Thomas Floyd Johnson (November 18, 1939 – December 31, 2024) was an American composer and music critic associated with minimalism. After a religious upbringing in Colorado, he studied at Yale with Allen Forte and in New York City with Morton Feldman. There he covered the work of several noted composers, bringing them to wider attention in The Village Voice.

He found inspiration in the ideas of ancient and early modern mathematicians and philosophers, and collaborated with contemporary mathematicians, while incorporating theatrical and visual elements in his work. Johnson often sought to engage audiences by explaining or narrating the processes of his music in or as part of the musical experience. He relocated to Paris in 1983, where he remarried in 1986 and lived until his death. His works include An Hour for Piano, The Four-Note Opera, Riemannoper, and the Bonhoeffer Oratorio.

Background and education

Tom Johnson was born in Greeley, Colorado, on November 18, 1939, where he received a religious education at a Methodist church, which influenced his work. He earned two degrees from Yale, a B.A. (1961) and the M.Mus. (1967), however, the term 'minimal' had been used in minimal art since the mid-1960s. Through his music journalism, he met composers Steve Reich and Philip Glass, among others most often for René Farabet (France Culture) In Galileo (1999–2005), bells swing like pendulums in tempos determined by the length of their strings, permitting the composer to make music following the laws of the pendulum, as formulated by Galileo Galilei in the 17th century.

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  • Tom Johnson on YouTube
  • Catalogue kalvos.org
  • Girard, Bernhard: Conversations avec Tom Johnson (book of interviews) musicae.fr
  • Johnson, Tom: The Voice of New Music: New York City 1972–1982 – A Collection of Articles Originally Published by the Village Voice 1989
  • Tom Johnson Editions 75, 2025
  • Tom Johnson: Some Observations on Tiling Problems IRCAM
  • An Hour for Piano streamed online produced by Irritable Hedgehog Music
  • 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?"
  • Greg Sandow: NewMusicBox.org: View From The East: An Old Friend newmusicbox.org 2003