aworks :: "new" american classical music

Words Without Music (2015). Philip Glass #links

• "And he didn’t even apply for grants because he didn’t like that they imposed terms." DAN WANG
• "This rich artistic personality is what informs his memoir Words Without Music." SPECTRUM CULTURE
• "The next rollicking 300 pages detail, in masterful prose, the rise of Glass as a musician/composer/entrepreneur and simultaneously the avant-garde art scene that exploded in New York City in the ’50s and ’60s, where Glass was the red-hot epicenter of the music world." LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS
• '"Music Without Words” is an album of music by Philip Glass chosen by Orange Mountain Music as an accompaniment to the recently published memoir “Words Without Music” by Philip Glass.' philip glass
• "In his memoir, Glass is charming, illuminating, funny, intelligent, and unpretentious." Irish Examiner
• "One of the most revealing aspects of Philip Glass’s recently published memoir, Words without Music, is the amount of space he devotes to his film music, and which films he chooses to mention and which he chooses to omit." SINFINI MUSIC
• "Insight and practical common sense pervade his new book, and reading it reminded me of hearing him speak: He’s ever thoughtful and ­loquacious, but he doesn’t answer any questions he doesn’t want to." Kyle Gann - The New York Times

Like his music, the earlier parts of the book were more interesting. Recommended, nonetheless. 

The Fog of War (2002). Philip Glass #verizon #ad #fog

The Fog of War as heard in a Verizon ad. Via mediabistro.

String Quartet No. 4 "Buczak" (1989). Philip Glass /heavy rotation/

Image via Wikipedia

After lala, I've mostly spent my music streaming time at rdio. Not as good as lala but it does have an iPhone app although Apple won't allow an update of that app but the social features are reasonable though the music catalog is not an expansive and the $10/month fee is a bit much yet they support last.fm scrobbling etc.

I'm aworks at rdio if you care (and I have eval invites to give out if you want one).

What's most interesting so far is the Heavy Rotation feature where the site prominently lists your most played albums, your network's most played albums or the most played albums for the entire site. Since I can't find many classical listeners yet, my network very much has a pop orientation. Here's all but one of the albums from my network's Heavy Rotation:

1. Broken Bells. Broken Bells.
2. This Is Happening. LCD Soundsystem.
3. Brothers. The Black Keys.
4. The Blueprint 3. Jay-Z.
5. The ArchAndroid. Janelle Monae.
6. Miike Snow. Miike Snow.
7. Destroyer of the Void. Blitzen Trapper.
8. Dear Science. TV on the Radio.
9. Treats. Sleigh Bells.
10. Body Talk Pt 1. Robyn.
11. Teen Dream. Beach House.

A nice combination of some good artists and some I've never heard of and two with "Bells" in their name (surprisingly, I preferred Sleigh Bells). 

But most importantly, that other album in Heavy Rotation? The Smith Quartet playing the Philip Glass string quartets. 

Metamorphosis 3 (1988). Philip Glass

Via Christopher Lewis/NewHarpsichord, Philip Glass as played on harpsichord -- this sounds better than I might have thought:

Metamorphosis Two (1988). Philip Glass /confusion and nostalgia/

As I work through my way through 21 free Philip Glass MP3s!, I occasionally get confused.

Ok, right, Escape! from The Hours is really Metamorphosis Two...

Michael Riesman had this to say about the completely solo piano version of The Hours (not to be confused with the original film soundtrack):

Furthermore, Paramount Music, the publisher, desired to issue a book of arrangements for solo piano, geared for intermediate players. Originally, I assigned the task of producing these arrangements to my assistant, Nice Muhly, but as I started thinking about it, the idea of performing and recording these arrangements became more and more appealing to me, and I ended up taking the lead role in their development.

In 2005, I had predicted popular success for this version but when I read that post now, I'm mainly sad that the "We Carry Classical Music Books" sign from Tower Records is gone, as is Tower Records itself.

My respect for the marketing efforts of Orange Mountain Music remains, however.

And from that post's numerous footnotes, this is still true:

While I won't claim to be truly intelligent (I blog after all), I'm surprised that since I started aworks and since I got my iPod, I am listening more to Philip Glass than probably any other composer."

---

I hate to be so nostalgic but the one and only time Sparky the Wonder Dachshund visited Indiana was in 2004 (he's the black dot following my uncle and later, letting me carry him through the hostile un-suburban-like terrain). On the other hand, it is but a distant memory how much he barked in his carrier both at SFO and on the airplane.

Orion (2004). Philip Glass /travelogue/

Cover of Philip Glass : OrionI might not have recognized this as by Philip Glass if I didn't already know that. But it's obviously not quite traditional either.    

philipglass.com: Work by Philip Glass composed in collaboration with Ravi Shankar, Mark Atkins, Wu Man, Foday Musa Suso, Ashley MacIsaac, and Uakti.

Philip Glass: Orion - Philip G...

Update:I heard the Canada track first. Now that I'm listening to the first track, Australia, it's clearly Glass-like.

The Photographer (1983). Philip Glass /ladies and gentleman, leland stanford/

Image via Wikipedia

I saw an interesting photo of Leland Stanford on If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger, There'd Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats.

---

aworks disclaimer: to maintain family and professional harmony, this blog does not explicitly endorse the idea that Mr. Stanford was a "robber baron." I do however agree with the comment about his appetite. Also, the campus still looks great.

---

Related, Philip Glass' The Photographer on lala:

---

wikipedia:

• leland stanford, sacramento public library founder and former california governor
• robber baron
• unrelated irish classical music stanford
• photographer of future philip glass album cover taken on the stanford campus in 1878 to prove horses become air-borne

Music in Contrary Motion (1969). Philip Glass /not yet an "a" work/

una cierta mirada via FlickrOn the other hand, I've never particularly warmed up to Music in Contrary Motion, be it the chamber version or the one for organ. I apparently like my repetition with more clarity and less rigor. Bach is good, though.

Tim Page on Chester Novello:

Contrary Motion, composed in 1969, is a work for solo organ in which pedal points add a functional harmony (A minor) and there is something faintly Bach-ian about its stern, rigorous counterpoint. Contrary Motion was written in what Glass calls "open form" — it never really ends, it just stops. The expanding figures upon which it is constructed could, theoretically, continue augmenting forever. Should an interpreter care to take it that far, a performance lasting hours, even days, would be possible.

---

more photos: una cierta mirada

600 Lines (for ensemble) (1968). Philip Glass /wait, there's more/

On next.lala.com, I just found 138 minutes of early Philip Glass, as played by Alter Ego. To spare my family, I am listening with headphones.

Icct Hedral (1994). Richard D. James (with Philip Glass) /aphex twin meets mark rothko/

Noted conservative and possible ex-Republican Andrew Sullivan points to a YouTube video of the works of artist Mark Rothko, set to the Philip Glass-orchestrated mix of Aphex Twin's Icct Hedral.

This remix track may be the best thing Aphex Twin has ever done although the acoustic version of Blue Calx by Alarm Will Sound is also quite good. I don't recommend that remix CD done in turn by Aphex Twin although maybe I'll give his remix of Philip Glass' Heroes another try.

---

aworks: philip glass. ives, cheney, sullivan etc. sullivan on john adams and l.a. stereotypes. references to aphex twin. alarm will sound plays john adams.