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Minimalism is what modern culture thrives on, and in effect, Philip Glass and his strange musical ties assisted in the modernclassical developmentin the later 21st century. Glass was born five years before the outbreak of WWII on January 31st 1937,to Jewish Lithuanian immigrants.Thankfully, being separated from the rupture in the earth of Europe, Glass was free to growup alongside his father who was a musical enthusiast.Through his father’s ears, Glass was to discover from an early age manymusical genres, mainly classical, from expressionists such as Schoenbergto classic Beethoven. Additiona ...read more
Minimalism is what modern culture thrives on, and in effect, Philip Glass and his strange musical ties assisted in the modernclassical developmentin the later 21st century. Glass was born five years before the outbreak of WWII on January 31st 1937,to Jewish Lithuanian immigrants.Thankfully, being separated from the rupture in the earth of Europe, Glass was free to growup alongside his father who was a musical enthusiast.Through his father’s ears, Glass was to discover from an early age manymusical genres, mainly classical, from expressionists such as Schoenbergto classic Beethoven. Additionally, he would begin tolearn and play the flute, and from here Glass setupon a musical journey through countless equilibria.Beginning with his tuition through high school, Glass stumbled across Webern’s serialism. This piece, on unknown designation,had a profoundaffect upon his developing mind, heralding the necessity for him to produce something perhaps similar. Afterthis life changing moment, he travelledto Paris, where he went under the tuition of Nadia Boulanger, a prominent traditionalmusic tutor. Despite Glass’ very true respect for the classicaltechnique expressed within the music of Bach, MozartBeethoven and alike, he felt hindered by the restrictions that it presented to him - hewanted something more, something newand invigorating. Having this desire, he soon became of his own independence and voyaged into thecompositional world on hisown ship.Psychedelica seemed to have taken its own course upon Glass during the 1960’s as he stubbornly bent classical rules andregulations, furthermorecreating the “Glass Ensemble,” which was to include a variant of instruments to that of standardclassical ensembles. Like other artists of thetime, Glass and his alternative lifestyle landed him within the spiritual dwellings ofTibet. This visit was soon to take a hold upon Glass, which neverseemed to let go of him, even to this day. His music at timesreflects his initial visits to India and Tibet, having a tribal essence, to timely ostinatopassages, while maintaining a pureminimal timbre. Yet despite this, his music always feels like it could be chained towards the foundation of theclassics, in astrange hypnotic and varied manner.Through the 1980’s he became quite famous through the release of his conceptual opera “Akhenaten,” and his six piece suite“Glassworks,” bothpresenting a form of new minimalism to the world. He also scored for the highly influential Japanese art film"Koyaanisqatsi" during this decade. Ifrevolution is what Glass was looking for he got it. With each new composition, he pushednew barriers and climbed many rugged walls to overcomethe sometimes negative response towards his ‘bizarre’ ideas aboutmusic. But Glass had nothing to worry about, his glass was always half full, andhe continued on with his composition, and alsofilm music. The latter is what inevitably would gain him greater success, financially, but alsopublicly, especially after winningan Academy Award for best score for The Truman Show, one of his most respected compositions.To this day, Glass has composed hundreds of works, ranging from concertos for saxophone, to genuine symphonies (eight ofthem), and full scoresfor film. A legendary minimalist composer, he is one of the geniuses of modern classical music. If there isanyone who will decide the directionclassical music follows in the next twenty years, it will certainly be under the keen eye ofPhilip Glass. « hide |
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