Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)
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Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)
#2>Yes, after Einstein on the Beach I went back to driving a New York cab. I didn’t mind that. It was interesting work. I didn’t have an agent. I ran all the business side of it and the box office myself. I enjoyed it.
Interesting, I had no idea.
Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)
#3> Have the old divisions between musical styles – a source of surprisingly bitter contention in the last decades of the 20th century – now healed? Do people now accept your chosen path of tonal harmony, melody, repetitive structures?
> No no no no no. Those divisions never healed. Those people just died! The people who don’t want you don’t change their minds. You outlive them, if you’re lucky. They’re all dead now, the older guys. The battle was never won or lost. The army just went away. What can I tell you? Isn’t that the truth? It’s biology. Nothing more than that. They’ve just gone away… and we carry on playing.
This seems true in so many things: politics, engineering approaches, even theology at times. Keep doing what you think is worthwhile, but don't expect to change the minds of the old guard: you "win" by having the newer generation accept your approach.
Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)
#4I've seen all three of the "Portrait operas" live. The second two are definitely very different to Einstein on the Beach which feels more "modern" and experimental (but also really approachable - this is far from what many people expect of 20th Century avant-garde music)
Steve Reich seemed to want to also move towards more conventional narrative forms later in his career and seemed to sacrifice some of the elegance and purity to do so.
John Adams on the other hand came a generation later and those compromises always felt more natural and less forced for him.
(Terry Riley is the real maverick out of the original minimalists. He just does his own thing and damn everyone else. I had the pleasure of having a very brief chat with him after a concert and he was a lovely chap. I asked him about John Cale)
Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)
#5> Have the old divisions between musical styles – a source of surprisingly bitter contention in the last decades of the 20th century – now healed? Do people now accept your chosen path of tonal harmony, melody, repetitive structures? > No no no no no. Those divisions never healed. Those people just died! The people who don’t want you don’t change their minds. You outlive them, if you’re lucky. They’re all dead now, t…
Science as well. There's the oft-quoted:
‘A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.’
- Max Planck
Also see this link, for a study that tried to test/quantify this: https://www.nber.org/digest/mar16/does-science-advance-one-f...
Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)
#6These days I would pick a movie to see based on who did or contributed to its soundtrack. Glass, Zimmer, Richter, and Preisnser, in particular.
Some of Glass' work transposes well to other instruments, but a real extra gift to the world would be if he wrote a guitar suite.
I've been hacking around with a classical guitar arrangement of Pärt's "Spiegel im Spiegel," and might see if Glass' new "The Teacher" is more amenable, as it's very much an homage about 1/3 the length and complexity.
Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)
#7These days I would pick a movie to see based on who did or contributed to its soundtrack. Glass, Zimmer, Richter, and Preisnser, in particular. Some of Glass' work transposes well to other instruments, but a real extra gift to the world would be if he wrote a guitar suite. I've been hacking around with a classical guitar arrangement of Pärt's "Spiegel im Spiegel," and might see if Glass' new "The Teacher" is more ame…
just in case you've been missing this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFc40M1g8kA
they have recorded 4 of his quartets arranged for guitar
Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)
#8> Have the old divisions between musical styles – a source of surprisingly bitter contention in the last decades of the 20th century – now healed? Do people now accept your chosen path of tonal harmony, melody, repetitive structures? > No no no no no. Those divisions never healed. Those people just died! The people who don’t want you don’t change their minds. You outlive them, if you’re lucky. They’re all dead now, t…
This is such a famous truism that there's even a paper that investigates whether or not science really advances one funeral at a time:
https://www.nber.org/papers/w21788
edit: heh, too slow - it was already posted in the few minutes I took to read the article
Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)
#9Philip Glass is my hero and inspired me to learn playing piano.
Personal anecdote: I've managed to get invited to a small Einstein on the Beach play at The Greene Space NYC - I've been flying to NYC for business and this alone made my whole trip so much nicer. I remember him sitting 2 chairs away from me and the play was beautiful.
If you're curious, I strongly suggest watching Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts documentary about his life and career. What a man.
Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)
#10My problem is that I don't care ppl believes I write symphonies... :Ð