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{{Short description|Orchestral composition by John Adams}}
{{about||the book by Arnold Schoenberg|Arnold Schoenberg#Writings|the book by Heinrich Schenker|Harmony (Schenker)}}
{{About||the book by Arnold Schoenberg|Arnold Schoenberg#Writings|the book by Heinrich Schenker|Harmony (Schenker)}}
{{Italic title}}
'''''Harmonielehre''''' is a 40-minute orchestral composition by the American composer [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]], composed in 1985. In his memoir, Adams wrote that the piece "was a statement of belief in the power of [[tonality]] at a time when I was uncertain about its future"<ref>{{Cite book|last=Adams|first=John|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/961365919|title=Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life|publisher=Faber and Faber|year=2008|isbn=978-0-571-23116-4|location=London|pages=129|oclc=961365919}}</ref> and that it was "a one-of-kind{{Sic|}} once-only essay in the wedding of [[Fin de siècle|fin-de-siècle]] [[chromatic harmony]] with the rhythmic and formal procedures of [[Minimalism (music)|Minimalism]]".<ref>Adams p. 130.</ref>

⚫
The composition's title, German for "study of harmony", is a reference to [[Arnold Schoenberg|Arnold Schoenberg's]] 1911 [[music theory]] textbook of the same name, a study of tonal harmony.<ref name="earbox harmonielehre">{{cite web|url=http://www.earbox.com/harmonielehre/|title=John Adams on Harmonielehre|work=Earbox|publisher=John Adams|accessdate=2015-10-23}}</ref> Other theory texts titled ''Harmonielehre'' include those by [[Heinrich Schenker]] (1906) and [[Hugo Riemann]] (1893).


⚫
Adams has said that the piece was inspired by a dream he had in which he was driving across the [[San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge]] and saw an oil tanker on the surface of the water abruptly turn upright and take off like a [[Saturn V]] rocket.<ref>[http://www.earbox.com/W-harmonielehre.html Harmonielehre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100517061538/http://www.earbox.com/W-harmonielehre.html |date=2010-05-17 }} John Adams. Retrieved 2010-07-15</ref> This dream and the composition of ''Harmonielehre'' shortly thereafter ended a [[writer's block]] Adams had been experiencing for 18 months.<ref>Adams, John. ''Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life,'' Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008, pp. 128-129.</ref>
{{refimprove|date=July 2010}}
⚫
'''''Harmonielehre''''' is a 1985 orchestral composition by American composer [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]]. The composition's title, German for "study of harmony," is also the title of several [[music theory]] texts, including those written by [[Arnold Schoenberg]] (1911), [[Heinrich Schenker]] (1906), and [[Hugo Riemann]] (1893), with Adams explicitly referring to Schoenberg's.<ref name="earbox harmonielehre">{{cite web |url=http://www.earbox.com/harmonielehre/ |title=John Adams on Harmonielehre |work=Earbox |publisher=John Adams |accessdate=2015-10-23 }}</ref>


==Movements==
⚫
Adams has stated that the piece was inspired by a dream he had in which he was driving across the [[San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge]] and saw an oil tanker on the surface of the water abruptly turn upright and take off like a [[Saturn V]] rocket.<ref>[http://www.earbox.com/W-harmonielehre.html Harmonielehre] John Adams. Retrieved 2010-07-15</ref> This dream and the following composition of the piece ended a [[writer's block]] Adams had been experiencing for eighteen months,<ref>Adams, John. ''Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life,'' Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008, pp. 128-129.</ref> and the movements reflect his situation.{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}}


The composition is in three movements:
The composition is in three movements:


{{Ordered list|start=1|type=upper-roman|First Movement}}
⚫
* '''I. First Movement.''' It begins with the powerful repetition of chords in E minor in minimalist fashion. These chords form a recurring theme throughout the movement, interspersed with motoric episodes that use Schoenberg's harmonic progressions as chordal "gates" (a name coined by Adams to describe juxtapositions of harmonic areas in his music).<ref>[http://www.earbox.com/W-phrygiangates.html Phrygian Gates] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607143228/http://www.earbox.com/W-phrygiangates.html |date=2011-06-07 }} John Adams. Retrieved 2011-04-15</ref> At the center of the arch-like 17-minute movement arises what Tom Service has called an "achingly expressive lyrical theme."<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2014/mar/11/symphony-guide-john-adams-harmonielehre-tom-service"] "Symphony guide: John Adams's Harmonielehre", ''The Guardian'', 11 March 2014, accessed January 19, 2018.</ref>
⚫
* '''II. The Anfortas Wound.''' The brooding second movement, based on the legend of the [[Fisher King]], shuns minimalist processes, favoring bleak [[Jean Sibelius|Sibelius]]-like soundscapes, building inexorably slowly to twin climaxes of brutal dissonance, the second of which is drawn from the climactic sonority of the first movement of [[Gustav Mahler]]'s unfinished [[Symphony No. 10 (Mahler)|Tenth Symphony]].
⚫
* '''III. Meister Eckhardt and Quackie.''' The third movement, according to Adams, is inspired by a dream that he had about his infant daughter Emily, whom he and his wife had briefly nicknamed "Quackie".<ref name="earbox harmonielehre"/>


⚫
::The first movement begins with the powerful repetition of chords in E minor in [[Minimalist music|minimalist]] fashion. These chords form a recurring theme throughout the movement, interspersed with motoric episodes that use Schoenberg's harmonic progressions as chordal "gates" (a name coined by Adams to describe juxtapositions of harmonic areas in his music).<ref>[http://www.earbox.com/W-phrygiangates.html Phrygian Gates] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607143228/http://www.earbox.com/W-phrygiangates.html |date=2011-06-07 }} John Adams. Retrieved 2011-04-15</ref> At the center of the arch-like 17-minute movement arises what [[Tom Service]] has called an "achingly expressive lyrical theme."<ref name="theguardian.com">[https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2014/mar/11/symphony-guide-john-adams-harmonielehre-tom-service"] "Symphony guide: John Adams's Harmonielehre," ''The Guardian'', 11 March 2014, accessed January 19, 2018.</ref>
⚫
''Harmonielehre'' appears in the Modern Era soundtrack of the computer game [[Civilization IV]],<ref>{{Citation|last=Grahckheuhl|title=Civilization 4 Soundtrack: Harmonielehre: Part I|date=2017-12-13|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P5JVAuKcGE}}</ref> along with several other pieces by Adams. It also appears on the ''[[I Am Love (film)|I Am Love]]'' soundtrack.<ref>{{Citation|last=IMDB|title=I Am Love trailer|date=2010-10-18|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1226236/videoplayer/vi1774061337?ref_=tt_ov_vi|accessdate=2016-10-18}}</ref>

{{Ordered list|start=2|type=upper-roman|The Anfortas Wound}}

⚫
::The brooding second movement, based on the legend of the [[Fisher King]], shuns minimalist processes, favoring bleak [[Jean Sibelius|Sibelius]]-like soundscapes, building inexorably slowly to twin climaxes of brutal dissonance, the second of which is drawn from the climactic sonority of the first movement of [[Gustav Mahler]]'s unfinished [[Symphony No. 10 (Mahler)|Tenth Symphony]].

{{Ordered list|start=3|type=upper-roman|[[Meister Eckhardt]] and Quackie}}

⚫
::The third movement, according to Adams, is inspired by a dream that he had about his infant daughter Emily, whom he and his wife had briefly nicknamed "Quackie".<ref name="earbox harmonielehre"/>


==Instrumentation==
==Instrumentation==
The piece is scored for the following orchestra:<ref>{{Cite web|last=Adams|first=John|date=1998-09-23|title=Harmonielehre|url=https://www.earbox.com/harmonielehre/|access-date=2020-08-24|website=Earbox - John Adams|language=en-US}}</ref>
{{col-begin}}
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
{{col-3}}
;[[Woodwind instrument|Woodwinds]]
;[[Woodwind instrument|Woodwinds]]
:4 [[flutes]] (2nd, 3rd, and 4th doubling 3 [[piccolos]])
:{{Hanging indent |text=4 [[Western concert flute| flutes]] (2nd, 3rd, and 4th doubling [[piccolos]])}}
:3 [[oboes]] (3rd doubling [[english horn]])
:{{Hanging indent |text=3 [[oboes]] (3rd doubling [[english horn]])}}
:4 [[clarinets]] in B{{music|flat}} (all doubling clarinet in A, 3rd and 4th also doubling [[bass clarinet]])
:{{Hanging indent |text=4 [[clarinets]] in B{{music|flat}} and A (3rd and 4th doubling [[bass clarinet]])}}
:3 [[bassoons]]
:3 [[bassoons]]
:[[contrabassoon]]
:[[contrabassoon]]
Line 30: Line 41:
:2 [[tuba]]s
:2 [[tuba]]s


{{col-2}}
{{col-3}}
;[[Percussion instrument|Percussion]], 4 players
;[[Percussion instrument|Percussion]]
:[[timpani]]
:[[timpani]]
:4 percussionists:
:2 [[marimba]]s
:[[vibraphone]] (bowed and struck)
::2 [[marimba]]s
::[[vibraphone]] (bowed and struck)
:[[xylophone]]
::[[xylophone]]
:[[tubular bell]]s
::[[tubular bell]]s
:[[crotales]] (bowed and struck)
::[[crotales]] (bowed and struck)
:[[glockenspiel]]
::[[glockenspiel]]
:2 [[suspended cymbal]]s (high and low)
::2 [[suspended cymbal]]s (high and low)
:[[sizzle cymbal]]
::[[sizzle cymbal]]
:small [[crash cymbals]]
::small [[crash cymbals]]
:[[bell tree]]
::[[bell tree]]
:2 [[tamtam]]s (2 actually referred to as "Medium Gong" in the second movement)
::{{Hanging indent |text=2 [[tamtam]]s (2nd actually referred to as "Medium Gong" in the second movement)}}
:2 [[triangles]] (different pitches)
::{{Hanging indent |text=2 [[Triangle (musical instrument)|triangles]] (different pitches)}}
:[[bass drum]]
::[[bass drum]]


{{col-3}}
;[[Keyboard instrument|Keyboards]]
;[[Keyboard instrument|Keyboards]]
:[[piano]]
:[[piano]]
Line 56: Line 69:
{{col-end}}
{{col-end}}


== Recordings ==
==Notes and references==

{{reflist}}
* [[Edo de Waart]] / [[San Francisco Symphony]] ([[Nonesuch Records|Nonesuch]], 1985)
* [[Simon Rattle]] / [[City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra]] (EMI, 1994)
* [[David Robertson (conductor)|David Robertson]] / [[Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra]] (Arch Media, 2008)
* [[Michael Tilson Thomas]] / [[San Francisco Symphony]] (SFS Media, 2012)
* [[Peter Oundjian]] / [[Royal Scottish National Orchestra]] ([[Chandos Records|Chandos]], 2013)
* [[Kent Nagano]] / [[Montreal Symphony Orchestra]] ([[Decca Gold|DECCA]], 2019)
* [[Giancarlo Guerrero]] / [[Nashville Symphony]] ([[Naxos]], 2021)

==Uses==

⚫
''Harmonielehre'' appears in the [[True Detective]] TV series Church in Ruins (S02e06).<ref>{{Citation|title=True Detective Soundtrack|accessdate=2019-01-22|url=https://www.tunefind.com/show/true-detective/season-2/23818}}</ref> It also appears in the Modern Era soundtrack of the computer game [[Civilization IV]],<ref>{{Citation|last=Grahckheuhl|title=Civilization 4 Soundtrack: Harmonielehre: Part I|date=2017-12-13|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P5JVAuKcGE |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/9P5JVAuKcGE |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref> along with several other pieces by Adams. It also appears on the ''[[I Am Love (film)|I Am Love]]'' soundtrack.<ref>{{Citation|last=IMDB|title=I Am Love trailer|date=2010-10-18|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1226236/videoplayer/vi1774061337?ref_=tt_ov_vi|accessdate=2016-10-18}}</ref> The work was selected for inclusion in ''[[The Guardian]]'''s list of "50 Greatest Symphonies".<ref name="theguardian.com"/> Dubstep musician duo [[Nero (band)|Nero]] samples the beginning of the first movement in the second track of its 2011 album [[Welcome Reality]], "Doomsday".

==References==
{{Reflist}}


{{John Adams (composer)}}
{{John Adams (composer)}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Compositions by John Coolidge Adams]]
[[Category:Compositions by John Adams (composer)]]
[[Category:Minimalistic compositions]]
[[Category:1985 compositions]]
[[Category:1985 compositions]]
[[Category:Compositions for symphony orchestra]]

Latest revision as of 20:14, 30 April 2024

For the book by Arnold Schoenberg, see Arnold Schoenberg § Writings. For the book by Heinrich Schenker, see Harmony (Schenker).

Harmonielehre is a 40-minute orchestral composition by the American composer John Adams, composed in 1985. In his memoir, Adams wrote that the piece "was a statement of belief in the power of tonality at a time when I was uncertain about its future"[1] and that it was "a one-of-kind [sic] once-only essay in the wedding of fin-de-siècle chromatic harmony with the rhythmic and formal procedures of Minimalism".[2]

The composition's title, German for "study of harmony", is a reference to Arnold Schoenberg's 1911 music theory textbook of the same name, a study of tonal harmony.[3] Other theory texts titled Harmonielehre include those by Heinrich Schenker (1906) and Hugo Riemann (1893).

Adams has said that the piece was inspired by a dream he had in which he was driving across the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and saw an oil tanker on the surface of the water abruptly turn upright and take off like a Saturn V rocket.[4] This dream and the composition of Harmonielehre shortly thereafter ended a writer's block Adams had been experiencing for 18 months.[5]

Movements

[edit]

The composition is in three movements:

  1. First Movement
The first movement begins with the powerful repetition of chords in E minor in minimalist fashion. These chords form a recurring theme throughout the movement, interspersed with motoric episodes that use Schoenberg's harmonic progressions as chordal "gates" (a name coined by Adams to describe juxtapositions of harmonic areas in his music).[6] At the center of the arch-like 17-minute movement arises what Tom Service has called an "achingly expressive lyrical theme."[7]
  1. The Anfortas Wound
The brooding second movement, based on the legend of the Fisher King, shuns minimalist processes, favoring bleak Sibelius-like soundscapes, building inexorably slowly to twin climaxes of brutal dissonance, the second of which is drawn from the climactic sonority of the first movement of Gustav Mahler's unfinished Tenth Symphony.
  1. Meister Eckhardt and Quackie
The third movement, according to Adams, is inspired by a dream that he had about his infant daughter Emily, whom he and his wife had briefly nicknamed "Quackie".[3]

Instrumentation

[edit]

The piece is scored for the following orchestra:[8]

Recordings

[edit]

Uses

[edit]

Harmonielehre appears in the True Detective TV series Church in Ruins (S02e06).[9] It also appears in the Modern Era soundtrack of the computer game Civilization IV,[10] along with several other pieces by Adams. It also appears on the I Am Love soundtrack.[11] The work was selected for inclusion in The Guardian's list of "50 Greatest Symphonies".[7] Dubstep musician duo Nero samples the beginning of the first movement in the second track of its 2011 album Welcome Reality, "Doomsday".

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Adams, John (2008). Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life. London: Faber and Faber. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-571-23116-4. OCLC 961365919.
  2. ^ Adams p. 130.
  3. ^ a b "John Adams on Harmonielehre". Earbox. John Adams. Retrieved 2015-10-23.
  4. ^ Harmonielehre Archived 2010-05-17 at the Wayback Machine John Adams. Retrieved 2010-07-15
  5. ^ Adams, John. Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008, pp. 128-129.
  6. ^ Phrygian Gates Archived 2011-06-07 at the Wayback Machine John Adams. Retrieved 2011-04-15
  7. ^ a b " "Symphony guide: John Adams's Harmonielehre," The Guardian, 11 March 2014, accessed January 19, 2018.
  8. ^ Adams, John (1998-09-23). "Harmonielehre". Earbox - John Adams. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  9. ^ True Detective Soundtrack, retrieved 2019-01-22
  10. ^ Grahckheuhl (2017-12-13), Civilization 4 Soundtrack: Harmonielehre: Part I, archived from the original on 2021-12-21
  11. ^ IMDB (2010-10-18), I Am Love trailer, retrieved 2016-10-18
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