GLASS, PHILIP

This reissue represents the very best of Philip Glass. One of the most influential modern composers alive today. Best known to the public through soundtracks such as Koyaanisqatsi, Mishima, The Thin Blue Line, Powaqqatsi. By the time he was twenty-three, Glass had studied with Vincent Persichetti, Darius Milhaud and William Bergsma. He had rejected serialism and preferred such maverick composers as Harry Partch, Ives, Moondog, Henry Cowell, Virgil Thomson, but he still had not found his own voice. Still searching, he moved to Paris for two years of intensive study under Nadia Boulanger. In Paris, he was hired by a filmmaker to transcribe the Indian music of Ravi Shankar in notation readable by French musicians and, in the process, discovered the techniques of Indian music. Glass promptly renounced his previous music and, after researching music in North Africa, India and the Himalayas, returned to New York and began applying Eastern techniques to his own work. By 1974, he had composed a large collection of new music, much of it for use by theatre companies and his own performing group, the Philip Glass Ensemble. This period included Music in 12 Parts, a four hour summation of Glass' new music, and the Robert Wilson/Philip Glass opera Einstein on the Beach, now seen as a landmark in 20th century music theatre.

In-stock now. Usually ships within 24 hours.