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Author
John Adams (b. 1947: American)
- minimalist
- educated at Harvard University
- went to teach at San Francisco Conservatory in 1972
- composes operas, symphonic works, film scores, chamber music, piano solo pieces, and other forms of music as well
- won a Pulitzer Prize for On the Transmigration of Souls (2002) about 9/11 terrorist attacks
- Wikipedia Article
About the Piece
(much of the description comes from elements that were brought out by Forney and Machlis, The Enjoyment of Music, and the accompanying DVD)
- Genre is orchestral? (genre for this piece is not easily defined)
- title means "Distant Trumpet"
- commissioned by the Houston Symphony Orchestra
- piece consists mostly of call and response between two trumpets
- strings are there in the background, but barely audible
- triangle? or some other percussion instrument is the only other thing clearly heard (the book says it is a glockenspiel)
- piece is not pure call and response between the trumpets, since the two trumpets participate in some more complex counterpoint as well
Purpose
- entertainment
- piece was commissioned, so we can't say too much about the author's purpose or non-monetary reasons for writing it
Reflections
I don't know what I think about this work. The first time I heard it, I though it was dumb. Two trumpets, and not really doing that much exciting either. But it has grown on me. The more times I hear it, the more I realize how beautiful it is. The fact that the entire rest of the orchestra is there, and playing, but your concious mind never really percieves that fact is at the very least interesting. I actually also like the "minimalist counterpoint"(?!?) expressed in this piece. All told, I think this is a well written piece of music.