How to Conduct Shaker Loops in Video Games?

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Ives was almost completely unknown in most of the 20th century until Leonard Bernstein. He worked during the days in an insurance firm at which he was very successful, but spent his weekends and his summer vacations composing. His work is very sentimental; it's also very avant-garde for its time. Are you more afraid of Mozart or if Charles Ives? I'm not afraid of them. Obviously, love Mozart more than Charles Ives.

Is classical music dying? For John Adams the answer is an emphatic no. Considered by Tyler to be America’s greatest living composer, he may well be one of the people responsible for keeping it alive. John’s contemporary classical music is some of the most regularly performed and he is well-known for his historically themed operas such as Nixon in China, Doctor Atomic, and most recently Antony and Cleopatra. He is also a conductor and author of, in Tyler’s words, a “thoughtful and substantive” autobiography.

He joined Tyler to discuss why architects have it easier than opera composers, what drew him to the story of Antony and Cleopatra, why he prefers great popular music to the classical tradition, the “memory spaces” he uses to compose, the role of Christianity in his work, the anxiety of influence, the unusual life of Charles Ives, the relationship between the availability and appreciation of music, how contemporary music got a bad rap, his favorite Bob Dylan album, why he doesn’t think San Francisco was crucial to his success, why he doesn’t believe classical music is dead or even dying, his fascination with Oppenheimer, the problem with film composing, his letter to Leonard Bernstein, what he’s doing next, and more.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Recorded September 14th, 2022

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