The JACK Quartet, featuring Christopher Otto and Ari Streisfeld on violins, John Pickford Richards on viola, and Kevin McFarland on cello, performs 'The Wind in High Places' on this album.
Composer's Artistic Vision
John Luther Adams's 'Dream of the Canyon Wren' evokes feelings of deep tranquility and longing, similar to how the song of the hermit thrush has represented his home in the Alaskan boreal forest for forty years.
Compositional Technique
In 'The Wind in High Places,' composer John Luther Adams treats the string quartet as a large, sixteen-stringed Aeolian harp, with all sounds produced by natural harmonics or open strings.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The pieces 'Sky with Nameless Colors' and 'Sky with Endless Stars' from 'Four Canticles of the Sky' were inspired by the skies of the Sonoran Desert.
Recording & Production
This album was produced by Jim Fox and John Luther Adams, with 'The Wind in High Places' and 'Dream of the Canyon Wren' recorded in Yonkers, NY, and 'Canticles of the Sky' recorded in Evanston, IL.
Compositional Technique
For almost twenty minutes in 'The Wind in High Places,' the musicians' fingers never touch the fingerboards of their instruments, reflecting the composer's desire to make music without them touching the instruments at all.
Composer's Artistic Vision
John Luther Adams's 'Four Canticles of the Sky' were inspired by celestial phenomena, such as vivid halos, arcs, and sundogs that create the illusion of multiple suns or moons in the Arctic sky.
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