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I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky

1995 song play

Field	Value
name	I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky
genre	"Song play"
composer	John Adams
librettist	June Jordan
based_on
premiere_date

I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky is a 1995 "song play" with music composed by John Adams and a libretto by June Jordan.

The work is scored for three mezzo sopranos, high tenor, tenor and two baritones, accompanied by an ensemble comprising two reed players (clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone), three keyboards (piano, keyboard samplers), acoustic and electric guitars, electric bass guitar (doubling on double bass) and drum set (doubling on MIDI drums).

Summary

The story takes place in the aftermath of the 1994 earthquake in Los Angeles, and covers the reactions of all characters to the event.

The main characters are seven young Americans all living in Los Angeles but from different social and ethnic backgrounds.

Style

According to the composer, the all song and ensemble piece is "a Broadwaystyle show" fused with gospel, pop ballad, the blues, doo-wop and popular song.

References

Swed, Mark. (August 25, 2014). "Review: John Adams' 'Ceiling/Sky' remains earthbound".
Adams, John. "I was looking at the ceiling and then I saw the sky (1995): Songplay in two acts".
Hamlin, Jesse. (May 7, 1995). "What's Shakin' With Adams And Sellars? / Composer and director team anew -- this time with poet June Jordan -- an earthquake-inspired love story / 'I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky'".
"Adams: I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky (Highlights)".
(February 1999). "Adams I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky". [[Gramophone (magazine).
Meisel, Myron. (August 25, 2014). "'I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky': Opera Review". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
Clements, Andrew. (October 13, 2005). "Adams: I Was Looking at the Ceiling, Holst-Sinfonietta/ Simon".
"Adams, J: I was looking at the ceiling and then I saw the sky".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

operas-by-john-adams-(composer) english-language-operas 1995-operas operas operas-set-in-the-united-states works-set-in-los-angeles fiction-set-in-1994 operas-set-in-the-20th-century

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