Crisis. Against appearances
04.12.08 > 24.01.09
Opening : 04.12.08, 20h.

Some of Johnson’s musical compositions include the operas The Four Note Opera (1972) and Riemannoper (1988). Some of his most widely interpreted non-operatic works include Bedtime Stories, Rational Melodies, Music and Questions, Counting Duets, Tango, Narayana's Cows, and Failing: a very difficult piece for solo string bass. His most extensive composition, Bonhoeffer Oratorium, a two hour piece for orchestra and soloists, with text by the German theologist Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was awarded the Maastrich prize in 1966 and has been performed in Berlin and New York. Johnson has also written radio pieces such as J'entends un choeur (commissioned by Radio France for the Italian Prize, 1993), Music and Questions and Die Melodiemaschinen. His most recent projects are compositions for solo instrumentalists, such as Combinations for String Quartet, presented in Berlin for the MärzMusic Festival in 2004.

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Study to become "twelve" | 8 drawings on paper, 35 x 50 cm.
A minimalist composer, Johnson works with simple formulas, limited scales and reduced material sounds. The particularity of his composing is found in the use of sequences based on logical series, frequently employing permutations or mathematical sequences. His drawings abandon the linearity of the pentagram in favor of a spatial disposition of sound. These mathematical scores correspond to previous studies for composition and give us access to the logical systems that sustain Johnson’s music.