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

Post by voldacar » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 9:32 PM UTC

AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #28

mekoka wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Criticizing the work is one thing. Trying to bully people for finding beauty where you can't is kinda childish.

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…

Post by JKCalhoun » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 10:13 PM UTC

seattletech wrote: post #119

ranko wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a couple of great anecdotes about Glass working at other jobs while starting out as a composer, one involving the art critic of Time magazine and another about driving a taxi. https://interlude.hk/philip-glass-composer-taxi-driver/ 'Glass understood that he had finally arrived as a composer when a woman tapped on the side of his cab and told him “you have the same name as a very famous composer.”

He was also roommates with the Viking of 6th Avenue, Moondog

Post by JKCalhoun » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 10:16 PM UTC

mgr86 wrote: post #18

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.

I first herd Einstein on the Beach after a particularly manic period in undergrad. My advisor wasn't familiar with it, and I may have spooked her a bit try to explain it. I think to this day its great background music for programming work, but to me more because it can illicit that sense of young focus and drive that I find increasingly fleeting. Perhaps not unlike how music can "wake up" dementia patients. It elicit…

Post by kaybe » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 10:35 PM UTC

easytiger wrote: post #92

AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, John Cage is probably the most well-known "avant-garde" composer. Calling music by this term communicates a powerful judgment about its place in musical history. And it is simply, unavoidably incorrect. It has nothing to do with the music itself - it has to do with his musical process and how it jives with the basic musical environment of his time. If the whole musical world were like John Cage, Philip Glass's w…

Yes indeed. A lady playing a cactus was the point at which we decided to take our leave, around the 3 hour mark. I struggled and read a lot to understand the foundations of modern art. I found a lot of the intellectual constructions very unconvincing contrivances. I imagine I'd feel the same way about such compositions; an area in which I am certainly a neophyte

Post by marshray » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 10:54 PM UTC

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.