Proportion, temporality, and performance issues in piano works of John Adams

This dissertation is focused on investigating the ways in which John Adams shapes time in his piano compositions. Underlying their fluid, seemingly improvisatory musical surfaces, Adams's piano works feature a high level of organization. In light of their unwavering pulsation in constant tempi and the absence of other traditional markers that influence perception of musical time, proportionality becomes a prime method by which Adams shapes time in his piano pieces---a feature especially evident in the tightly organized networks of temporal proportions that create and demarcate form in China Gates (1977) and Phrygian Gates (1977--78). Although Hallelujah Junction (1996) in some ways epitomizes Adams's increasingly intuitive style, his approach to temporality in this later composition has consistencies with his earlier piano works. Thus, I explore the use of proportion and other methods of temporal organization in Hallelujah Junction, comparing it to China Gates and Phrygian Gates to see how Adams shapes time across his piano output. Throughout my analyses, I propose ways in which performers may effectively convey the temporal proportions in these works. Finally, I investigate further applications of my approach in non-piano works by Adams and works by Steve Reich.;Chapter 1 provides an introduction to Adams's compositional style, examines his relationship to minimalism and post-minimalism, provides a survey of scholarly literature on his music, situates his piano works within his compositional output, and provides an introduction to my analytical approach. Chapter 2 summarizes prominent recent approaches to temporality by musical scholars, prominent writings on time in physics and psychology, noteworthy recent approaches to proportion by musical scholars, and finally situates my approach among the theories and philosophies discussed (the greatest influences being John Roeder and Jonathan Kramer). In Chapters 3--5, I analyze temporal design and proportional organization in China Gates, Phrygian Gates, and Hallelujah Junction, discussing the implications of these findings not only for analysis but also for performance of the pieces. Finally, Chapter 6 features analyses of non-piano works by Adams and Steve Reich that demonstrate the usefulness of temporality and proportion for analysis of pulse-based minimalist and post-minimalist compositions.