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John Adams: The Dharma at Big Sur/My Father Knew Charles Ives
from: Nonesuch
Our Price: $19.98 Prices subject to change.
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0075597985726
Label: Nonesuch
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
MPN: 79857
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Nonesuch
Release Date: September 26, 2006
Studio: Nonesuch
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Editorial Review:
This is a splendid addition to the Adams discography, one that follows him from New England to California. Dharma at Big Sur is a concerto for electric violin. It begins by evoking the West's sun and easy living, but this is more than a musical piece of nature-painting. It rambles ambiently for a while before landing in an Indian raga, jazzy mode and ends with a type of heavenly good-naturedness. The electric violin is played by Tracy Silverman; a sixth string allows for the sonorous tones of the cello. The other work, presented on a second CD (so as to avoid culture shock?) is My Father knew Charles Ives, which, while apparently untrue, lets us know that Ives's New England sound and his wacky one-on-top-of-the-other methods will be found here, and, indeed, they are. It pays homage to some of Ives's music (the trumpet from his "The Unanswered Question" is clear here), but more than that, in its various sections ("The Lake;" "The Mountain") it evokes the nature of New England as picturesquely as Ives does, and parallels Adams's California in Dharma A pair of fascinating works, at times a bit thorny, but well worth it. --Robert Levine
Featuring two highly-acclaimed commissioned orchestral works, The Dharma At Big Sur and My Father Knew Charles Ives, performed by the BBC Sumphony with Adams himself conducting. While panoramic in scope, these multi-part pieces are also deeply personal in nature. Described as "autobiographical sound memories" by the BBC, they evoke the well-traveled American composer's east coast/west coast life and wide-ranging musical education.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Westcoast hijinks
This is quite awful. I've never been a fan of any kind of minimalism (and say what you will, Adams is a minimalist through and through), but I respect its appeal to the age. You recognize the mechanical repetition of our world in it, and it's kind of reassuring. But this is just too positive and cheery (pastiche-work eager for influence not withstanding). Certain works by Reich, say, seem far superior, offering musical substance without the treacle). One other note: Nonesuch has never been generous ... Read More
Rating: - toward the oceanic
after listening to the dharma, inspired by jack kerouac's late writings, i had a look at my copy of adams' on the transmigration of souls for the compositional dates, the two pieces having much in common as to stand as companion pieces. which is to say there is a deepening of a style at play in adams' work.
the second recording, my father knew charles ives, owes much to ives, particularly the musical tension, adams, like ives, never lets the listener forget that marching band music on celebrated ... Read More
Rating:  - A mixed bag
I found this set a mixed bag. The first work - "The Dharma at Big Sur" - is a bit disappointing save for the massive ending, which is admittedly mind-blowing. The opening movement is a wash, a verrrrry long recitative-like statement for the soloist over some interesting harmonies, but all seeming almost like a too-long introduction to the second movement.
"My Father Knew Charles Ives", on the other hand, is quite a great piece. Attempts in American music have been made to be "like Ives" - incorporating ... Read More
Rating:  - beautiful
I'm a pianist and i find The Dharma at Big Sur to be one of the most beautiful pieces i've ever heard. The Ives piece is good, but i'm not too crazy about it.
Rating: - Breakfast cereal vs. real accomplishment
I don't think John Adams should be canonized so early. The idiom he's chosen to write in, tonal minimalism, has now survived long enough to show up early critics who accused it of repetitiveness, sterility, and kitsch. But the shadows of banality linger far too often over Adams and Glass, the most popular minimalists commercially speaking. I have no allegiance to atonality or the advanced modernism of, say, Ligeti and Lutoslawski, but on the other hand, I don't want chewable breakfast cereal that goes down easy and leaves ... Read More
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