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Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Gnarly Buttons

Join the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for a thrilling journey from the music of John Adams including hypnotic pulsations to red-hot emotion and vast cinematic soundscapes.

Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Gnarly Buttons

About Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Gnarly Buttons

Once a self-identifying minimalist, radical American composer John Adams quickly jumped from cool, hypnotic pulsations to red-hot emotion and vast cinematic soundscapes in his colourful, witty music. Experience that thrilling journey in three iconic pieces by this pioneering musician.

Minimalist classic Shaker Loops is a rippling soundscape of quivering energy – sometimes frenetic, sometimes meditative, but never less than mesmerisingly beautiful.

Mooing cows and ancient American hymns are among the inspirations behind Adams’ zany clarinet concerto Gnarly Buttons – played by charismatic SCO Principal Clarinet Maximiliano Martín – which blends humour and heart in music that spans jazz, pop, folk and the surging repetitions of minimalism. Fearful Symmetries is one of Adams’ boldest and brightest pieces, a high-energy workout of driving rhythms and larger-than-life orchestral sound.

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