Harmonielehre has long been one of my very favorite orchestral works. It pulled me in immediately and did not let go unto the closing notes of the third movement. It has that effect. It demands your attention. It cannot play in the background. It is a musical thesis of contrasting techniques and moods that is structured brilliantly. This is a good video, but I am disappointed by its brevity. There is so much to learn from this piece; so many avenues that could yield fruitful insights for composers and music lovers alike. But I'll take what I can get. :-)

I love this piece. You're spot on, I realize now that i can't remember anything else than the opening, and some of the parts you played in the video, but I do remember the "feel" of it. Thanks a lot for the video!

Thank you for expressing what I somewhat have felt for 35 years.

This is incredible!

Adams once said that Harmonielehre, wish he'd given it an easier to type title, was a patricide of Schoenberg. Your point about Minimalism could mean that it also might be a patricide of Minimalism, a double murder right in front of our eyes. Harmonielehre is my favorite Adams along with Short ride in a fast machine and Naive and sentimental music. Even in his less successful music like Hoodoo Zephyr he is interesting.

I was trying to explain was why I had embraced tonality, because back in the seventies, believe it or not, that used to be a controversial issue (laughs)! John Adams

3:46 (contexto) 3:11 (concepción) 2:02 (inicio) 2:16 (desarrollo textural) 2:29 (Sehnsucht)

Harmonielehre is one of my least favourite Adams pieces. I just feel it doesn’t cohere in the way some of his larger scale works do (Harmonium, Naive and Sentimental Music, Transmigration of Souls etc). Though I admire the Minimalist-NeoRomantic fusion he’s trying to create, I’m glad it’s not a style that he explored further.

playing phrygian gates causes repetitive stress. do not recommend.

the only piece by JA that my ears can tolerate (and some parts of which i can tolerably enjoy) - perhaps it might have something to do with the fact that this work sprung from his imagination after a prolonged bout of writer's block

no idea what yer on about mate, it's all just music to me. Good music or bad music...