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Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)

theguardian.com

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Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)

#61

Post by [deleted] »

AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #58
garbagetime wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's a ridiculous label to apply to Philip Glass. I disagree. >The word "avant-garde" comes up not once in Philip Glass's Wikipedia article The only uses of the word "experimental" are in reference to his early interest in experimental theater. What's that meant to show? I opened the first four references on that Wikipedia article and all contained the phrase 'avant-garde': [1] https://www.biography.com/musician/ph…

That's nice, but none of those references speak to the idea that Philip Glass is avant-garde. They simply (and inaccurately) apply this label to him, mainly because they're mainstream sources that do not actually cover Western art music.

[deleted]

Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)

#62

Post by rolfea »

AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #48
mekoka wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's strange to believe that you know what people undergo during something as subjective as a sensory experiment. No matter your expertise, you can never really know how another person is perceiving their reality. We're all given a set of senses and a brain to explore the world in our own way. It will not be the same from one individual to the next. If some people are looking to be soothed by music, while others are…

> does that give one group an authority on taste What the hell? I never made any such comment on the subjective experiences of listeners. You can enjoy music and know it's "junk food." I like listening to plenty of bad music. I don't judge anyone for what they enjoy. To call Philip Glass a master of his domain, a rightfully-celebrated contributor to Western art music, or any of this other crap - that's what I take is…

post-Cage I think it's gotten a bit hard to pin down what it means to be a significant contributor to "Western art music." How do you define that? Has Glass been influential (yes), popular (yes), and tried things compositionally that others hadn't (arguable). Is Steve Reich's music "better"? I think so, both as a listener and a performer, but Glass being potentially more popular doesn't really do any harm to anything. It just is what it is.

But I've had as many (and honestly, more) arguments with "anti-contemporary music/art" folks about Berio and Feldman, for example. What is late Feldman doing compositionally? Just shifting around simple chords surrounded by loads of silence while stuffy audiences in turtlenecks nod sagely and compose tweets in their mind for later about how "serene and haunting" this performance was? (I love Feldman, for the record)

Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)

#63

Post by Alex3917 »

hypertele-Xii wrote: post #34

I discovered Philip Glass' music through the movie Koyaanisqatsi, which I heartily recommend. If you haven't seen it, go into it without expectations of what a movie is supposed to be like; it's weird.

IMHO Baraka and Samsara are much more realized versions of the idea behind Koyaanisqatsi.

Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)

#64

Post by rolfea »

ejfkcisodk wrote: post #52
AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many people do not realize that they do not "listen" to music. They simply put it on for background ambiance, to do other things. And before anyone feels further offended, please see this [0] post from 30 minutes ago on HN that completely proves my point made in the previous post. > I think to this day its great background music for programming work Philip Glass wrote his music to be heard in the concert hall. Very f…

I saw two performances of Einstein on the Beach during its revival. Glass intended it to be like Indian classical theater where you can get up and walk around whenever you want. I stayed except for a bathroom break, while friends left to smoke. I think Glass was trying to make a state of mind, not just have people hanging onto every note. Even during Mozart’s time, opera was such a social event that people complained…

I really understood early Glass a lot more when I got the chance to visit a Richard Serra sculpture in LA. Literally walking in the piece helped me understand this idea you're talking about - when I listen to that music now it's a helpful framework to think of exploring a sonic space, rather than tracking linear music like I would with other composers.

Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)

#65

Post by dorkwood »

emptyfile wrote: post #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.

He also worked as a plumber.

> Throughout this period, Glass supported himself as a New York cabbie and as a plumber, occupations that often led to unusual encounters. “I had gone to install a dishwasher in a loft in SoHo,” he says. “While working, I suddenly heard a noise and looked up to find Robert Hughes, the art critic of Time magazine, staring at me in disbelief. ‘But you’re Philip Glass! What are you doing here?’ It was obvious that I was installing his dishwasher and I told him I would soon be finished. ‘But you are an artist,’ he protested. I explained that I was an artist but that I was sometimes a plumber as well and that he should go away and let me finish.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2001/nov/24/arts.highe...

Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)

#66

Post by okareaman »

AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #43
okareaman wrote: post #37

If you're a fan of Philip Glass but haven't explored the works of Steve Reich I highly recommend it

Steve* Reich. IMO, an excellent first listen would be Tehillim. [0] [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiaTvR9sFX8

Steve* thanks fixed it. My intro was Different Trains. I think his 9/11 piece is the best art to come out of that tragic event.

Steve Reich - Different Trains (Part 1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E4Bjt_zVJc

Proverb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5lgAUHVFC4

Steve Reich: WTC 9/11 I. 9/11 Kronos Quartet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWhTkOMue70

Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)

#67

Post by jtbayly »

andrewljohnson wrote: post #21
tmountain wrote: post #19

I saw Glass at a performing arts center in my hometown. The PAC has a lot of season ticket holders, and Glass' music triggered an older attendee to march to the front of the auditorium and yell, "this isn't music". He was quickly ushered out by his wife, but Glass was noticeably smirking, and the whole thing really added to the avant garde vibe of the performance. Amazing concert BTW. One of my favorite artists.

I wonder if there is any chance that's stagepersonship.

You mean stagemanship?

Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)

#68

Post by phlakaton »

AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #45
barbecue_sauce wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Philip Glass is constantly described as avant-garde. You may take issue with that label, but I hardly see how it can be surprising.

It's a ridiculous label to apply to Philip Glass. He would likely reject it himself. The word "avant-garde" comes up not once in Philip Glass's Wikipedia article [0]. The only uses of the word "experimental" are in reference to his early interest in experimental theater. Philip Glass is easily the most popular, mainstream living music composer. His music is extremely "listenable," and inoffensive to the casual listen…

Avant-garde does not precisely mean “unlistenable.” There’s plenty of music that’s listenable but still way “out there.”

Glass’s music is maybe not consistently on the edge, but his avant-garde reputation comes from works like the “opera” Einstein On the Beach, which is a formidable listening and performing experience, even if it’s heavily diatonic and based on familiar major/minor modalities. It is a sui generis approach to musical structure and musical theater.

Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)

#69

Post by kindall »

rolfea wrote: post #64
ejfkcisodk wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw two performances of Einstein on the Beach during its revival. Glass intended it to be like Indian classical theater where you can get up and walk around whenever you want. I stayed except for a bathroom break, while friends left to smoke. I think Glass was trying to make a state of mind, not just have people hanging onto every note. Even during Mozart’s time, opera was such a social event that people complained…

I really understood early Glass a lot more when I got the chance to visit a Richard Serra sculpture in LA. Literally walking in the piece helped me understand this idea you're talking about - when I listen to that music now it's a helpful framework to think of exploring a sonic space, rather than tracking linear music like I would with other composers.

I saw that too if it's the one that was at the Ohio State University in 1986 or 1987. I was just a kid who had never heard of either of those guys, but I still remember it thirty-some years later.

Re: Philip Glass: My problem is people don’t believe I write symphonies (2017)

#70

Post by johnnujler »

AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #58
garbagetime wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's a ridiculous label to apply to Philip Glass. I disagree. >The word "avant-garde" comes up not once in Philip Glass's Wikipedia article The only uses of the word "experimental" are in reference to his early interest in experimental theater. What's that meant to show? I opened the first four references on that Wikipedia article and all contained the phrase 'avant-garde': [1] https://www.biography.com/musician/ph…

That's nice, but none of those references speak to the idea that Philip Glass is avant-garde. They simply (and inaccurately) apply this label to him, mainly because they're mainstream sources that do not actually cover Western art music.

What’s up with the gate keeping dude? Philip is an experimental musician, avant-garde has an experimental aspect to it, so people like calling him that. Why fuss over a word?

And fwiw, things change, language is emergent, words acquire and lose meaning based on how people use it, not the other way around.

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