Tom Johnson

Village Voice music critic and modern composer Tom Johnson published two books, and created over 70 musical works, including pieces for piano (1971's "An Hour for Piano"), with text (1987's "Eggs and Baskets"), for radio ("J'Entends un Choeur," 1993), and, most notably, in opera. After obtaining his undergraduate and master's degrees from Yale, Johnson studied some with composer Morton Feldman, and has since composed for a variety of settings. His most highly regarded opera, "The Four Note Opera," went on to be performed dozens of times in a number of languages since its 1972 premiere. Another oft-performed work was "Failing: A Difficult Piece for Solo String Bass," which required the performer to speak throughout the already-challenging composition. While living in New York, Johnson wrote about modern composition for The Village Voice from 1972 to 1982, before moving to Paris, which had been his home since 1983. His articles for the New York paper can be found in the book The Voice of New Music (Apollohuis, 1991). Johnson also wrote a book on his music theories, Self-Similar Melodies (Editions 75, 1996). Tom Johnson died on December 31, 2024, at the age of 85. ~ Joslyn Layne, Rovi