Harmonielehre

Harmonielehre is a 1985 composition written by John Adams. The name of the composition, German for 'harmony teacher,' is named after a book written by Arnold Schonberg, and the work is famous for combining Schonbergian harmonic principles with minimalism.

Adams has stated he received the idea for 'Harmonielehre' after he had a dream in which a large tanker rose out of the San Francisco Bay and took off like a rocket.

The composition is in three movements. The first movement is unnamed. The second movement, 'The Anfortas Wound', is based on the legend of the Fisher King. The third movement is titled 'Meister Eckhardt and Quackie.'

The first movement begins with the rapid repetition of E-minor chords in standard minimalist fashion. However, about halfway through the movement the cellos begin to play an expressive melody that is eventually taken up by the entire orchestra, and is not minimalist at all in its long, meandering tune.

The second movement also shuns minimalism by beginning a melody in the basses that again is eventually played by the entire orchestra, climaxing in a large orchestral scream.

In the third movement, components of minimalism return with the return of repetitive rhythms and short snippets of melody. The work ends as it began, on the chord of E-flat.

The work first was first premiered by the San Francisco Symphony. A common performance of the piece takes about 40 minutes.