Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson (1939 – 2024) was an American composer. He studied at Yale University with Elliott Carter and privately with Morton Feldman and worked as a music critic and composer, initially in New York and from 1983 in Paris. Working with reduced sound material, he was considered a minimalist. He became famous with “The Four Note Opera” (1972), a one-hour composition consisting of no more than four pitches arranged in different sequences. He constructed these with mathematical formulae and models, which became his main compositional principle. Other important works include his instrumental work “Rational Melodies” (1982) and “Bonhoeffer Oratorio” (1996) for soloists, choir and orchestra. In addition to numerous pieces for radio (e.g. “Melody Machines”, commissioned by WDR Cologne), he wrote various publications.