''Shaker Loops'' is a 1978 composition by American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

, originally written for string

septet A septet is a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit, such as a seven-line stanza of poetry ...

. The original "modular" score, published by Associated Music Publisher, has since been withdrawn and replaced by a 1983 string orchestra version. This version was first performed in April of that year at

Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and Philanthropy, philanthropist whose donations assis ...

, New York, by the American Composers Orchestra, conducted by

Michael Tilson Thomas Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist, and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of the S ...

. The string orchestra version can be played either by a septet of soloists or by a string orchestra of any size, where the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

s are divided into 3 parts throughout. The work is in four movements.

History

''Shaker Loops'' began as a piece called ''Wavemaker'' in which Adams tried to emulate the ripple effect of bodies of water in his music. The piece was a commercial failure, but Adams kept the idea of repeating loops of oscillations on string instruments. He retitled the piece ''Shaker Loops'', both because of the "shaking" of the strings as they oscillate between notes and the idea Adams had of

Shakers The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, are a Millenarianism, millenarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian sect founded in England and then organized in the Unit ...

dancing to repetitive, energetic music.

Recordings

Several recordings of the string orchestra version have been released on CD, including one by Edo de Waart and the

San Francisco Symphony Orchestra The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Franci ...

for

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by Netherlands, Dutch electronics company Philips and in 1999 was absorbed into Netherlands, Dutch-United States, American music corporation Universal Music Group. It was founded as Philips Phonograph ...

Appearances in other media

*The first movement of ''Shaker Loops'' was featured in the 1987 film '' Barfly''. *The first three movements are part of the sound track to the video game, ''

Civilization IV ''Civilization IV'' (also known as ''Sid Meier's Civilization IV'') is a 2005 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. It is the fourth installment of the ''Civilization'' series and was designed by S ...

''. *The first movement was arranged and given lyrics and vocals and by

Jon Anderson Jon Anderson (born John Roy Anderson, 25 October 1944) is a British, and latterly American, singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the former lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes (band), Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassis ...

on his album, ''Change We Must''. *The last two movements were used in the 2009 film '' I Am Love.'' *The piece was used in the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps (a member of

Drum Corps International Drum Corps International (DCI) is a governing body for drum and bugle corps. Founded in 1971 and known as "marching music's major league," DCI develops and enforces rules of competition and judges at sanctioned drum and bugle corps competitions t ...

) 2015 program "Kinetic Noise" *The third movement was used in the series '' The Young Pope'' *The piece was used in the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps (a member of

) 2024 program "Glitch"

References

Compositions by John Adams (composer) 1978 compositions Compositions for string septet Compositions for string orchestra {{Classical-composition-stub