from retirement. There will probably be a future updated account of life long after we revel in his forthcoming compositions.
The early years of Adams' upbringing, training, surviving with odd jobs, and becoming established were the most interesting for me, as it illustrates the social forces and dispositions that make the person. The later and current years are the increasing successes of an international musical leader, and the parade of orchestras, conducting, travels, and assorted musical stars are as we expect, although much of the details of creating a composition and performance are particularly worthy. I found his perspectives on music, musicians, and the actual work and struggle of composing always edifying. Reading the autobiographies and biographies of composers have a historical and analytical purpose, but this nontechnical book is contemporary in every way, making it attractive to the general reader, not just the musicologist or classical music fan. Adams is only in his early 60s and far from retirement. There will probably be a future updated account of life long after we revel in his forthcoming compositions.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Enjoyable but repetitive
14 July 2011
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
John Adam's memoir is like his music - it's spirited and immediately engaging but wears thin after prolonged exposure. I obsessively dipped into Hallelujah Junction and enjoyed Adam's early history as well as his struggle to find a unique musical voice. He's truly articulate explaining his inspirations, sources and challenges. But as the book progressed my attention flagged, particularly after his description of Nixon In China. His critique of Philip Glass was insightful but I think he might take a cue from Stephen Sondheim who refuses to criticize the work of his living contemporaries. It comes off as mean spirited. Still, I enjoyed this book but I have to say I don't think I'll finish it.
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