In my opinion Philip Glass's work began to go downhill as he got progressively more famous, I'm not exactly sure why. It would probably be an enjoyable experience to see that opera though.
My favorite music from him is the stuff recorded in the 70s, with his first opera, Einstein on the Beach, being a true minimalist masterpiece in my opinion. Some of his later stuff is sometimes good, but pretty hit or miss, and not always the best use of synthesizers IMO. Sometimes I actually think he starts to sound like a watered down parody of himself actually. He seems to have tried to make a compromise between minimalism and more traditional music, and make his music more accessible to the masses. Minimalism Lite (TM). Whereas the really good 70s stuff just has these sort of walls of sound that go on and on, really slowly evolving, and you start to hear all these really crazy harmonics and sounds within the texture. Something many list members could probably appreciate. _Dave -----Original Message----- From: Garrett McGrath [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2003 5:18 AM To: Cyclone Wehner Cc: 313@hyperreal.org Subject: Re: (313) Philip Glass he's done 13 full operas and 5 chamber operas. it's what he did most throughout the '90's. Einstein On The Beach might be the most famous. ironically it was his first, i think. it contains a lot of intricate voices-as-instrumentation stuff. in the 60's he (arguably) invented minimalism as it pertains to classical, while living in nyc and steadily writing & arranging new pieces involving intricately staggered, repetitive vocals and/or minimal orchestration. after living in paris for a couple years, transcribing Ravi Shankar and studying a lot of indian/african music, he came back to new york and eventually turned out Music In 12 Parts. Einstein was soon thereafter. key works, imo, would be Glassworks, Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack, A Descent into the Maelström, Solo Piano ('89), Einstein on the Beach, Symphony No. 2 and 3, and The Hours soundtrack. Naqoyqatsi is also quite good. he's done a number of soundtracks; i listen to The Hours pretty regularly. it's become one of my favorite pieces of music. all kinds of info at philipglass.com, of course. an extremely interesting artist that you should find out about if you have the inclination. i'm guessing that if Dennis Desantis or others get hold of this thread they can tell you much more... for sure he can tell you more about others like Steve Reich and Gavin Bryars. On Sunday, August 17, 2003, at 01:22 AM, Cyclone Wehner wrote: > I have never been a huge follower of Philip Glass (never got that > far!) but > he gets mentioned often in relation to 313 music. I didn't realise he > composed opera until I saw something in the program of the Melbourne > International Arts Fest - an opera Akhnaten inspired by the 'forgotten' > Pharaoh (fans of Egptology will know his significance) with elements of > dance. It's performed by the State Opera of South Australia. I guess I > am > not a huge opera fan - I only like it if it's being deployed by the > Wu-Tang > or someone as a texture in epic bangin' hip-hop but I may go as it > sounds > interesting. > Anyone able to give a rundown of key Glass works? >
