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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)

#81

Post by jey »

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.

I'm interested; what's the definition of avant-garde as defined by the Western art music world?

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

#82

Post by natechols »

phlakaton wrote: post #68
AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 app…

Einstein On The Beach is definitely on the extreme end. On the other hand, Itaipu (my personal favorite) and many of his symphonies are about as close to mainstream as modern "classical music" usually gets.

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

#83

Post by natechols »

tabtab wrote: post #77

I love some of Glass's works, but others I find annoying. If you experiment on the cutting edge, you will have clunkers and duds, but also break ground every now and then. Or invent something half-finished that a future composer will improve upon. Works that transitioned from Baroque to Classical are often considered clunky by modern standards, but that's because they were trying new things. If those pioneers didn't…

In my experience - as both a player and listener - minimalism is really difficult to do well! It's a lot of work to avoid becoming repetitive white noise. But to be fair, even Mozart and Beethoven had their occasional duds.

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

#84

Post by technofiend »

tabtab wrote: post #77

I love some of Glass's works, but others I find annoying. If you experiment on the cutting edge, you will have clunkers and duds, but also break ground every now and then. Or invent something half-finished that a future composer will improve upon. Works that transitioned from Baroque to Classical are often considered clunky by modern standards, but that's because they were trying new things. If those pioneers didn't…

I admit to having owned a Glass CD or two. Even so I once heard a joke that goes "Knock, knock. Who's there? Knock, knock. Who's there? Knock, knock. Who's there? Knock, knock. Who's there? Knock, knock. Who's there? Philip Glass." and felt that right or wrong adequately covered some of his work.

To be fair musical tastes change over time; I found myself bored and restless relistening to some old Tangerine Dream favorites.

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

#85

Post by natechols »

motohagiography wrote: post #6

These 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…

I thought the combination of Zimmer's score and Nolan's editing in Dunkirk basically turned it into an enormous minimalist composition - I mean that in the best possible way.

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

#86

Post by digilypse »

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…

I discovered Einstein on the Beach this year, also in my 30s, and was nearly brought to tears. I played classical piano for most of my youth and had a deep appreciation for it but stopped exploring new composers during years of depression.

It’s a wonderful experience with a nice pair of headphones. Something about the way the repetition lasts just long enough to produce a sense of anticipation and delight.

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

#87

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

johnnujler wrote: post #70
AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What aspects of music does Glass experiment with, in the 21st century?

In 1968, it was fair to call him an experimental composer and musician. In 2021, not so much, certainly no more than any composer who is alive and still trying to write new work.

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

#88

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

natechols wrote: post #82
phlakaton wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 app…

Einstein On The Beach is definitely on the extreme end. On the other hand, Itaipu (my personal favorite) and many of his symphonies are about as close to mainstream as modern "classical music" usually gets.

Bwahahahah. You think EotB is "on the extreme end". You've never heard "Music in Similar Motion", I assume?

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

#89

Post by natechols »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #88
natechols wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Einstein On The Beach is definitely on the extreme end. On the other hand, Itaipu (my personal favorite) and many of his symphonies are about as close to mainstream as modern "classical music" usually gets.

Bwahahahah. You think EotB is "on the extreme end". You've never heard "Music in Similar Motion", I assume?

I'll add that to my playlist, but I'd argue that the difference between 12 minutes and 5 hours counts for a lot! (Although I guess maybe opera audiences are primed for sitting in place for that long? I just don't have the attention span for anything longer than Figaro.)

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

#90

Post by allenu »

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.

This is how I discovered his music as well. I probably saw it for the first time 15 years ago and I still listen to the soundtrack regularly. Incredibly powerful, both film and music.
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