What is Short Ride in a Fast Machine scored for?

a large orchestra
Note. Short Ride in a Fast Machine is a joyfully exuberant piece, brilliantly scored for a large orchestra. The steady marking of a beat is typical of Adams’s music.

Is a Short Ride in a Fast Machine polyrhythmic?

Adams himself admits that he seeks to “enrich the experience of perceiving the way that time is divided” within his works. Later in the work, (see Example 5) Adams introduces a simple polyrhythm as a means of initiating a new section that contrasts the rhythmic dissonance of the first section.

What type of music is Short Ride in a Fast Machine?

minimalism
Short Ride in a Fast Machine was one of Adams’s early triumphs. It is a masterpiece of minimalism, a compositional approach that entails the twining of compact, repetitive rhythms and melodic motifs into an intricate web of musical texture.

What is John Adams Short Ride in a Fast Machine an example of?

As a commentary on the title Adams inquires, “You know how it is when someone asks you to ride in a terrific sports car, and then you wish you hadn’t?” This work is an iconic example of Adams’s postminimal style, which is utilized in other works like Phrygian Gates, Shaker Loops, and Nixon in China.

What instruments are in a Short Ride in a Fast Machine?

Short Ride begins with a marking of quarter notes (woodblock, soon joined by the four trumpets) and eighths (clarinets and synthesizers); the woodblock is fortissimo and the other instruments play forte.

Who composed Short Ride in a Fast Machine?

John AdamsShort Ride in a Fast Machine / Composer

Is John Adams Short Ride in a Fast Machine programmatic?

The pieces were about as programmatic as you can get. Even if John Adams didn’t specify an exact journey in his Short Ride in a Fast Machine, essentially a five-minute overture, he has explained the title by asking what it feels like to accept an invitation to ride in a sports car and then live to regret it.

What music was popular after ww2?

The music itself also shifted, with crooners such as Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra replacing the Big Bands of years past. Country music, jazz, and gospel continued to evolve, and rhythm and blues and the new rock and roll were also popular during this time.

What happened in Germany after WWII?

A Divided Germany After the Potsdam conference, Germany was divided into four occupied zones: Great Britain in the northwest, France in the southwest, the United States in the south and the Soviet Union in the east. Berlin, the capital city situated in Soviet territory, was also divided into four occupied zones.

When was short ride in a fast machine composed?

Short Ride in a Fast Machine. Short Ride in a Fast Machine is a 1986 orchestral work by John Adams.

Is short ride in a fast machine a fanfare?

Short Ride in a Fast Machine. John Adams completed Short Ride in a Fast Machine in 1986. He applies the description “fanfare for orchestra” to this work and to the earlier Tromba Lontana (1986). The former is also known as Fanfare for Great Woods because it was commissioned for the Great Woods Festival of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

How long does a typical performance of short ride last?

A typical performance of Short Ride lasts about four and a half minutes. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra premiered Short Ride in a Fast Machine in 1986. The fanfare was the 10th most-performed orchestral work composed in the last twenty-five years, in 2008. The work was performed at the BBC Proms in 2004, 2014 and 2019.

What is short ride style?

This style derives from minimalism as defined by the works of Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass, although it proceeds to “make use of minimalist techniques in more dramatic settings.” A typical performance of Short Ride lasts about four and a half minutes.