Philip Glass

[scottder]

the new Naxos one with symphonies 2 and 3 (Bournemouth SO).

I have this CD and love, along with the Kronos Quartet doing his String Quartets.

[Lethe]

Danke, I'll check those.

[Catison]

In the opening post, I mentioned Glass's Symphony No. 6, which hadn't been recorded at the time.  Here is a review I did in the What Are You Listening To thread of the new recording.  I think it might be an important addition here.

Philip Glass - Symphony No. 6 "Plutonian Ode"    Bruckner Orchestra Linz, Dennis Russell Davies cond., Lauren Flanigan sop.

Since the early 90's, Glass has been trying to reshape himself as a concert composer, writing less for his own ensemble and more for orchestras and especially opera.  His first four symphonies were completely instrumental, but for 5 and 6, he has drawn upon his operatic side, creating dramatic, vocal symphonies.  For the sixth, he has allowed himself a single soprano to set Allen Ginsberg's "Plutonian Ode".  The text is sung, word for word, by the soprano over Glass's usual undulating chords.  Yet for the first time in awhile (his Cello Concerto is another example), Glass has been able to expand his vocabulary a little to create some really brooding music.  You instantly know its him, but he has a sinister quality that I have never noticed in his music before.

For the most part it works.  Glass follows the structure of the poem, which is in three parts.  The first part is incredibly long, taking up 3 pages of text in the booklet.  The other two parts take up less than 1 page a piece.  Because of the length of part I, he sets it as if it is a soliloquy in an opera, but to the point that it almost seems to be just that.  It is recessitive and accompaniment.  Glass doesn't really seem to comment much on the text, which is what I think a vocal symphony is really all about.  There are moments when the soprano stops and the orchestra gets its chance, but they don't seem to coincide to each other.

Part II is much more successful.  Glass allows the orchestra to really interact with soloist, creating some very delicate and personal music.  But in Part III, Glass hits it perfect.  Part III is just as long as Part I, yet the text is a third of the length.  It gives him a chance to really develop his sound world.  And for the first time since maybe Koyaanisqatsi (think The Grid), he has allowed himself an ultra slow, building development.  The development is so slow, it approaches his pieces from the early 70's which were all about building up slowly moving textures.  When the soprano comes in, you feel you already understand how she feels, and she sings that way.  The words make sense, and the music, almost for the first time, really reaffirms the text's message.  Its a great way to end the symphony.

The CD also comes with a second disc that is the symphony all over again, but with Allen Ginsberg reading his poem over the orchestra (with the soprano turned down).  It is interesting, because Ginsberg is such a gifted reader, but is no alternative to the actual symphony.

[lukeottevanger]

The CD also comes with a second disc that is the symphony all over again, but with Allen Ginsberg reading his poem over the orchestra (with the soprano turned down).  It is interesting, because Ginsberg is such a gifted reader, but is no alternative to the actual symphony.

Now that's really interesting, because by far my favourite Glass piece is the 7 minute Echorus, which is also a setting of Ginsburg, the poet reading his text beautifully over string orchestra. A humbling and exquisitely beautiful work....though if I had to decide exactly why it was so moving, I think I'd go about 60-40 in favour of Ginsburg's contribution over that of Glass...perhaps that's not fair Whatever, I'll look into this 6th symphony for this reason - thanks.

[Ugh]

I agree that Glass' filmscores have become tedious and uninteresting while the Quatsi trilogy remains among his best work. Have concentrated mainly on his theatrical work and must confess I know little of his concertos etc. I always prefered Steve Reich and John Adams of the minimalists anyway (while not appreciating Terry Riley at all)

but this post was interesting reading

[Sean Austen]

Catison! Thanks v much for your two main posts, which I've taken pleasure in reading closely. I'm a veritable Glass addict and delighted this morning to find my enthusiasm isn't quite so unusual; so many people, listeners and academics, misunderstand Glass and other minimalists, perhaps more than any other area of the repertory. Excuse my own long post as I also take this subject to be really important.

The Tirol concerto is a fine piece as you say, quite Beethovenian in its recontextualisation of previous ideas and the critical objectivity it brings to its own material (when the average ignorant academic would assume Glass is one of the most uncritical composers): Beethoven's late piano sonatas for instance similarly takes previous ideas of sequence and form and shifts then in fascinating ways. There's great intelligence in this piece.

We could talk a long time about the other various works you mention. I wouldn't argue of course that all Glass is prepared to the same kind of level. There is a populist side to him, and I'd disagree that the Cello concerto is among his best works: too much cloying bright colour and jazz-blues sounding off-dissonances. But let me make a recommendation- do you know the Dances set, originally a multimedia piece of 1979 (fp Amsterdam)? Dance No.1 is one of the most interesting works in the whole of musical history. I'm the keenest of listeners and I know music in the thousands of hours, but I can say that this piece of music is the one I've now heard more than any other: it is totally gripping and exhilarating.

And the same goes for so much of his work. There's the idea that minimalism is boring, but in fact it consumes the attention like no other music: you are absolutely transfixed by the repetitions and want only to concentrate as intently as possible with no distractions at all; the best of it is the most un-turn-offable music there is, leading you on through the removal the traditional sense of formal frameworks and closure even more effectively that Wagner. And like Wagner the listener doesn't get to 'know' and internalise the music as they do with ordinary formal music. (There are also interesting parallels with narcotics, and sex, of course).

These are just a few lines from a file of notes I have on the question of repetition: it refers the mind to the aesthetic content of the musical material- which of course by its nature is an inexhaustible source of fascination. Wagner, Bruckner, Bax, Scarlatti and many others we could discuss, use the same techniques in their various ways: Wagner repeats motifs until their inner glory shines out with utter blazing radiance; he was switched on to this phenomenon even in his early Rule Britannia overture, which was rejected when submitted to some London board of music, and you can see why- looking at the score, it shoudn't work, but when hearing it and the human attention is actually involved (rather than only the rational analysis of the score), a curious and primordial logic wells up.

The links with the Indian tradition extend to Indian philosophy and the account of bliss-consciousness: to paraphrase the Vedas, 'One’s desire rises to support that of others, rejoicing in the happiness of others desiring that support’: there's a curious self-referential processes going on in the mind with what is heard- repetitive scores should be dull, but some of them aren’t, and it’s to do with the mind taking in what it hears, but before finishing analysing it, having it given to it again.

In Indian philosophy enlightenment is associated with a state of mind where the attention refers back to itself before getting lost in the objects of the senses- you can be entirely engaged in the world, yet unaffected by it and detached: in fact, paradoxically, it’s when you achieve this that you operate most effectively. (There is true freedom in containment ie when the attention doesn't stray out to unsupported rational thought.)

These are his works I know so far: Cello concerto, Company, Glassworks, Meetings along the edge, Offering, Saxophone quartet concerto, Symphonies Nos.2, 3 & 5, The Canyon, Tirol piano concerto, Violin concerto, 1987, Music in twelve parts, String quartets Nos.3-5, Contrary motion, Dance Nos.1-5, Etudes vol.1 Nos.1-10, Mad rush, A Descent into the maelstrom, Another look at harmony part four, Channels and winds, Itaipu, Music for voices, Akhnaten, Belle et a Bete, Einstein on the beach, Satyagraha, The Civil warS, act five I desperately need to get hold of the film scores and hope to make a purchase v soon: there's a box set of the earlier two (I've heard them though).

[Catison]

Glass is one of the most popular composers around, so you are in good company.

I can entirely agree with you about Dance No. 1 (not to be confused with the section in Einstein with the same name).  When I first heard that piece, I was immediately blown away.  I put the entire Dance album on repeat for a whole day and listened to it.  It is an intoxicating piece.  For a long time, I was unsure why, but to me, it has come down to the soprano part.  The way she sings, it is as if she is crying out, but somehow I don't know if it is a painful cry or an orgasmic cry.  That voice, with the perfectly varied repetition underneath makes it one of Glass's most powerful pieces.  (Check out my review at Amazon, and look at the date.  I knew that day was going to be too good.)

I was unsure before, but I think Glass is showing a late style now, which is more lyrical.  The second movement of the Tirol Concerto being a prime example.  That movement is positively Schubertian.  I told a friend of mine about this and, although he hadn't heard the piece, he wasn't surprised.  He said he had heard and interview with Glass in the mid-80's where he admitted to be obsessed with Schubert's D.960.  I just think its taken him a long time to incorporate this into his music, although he has shown signs of it in previous music.  One of my absolute favorite moments in all of his work is in CIVIL warS, during Scene C (starting at 8:10), when the music takes on a completely new character.  There is a softness and delicacy.  Glass slowly adds textures to the music, and when the trombones come in, I am torn between a sort of sadness and joy.  That is pretty powerful stuff.  And I am unsure whether it would have the same effect, but sometimes I wish Laurie Anderson would just shut the hell up.

I enjoy the Cello Concerto because it shows a new direction for Glass.  I cannot put my finger on it, but it has a more sinister, dramatic quality that is also present in his Symphony No. 6.  We'll have to see where it goes, though.  I will relisten to the Concerto tonight and see what I can get out of it.

[Lyric Suite]

I enjoy the Cello Concerto because it shows a new direction for Glass.  I cannot put my finger on it, but it has a more sinister, dramatic quality that is also present in his Symphony No. 6.  We'll have to see where it goes, though.  I will relisten to the Concerto tonight and see what I can get out of it.

He's getting sinister allright, he even made an appearance on South Park. 

[Catison]

I saw that episode when it first aired, "Mr. Hanky, The Christmas Poo".  At the time, I had no idea who Glass was, and I thought it was funny they were paradying modernist music.  But at the same time, I became interested to know who he was.  When I saw his name in the back of my music history book, I decided I would check him out.  I went to the library and got a few CDs.  I was hooked, and the rest is history.

[Sean Austen]

Catison, I'll have a look at that link after this, thanks, and try and get back to you tomorrow also.

Re. Dance No.1, the ravishing soprano part is certainly part of the intoxication: it's interesting you say orgasmic- I take it she's singing solfage syllables, but there are perhaps unmistakable connotations of erotic words. And certainly Iris Hiskey's voice is possessed of some of the most feminine, alluring and beautifully sexy harmonics of all time, and the way she seems to touch the notes in is precisely in line with the work's compelling yet understated radiance. I've never come across her work before- do you know of any? The recording is from the year of the first performance and I wonder if she moved onto other things thereafter.

No.3 of course involves a repeated section of a few minutes long, so though I've also played it dozens of times its not as developed and organic; No.5 I think is the least successful of the three despite its good motifs, though I still rate it highly. I remember seeing somewhere that Dances 1 & 3 have been done again on CD- I must seek them out. It's music to play at high volume and is well accompanied by a can of strong lager, not least because I can do nothing but sit totally engrossed. This music is a real phenomenon; it is ecstatic.

What fabulously strong melodic voice Glass has- just a couple of notes and you know it can be no one else: this at least puts him in an elite class of composers.

[Sean Austen]

(Catison, I couldn't see a reviewer from Wisconsin, but I read each of them anyway!)

I found you from the date now!

[Bill]

I only have his Dracula cd that is performed by the Kronos Quartet and like it much.  they discussed it on NPR:

and I quote:

DRACULA
 

All Things Considered, October 29, 1999 · After 68 years the movie Dracula at last has a musical score. When the now classic horror film, Dracula terrified audiences in 1931, it did so without a musical soundtrack. Universal Pictures has now released the film on home video with a score written by composer Phillip Glass and performed by the Kronos Quartet. Glass and the Quartet are performing the new Dracula soundtrack in a limited tour. Noah Adams spoke to Glass before earlier this week before a performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. (8:00)

Music heard before, during and after this piece was from the soundtrack "DRACULA" by Phillip Glass and the Kronos Quartet, on the Nonesuch label


Here is the link:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1066003

[Sean Austen]

Catison, I know both recordings of Einstein, and though the choral singing especially is far more assured and professional in the latter, I liked the ghostly effect of the earlier less reverberant accoustic, and the tone of the electric organ. Satyagraha is perhaps my favoured opera, bringing out those Indian philosophy associations. Anyway, I'll report back when I get my hands on the film scores CDs- quite soon I hope.

[jwinter]

I have the DVD of Lugosi's Dracula, and I must say the Glass soundtrack is pretty effective.  It compliments the mood of the film nicely.

Glassworks was one of the first classical CDs I ever bought, almost 20 years ago now.  I still enjoy it, and for me it will probably always be the work I go to when I'm in the mood for Glass.  I've since picked up the piano etudes and the Naxos CDs of symphonies 2 & 3 and the violin concerto -- all very enjoyable.   

[uffeviking]

My first Glass disc was his Songs from liquid days (1986) which made me curious "Who is this guy" and I bought the Glassworks. I have been with this unique musical genius ever since.

On the liqued days disc is Open the Kingdom sung by Douglas Perry, another attention getter and then I had the great privilege and pleasure to attend 'Satyagraha at the Seattle Opera with Perry as Gandhi. Talk about one in a life time experience!