Phil Glass

[pappagheno]

well..

never heard a note about him on here..

how do you consider his works ?

very curious..

reggio's documentaries and the Hours remain my favourites about his works..

[chocothrax]

I hate him but others seem to like him.

[TheVamp]

He's interesting... up to a point. A little Philip Glass goes a long way.

[DallasComposer]

Well, there has been talk about him around here and generally people dislike him.

I look at him this way, personally, I do like his music but yes some does get a bit
… repetitive and even boring but then again so do a lot of composers out there,
not all composers write great music all the time. But (and I think this kind of worries
me about some negative views of him is) if I look beyond his music and look at what
he has accomplished for himself, for me, that is what I like and respect about him.
Meaning, he has completely created and followed his own path and made his mark
on so called ‘modern music’. He graduated from college at age 19, studied with some
of the best at Julliard and in Paris (Vincent Persichetti, William Bergsma, Darius Milhaud
and Nadia Boulanger) and struggled for many years building his ensemble, his name and
his style, never giving in or saying ‘oh heck with it, I’ll go write like Hollywood’
he is truly an artist, an individual and has worked with some great people and paid his
dues (try transcribing Indian ragas for orchestra with Ravi Shankar or driving a cab to
earn a living while your first opera is being produced) that for me is true artistic integrity.
Like his music or not but the man is very successful and well known and respected by many and
nobody sounds like him. How many around these forums who may casually listen to him and toss
him aside can say they have accomplished what he has. He doesn’t have to chase down directors
to get work, they come to him.

We all have our, shall I say ‘role models’ we may look to and really all I am saying is, yes,
his music has influenced me (as many others have) but perhaps even more is how he has dedicated
himself to what he believes in for himself. Ryuichi Sakamoto is another artist/composer I would say the same for.

And yes of course there are many others out there we can say the same about, I know. Not saying
he is the only one like that. But for me he is one of the most original.

[Sean R. Beeson]

I was told once, that I could dislike a composer's music when I can write his style of music better than him. Philip Glass is an acquired taste. Much like Ives, Webern, and the list goes on :)! on and on and on....

Sean Beeson

[Sean R. Beeson]

I would suggest checking out Einstein on the Beach, Kundun, Ankhenanten, (sp?) 1000 Planes on the Roof.

I grew up on Glass. Some of his stuff is indeed very dry, but there is some interesting pieces out there as well.

Sean

[Sean R. Beeson]

Oh yeah, Candyman as well. Great soundtrack. Truman show was enjoyable as well, and So was Dracula.

[DallasComposer]

Also, try his CD 'Passages' a collboration he did with Ravi Shankar using indian instruments and orchestra. Oh yeah, and he didn't use 'RA' ... lol :)

[dcoscina]

(imagine minor triad arpeggiation here)

happy happy happy....everybody's happy....happy happy happy....everybody's happy

Sorry, but the SouthPark politically correct x-mas pagent featuring the music of Phil Glass was freakin' hilarious.

As a composer, I like his String Quartets but not his larger works, to which I defer to John Adams who blends a bit more late Romantic harmonic idioms to the minimalist figures. Pieces like Harmonium and the massive Harmonielerhe are fantastic. Also like his Wound Dresser and Nixon in China pieces. Not as crazy about his recent material although I still collect it regardless.

[Sean R. Beeson]

I concur. None of his more recent pieces have wowed me, but I haven't listened to enough of his newer works either.

Sean Beeson

[drew]

Like DH has said, you may not like his music but you have to respect his talent and accomplishments. He went his own way, never giving into cliches and popular trends.

To be honest, I'm not a great fan of his music or of JW, but I still realize the extraordinary talent and creativity they both possess. Same goes for HZ. You don't get to that level of success by accident.

[shnurgle]

Well, there has been talk about him around here and generally people dislike him.

I look at him this way, personally, I do like his music but yes some does get a bit
… repetitive and even boring but then again so do a lot of composers out there,
not all composers write great music all the time. But (and I think this kind of worries
me about some negative views of him is) if I look beyond his music and look at what
he has accomplished for himself, for me, that is what I like and respect about him.
Meaning, he has completely created and followed his own path and made his mark
on so called ‘modern music’. He graduated from college at age 19, studied with some
of the best at Julliard and in Paris (Vincent Persichetti, William Bergsma, Darius Milhaud
and Nadia Boulanger) and struggled for many years building his ensemble, his name and
his style, never giving in or saying ‘oh heck with it, I’ll go write like Hollywood’
he is truly an artist, an individual and has worked with some great people and paid his
dues (try transcribing Indian ragas for orchestra with Ravi Shankar or driving a cab to
earn a living while your first opera is being produced) that for me is true artistic integrity.
Like his music or not but the man is very successful and well known and respected by many and
nobody sounds like him. How many around these forums who may casually listen to him and toss
him aside can say they have accomplished what he has. He doesn’t have to chase down directors
to get work, they come to him.

We all have our, shall I say ‘role models’ we may look to and really all I am saying is, yes,
his music has influenced me (as many others have) but perhaps even more is how he has dedicated
himself to what he believes in for himself. Ryuichi Sakamoto is another artist/composer I would say the same for.

And yes of course there are many others out there we can say the same about, I know. Not saying
he is the only one like that. But for me he is one of the most original.
Bravo. Right on.

[lovelysilence]

I think he's very inspiring, repetition being one of his style's aspects and while some may say boring, his music has a meditative quality. (It makes me easy at least.)
I enjoy his music a lot.

[pappagheno]

hey found very interesting what "Dallas" said..

but...

thake the last track ..18 ..of memory ofa geisha... have that kind of repetitive loop.. but with a touch of Williams of course..

so ..yes.. I think he created a sort of mark in the history of music..

I agree ..is relaxing..but for the hours.. was perfect on the film..but really hard to listen the cd without images..
well you could say.. is music for images.. ;)

anybody remember Koyaanisqatsi.. ?
think that project was really interesting and the music was fitting very well..

[Prophecy]

before you judge Glass's music, listen to Naqoyqatsi (cello's by Yo-yo-ma)
A beautifull piece of work.

It has some repetitive parts, but they're mainly functional to get a sort of "trance" feeling started.

[lovelysilence]

To conclude i'd like to say Powaqqatsi (or whatever) is very nice as well. It's got some cheerful parts with children choirs and also the more trancey parts.. I enjoy it very much

[White Noise]

A little Philip Glass goes a long way.

Yep, those ostinati figures go on for years. I guess that's one way of writing a film score - copy/paste, copy/paste.

[staalo]

*KNOCK KNOCK*
'Who's there?'
*KNOCK KNOCK*
'Who's there?'
*KNOCK KNOCK*
'Who's there?'
*KNOCK KNOCK*
'Who's there?'
'...Philip Glass'



I like him, I do, really! Especially the Mishima soundtrack. Monotolicious!

[F. Murray Baberaham]

Yes! I love's Phillup Glass knock-knock Joke! One of my favorite is..

What does phillup Glass said to his my mother?

answer: "Steady mother."

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH!!!!:D :D :D :D
HAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAH:p :p :p :D :D :mad: :p :mad: :mad: :confused:

[Dave Bourke]

Glass + bong = revelation.

Kind regards.

[Edx]

Oh yeah, Candyman as well. Great soundtrack. Truman show was enjoyable as well, and So was Dracula.

Glass didnt score Truman show. Burkhard Dallwitz scored truman show, and it was pretty cool for the most part.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000007OAP/102-1901163-9726526?v=glance&n=5174

Yea theres a few glass pieces, and I like "Truman Sleeps" piano piece, but thats the only glass piece I liked.

[gabrielfarae]

well i liked Mishima very emotional

[Prophecy]

glass didn't score the entire thruman show score
but they did use a lot of his music (plus he's featured in the movie as one of the people in the orchestra (up in the "moon" )


(from imdb)
Original Music by
Burkhard von Dallwitz (also song "Underground") (as Burkhard Dallwitz)

Non-Original Music by
Marc Bolan (song "Twentieth Century Boy")
Johannes Brahms (from "Wiegenlied")
Frédéric Chopin (from "Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor")
Lewis E. Gensler (song "Love Is Just Around the Corner")
Philip Glass (from score "Anima Mundi")
Philip Glass (from score "Mishima")
Philip Glass (from score "Powaqqatsi")
Philip Glass (song "Opening")
David Hirschfelder (from "Shine (1996)")
David Hirschfelder (song "Scales to America")
Wojciech Kilar (from "Zycie za zycie (1991)")
Wojciech Kilar (song "Father Kolbe's Preaching")
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (from "Rondo Alla Turca")
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (first movement "Allegro" from "Horn Concerto No.1 in D Major K 412")

[sinkd]

Glass + bong = revelation.

Kind regards.

On behalf of F. Murray:

Please. What is it "Glass plus bong"?

Also, observing that Glass's music is repetitive is like noting that Beethoven's music is tonal. That is, it is integral to his voice and style.

DS

[F. Murray Baberaham]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4d/CartoonGlomgold.jpg/300px-CartoonGlomgold.jpg??

[Andrew Sigler]

I saw Glass in Lafayette, Louisiana in the early '90s. A friend of mine who worked backstage said that he (Glass) used back-up tracks and didn't really play at all!

-Andy

[matthew82475]

I became acquainted with Glass' work about 12 years ago. Truth be told, I didn't get it at first. But after six more years of compositional studies, I get it now. I don't always like it, but I understand it.

About 6 or 7 years ago, I had the good fortune to perform his Creation Symphony. I still have the choral score in my library. It was a great work and an amazing pathway to understanding how his music is put together.

As a side note, in the Truman show soundtrack, Glass actually quoted one of his prominent chord progressions from the Creation Symphony. It made me laugh when I heard it, but later I realized that the two uses of the progression were linked symbolically.

Matt