Name: Gnarly Buttons
Start: 2025-12-11T19:30:00+00:00
Location: The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh

Andrew Manze conductor
Maximiliano Martín clarinet
Once a self-identifying minimalist, radical American composer John Adams quickly jumped from cool, hypnotic pulsations to red-hot emotion and vast cinematic soundscapes in his colourful, witty music. Experience that thrilling journey in three iconic pieces by this pioneering musician.
Minimalist classic Shaker Loops is a rippling soundscape of quivering energy – sometimes frenetic, sometimes meditative, but never less than mesmerisingly beautiful.
Mooing cows and ancient American hymns are among the inspirations behind Adams’ zany clarinet concerto Gnarly Buttons – played by charismatic SCO Principal Clarinet Maximiliano Martín – which blends humour and heart in music that spans jazz, pop, folk and the surging repetitions of minimalism. Fearful Symmetries is one of Adams’ boldest and brightest pieces, a high-energy workout of driving rhythms and larger-than-life orchestral sound.