Just like most of my weekday mornings, earlier today I was listening to Julie Nesrallah’s Tempo on CBC Radio 2 for my daily morning dose of classical music along with Julie’s amazing energy, warmth, and brilliant stories. Today from 9am to 1pm she celebrated the work of American composers, and when it came time to play John Adams‘ stunning 1977 composition “China Gates“, Julie explained how Adams was inspired to write the piano piece during a rainy season near his home in northern California. The constant eighth notes of the piece reflect the steady rainfall of the time, so if you happen to be somewhere along the rainy west coast from San Francisco to Vancouver and are fed up with the wet weather, just take Adams’ “China Gates” for a spin and try and look at a rain storm using the imagination of this master composer. And no FEELguide post related to John Adams would be complete without listening to a piece from his 1985 composition Harmonielehre which was used in the score of the 2010 film I Am Love. The third movement from Harmonielehre is entitled “Meister Eckhardt and Quackie” which, according to Adams, is inspired by a dream that he had about his daughter Emily. To read the amazing story behind the inspiration for Harmonielehre click on the link below, and for all FEELguide stories related to classical music be sure to visit Classical Music on FEELguide.
SEE ALSO: An Insane Sci-Fi Dream Inspired John Adams’ Score From Tilda Swinton’s “I Am Love”
