Library of Congress Acquires Music Manuscripts and Papers of Composer John Adams
Adams is known for works including the opera âNixon in Chinaâ and concert pieces such as âShaker Loops,â âHarmonielehre,â âRoad Movies,â and more.
By:Â Chloe Rabinowitz Jun. 14, 2023
The Library of Congress has acquired the music manuscripts and papers of contemporary American composer, conductor and writer John Adams. Adams is known for works including the opera âNixon in Chinaâ and concert pieces such as âShaker Loops,â âHarmonielehre,â âRoad Movies,â âChamber Symphonyâ and âShort Ride in a Fast Machine.â
John Coolidge Adams was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1947. His career has taken place at the forefront of contemporary music, with Adamsâ works among the most played of new classical music pieces beginning in the 1970s.
âThe Library of Congress could scarcely conjure a contemporary music collection that carries with it as much recognition and consequence as the manuscripts and papers of John Adams,â said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. âWe are proud to count the collection of Adamsâ materials among our prized music treasures.â
The archive acquired by the Library includes a variety of materials that tell the story of Adamsâ creative life: handwritten music manuscripts and annotated music scores, business and personal correspondence, photographs, date books and diaries, journals, publishing and performing contracts, artwork, and files of news clippings and concert programs. A school assignment from 1960, when Adams was 12 years old, resulted in a hand-illustrated essay on the history of nationalism in music, an effort that garnered appreciative comments from his teacher. A spiral notebook containing lessons on music theory from Adamsâ youth transcribes important rules of composition.
The evolution of many works can be traced through voluminous music sketches written in pencil, such as the seven notebooks for Adamsâ orchestral work âHarmonielehre.â Boxes of materials for Adamsâ operas demonstrate the many phases involved in the production of his large-scale stage works, from background research and early notes on plot and characters, to music drafts and sketches, to complete music manuscripts and annotated full scores used at the point of performance. Letters and notes exchanged with frequent collaborators Peter Sellars and Alice Goodman show the inner workings of Adamsâ complex theatrical compositions.
âTo have my archives under the care and preservation of the Library of Congress is a great privilege,â said Adams. âOver the years I have visited the Music Division, met their brilliant staff and had the special chance to hold in my hands manuscripts by among others, Brahms, Schoenberg, Bernstein and Charlie Parker. As an American composer â especially with a name like mine â it seems only right that my own work should be with this great institution.â
Adamsâ many recognitions include numerous Grammy awards, the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition and the Pulitzer Prize, in addition to several international awards.
Adams has collaborated with the Library on numerous commissions over the past several decades; including the 1984 work âEros Pianoâ from the Koussevitzky Foundation, âRoad Moviesâ from the McKim Fund in 1985, and the 2014 work âSecond Quartetâ from the Dina Koston and Roger Shapiro Fund for New Music. In 2013, the Library hosted a week-long residency with Adams to develop programming that honored his artistic achievements and celebrated the Libraryâs role in commissioning new music.
The papers of Adams will join those of other American giants in the performing arts, including Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, George and Ira Gershwin, Martha Graham, Charles Mingus, and Neil Simon, maintained in the Libraryâs Music Division.
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