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Philip Glass . Through operas and orchestral scores filled with jazzy rhythms and kaleidoscopic colors , Adams developed an expanded palette that vaulted him to the upper echelon of contemporary music in the 1980s , and he has remained a leader in the field ever since . The following is excerpted from Adams ’ essay about The Dharma at Big Sur , composed in 2003 for the opening of Disney Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic : When I was asked by Esa-Pekka Salonen , the Los Angeles Philharmonic ’ s music director , to compose a special piece for the opening of Disney Hall , I immediately began searching my mind for an image that could summon up the feelings of being an emigrant to the Pacific Coast . I wanted to express the moment , the “ shock of recognition ,” when one reaches the edge of the continental land mass . Rather than gently yielding ground to the water , the Western shelf drops off violently , often from dizzying heights , as it does at Big Sur , the stretch of coastal precipice midway between Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara . Many writers have tried to describe it directly , but Jack Kerouac did it best . In both his poetry and his novels , he comes the closest to evoking my own sense of liberation and excitement , an ecstasy that is nevertheless tinged with that melancholy expressed in the first of Buddha ’ s Four Noble Truths : “ All life is sorrowful .”
My plan took a sudden sharp turn when I heard Tracy Silverman play the electric violin at an Oakland jazz club in 2002 . Tracy had developed his own unique style of violin playing that was a marvel of expressiveness , the product of his having digested everything from Stefan Grappelli to the Indian saranghi to bluegrass , Robert Johnson , and Terry Riley . When I listened to Tracy play , I was reminded that in almost all cultures other than the European classical one , the real meaning of the music is in between the notes . The slide , the portamento , the “ blue note ” — all are essential to the emotional expression .
The Dharma at Big Sur is in two parts , each dedicated to a West Coast composer who had been both a friend and an inspiration to me . The first part , “ A New Day ,” is an homage to Lou Harrison , who lived not far from Big Sur and who was the first significant American to compose in other
THU , MAR 17 , 8 PM STRATHMORE FRI , MAR 18 , 8 PM MEYERHOFF SAT , MAR 19 , 8 PM MEYERHOFF SUN , MAR 20 , 3 PM MEYERHOFF
Scott Terrell , conductor
Enjoy The Wizard of Oz on the big screen and follow the yellow brick road with Dorothy and her friends as the BSO performs the Academy Award ® -winning score .
Film courtesy of Warner Bros . Entertainment , Inc .
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