John Adams
Short Ride In A Fast Machine (1986)
When asked what essentially distinguishes American music from all others, John Adams replied, “The one thing is the incessant pulsation.” By that measure, Short Ride in a Fast Machine is quintessentially American. Adams explained the title with characteristic humor: “You know how it is when someone asks you to ride in a terrific sports car, and then you wish you hadn’t?”
Major Works of John Adams
OPERAS
1987 Nixon in China
1991 The Death of Klinghoffer
2000 El Niño (opera-oratorio)
2005 Doctor Atomic
2006 A Flowering Tree
2013 The Gospel According to the Other Mary
2017 Girls of the Golden West
2022 Antony and Cleopatra
ORCHESTRAL WORKS
1979 Common Tones in Simple Time
1982 Grand Pianola Music
1983 Shaker Loops
1985 Harmonielehre
1985 The Chairman Dances
1986 Tromba Lontana
1986 Short Ride in a Fast Machine
1988 Fearful Symmetries
1991 El Dorado
1995 Lallapalooza
1996 Slonimsky’s Earbox
1998 Naïve and Sentimental Music
2001 Guide to Strange Places
2003 My Father Knew Charles Ives
2007 Doctor Atomic Symphony
2009 City Noir
2019 I Still Dance
CONCERTANTE WORKS
1989 Eros Piano (for piano and orchestra)
1993 Violin Concerto
1997 Century Rolls (for piano and orchestra)
2003 The Dharma at Big Sur (electric violin/orch)
2012 Absolute Jest (string quartet and orchestra)
2013 Saxophone Concerto
2014 Scheherazade.2 (for Violin and Orchestra)
2018 Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? (Concerto for piano and orchestra)
2024 After the Fall (concerto for piano and orch)
CHAMBER MUSIC
1970 Piano Quintet
1978 Shaker Loops (string septet)
1992 Chamber Symphony
1994 John’s Book of Alleged Dances (string qrt.)
1995 Road Movies (violin and piano)
1996 Gnarly Buttons (clarinet and chamber ens.)
2007 Son of Chamber Symphony
2007 Fellow Traveler (string quartet)
2008 String Quartet No. 1
2014 String Quartet No. 2
2026 Iron Jig (string quartet)
John Adams and Minimalism
A MINIMALIST ALBUM
A selection of paintings, photos and caricatures spanning the Minimalist and Post-Minimalist movements
Minimalists on Music and Life
In their own words: five pioneering composers share their thoughts on music, creativity, and life—sometimes profound, sometimes provocative, and occasionally downright funny!
CYS Performance History:
Works by Adams
2003 Short Ride in a Fast Machine
2007 Chairman Dances from Nixon in China
2012 Short Ride in a Fast Machine
2026 Short Ride in a Fast Machine