John Luther Adams - Become Desert

The Guardian 100

(Cantaloupe)
Inspired by the desert landscapes of his new Mexico home, the Pulitzer prize-winner takes us on an journey from the joyous to the apocalyptic

For almost 40 years John Luther Adams’ music was inspired by the landscapes and seascapes of Alaska. He first visited in 1975 and settled there three years later. As well as playing and composing, Adams worked in environmental protection, and the images from the natural world surrounding him – and his fears for its future – found their way into his music. And it was with one of those scores, the majestic orchestral Become Ocean, which won the Pulitzer prize for music in 2014, that Adams gained international recognition and established himself as a unique voice in American music.

But Become Ocean signalled the end of the Alaskan phase of Adams’ music. Since 2014 he has divided his time between New York and the Sonoran desert, and it is the landscapes of his new home in Mexico that are starting point for Become Desert, which completes a trilogy that Adams began with Become River for chamber orchestra in 2010. Like Become Ocean, it was composed for Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony, who gave the first performance last year. It is, he says, “both a celebration of the deserts we are given and a lamentation of the deserts we create”.

Pitchfork 76

The Pulitzer Prize-winning composer’s latest installment in his Become trilogy is expansive and inviting. The piece explores resonance and the way sounds mutate, stick in our heads, or just disappear.