Books by Thomas Ades

Thomas Adès’s Violin Concerto, written in 2005, is one of the most important additions to the violin concerto repertoire since Ligeti’s. Cast in three contrasting movements – each linked by a preoccupation with circling musical figures – the concerto, subtitled ‘Concentric Paths’ now occupies a place in standard repertoire. Two lithe, rhythmically driven movements – ‘Rings’ and ‘Rounds’ – bookend ‘Paths’ an intensely emotional and gritty exploration of passacaglia-like sequences which peaks in a lyrical outpouring of exceptional beauty.‘In just 20 minutes, this three-movement piece does something magical. The way it swirls ethereally in the first movement, exerts a tragic and vice-like grip in the chaconne-like second part and finally propels you into the uninhibited flight of the finale is like being spun into an infinite space.’The Guardian (Tom Service)

A paraphrase in the manner of Liszt or Busoni, this brilliant, quick-witted reworking of music from four scenes of Adès’s scandalous – and hugely successful ­ ­– first opera Powder Her Face is a virtuosic tour de force. The fifteen-minute work was premiered by its composer in 2010 and has since been taken up by pianists internationally.

This dazzling four-minute showpiece for large orchestra was commissioned by the Hallé Orchestra and premiered in September 1996 as part of the opening celebrations of Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall. Within its modest timescale, Adès has managed to compress an astonishingly rich and exhilarating range of emotions and sonorities, many of which prefigure his astonishing Asyla.‘A four-minute wonder which packs in more music per second than any comparable piece I know.’The Financial Times (Andrew Clark), 2 February 2008

Thomas Ades is feted from Los Angeles to London, from New York to Berlin, as the musician who has done more than any other living composer to connect contemporary music with wider audiences. His operas, orchestral pieces and chamber works have already stood the test of repeated performances, productions and continued critical acclaim.But this celebrated composer, conductor and pianist is notoriously secretive about his creative process, about what lies behind his compositional impulse. The poetry, technique and biography that fuel his most successful and shattering works, such as his operas Powder Her Face and The Tempest, or his orchestral works Asyla and Tevot, have remained hidden and unexplained. Until now.In conversation with Tom Service - the writer with whom he has had the closest relationship in his career - Ades opens up for the first time about how he creates his music, where it comes from, and what it means. In these provocative and challenging interviews, Ades connects his music with influences from a huge historical and cultural spectrum - from Sephardic Jewish folk music to 80s electronica, from the films of Luis Bunuel and pre-Columbian art to the soundtracks of Al-Qaeda training videos - and offers a unique insight into the crucible of his composition.