Short Ride in a Fast Machine is a joyfully exuberant piece, brilliantly sco… Read Full Bio ↴Short Ride in a Fast Machine is a joyfully exuberant piece, brilliantly scored for a large orchestra. The steady marking of a beat is typical of Adams’s music. Short Ride begins with a marking of quarter-notes (woodblock, soon joined by the four trumpets) and eighths (clarinets and synthesizers); the woodblock is fortissimo and the other instruments play forte. Adams sees the rest of the orchestra as running the gauntlet through that rhythmic tunnel. About the title: “You know how it is when someone asks you to ride in a terrific sports car, and then you wish you hadn’t?”

Short Ride in a Fast Machine features the usual minimalist earmarks: repetition, steady beat, and, perhaps most crucially, a harmonic language with an emphasis on consonance unlike anything in Western art music in the last five hundred years. Adams is not a simple—or simple-minded—artist. His concern has been to invent music at once familiar and subtle. For all of their minimalist features, works such as Harmonium, Harmonielhere, and El Dorado are full of surprises, always enchanting in the glow and gleam of their sonority, and bursting with the energy generated by their harmonic movement.

This is the only piece to be dropped from the program for the Last Night at the Proms on two occasions - once after the death of Princess Di and once after 9/11. It has since been on the program.

Short Ride in a Fast Machine
John Adams Lyrics

We have lyrics for these tracks by John Adams:

Chorus of Exiled Jews When I paid off the taxi I had no money left And,…
Chorus of Exiled Palestinians My father's house was razed In nineteen forty-eight When t…
Dandelion Wishes How would it be if I never found you Would your…
For Me For Her For You Take what you want from me Leave me what's left I'll learn…
Harmonielehre: II. The Anfortas Wound How do I know if I love you? When I sure…
I'm Like a Bird You're beautiful and that's for sure You'll never ever fade …
Nixon in China: Act I CHOU: Your flight was smooth, I hope? NIXON: Oh yes, smooth…
One Last Look at the Angel in your Eyes When I look in your eyes I feel I've been…
Song About The Bad Boys And The News "All About You" Baby I′ma take you there We can go anywhere…

Sweet and Lovely Sweet and lovely Sweeter than the roses in May Sweet and l…
Things That Make You Beautiful When I hold back the tears You know the words my…

The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos

TRACKS

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Comments from YouTube:

@HarryFontaine

8y↑463

conducted this for the first time with my university wind ensemble. most terrifying thing I've ever experienced.

@EvanYoungMusic

8y↑26

+Harry Rob Hextall You got through it. It's TOUGH to conduct. I don't envy you.

@interstellish

8y↑61

It is definitely the most terrifying thing anyone could conduct. If you did it strictly, you're conducting a hemiola for like half of the fucking song, man. I'd rather conduct all of Rite of Spring than have to do this one.

@andrewhcit

8y↑12

My orchestra just read the piece for the first time last night (we're performing it soon). Our conductor doesn't switch to 2 until the last two measures of that passage, which is actually a little awkward for us string players who since we ARE playing in 2 for most of it. Thing is, you're conducting a hemiola no matter what, whether you conduct that passage in 2 or 3.

@glennfromthebronx

7y↑7

lmao I have NO PLANS to ever hear/see THE RITE OF SPRING ever again. Been there...done that.

@youo3265

7y↑2

andrewhcit

9 More Replies...

@tomtriffid

26w↑5

John Adams is a genius. So is Marin Alsop. This is a wonderful performance!

@ZuluRomeo

8y↑705

"I got a fever, and the only prescription... is MORE WOODBLOCK!"

@ALions-xh7rj

8y↑8

+Zion Ravescene "More Woodblock Baby."

@eddiewillers1

8y↑12

MOAAR WOODBLOCK!

Woodblock guy keeps good time, eh?

@youo3265

7y↑1

Edd

@youo3265

the

@tfpp1

7y↑23

I kinda wonder now what the piece would sound like if we actually substituted the wood block for cow bell. XD

6 More Replies...

@moeskido

6y↑95

I've never heard this piece, and now I want it to be the soundtrack of the life I should have led.

@halbos7637

5y↑9

Well said! LIVE!!!

@bbassjee

9y↑268

You can easily see who her idol and teacher has been ... She dances as joyful as Bernstein in front op the orchestra. Alsop; beautiful conductor.

@rachel3758

6y↑2

Bas Koolenbrander agreed,

@drewlaw9117

6y↑19

I think she was the last person Bernstein taught conducting to.

@halbos7637

6y↑11

Great comparison and observation. She is up there with the greats such as Bernstein, von Karajan, Ozawa, Leopold Stowkowski...

@khadijahbindavid9518

4y↑3

@Drew Law She is! She talks about what it was like in an interview I saw once

@drewlaw9117

4y↑5

Katherynn Hamilton Hello! I sang for her in Bernstein’s Mass, seven or eight years sgo😀 “before she was famous” and she was just brilliant. Hugged pretty much everyone afterwards too. Stay safe, Katherynn

2 More Replies...

@joestrike8537

3y↑24

that is some of the best camerawork I've ever seen in a concert TV presentation

@reev9759

6y↑15

Those rim shots get me every time.

@MendelssohnCZ

3y↑6

those guys know how to do a great rim job

@PoetryMan11

9y↑248

It is rare that percussion gets the leading role in any symphonic piece. It looks like jOhn Adams wanted the entire orchestra out of breath by the end of this fascinating and enjoyable piece. How can anybody sit still and experience this performance?!!

@johnappleseed8369

percussion Concertos???

@ethanliang1727

5y↑9

This piece is a fanfare, which features a dominant brass section.

@BenjaminStaern

I do!!

@samposyreeni

Oh, and the percussionist might feel the pressure too. Because just listen to where the nominal clock lands. Often just where you really don't want it to.

I truly wonder how this thing is written on paper. Because the whole assembly is going to be dealing with variable leading pauses, all round. Few mortals can not-play them, in all of their generality.

@lowlightpiano7110

37w

Repent and trust in Jesus. Hes the only way. We deserve Hell because weve sinned. Lied, lusted stolen, etc. But God sent his son to die on the cross and rise out of the grave. We can receive forgiveness from Jesus. Repent and put your trust in him.
John 3:16
Romans 3:23❤😊❤❤

1 More Replies...

@FunksIncKeys

2y↑23

I will never get enough of this piece

@NoahJohnson1810

7y↑34

She is INTO IT

@pauldeck4500

3y↑1

You don't get to be music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra by pussy-footing it.

@shlapleps3306

3y↑1

@Paul Deck true dat

@OliviaWeaver-pt7ue

7y↑17

Got to listen to this for my homework 😂

@bryancooker175

How are you doing today my name is Bryan cooker

@No-mr7cz

3y↑1

Same I have a test called music memory

@bryancooker175

@Mariah Cornelius okay

@bryancooker175

@Mariah Cornelius so where are you from

@mleonardbaker7966

3y↑14

Extraordinary! I hear this piece every once in a while on my Public Radio station, and it never fails to give me goosebumps! I have to buy the recording so that I can induce the goosebumps when I need them in the winter to keep me warm!

@jakmanxyom

5y↑52

It'd be so dope if some network decides to use it as its news theme - one can feel its sense of urgency yet still has grandeur in delivery that would be so fitting.

@johnreeves9237

5y↑8

Shit, this would make an amazing news theme. I can't see it in any other way

@mikeoxmaul45

3y↑3

This is BBCNN

@littlemarmoset

2y↑4

That would be a terrific idea indeed!

@patriciaslice1898

5y↑18

I've listened to this piece by several orchestras but Marin gets it just right!!

@hamwhacker

10y↑17

I love this exciting piece and Marin Alsop is a great conductor. Nice one!

@hturt4

46w↑2

Brilliant piece of music!

@Kessler1996

6y↑33

I love how cheerful and FUN this piece is, it's so frenetic and joyous - I love the way the conductor seems to be dancing along! Such a happy burst of volume and wind, love it

@otbbeats5892

9y↑205

How the fuck them woodwind players maintain that arpeggio for like 5 minutes, embrochure on fleek

@harryloo007

8y↑9

+Beezee Beats ice packs after the performance :')

@slash667

7y↑12

that is the most 21st century comment on youtube lol

@JJBerthume

7y↑3

Mike Beezee It's dovetailed.

@iannickCZ

6y↑1

Just imagine minimalist symphony e.g. from Steve Reich...they are trained for it.

@jmacku35

3y↑4

Full breaths, diaphragm control and hidden breaths. (I have played this before)

6 More Replies...

@jacquesbertrand3246

5y↑20

I just listened to an interview with Marin Aslop on "France Culture". She does more than just talk about music, she makes a connection between music and social issues in each era. For her, the music reflects our difficulties. That's why contemporary music sometimes seems "rough". But for her it's inevitable. She thinks that the so-called "contemporary" music will undergo a renewal, because it will accompany the difficulties of our world. I hope I do not distort his words. For me, it's a great lady!

@MarioVAmaya

15w

This is one of the best videos of a symphonic ensemble, period. For one, the audio recording is flawless, despite the absurd complexity of the score. And the camera editing always highlights each of the sections and solo instruments at their best moment! The piece itself is a whirlwind of emotions, beginning with a feeling of happiness and admiration and rapidly escalating to flashes of utter chaos and deep terror, exactly as the title implies - being a passenger in a sports car with a daredevil driver. My love for all this is endless. Brilliant performers and stellar conductor.

@gudrungehrke3188

17w

Tolles Werk! Und von dem Orchester und der großartigen Dirigentin perfekt umgesetzt!!!

@ZWRalZarek

5y↑5

Played Adams's "The Chairman Dances" with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, and then a month later got to see Mr. Adams conduct Short Ride in a Fast Machine with the Cleveland Orchestra. What an experience! The energy Adams brings to orchestral music is unmatched.

@jeanmelies8483

5y↑7

Such a thrilling, electric piece, thrillingly performed here by the incomparable Alsop. Many years ago I was blessed to see Marin Alsop conduct a live orchestral accompaniment to a screening of Chaplin's "City Lights" (in Santa Cruz, California), and it turned out to be one of the peak aesthetic experiences of my whole life.

@AllyGuppy

10y↑6

Playing this atm and the clarinet part takes so much concentration but wow I love this piece :,)

@itamarbar9580

This piece always calms me down, cleans my mind of thought and stress, and gives me the energy I need. Any attempt to thank Maestro Adams is futile.

@kkaabboooomm

3y↑6

I love this. It's like Copland on speed!

@guscairns1

6y↑6

As for what I love about this piece: I'm a Brit, but a few years back I drove over the Tioga Pass in Yosemite, though not in a fast sportcar, with the Sierra Nevada unfolding new views round every bend, and the [fluffed] trumpet entry at 3:07 is like when you finally reach the summit and see the vast Nevada desert in front of you...

@alisonhargreaves

5y↑3

Absolutely awesome - I get more and more excited about modern classical music every time I listen to this piece - so uplifting!

@geraldnorman9437

2y↑1

This maestra, puts a
Special spark in my
heart.

@jabrown1978

7y↑57

I looooooooooooove this piece. And Marin is a beast.

@jabrown1978

7y↑12

lorem ipsum lol was that really necessary??

@chaserooface

7y↑12

lorem ipsum seriously dude. I bet she'd rather people not discuss her personal life via YouTube comments. It's people like you that make the internet such a disappointing place.

@orpheuseclipse4236

Is this necessary?

@memesteroverlord8933

@The neon cosmonaut no you Bumman445

@billcurran3

8y↑3

Heard this for the first time on our classical music station. Even more enjoyable watching the orchestra performing it and Baltimore's own Marin Alsop conducting........... Well how much better can it get for an old Highlandtown boy.

@MIDIPipe

2y↑1

Lovely Music!

@gerdlindlar1980

3y↑3

brillant

@craigreeves5465

1y↑1

Marin Alsopp was vibing hard to this! Love it!

@thomasthompson6378

5y↑4

This piece of music makes my palms sweat, always.

@flynniejunior838

7y↑6

I saw Marin conduct an amazing youth orchestra yesterday, and they were playing this song! Small world!

@LiamClowMusic

3y↑2

I love this piece SO DAMN MUCH

@theoddgamingwolf3028

4y↑2

wow amazing

@magdalenaportmann2431

3y↑1

How exciting! What a tour de force! i love it! Oh how I wish I could play those Timpani!

@frogmouth

4y↑2

Fantastic rhythms

@user-dm5tv6hi9x

5y↑1

Love this piece by John Adams. So Cool Maestra Marin Alsop!

@keithyeung9097

4y↑1

One of the best version

@charlietian9843

6y↑4

she looks so cool conducting this quintessential american piece

@ikurasake

4y↑2

I had the privilege of playing this in secondary school band. I will always smile remembering those times while listening to this piece 🌝

@ericb3452

Great piece of music. I really enjoyed hearing this live at the symphony in the US.

@eliaskurban1517

46w

Phenomenal orchestral work! So grateful I got to perform this with The Cadets. 🙏🏼🔥

@jelanisurpriscomposer

4y↑6

Her conducting is superb! I love this recording

@HankKeter

2y↑1

A briljant performance of this rarely played modern music and briljantly recorded.

@MrLieinking

4y↑1

Love this crazy piece

@sakura7431

6y↑2

BRAVO!!!!

@spmoran4703

I was hooked on this composition from the time unheard it.

@carlosbitencourt6511

4y↑4

Já vi a Alsop conduzindo ESTA música! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

@rachelr24

4y↑52

Me when I saw this posted in google classroom:

JhOn AdAmS?! I know him, that can’t be

@scorpexy1938

3y↑2

I thought John Adams did Star wars Stuff, turns out it was John Williams who did Starwars stuff...

@scorpexy1938

3y↑2

@Evan Morgan Why Hello There Evan.

@NWR81

3y↑3

@Rachel, Haha Lol

@iangreer4585

Maybe John Adams spends the summer with his family?

@927drummerboy

5y↑1

Wow! Great filming!!!!!!!

@methyod

2y↑4

I feel like this would be nice to listen to on a DMT trip. Always felt like the title applied pretty well, and the duration works perfectly.

@danieljamesparker7396

The most exciting peice of music I've heard in a long time.....used to great effect in the TV series "we are who we are"

@wyattcarlyle2500

4y↑2

the conductor’s spunk gives me life

@matthewharris237

6y↑1

So we marched this piece this last season at my highschool, and I’ll just say that was the hardest 2 mins of a show I’ve ever seen

@RandomStuff-dr7rl

3y↑3

Only 800k views and 5k likes in 6 years. This deserves more.

@kelloginc1

5y↑7

0:57 literally one of the coolest parts

@artiesolomon3292

7y↑1

This work has much energy!

@LuisHumanoide

4y↑4

The music that describes a bright future

@mariposamonje2011

Thank you. Really a Master ... "Shaker Loops" is another of his great pieces.

@karj434

1y↑1

Ms. Alsop you're so incredibly talented. I'm so glad you're sharing this with me!!!!

@samposyreeni

What I suddenly understood is that this is the perfect auditory analogue of a quickie. With a short, dark, younger, spirited one. Such as I've been blessed with. OMFG!

@sebastienkochpiano3584

9y↑1

Fabulous composer, i had the great chance to premiere his piano concerto Century Rolls in France in 2014 with the National Orchestra de Lorraine, amazing pieces!

@wallybrown4392

9y↑2

Wunnerful, wunnerful. I like John Adams music very much, and this orchestra is magnifico, and I take back the things I said about women conductors. She is wunnerful. Thank you all very much. I live in the beautiful city, Oklahoma City. :-)

@colinmoore317

2y↑1

So good 👍

@kbaronshaffer

9y↑1

Awesome performance!

@felixainger3578

4y↑2

woah!!! that is INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@thomasthompson6378

In a good way, of course.

@IvorPresents

8y↑31

The piece is a workout for the conductor and the players. Forgive the brass, it added a touch of rustic charm to the driven piece. Saw this done live by the Pacific Symphony, exciting concert filler.

@LegoEngineer003

5y↑5

This song is the third movement of my high school’s marching show, and it’s pretty difficult to keep in time, it it seems like it will be interesting when we get better. For reference, the third movement is two and a half of four and a half pages of our music; the entire third page is just A for 1st clarinets.

@sophieuhh

yeah this is in my schools marching show as well

@stickfigureinternational8972

39w

Me tooo

@me-gx4zw

8y↑1

extraordinary!

@LisaDubyaNTx

7y↑1

Amazing!!

@user-xs3db6ox3q

3y↑3

3:49 "Hang on Trumpets!!"

@FarnooshYeganeh

10y↑2

wonderful

@georgepatterson6062

Kant philosophy

@danbradshaw5182

mind blown after this performance, so moving

@MS-df2fk

5y↑4

The Cadets of Bergen County drum corps did a spectacular version of this piece as their opener in 1991.

@jakenowell5211

3y↑2

SCV also did this in 2001 after their opener. Equally as good!

@riddlebobby

2y↑1

To be honest, drum and bugle corps has introduced me to a plethora of wonderful music just like this ❤️

@steveowen7475

Stunning

@rodrigojacobo3598

5y↑1

Bravooooo!!!

@puffley1912

9y↑1

I LOVE it!

@ferraraenzo7

7y↑1

Grande esecuzione!

@ninjamdragon158

3y↑6

The first guy playing with the orange drum sticks was on a zoom w my class, hes really funny and nice. His favourite instruments got me crying of laughter

@DaveDexterMusic

6y↑14

It's astonishing to me that some people are actually blaming the trumpet fluff on Marin's conducting. I've seen various great orchestras play difficult music, and on those similarly rare occasions someone messed up (generally the brass) it wasn't the conductor. It was the player. I've had my own music conducted and recorded and heard the process, and again - mistakes whilst the players refine their understanding of the piece. Musicians don't emerge into the world fully-formed able to play everything on demand, they might have rehearsed this for an hour or so that afternoon or the previous day, and so mistakes happen.

@mattiafioravanti8475

It's obviously the trumpets who were imprecise. It happens even to the best of 'em. Ciao

@thomasthompson6378

1y↑1

Yes, there's a "trumpet fluff" . . . but somehow it really seems just right and "in tune" with the composition.

@CharlotteRuth

7y↑1

Beautiful and exciting! :)

@lucyjoyintl

4y↑1

I miss watching live concerts!

@bryancooker175

How are you doing today my name is Bryan cooker

@ophs1980

7y↑12

Great performance. She got the right tempo. One minor problem was a trumpet entrance near the end but this is one of the better performances I've heard of this incredibly demanding piece of music.

@tekraynak

2y↑1

I have to disagree about the tempo. Starts a little too fast but doesn't keep the pace. Should maintain tempo throughout.

@lucschollaert113

51w↑1

SUPER .

@PMS1950

6y↑7

Marin is an absolutely superb conductor : she's conducted this particular piece with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and I think it's the best recording to date. She deserves to be Dame Marin, although being an American, this might not be possible - alas. And she doesn't look like Mrs Merkel.

@kiikat

4y↑1

This is intense

@simonwalter8026

9y↑11

A couple of years ago I watched a youtube clip of this piece where someone had made this amazing video like you were on a rollercoaster through the score. It would zoom along the stave and then focus in on important passages. I can't find it anywhere now? Has anyone else seen it?

@dongriffis7219

Simon Walter Are there some "important passages"?

@gigilosapio8573

4y↑1

this was one of the pieces in our marching show... freshman year...

@MEGAF00T

7y↑19

Why is this entire comment section full of "omg she's a women conductor." I have been conducted by women and men, and I'm only on my forth year, so why is it so spectacular for there to be a women conductor?

@kenton6804

5y↑5

Well, it's just unusual is all. Most folks go without ever having a woman as their conductor.

@alisonhargreaves

@Kenton Rubbish!

@kenton6804

@Alison Hargreaves I agree, I think the best conductors I've ever had were women.

@WilliamFord972

4y↑4

From my experience, female conductors get “stuck” in education (not that school/university orchestras can’t be fantastic), while male conductors “make it” to the “professional” world.

@frogmouth

@William Ford that has been the case but there are 5 or 6 % of conductors now in the USA and Britain that are succeeding in the big time. Much room for improvement . Problem is not Audience but Arts Admin.

2 More Replies...

@charlesdalmas6534

4y↑1

This is by far the sexiest classical piece I know. The woodblock is just ... insistent, shall we say? ;)

@matthias-josefkowol6231

9y↑40

1:54 is the best hemeola in music that I've ever played.

@AshnSilvercorp

6y↑3

this whole thing is Hemeola: The Score.
I love it.

@joshuagearing937

3y↑4

@Josef OConnor That's the point - the score is chucked with hemiolas in at random points in the score - the beginning is like a 4:3 polyrhythm in the winds, synths and brass, and then there's other points in the score where the rhythms collide over each other. So in summary, the whole score could be considered a hemiola of itself with hemiolas beyond that!

@baronvonsqueakytits9322

8y↑12

we're playing this in marching band and it's so hard

@nathanielthomas4437

Andrew Glick what kind of marching band...

@baronvonsqueakytits9322

7y↑1

high school

@halbos7637

5y↑2

Your Teacher is very brave and adventurous. This piece will make you all better musicians.

@rachelsimms6822

4y↑2

BaronVonSqueaky Tits so ,,,,, how did it go ???

@riddlebobby

First time i heard it was in drum corps, Santa Clara Vanguard 1999, great piece, translates to field so well

@MePeterNicholls

2y↑1

Really good camera directing and vision mixing here

@JJBRMusic

10y↑1

YES.

@oldcowbb

6y↑1

I was suffering from all the modernism "music" in my music textbook, and when this comes up, It surprises me how good it is

@AmitRajput-kj1er

4y↑1

Good video

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