Philip Glass

[amp]

Anybody know anything about Philip Glass? I heard his #5 etude on an arts channel (don't remember who played it), and I really loved it. I have never heard of him, although the tune was familar. Should I have known him, is his music standard reportoire?

Does anybody agree with me about the Etude #5? Any other pieces that are particulary good? I would like to read through some.

[pskim]

He is a minimalist composer, a pretty famous at that.  If you are into contemporary classical (20th-21st) century music, he will come up as one of the leading 20th century minimalist composer.  I personally don't like minimalist is because.....it's minimal, i.e.  too many repetition of everything.  It's sort of like listening to too much Debussy in one day but minimalists can do that in less than 2 minutes.  But that's only my personal opinion.  But if you like his music, kudos for you.

[Colette]

I think Philip Glass is an intriguing contemporary composer, even if his compositional style has not expanded much over his long career. I've seen some good and bad multi media ("avant garde"---a butchered term) performances which incorporate his music. He has often collaborated with Robert Wilson,  a choreographer/producer/artist, with some great results. A very successful working relationship produced hIs most famous work, the opera Einstein on the beach. You can buy recordings of this but the full effect is truly on stage. I saw a broadcast of it on TV and my parents apparently saw it live some 20 years ago, and it is an amazing performance piece. About a year ago I saw his opera "Nixon in China" and the people I went with moaned and promptly begged me to leave, although I thought it was really great. However,  a not so successful (in my mind) collaboration was a few years ago with Lou Reed in a project called "Time Rocker". I saw this live, and was thoroughly unimpressed, even if it was Lou Reed. Recently, he wrote the soundtrack for the movie "The Hours", and I think his artistic contribution was far more exciting than the movie itself, but that's just me. His piano music including the etudes are sparse, repetitive and hypnotic. He performed a set of his own piano works with another pianist in New York recently. He is not a talented pianist, (admittedly so) but is decent enough to get the emotional impact of his work across to the audience, for better or for worse.

[ramseytheii]

I think Philip Glass is an intriguing contemporary composer, even if his compositional style has not expanded much over his long career. I've seen some good and bad multi media ("avant garde"---a butchered term) performances which incorporate his music. He has often collaborated with Robert Wilson,  a choreographer/producer/artist, with some great results. A very successful working relationship produced hIs most famous work, the opera Einstein on the beach. You can buy recordings of this but the full effect is truly on stage. I saw a broadcast of it on TV and my parents apparently saw it live some 20 years ago, and it is an amazing performance piece. About a year ago I saw his opera "Nixon in China" and the people I went with moaned and promptly begged me to leave, although I thought it was really great. However,  a not so successful (in my mind) collaboration was a few years ago with Lou Reed in a project called "Time Rocker". I saw this live, and was thoroughly unimpressed, even if it was Lou Reed. Recently, he wrote the soundtrack for the movie "The Hours", and I think his artistic contribution was far more exciting than the movie itself, but that's just me. His piano music including the etudes are sparse, repetitive and hypnotic. He performed a set of his own piano works with another pianist in New York recently. He is not a talented pianist, (admittedly so) but is decent enough to get the emotional impact of his work across to the audience, for better or for worse.

Good post, esp. teh first sentence!  I recommend for Glass' piano music the beautiful piece, "Mad Rush," which is not hard to play (even though Glass can't play it himself).

Walter Ramsey

[soliloquy]

Good post, esp. teh first sentence!  I recommend for Glass' piano music the beautiful piece, "Mad Rush," which is not hard to play (even though Glass can't play it himself).

Walter Ramsey

Die.

[liszt1022]

this is a 3 year old thread, right?
why did it come back?
In any case, Nixon in China was written by John Adams.
Also, I posted me playing "Mad Rush" in the Audition Room, if whoever made the thread hasn't gotten around to it yet.
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,11888.0.html
/\ that's it

[anodibu]

Good post, esp. teh first sentence!  I recommend for Glass' piano music the beautiful piece, "Mad Rush," which is not hard to play (even though Glass can't play it himself).

Walter Ramsey

The first performance of Mad Rush was given by Philip Glass on organ and he later recorded it for piano (on a commercial recording), so I don't know where you got your claim from.

[ramseytheii]

The first performance of Mad Rush was given by Philip Glass on organ and he later recorded it for piano (on a commercial recording), so I don't know where you got your claim from.

Well, I am being a bit harsh, but his own recording on the piano (never heard the organ) at the best, leaves a lot to be desired.  He can't seem to play his quasi-Alberti figures or the arpeggios without totally cramping up.  That being said, I still have a positive impression of the music!

Walter Ramsey

[anodibu]

Well, I am being a bit harsh, but his own recording on the piano (never heard the organ) at the best, leaves a lot to be desired.  He can't seem to play his quasi-Alberti figures or the arpeggios without totally cramping up.  That being said, I still have a positive impression of the music!

Walter Ramsey

Oh ok I thought you were unaware of the recording, fair enough.