{"id":199,"date":"2009-11-09T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-09T10:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mandoisland.com\/?p=199"},"modified":"2017-09-11T07:42:54","modified_gmt":"2017-09-11T05:42:54","slug":"john-adams-gnarely-buttons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mandoisland.com\/?p=199","title":{"rendered":"John Adams – Gnarly Buttons – With Guitar, Mandolin, Banjo … and a Cow"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Adams is one of the most important composers in the USA today. On the CBC concert on demand site I discovered a new string quartet that has been played in a concert by the St. Lawrence String Quartet<\/a><\/p>\n

I have seen several works by John Adams, and liked all of it. Some years ago I saw a great performance of his\u00a0 stage work I was looking at the ceiling and then I saw the sky<\/strong>, and I do also like listening to the CD of this work.\u00a0 I have also seen the opera Nixon in China<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Recently I have read the biographical book Hallelujah Junction<\/strong> – a book that is very interesting if you want to learn about how a contemporary composer works and lives.<\/p>\n

The first piece by John Adams that I have heard is a piece named Gnarly Buttons<\/strong>, a piece for solo clarinet and an ensemble that includes a player who has to play banjo<\/strong>, mandolin <\/strong>and guitar<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And in the second movement you can hear a sampled cow<\/strong> (ca.3:50 min. after he beginning).<\/p>\n

I had found a very good performance of this piece by the Ensemble Intercontemporain conducted by Jonathan Nott, with Andre Trouttet on the clarinet – however those videos have been removed.<\/p>\n

The third movement of Gnarly Buttons is my favorite! Great music!!!<\/p>\n

Additional information John Adams<\/h4>\n

Website of John Adams: http:\/\/www.earbox.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

John Adams about Gnarly Buttons: http:\/\/www.earbox.com\/W-gnarlybuttons.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Wikipedia: Gnarly Buttons<\/a><\/p>\n

Videos of Gnarly Buttons
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The following videos with movements of Gnarly Buttons are available at the moment:<\/p>\n

Playlist – John Adams Gnarly Buttons<\/h4>\n