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John Luther Adams – Drums of Fire, Drums of Stone

 

Melanie Diehl (6887890)

Prof. Dr. Bernd Herzogenrath

Winter Semester 2022/2023

The Future of American Music

Listening Reports - 13.03.2023

John Luther Adams – Drums of Fire, Drums of Stone

Sounds like I want to curl up, it is raining, and it sounds like a thunderstorm is coming. There it goes, it feels like an attack, the drums are banging, and the weather is not calm at all. Suddenly, you feel like you are in a movie, and the sound just tells you to run. Run like there’s no tomorrow. The beat is violent, it is pushing you, the weather is haunting you and has you singled out. Like a ritual. Stop. Bang again, and dance because maybe you cannot after that. This feels like the beat that comes before two warriors go at each other.

            I have clearly seen too many movies, but it is the Desi in me who loves the sounds of drums going at it fanatically. Especially when the weather cries a thunder is asunder. Slow and upbeat, however the small pauses and slow beatings prepare you for the bigger drumrolls that are about to come. I could listen to this song over and over. It feels like it is a great appreciation of nature and the world around us.

            We’ve learned that Adams was an environmentalist, and I guess this song is his tribute to show the power of nature. Nature helps us kick in our animalistic senses. The sense of fear, or such. This song awakens a part of that sense in me too. No wonder why, this song’s been played by percussion ensembles all over the world. This song is like Adams’s testament to the beauty and the power of mother nature, and the importance it has for us and our lives. I love this song, and especially songs like this. My playlist is full of instrumental music that vibe with nature. As an Indigenous person, I’ve been taught to love natural sounds, and music that links to nature too. In my culture we play drums in such beats too, to perform a sort of trance flow music for everyone participating. It truly works. It may sound hippie-like, but, try performing such drum battles in a circle when it is raining, it gives you a different feeling. Adams captured that. Great, it is raining like crazy right now, like a thunderstorm, and is hailing as well. I cannot help but think I called the rain through the music.

 

P.S.: I’ve attached a video to the reaction to this song. Have a look! You will love it, Bernd.

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