Adams, J: Short Ride in a Fast Machine (Fanfare for Great Woods)

This programme contains a representative collection of important works written between 1901 and 2000. This period is sometimes thought of as the era of ‘modern’ music, when composers sought to break free from the Romantic styles of the 19th century by experimenting with daring new harmonies and forms, but much of the music written after 1900 still harked back to the familiar style of the past. The first CD opens with composers who still wrote in the Romantic style, including Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Khachaturian, Holst and Elgar, and we also hear part of the slow movement of the most successful concerto written during the 20th century, the Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo. Then come the early innovators who broke new ground like the Second Viennese School of Webern, Berg and Schoenberg, as well as others who continued to use the more traditional methods of composition but who wrote in a more advanced style such as Stravinsky and Bartók. These are followed by later composers who wrote in a wide range of so-called ‘modern’ styles including Takemitsu, Tavener and Adès. The large and prolific school of American composers active during the 20th century is represented by some extremely popular pieces like Barber’s Adagio for Strings, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, as well as more adventurous works by Ives, Reich and Adams. The set also includes extracts from choral pieces by Boulez, Pärt, Tavener, Rutter and Jenkins, and ends with one of the 20th century’s most successful choral works, Orff’s Carmina Burana.

Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony release two works by John Adams: Harmonielehre which was commissioned, premiered and recorded by SFS in 1985; and Short Ride in a Fast Machine, commissioned by Tilson Thomas prior to his becoming Music Director of SFS in 1995.

Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) and the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) release the latest in their award-winning catalogue of recordings with two works by John Adams, a composer indelibly associated with the orchestra: Harmonielehre, one of the composer's earliest orchestral works which was commissioned, premiered and recorded by SFS in 1985; and Short Ride in a Fast Machine, commissioned by MTT prior to his becoming Music Director of SFS in 1995. In keeping with the high-end quality of the MTT-SFS releases on their own SFS Media label, this recording is released in the Hybrid SACD format.

Harmonielehre is one of Adams’ early bold statements, blending elements of classical, jazz, rock and minimalism, and American and European influences. MTT, who conducted the work during his first season as SFS Music Director in 1995 and multiple times since, said of the work, “When a new piece is premiered, it can make a stunning impression. But the real story of that piece is what emerges over time. When the SFS first performed Harmonielehre in the mid-80s it was a life changing moment for everybody who heard it… now, decades later, the piece still stands up.”

Of Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Adams recalls, “For some reason a connection with Cape Cod came to mind. Years before [the commission] I had been there with a former brother in-law and he had asked me at about 1 in the morning if I would like to take a ride with him in his Lamborghini. I did and once he started up I wished I hadn’t because he drove very, very fast. The idea of a piece that had that combination of excitement and thrill and was just on the edge of anxiety or terror was the motivating force.”

This release joins the highly-acclaimed, best-selling MTT-SFS catalogue, which includes their outstanding cycle of Mahler’s orchestral works and songs, the Keeping Score series of DVDs and Blu-Rays, and more recent releases of works by Beethoven, Copland and Ives.

Born 15 February 1947, John Adams is one of America's most esteemed composers. Although his musical roots were in minimalism he has, like most other composers from that school, developed an orchestral and harmonic style that uses the rhythmic vitality of minimalism combined with a romantic accessibility.This CD is a wonderful introduction to Adams's music: it includes the light-hearted Grand Pianola Music of 1982; Shaker Loops, the last three movements of which have been used in a video game, and the spectacular and exciting Short Ride in a Fast Machine, which is exactly what it is!

In the spring of 1972, composer Louis Andriessen and saxophonist Willem Breuker brought together musicians from improvised and from traditional music, at a historical and tumultuous concert in the Amsterdam Carré theatre.They became the Orkest de Volharding ("obstinacy", an ensemble of flute, 3 saxophones, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, horn, piano and bass) which has distinguished itself internationally in the field of new music, with over 300 works written for them.

Reich's City Life receives its first recording as scored for wind orchestra and authorised by the composer. It uses digital samplers among the instruments, triggering a wide variety of sound and speech samples, including car horns, air brakes, car alarms and many other sounds associated with the city.The use of the samplers extends the idea of using everyday sounds in music.

Kyle Gann felt that the most successful musical model for brass, reeds and piano was 1920s New Orleans jazz.The first movement of Sunken City is pure fun New Orleans Mardi Gras, a stylised portrait of the energy and harmonic language of the music of Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, and Bix Beiderbecke.The much longer second movement is a kind of interrupted chaconne. Successive variations suggest stages related to the Hurricane Katrina tragedy: grief, outrage, nostalgia and acceptance.

In Street, Lang envisions what kind of music a hip, dynamic, no-nonsense street orchestra (like Volharding) might play 400 years ago if it were not founded by Louis Andriessen but by Sweelinck.

Workers Union was originally written for Volharding.This piece is a combination of individual freedom and severe discipline: its rhythm is exactly fixed; the pitch, on the other hand, is indicated only approximately, on a single-lined stave. It is difficult to play in an ensemble and to remain in step, sort of thing like organising and carrying on political action.

Unquestionably the founding work of minimalism,Terry Riley's In C challenges the standards of imagination, intellect, and musical ingenuity to which 'classical' music is held.The one page score contains neither specified instrumentation nor parts, its 53 motives are compact, presented without any counterpoint or evident form.The composer gave only spare instructions and no tempo.

Short Ride in a Fast Machine is a joyfully exuberant piece by John Adams.Volharding's artistic director Anthony Fumara adds a little extra with his own arrangement, which fits the ensemble like a glove. In nothing flat it functions as a breathtaking four-minute exclamation mark.