Remember how much I love Steve Reich? Well don't tell, but I'm cheating on him...with John Adams. I've heard some (lay-)people accuse Adams of being "minimalism-lite".

So after I'm done chastising them for their ignorance, I'll retreat back to my lair and listen to several hours of John Adams. I'll read his autobiography for the fourth time, then watch a full length opera by him. Okay this is a little extreme, but I'd like to think that John Adams has been a vital and flexible pillar of the contemporary composition.

Why do I believe this? I didn't really realize it until I was watching a recent broadcast of his newer piece, City Noir premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Dudamel, where Adams is resident composer.

I am well aware of his experience in electronics and tape music, the little known repertoire that was written even before Phrygian Gates (which he considers to be his opus one, the first real and coherent of his works). One professor once told me about how she spent time in San Francisco at the conservatory and needed to make recordings; John Adams was her "recording engineer". A decade later she was in touch with him and reminisced about their time recording, and allegedly he said "I don't do that any more..." ...he had reached 'legitimacy'.

After our discussions about Glass and Reich in past classes, I had become paranoid that these most famous minimalists had "sold out" to the music scenes that never really seemed like they never fit into. Reich is now writing for Kronos (like his more programmatic and doesn't appear to endure the same processes as his previous works). Glass has written several film scores in recent years, that almost barely resemble his symphonies, operas or especially the earlier works (ex. pretty much anything written for the Philip Glass ensemble). Granted, we must take into account that commissions or genre (such as film) changes composition in many facets. John Adams has encountered similar criticism; even I noticed it in City Noir: it sounded kind of like glorified, post 2000 Gershwin. Not that I disliked this at all, I simply prefer the golden age of Adams...Nixon in China, Shaker Loops, Harmonielehre, etc.

At the end of the day, we all have to eat. I don't blame any of these compositional giants for taking the new and unique opportunities presented to them, as an opportunity to evolve compositionally and musically.

When comparing the differences between Reich, Glass and Adams, I feel it's fundamentally important, and also fundamentally ignored that Adams is not in the same generation as the former two. Reich and Glass were New Yorkers, conservatory trained, but seasoned city dwellers. Adams grew up in New England, attended Harvard, then lived the bohemian life in San Francisco. Adams is also over a decade younger than Reich and Glass, as if location and experience weren't enough! Comparing these three is like apples and oranges. I do agree with the more romantic aspects of Adams' music; but is it the programmatic aspects? instrumentation? Perhaps a combination of several factors. In the end, I feel as though I can connect emotionally more to John Adams' works (in most cases), which I try for in Glass' music, for example, but sometimes fail.