HALLELUJAH JUNCTION: COMPOSING AN AMERICAN LIFE

New York City, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 340 pages. Rare John Adams collectible set. A pristine copy of his book and two Compact Discs (CD) , all three signed by John Adams. The author's breakthrough memoir. One of the most valuable books on contemporary music of our time. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. Presents John Adams' "Hallelujah Junction: Composing An American Life". One of the finest memoirs by a serious composer since well, Berlioz's. "Combining the narrative power of opera, the atonal themes of 20th-century classical music, the spooky modulations of jazz, and the complex rhythms of the Beatles, Adams created a new music that could express the fractiousness of the political scene of the 1960's and 1970's. Adams deftly chronicles his life and times, providing along the way an incisive exploration of the creative process. Reveals the workings of a brilliant musical mind responsible for some of contemporary America's most inventive and original music" (Publishers Weekly) . Actually, John Adams is much more than just a brilliant musical mind. By his own account, Adams found his voice by fusing The Old (European classical music) with The New (American jazz and popular music) in ways that were literally unheard-of before he came along. In the process, he has become possibly the greatest American composer of our time. Comes with two Compact Discs of his ground-breaking, now-canonical music: "Century Rolls/Lollapalooza/Slonimsky's Earbox" (Kent Nagano conducting) and "Naive And Sentimental Music/Mother of The Man/Chain To The Rhythm" (Esa-Pekka Salonen) . An absolute "must-have" set for John Adams collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by John Adams. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. It comes with two (2) Compact Discs, also very boldly and beautifully signed in black pen-marker in front by John Adams. This title is a great book. As far as we know, this is the only such signed set of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing and Compact Discs available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies of the book available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed set thus. One of the greatest composers of our time. A fine collectible set. (SEE ALSO OTHER COPY OF THIS TITLE IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0374281157.