- Phrygian Gates
Phrygian Gates is a
piano piece written by minimalist composerJohn Coolidge Adams in 1977-1978.The piece, together with its smaller companion
China Gates is what is considered Adams' "opus one". They are, according to his own claims, his first compositions consisting of a coherent personal style. It was commissioned and written for the pianistMack McCray , and first performed by him inHellman Hall ,San Francisco on March 17, 1978. The work was funded by a group of the Board of Trustees of theSan Francisco Conservatory of Music .The piece is written in a minimalist style, and based on a repetitive cell structure. Simultaneously, Adams' desire to move away from the conventional techniques of
minimalism is noticeable. The composition is set in the Phrygian mode, and cycles through half the keys throughout its roughly 30 minute duration, modulating in thecircle of fifths . As claimed by Adams, it is "in the form of a modulating square wave with one state in the Lydian mode and the other in the Phrygian mode". Gradually, the amount of time spent in the Lydian shortens and shifts more to the Phrygian. The "Gates" in the title is an allusion from the electronic musicgates , a term for rapidly shifting modes.References
*Adams, John (1983). "Phrygian Gates for piano". Associated Music Publishers. New York.
External links
* [http://www.earbox.com/W-phrygiangates.html John Adams website on Phrygian Gates]
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