Tom Johnson

(b Greeley, co, 18 Nov 1939). American composer. He studied at Yale and with Feldman, and was an influential critic on the Village Voice (1971-83). His works include The Four-note Opera (1972) and Nine Bells (1979).

American entrepreneur and politician Tom Loftin Johnson (1854-1911) made a fortune from his inventions and investments, then began a second, distinguished career as a reform congressman and mayor.

Tom L. Johnson was born at Blue Spring, Ky., on July 18, 1854. During the Civil War his family experienced hard times, and he received little formal education. Young Johnson made his way by selling newspapers, and his earnings enabled the family to move to Louisville, Ky., just after the war. While still a teenager, he began working for the streetcar company of family friends. He quickly worked his way up from office boy to superintendent.

Johnson invented the first fare box for coins, and his earnings from this, plus loans from friends, gave him enough capital at the age of 22 to buy controlling interest in an Indianapolis streetcar company. In 1879 Johnson boldly bought into a Cleveland streetcar line. This venture made him a business rival of Mark Hanna, who later became his political rival as well. Johnson prospered and soon was able to increase his streetcar holdings. He also invented an improved streetcar rail and built steel mills to produce his inventions. By the late 1890s he was a millionaire.

Though he had made his fortune in business, Johnson began to turn against capitalism. He had read Henry George's Progress and Poverty, a powerful critique of America's economic system, and after meeting George in 1885, he became a spokesman for George's tax reform ideas. At George's urging Johnson ran for the U.S. Congress from Ohio, losing twice, but winning in 1890 and 1892. In Congress, Johnson was a free-trade Democrat who opposed the protective tariff, which he saw as another form of economic privilege.

By 1900 Johnson's conversion to reform was complete. He sold all his streetcar and manufacturing interests and was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1901 as a reform Democrat. His program of municipal home rule, regulation of streetcar monopolies, and municipal ownership of public utilities attracted bright young progressives to his administration. He built an efficient political organization, which was as effective as many orthodox city "machines" but did not resort to traditional machine practices of bribery and patronage.

During Johnson's four terms as mayor (1901-1909), he fought the political bosses successfully and modernized the city through scientific management of public works, non-partisan administration of many city bureaus, and extension of social services. He was a remarkable organizer and an outstanding figure of the early Progressive movement. He died on April 10, 1911.

Further Reading

Johnson's autobiography, My Story, edited by Elizabeth J. Hauser (1913), provides the best overview of his career. Frederick C. Howe, The Confessions of a Reformer (1925), is by an admiring associate. Carl Lorenz, Tom L. Johnson: Mayor of Cleveland (1911), is more critical. A balanced assessment of Johnson is in Hoyt Landon Warner's scholarly Progressivism in Ohio, 1897-1917 (1964).

Additional Sources

Johnson, Tom Loftin, My story, Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1993.

Murdock, Eugene C., Tom Johnson of Cleveland, Dayton, Ohio: Wright State University Press, 1993.

American composer and critic Tom Johnson (born November 18, 1939 in Greeley, Colorado), is one of the few composers to self-identify as minimalist; in fact, he may have coined the term while serving as the new music critic for the Village Voice^{[citation needed]}. He has since collected those articles in the book The Voice of New Music which is available free through the external link below. He has lived in Paris since 1983.

His pieces are most often based simply on mathematical and logical processes, such as tiling, which he attempts to make as clear as possible. His works include: Rational Melodies, An Hour for Piano, Organ and Silence, and The Four Note Opera. As Greg Sandow (2003) describes Nine Bells, "in which he walked, at a steady rhythmic pace (and, if I remember correctly, for more than an hour), among nine suspended burglar alarm bells, systematically exploring all the possible paths among them. Which, since he strikes each bells as he passes it, are also all the possible melodies their pitches might make. As in many of Tom's works, theory and practice are identical here... You see and hear the structure of the piece. That's not even remotely abstract; instead, it's pure happiness, as the pealing bells seem to ring with Tom's concentration (visible in his face and body, audible in his steady steps), and his joie de vivre."

Johnson received the French "Victoires de la Musique" prize for contemporary composition (the French equivalent of the "Grammies") in 2001 for "Kientzy Loops".

Johnson is married to artist Esther Ferrer.

References

• Johnson, Tom (1989). The Voice of New Music: New York City 1972-1982 -- A Collection of Articles Originally Published by the Village Voice. Eindhoven, Netherlands: Het Apollohuis. ISBN 90-71638-09-X. Available for free download at: [1]

External links

• Tom Johnson biography
• Tom Johnson Editions 75
• Some Observations on Tiling Problems by Tom Johnson
• Lovely Music Artist: Tom Johnson
• NewMusicBox.org: Tom Johnson answers: "What role has theory played in your compositions and how important is it for people to know the theory behind the music in order to appreciate it?"
• Four-note Opera
• THE VOICE OF NEW MUSIC (1991) "An anthology of articles on the evolution of minimal music in New York in 1972-1982, which originally appeared in the Village Voice. Published originally by Apollohuis, in Eindhoven, Holland, and now available as a free download."
• NewMusicBox.org: View From The East: An Old Friend By Greg Sandow © 2003 NewMusicBox
• Bonhoeffer Oratorium Program Notes

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