Adams piece in Just Intonation??

Just got this Press Release:

Dear Colleague,

One of the most eagerly-anticipated events of the season: the latest
score from John Adams, helping to inaugurate the new Walt Disney
Concert Hall.

all best,
Steven
_____________________________

October 2003

salonen leads LA philharmonic in debut of adams's
the dharma at big sur, inaugural work for disney hall

John Adams's newest orchestral work, 'The Dharma at Big Sur,' makes
its debut on Friday, October 24, as Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the
Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Commissioned
by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, 'The Dharma at Big Sur' is the first
piece to receive its premiere at the new hall.

< just intonation, six-string violin >
Fittingly, Adams has composed a groundbreaking score. The orchestra
performs in just intonation, a system of tuning in which the
intervals can be expressed as whole-number ratios. The sound of a
justly-tuned ensemble - previously explored by composers such as Lou
Harrison and Harry Partch, among many others - has an unmistakably
pure and resonant quality. The two-movement work also includes a
prominent role for six-string electric violin, played by Tracy
Silverman. (Tuned in 5ths like a standard violin, the bottom two
strings go down to F above the cello's low C, and are
fretted.)

< a tribute to his adopted home state >
After graduating from Harvard in 1971, Adams drove to San Francisco.
He was well aware of others who had preceded him, including fellow
Massachusetts native Jack Kerouac, whose books include 'On the
Road,' 'The Dharma Bums,' and 'Big Sur.' Says Adams, "I wanted to
write something that had as its theme the sensation that one
experiences on arriving in California. I looked around for literary
sources, and eventually hit on Jack Kerouac. His arrival here was
sort of a defining moment - not only for himself but for the
representation of a totemic experience for all Americans, which is the
journey westward."

< his first glimpse of the Pacific >
Ultimately, Adams hopes to convey the exhilaration of a life-changing
encounter. "I'll never forget the first time I came down the Marin
headlands on a beautiful August morning, and saw the Golden Gate
Bridge and San Francisco off in the distance - those were very
powerful moments....I hope to create a musical expression of that
experience."

__________________
Steven Swartz
Publicity Manager
Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.
35 East 21st Street
New York, NY 10010
212/358-5361 tel
212/358-5306 fax
www.boosey.com

JP, thanks for the piece of news.
I have a series of questions regarding intonation and orchestras.

I thought JI is no news for chords' players. Am I wrong?
Is tuning in clarinets, Bb brasses, etc. different from 12-EQt? I
think it is.

Max.

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson" <jpehrson@r...> wrote:
> [...]
> < just intonation, six-string violin >
> Fittingly, Adams has composed a groundbreaking score. The orchestra
> performs in just intonation, a system of tuning in which the
> intervals can be expressed as whole-number ratios. The sound of a
> justly-tuned ensemble - previously explored by composers such as
Lou
> Harrison and Harry Partch, among many others - has an unmistakably
> pure and resonant quality.

Max wrote...

>I thought JI is no news for chords' players. Am I wrong?
>Is tuning in clarinets, Bb brasses, etc. different from 12-EQt? I
>think it is.

I think you're right. However, if a piece is *scored* in a
particular sort of microtuning, it might be different from
what the players would have done.

-Carl

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Maximiliano G. Miranda Zanetti"
<giordanobruno76@y...> wrote:

> I thought JI is no news for chords' players. Am I wrong?

i rarely hear ji chords in string or wind ensembles unless it's a
performance of renaissance music. brass ensembles seem to gravitate
more toward ji chords if only because of the harshness of not doing
so, and of course the ease with which a Bb brass instrument will
play, at least, an approximate harmonic series over Bb.

> Is tuning in clarinets, Bb brasses, etc. different from 12-EQt? I
> think it is.

certainly not in the way professional players are taught today. few
have any idea that any tuning other than 12-equal is even
conceivable, obvious as that seems to us. and clarinets are certainly
*built* to play very close to 12-equal for at least 200 years now.

>
> Max.
>
> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson" <jpehrson@r...>
wrote:
> > [...]
> > < just intonation, six-string violin >
> > Fittingly, Adams has composed a groundbreaking score. The
orchestra
> > performs in just intonation, a system of tuning in which the
> > intervals can be expressed as whole-number ratios. The sound of
a
> > justly-tuned ensemble - previously explored by composers such as
> Lou
> > Harrison and Harry Partch, among many others - has an
unmistakably
> > pure and resonant quality.