Hallelujah Junction
Hallelujah Junction is a piece written in 1996 for two pianos by the American composer John Adams.[1]
[edit] Composition
The name comes from a small truck stop on US 395 which meets Alternate US 40, (now State Route 70) near the California–Nevada border.[2] Adams said of the piece, "Here we have a case of a great title looking for a piece. So now the piece finally exists: the 'junction' being the interlocking style of two-piano writing which features short, highly rhythmicized motives bouncing back and forth between the two pianos in tightly phased sequences".[3]
The work centers around delayed repetition between the two pianos, creating an effect of echoing sonorities. There is a constant shift of pulse and meter, but the main rhythms are based on the rhythms of the word "Hal-le-LU-jah".
The work is in three unnamed movements, and generally takes about 16 minutes to perform.[4] It was first performed by Grant Gershon and Gloria Cheng at the Getty Center in Brentwood, California, in 1998. It is dedicated to Ernest Fleischmann,[3] long-time general manager of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
In 2002 the composition was used for a ballet with choreography by Peter Martins.[2]
[edit] Recordings
- 2003: Stravinsky: Concerto for 2 pianos; Adams: Hallelujah Junction; Boulez: Structures, Book 2 with Gerard Bouwhuis and Cees van Zeeland, Turtle Records[5]
- 2005: John Adams: Road Movies with Nicolas Hodges and Rolf Hind, Nonesuch Records[6]
- 2005: John Adams: Road Movies; Hallelujah Junction; Phrygian Gates; China Gates with Andrew Russo and James Ehnes, Black Box Classics[7]
- 2007: John Adams: Complete Piano Music with Ralph van Raat and Maarten van Veen, Naxos Records[8]
- 2007: Junctions with Roberto Hidalgo and Marc Peloquin, Urtext Records (Mexico)[9]
[edit] References
- ^ Allan Kozinn (March 23, 2005). "Beyond Minimalism: The Later Works of John Adams". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/23/arts/music/23adam.html. Retrieved 2011-09-22. "'Hallelujah Junction' (1996), a two-piano work played with appealingly sharp edges by Nicolas Hodges and Rolf Hind, begins with a Minimalist shimmer, a reference, perhaps, to Steve Reich's method of taking two identical instruments and moving them out of phase. But that lasts only a few seconds: the lines are quickly differentiated, and the work's three movements tumble through ragtime fragments, stretches of mechanistic ebullience, disjointed syncopations and even, briefly, singing lyricism."
- ^ a b Anna Kisselgoff (January 24, 2002). "What's Black and White and Rhythmic All Over? Ask Peter Martins". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/24/arts/ballet-review-what-s-black-and-white-and-rhythmic-all-over-ask-peter-martins.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm. Retrieved 2011-09-22. "'Hallelujah Junction,' Peter Martins's eighth and latest ballet to music by John Adams, is a spare and elegant work, the black-and-white equivalent of the propulsive Technicolor fantasias Mr. Martins has choreographed to other Adams scores. ... This ballet is named after its score: Hallelujah Junction is the name of a truck stop on the California-Nevada border near a cabin owned by Mr. Adams. ..."
- ^ a b John Adams. "Hallelujah Junction, for two pianos". Los Angeles Philharmonic. http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/piece-detail.cfm?id=953. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
- ^ Hallelujah Junction, for 2 pianos at Allmusic
- ^ Stravinsky: Concerto for 2 pianos; Adams: Hallelujah Junction; Boulez: Structures, Book 2 at Allmusic
- ^ John Adams: Road Movies at Allmusic
- ^ John Adams: Road Movies; Hallelujah Junction; Phrygian Gates; China Gates at Allmusic
- ^ Manheim, James. John Adams: Complete Piano Music at Allmusic
- ^ Manheim, James. Junctions at Allmusic
