A guide to John Adams's music

His operas tackle politics, terrorism and terror itself. One of our most important contemporary voices, his music is both more radical and more conservative than his minimalist forebearsHere's what I love most about John Adams: the gilded celebration of sheer, unadulterated major-key glamour at the end of On The Dominant Divide, the finale of his Grand Pianola Music. Scored for two pianos, vocalists and ensemble, the piece was composed in 1982, a time when the idea of writing tonal music – let...

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