''The Wind in High Places'' is a composition for

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

by the American composer

John Luther Adams John Luther Adams (born January 23, 1953) is an American composer whose music is inspired by nature, especially the landscapes of Alaska, where he lived from 1978 to 2014. His orchestral work '' Become Ocean'' was awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Priz ...

Composition

''The Wind in High Places'' has a duration of roughly 16 minutes and is composed in three movements: The composition was developed from the 2007 piece ''Three High Places'' for solo violin, which Adams composed in memory of his friend and collaborator Gordon Wright. The piece uses only natural harmonics and

open strings ''Open Strings'' is an album by French jazz fusion artist Jean-Luc Ponty, released in 1971 on vinyl by the MPS label. Track listing All songs written by Jean-Luc Ponty, except where noted. Side one #"Flipping, Pt.1" – 4:40 #"Flipping, Pt.2 ...

Reception

''The Wind in High Places'' has been praised by music critics. Pwyll ap Siôn of ''

Gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

'' wrote: The piece was also lauded by John von Rhein of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', who remarked, "There is no real development here, no musical ideas in a conventional sense. Softly undulating strings and open fifths become the aural equivalent of daylight breaking over the rocky Alaskan peaks." He added, "Could any new music be more delicately sparse, more wonderfully poetic? I think not..."

Recording

A recording of ''The Wind in High Places'' performed by the

JACK Quartet The JACK Quartet is an American string quartet dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. It was founded in 2005 and is based in New York City. The four founding members are violinists Christopher Otto and Ari Streisfeld, viol ...

was released on January 13, 2015, through Cold Blue Music. This recording was later named one of the best classical music recordings of 2015 by Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim of ''

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''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wind in High Places, The Compositions by John Luther Adams 2011 compositions Compositions for string quartet