Minimalist Composer Tom Johnson has Died, Aged 85

Johnson trained with Morton Feldman and was greatly inspired by the work of John Cage

Born in 1939 in Colorado, Tom Johnson studied at Yale University and studied composition privately with Morton Feldman. He later met John Cage, who made a significant impact on his career as a composer.

In 1971, he began working as a music critic for the Village Voice, where he began writing about minimalism. His work there introduced him to composers such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass, among others. 

Johnson’s works include The Four Note Opera, a humorous work that has been performed regularly since its premiere. The opera uses only four notes, and the singers, who play themselves, share their personal thoughts with the audience about how the performance is going.

As a minimalist composer, Johnson used very limited material and was fond of incorporating mathematical arrangements. Among his works that use this format are Nine Bells, Rational melodies, Eggs And Baskets, and Music For 88.

In 1983, he moved to Paris, where he composed acclaimed operas including Riemannoper, a comic opera using musical definitions from the Riemann Musiklexikon which has been staged more than 20 times in German-speaking countries since its premiere in Bremen in 1988.

His other notable works include the Bonhoeffer Oratorium, which uses sermons and texts denouncing Nazism written by the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Kientzy Loops, which was awarded the Victoires de la Musique Classique prize. In 1993, he was commissioned by Radio France to compose J’entends un chœur. 

From 2012 to 2013, Johnson created a series of radio programs titled “Music by My Friends” for London’s Resonance FM, in which he explored works by 20th-century composers. He also founded two publishing companies to release his work: Two-Eighteen Press in the U.S. and Les Éditions 75 in France. 

“Farewell to American minimalist composer and writer Tom Johnson,” composer Robin Rimbaud posted on Instagram. “It’s sad to begin a new year with a loss, but he reached a ripe age and has left us plenty to inspire … His own work championed the ideas of minimalism and an extensive use of mathematics, but it’s his book on New Music that really has proven to be a huge inspiration to me personally over the years. They literally offer an almost live development of how new music advanced in the USA, and captured the emergence of so many composers at the time, names that familiar to many today, such as Eliane Radigue, Phill Niblock, Steve Reich, Brian Eno, Gavin Bryars, Philip Glass, John Cage, Luc Ferrari, and countless others.”

Our condolences to Mr. Johnson’s family, friends, and colleagues.