Philip Glass recommendations

Dont know him very well at all but did like this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00007DWRI/ref=pd_ecs_d_h__m_h__a/026-4284269-5850000
and also the film sound track to The Hours as well
Martin

My recommendation would be to try Terry Riley and Steve Reich instead.

I saw the Kronos quartet do the dracula film soundtrack a few years ago, have to say I didn't enjoy it that much, still an experience none the less

quote:

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Originally posted by Chris Metcalfe:
My recommendation would be to try Terry Riley and Steve Reich instead.

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or Karl-Heinz Stockhausen, Anthony Braxton, Pauline Oliveros, David Tudor, Tony Conrad...

willem

Brucie,

Thanks for the reminder about SFLD - The Wife loves this album, I like it too.

Ignore all the naysayers, his early - middle period stuff is epic and enjoyable.

For an overview try Glassworks, an early compliation

For more in depth, try the Trilogy works you like = Einstein on the Beach, etc. the masterpeice Koyaanisqatsi and Ahtakhen

His later film works are more variable, e.g. Thin Blue Line = not great

The Low and Heroes symphonies are a different take on the established classics.

Go for it!

DS

OTD - Phillip Glass - Songs from Liquid Days

Try "La Belle et La Bete" (Beauty and the Beast -- no not the Disney version) on Nonesuch. It's an opera the libretto for which is taken from the screenplay of Jean Cocteau's classic film. When I saw the PGE perform it years ago in Chicago, the film, stripped of its soundtrack, was projected behind the orchestra, and the singers sang with -- but not synced to -- the film. It's ravishing music and somewhat more accessible, and shorter, than "Einstein" or "Satayagraha."

Reminds me of the old joke...
"Knock knock,
Who's there?
Philip Glass."
"Knock knock,
Who's there?
Philip Glass."
"Knock knock,
Who's there?
Philip Glass."

My favourite is Koyaanisqatsi, which is available in two versions - the original and a ca. 2000 version. Both are valid. The earlier version has the more impresssive opening, the later version takes the work at a slower tempo and benefits from it, I feel.

Akhnaten is good, too. Overexposure to Glass gets tiresome quickly, though, I feel.

I have a serious soft spot for the violin concerto - especially the second movement, has a genuine "romantic" feel about it. Quite an achievement when it only just beats a generic Status Quo "song" in chord count. Recording I have is on Naxos.

Phil