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Located in the USA
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- John Luther Adams
Become Desert (2017)
- Taiga Press (BMI) (World)
Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra with co-commissions from the San Diego Symphony and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. New York Premiere exclusive to New York Philharmonic until further notice.
Handbells can be played by choir
Percussion 1-4
(each playing Orchestra Bells, Timpani, and Bass Drum)
May be performed with 2 harps, each playing 2 staves
- 4444/8440/4perc+2chm+Handbells[vib]+crotales/4hp/str(min.24.0.12.12.8)
- SATB (min 4 on each part)
- 40 min
Programme Note
That which is not stone is light.
Octavio Paz
I used to say that if I ever left the tundra it would be for the desert. Now, some forty years after first coming to Alaska, I’ve finally made that move. As I’ve begun to learn the landforms, the light, the weather, the plants and the birds, I’ve dreamed of music that echoes this extraordinary landscape.
Living in Alaska for much of my life, I’ve experienced first-hand the accelerating effects of anthropogenic climate change on the tundra, the forest, the glaciers, the plants, animals and people of the Far North. Living in this desert by the sea, I’ve pondered from a new perspective the melting of the polar ice and the rising of the seas. And now I’m considering more deeply Chateaubriand’s observation:
“Forests precede civilizations, and deserts follow…”
Become Desert completes a trilogy with Become River and Become Ocean. As in both of those earlier works the physical array of the instruments is a fundamental compositional element of this music. The orchestra for Become Desert includes five separate ensembles:
Woodwinds and crotales
Horns and chimes
Trumpets, trombones and chimes
Voices and handbells (or vibraphone)
Strings, harps and percussion
These five ensembles should surround the audience.
The strings, harps and percussion are on stage. The other four ensembles are elevated on high risers, or in lofts, boxes or balconies, around the house.
The strings are seated or standing, dispersed throughout the stage. The harps and percussion are interspersed among the strings, widely separated from one another, and slightly elevated.
The woodwinds and crotales are elevated at the front of the house, above the strings.
The horns and chimes are elevated on one side of the house.
The trumpets, trombones and chimes are elevated on the other side of the house.
The voices and handbells (or vibraphone) are elevated at the rear of the house.
Throughout the piece, the choir sings a single wordluz (pronounced “loose”) which, of course, is the Spanish word for light.
John Luther Adams
August 2016
Read John Luther Adam’s essay reflecting on the sonic lessons of the desert
Octavio Paz
I used to say that if I ever left the tundra it would be for the desert. Now, some forty years after first coming to Alaska, I’ve finally made that move. As I’ve begun to learn the landforms, the light, the weather, the plants and the birds, I’ve dreamed of music that echoes this extraordinary landscape.
Living in Alaska for much of my life, I’ve experienced first-hand the accelerating effects of anthropogenic climate change on the tundra, the forest, the glaciers, the plants, animals and people of the Far North. Living in this desert by the sea, I’ve pondered from a new perspective the melting of the polar ice and the rising of the seas. And now I’m considering more deeply Chateaubriand’s observation:
“Forests precede civilizations, and deserts follow…”
Become Desert completes a trilogy with Become River and Become Ocean. As in both of those earlier works the physical array of the instruments is a fundamental compositional element of this music. The orchestra for Become Desert includes five separate ensembles:
Woodwinds and crotales
Horns and chimes
Trumpets, trombones and chimes
Voices and handbells (or vibraphone)
Strings, harps and percussion
These five ensembles should surround the audience.
The strings, harps and percussion are on stage. The other four ensembles are elevated on high risers, or in lofts, boxes or balconies, around the house.
The strings are seated or standing, dispersed throughout the stage. The harps and percussion are interspersed among the strings, widely separated from one another, and slightly elevated.
The woodwinds and crotales are elevated at the front of the house, above the strings.
The horns and chimes are elevated on one side of the house.
The trumpets, trombones and chimes are elevated on the other side of the house.
The voices and handbells (or vibraphone) are elevated at the rear of the house.
Throughout the piece, the choir sings a single wordluz (pronounced “loose”) which, of course, is the Spanish word for light.
John Luther Adams
August 2016
Read John Luther Adam’s essay reflecting on the sonic lessons of the desert
Media
Scores
Features
- Our Earth | Focus on...Climate Change
- Celebrate the environmental consciousness of Wise Music Group composers as we explore the meeting of art and activism in compositions which echo the urgent call of our planet.
