John Luther Adams (1953 - Present)

Introduction
John Luther Adams (born January 23, 1953) is an American composer whose music is inspired by nature, especially the landscapes of Alaska, where he lived from 1978 to 2014 (Garland 2007). His orchestral work Become Ocean was awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Music (Huizenga 2014). Adams began playing music as a teenager as a drummer in rock bands. He attended the California Institute of the Arts as an undergraduate in the early 1970s, studying with James Tenney and Leonard Stein, and graduated in 1973 (Kosman 2001). After graduating, Adams began work in environmental protection, and through this work Adam's first travelled to Alaska in 1975. Adams moved to Alaska in 1978 and lived there until 2014. He now lives between New York and the Sonoran desert in Mexico (Service 2015). Adams's composition work spans many genres and media. He has composed for television, film, children's theater, voice, acoustic instruments, orchestra, and electronics. From 1998 to 2002, Adams served as Associate Professor of Composition at Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

http://johnlutheradams.net/biography/

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Work Analysis
The Wind in High Places has a duration of roughly 16 minutes and is composed in three movements: The composition was developed from the 2007 piece Three High Places for solo violin, which Adams composed in memory of his friend and collaborator Gordon Wright. The piece uses only natural harmonics and open strings. Adams makes extensive use of natural harmonics here, especially during the work's middle movement, Maclaren Summit, where he gradually builds up a complex four-part canon.
 * 1) Above Sunset Pass
 * 2) Maclaren Summit
 * 3) Looking Toward Hope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emXDrJRFXds

Comparisons
Become Ocean is an American orchestral composition by John Luther Adams that sounds similar to his piece Three high Places. The Seattle Symphony Orchestra commissioned the work and premiered it at Benaroya Hall, Seattle, on 20 and 22 June 2013. The work won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Music and the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition.The work, in a single movement, was inspired by the oceans of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. The composer took his title from a phrase of John Cage in honour of Lou Harrison, and further explained his title with this note placed in his score:"Life on this earth first emerged from the sea. As the polar ice melts and sea level rises, we humans find ourselves facing the prospect that once again we may quite literally become ocean.”

Observations
The effect is breathtaking, aided in no small measure by the Quartet's precise performance. By contrast, the first and last movements present a more reserved panoramic 'sweep', suggesting the symbolism of a wide-open spaces of the Alaskan landscape which was enjoyable to listen to.