AUGUSTA READ THOMAS

One of the Foremost Composers of our Time

AN ONLINE EXHIBITION
of Striking Visual Representations of the Musical, Philosophical, and Spiritual Dimensions of the Composer’s Works

Augusta Read Thomas continues to leave an indelible mark on the landscape of contemporary American art music. A luminary of her generation, Thomas has been called “a true virtuoso composer” (The New Yorker) and “one of the most recognizable and widely loved figures in American music” (American Academy of Arts and Letters).

Her oeuvre defies easy categorization and stylistic boundaries, encompassing myriad sources of inspiration from mythology and religious philosophy to beatboxing and modern dance.

My music, which is organic and, at every level, concerned with transformations and connections, should be played so that the inner life of the different rhythmic, timbral and pitch syntaxes are made explicit and are then organically allied to one another with characterized phrasing of rhythm, color, harmony, counterpoint, tempo, keeping it alive – continuously sounding spontaneous.
Augusta Read Thomas

Underpinning the careful structure of her music are layers upon layers of unseen brainstorming, planning, and sketching. For Thomas, these layers take the form of drawings, colorful maps, charts, and dynamic visual art. Behind the music itself, Thomas’ graphic sketches illustrate the depth of her creativity and illuminate her compositional process.

The following pages present a collection of the sketches, maps, illustrations, and graphic art behind twenty-six complete musical works with additional material from her lectures, composition lessons, and musical exploration.

All of this, hopefully, working toward the fundamental goal: to compose a work in which every musical parameter is allied in one holistic gestalt.
Augusta Read Thomas