Philip Glass
Philip Glass began from premises similar to Steve Reich's but shunned Reich's austere science and always remained closer to popular music than to classical music. He moved away from the arduous repetitive patterns of Music In Twelve Parts (1974), rediscovered melody and approached the format of the opera from a different perspective with Einstein On The Beach (1976). Movie soundtracks, operas and collaborations with pop/rock musicians became his preferred media.
Philip Glass began from premises similar to Steve Reich's but shunned Reich's austere science and always remained closer to popular music than to classical music. He moved away from the arduous repetitive patterns of Music In Twelve Parts (1974), rediscovered melody and approached the format of the opera from a different perspective with Einstein On The Beach (1976). Movie soundtracks, operas and collaborations with pop/rock musicians became his preferred media.
Analog
Unreleased recordings from the late 70s, performed by Glass (Farfisa, Yamaha & Hammond organs, Fender Rhodes piano, Arp synthesizer). New release which contains three seminal works in Glass's musical history. In the late 1970s, Philip Glass was asked by two film producers, Francois de Menil and Barbara Rose, to write music for a film they were producing. The film was Mark di Suervo, Sculptor and it was Glass's first film score, predating even Koyaanisqatsi. The score took its titles from the nam…
Solo Music
Recordings of Contrary Motion and Two Pages by Philip Glass during February and March 1975 in New York City. Performed by Philip Glass (electric organ) and Michael Riesman (acoustic piano on Two Pages). Only one copy available.
Music in the shape of a square
On 30 June 1999, the ensemble Alter Ego performed a concert of works by Philip Glass at the Opera Paese Gallery in Rome, one of the most innovative musical venues in the city and where Alter Ego has played regularly since 1996. Glass himself was present at this performance which was a replica of his own famous debut concert at the New York Film-Makers Cinemateque in September 1968. Under the guidance of Pietro Fortuna, the artists of the Opera Paese Gallery faithfully reconstructed the geometric…
Glassworks
In 1982 Philip Glass became the first composer since Aaron Copland to join the CBS Masterworks label. Glass had formed the Philip Glass Ensemble in 1968, but it wasn't until his opera Einstein on the Beach (1976) that he achieved great critical and popular success. His first album for Masterworks, Glassworks, tripled all sales projections, pleasing audiences, critics and Glass himself: "I'm very pleased with it, the way it's received in performance. The pieces seem to have an emotional quality t…
Concerto pour violon
On the present recording, the opening Prelude - with its magnificently sustained arc of tension and not-quite release - is followed by the dance from Act Two, Scene 3 which, in more obviously rhythmic fashion, celebrates the inauguration of the city of Akhetaten created by the new pharaoh; in an actual production, musicians appear on stage along with the rest of the cast. In both these extracts, some unsettling metrical ambiguities enhance the drama. And throughout the opera, the predominatingly…
From The Kitchen Archives - New Music New York 1979
Founded in New York in 1971, The Kitchen is internationally known as a leading center for video, music, dance, performance, new media and literature. Orange Mountain Music has begun the restoration of audio reels from performances at The Kitchen with the goal of producing a series of CDs entitled From The Kitchen Archives. New Music, New York 1979, the debut release in this series, is a two-disc set offering re-mastered recordings from the landmark concerts of 'New Music, New York: A Festival of…
Music With Changing Parts
a seminal masterpiece, Philip Glass' Music with Changing Parts is representative of an exciting new generation's interest in one of the most important composers of our time. Icebreaker is considered by many to be the United Kingdom's leading new music ensemble. The 13-piece group, which tours extensively, has been an active champion of many of today's most important composers. Philip Glass' 1970 score for Music with Changing Parts has been part of the group's touring repertoire for years. This r…
Music 4 Hands
Orange Mountain's new release Music 4 Hands presents new transcriptions for two pianos written and performed by Dennis Russell Davies and Maki Namekawa. Featured compositions are Philip Glass' 'Six Scenes from Les Enfants Terribles' and Steve Reich's 'Piano Phase.' Glass and Reich were leaders of a new music revolution in New York City in the 1960s and '70s that included Terry Riley, La Monte Young and Meredith Monk. In the years since then, the two composer's careers and music have greatly dive…
Alter Ego Performs Philip Glass
During the 1960s and '70s, Philip Glass established himself as a leading artistic voice by creating a new musical language in the downtown loft spaces of New York's Soho district. Forty years later, Glass' early revolutionary music continues to appeal to younger generations as evidenced by Orange Mountain Music's latest release, Alter Ego Performs Philip Glass. 2006 marks the Italian new music ensemble Alter Ego's 15th anniversary as an ensemble. Across Europe, they are widely recognized as pion…