Philip Glass

[Conchis]

Is he a major contemporary composer whose works will be remembered as emblematic of the late twentieth/early twenty-first centuries, or a knowing no-talent manufacturing minimalist guff for an audience of trendies and poseurs?


You tell me!

[Bryn]

Both. The former in his early, post-studentship works. The latter, later.

[edashtav]

Both. The former in his early, post-studentship works. The latter, later.

That may overstate the case,Bryn : an interesting historical figure, a man of his times; perhaps, like Luigi Russolo, mentioned in studies but rarely played in public.

[MrGongGong]

Both. The former in his early, post-studentship works. The latter, later.

Up to and including Einstein on the Beach fantastic... after that he seemed to "miss the point" about bringing the "underneath" of music to the surface?
BUT, given that he spent a large part of his early career driving a taxi and working epic hours I wouldn't begrudge his success

[MickyD]

Some of his works touch me more than others. I consider "Aknahten" really powerful and emotive.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Both. The former in his early, post-studentship works. The latter, later.

Up to and including Einstein on the Beach fantastic... after that he seemed to "miss the point" about bringing the "underneath" of music to the surface?

[Dave2002]

Some of his works touch me more than others. I consider "Aknahten" really powerful and emotive.

If I can do the logistics I'd like to see/hear Aknahten again. https://www.eno.org/whats-on/akhnaten/

I saw the much earlier ENO production - not the 2016 one. Never saw Einstein on the Beach, but did do Satyagraha - which I thought was interesting "in its way", but wouldn't rush to see again.

https://www.eno.org/operas/satyagraha/ 2017/18 season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoAN_xDcmmI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAiv-LU82t4 Aknahten

[MrGongGong]

Or even

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x_Eijnn1Ak

Or even this little track that comes before their best known ditty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa5hjsm4tZY

[cloughie]

Started off inventive, then became a lazy ‘who needs a tune?’ minimalist.

[Bryn]

If I can do the logistics I'd like to see/hear Aknahten again. https://www.eno.org/whats-on/akhnaten/

I saw the much earlier ENO production - not the 2016 one. Never saw Einstein on the Beach, but did do Satyagraha - which I thought was interesting "in its way", but wouldn't rush to see again.

https://www.eno.org/operas/satyagraha/ 2017/18 season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoAN_xDcmmI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAiv-LU82t4 Aknahten

The Paris production of Einstein on the Beach can be found online and on Blu-ray. It's the complete work, rather than the shorter version to be found on the Sony or Nonesuch CDs.

[Lat-Literal]

Notwithstanding the more informed opinion here, I would want to approach this by narrowing it down to a decade. Yes, I realise that the roots of it are in the 1960s. But when I listen to Riley, I hear the 1970s. It almost is the 1970s to my ears. When I listen to Glass, I hear the 1980s. It almost is the 1980s. And on that basis, I would ask for alternative candidates who are synonymous with the 1980s. I don't think there are any, at least not with a similar sort of reach. But, of course, I am not expecting many people to agree with the basic premise.

[Richard Barrett]

My first response was more or less identical to Bryn's. I thought Einstein was potentially opening a door onto a whole new way of conceiving music theatre, and that Glass's contribution was certainly the closest musical approach to Wilson's stage concept that could be imagined; but Akhnaten, which I saw in London some time in the 1980s, is "just an opera", and in fact hardly even that given the thinness of its materials and Glass's crude orchestration (which hasn't improved much in the intervening decades from what I've heard). At a certain point the repetition in his work ceased to be a portal to new kinds of musical experience and became instead a pale imitation of accompaniment figures from the 19th century, a background without a foreground. I suppose this is what's called "mellowing with age"...

[Conchis]

My first response was more or less identical to Bryn's. I thought Einstein was potentially opening a door onto a whole new way of conceiving music theatre, and that Glass's contribution was certainly the closest musical approach to Wilson's stage concept that could be imagined; but Akhnaten, which I saw in London some time in the 1980s, is "just an opera", and in fact hardly even that given the thinness of its materials and Glass's crude orchestration (which hasn't improved much in the intervening decades from what I've heard). At a certain point the repetition in his work ceased to be a portal to new kinds of musical experience and became instead a pale imitation of accompaniment figures from the 19th century, a background without a foreground. I suppose this is what's called "mellowing with age"...

While listening to one of his works recently (I forget which one) I had an overwhelming desire to shout 'STOP!!!' at the height of my voice, something I've only otherwise experienced while listening to certain of the Brandenburg Concertos.

[MrGongGong]

I went to hear the Glass ensemble in 1984 at the old Sadlers Wells
It was LOUD, relentless and overwhelming and played with extraordinary energy (this was before I heard Workers Union etc)

A bit like the annual trip to hear Messiaen at Lincoln Cathedral I wanted it to go on for ever

[Serial_Apologist]

While listening to one of his works recently (I forget which one) I had an overwhelming desire to shout 'STOP!!!' at the height of my voice, something I've only otherwise experienced while listening to certain of the Brandenburg Concertos.

If you're hinting at certain - shall we say? - Newtonian principles of perpetual motion driving music in certain instances, I would find myself in agreement. My view is that Hindemith satirised it well in a number of his Kammermusik series. Any form of music that does not appear to have to stop to take in breath from time to time provokes the same FGS response in me.