A discussion on Philip Glass...

My own personal feeling is "thumbs halfway up and down" - I like his scores for The Illusionist, The Hours, and others a quite a lot, but don't much care for the rest of them as I find them to repetitive and too similar to each other - he really is addicted to those arpeggios, isn't he? This problem extends to his classical/concert work - big portions of his various symphonies and concerti are virtually interchangeable. When James Horner does that people want to stick pins into him until he apologies, but Glass is allowed to hide behind "Minimalism".

I'm not exactly sure how to respond to this. I don't mind Phillip Glass really. His music isn't the best, but not the worst. To be honest, I can take him or leave him. James Horner on the other hand.... :hmmm: ... I like his music in its context with movies. On it's own though, I wouldn't pay to hear it in concert. I would pay to hear Glass in a concert hall though. I think that says something!

I -LOVE- Glass.

Man, I listen to his stuff often, specially his string quartets, the violin concerto, the piano pieces.

I also like music in 12 parts, all 3 hours of it. Maaan.

Honestly, I can get why people don't enjoy his music, but I haven't really run into anything by him that I didn't like.

... oh, save some of the symphonies. His 8th is really nice, but some of the earlier ones are horrible.

When James Horner does that people want to stick pins into him until he apologies, but Glass is allowed to hide behind "Minimalism".

1. Where have people criticized James Horner for using ideas interchangeably?
2. Since when did we start comparing the merits of minimalist music to the merits of film music?

The way I see it, conceptualizing Glass as "hiding behind 'Minimalism'" is rather disingenuous. Glass scored several films, including the score to The Secret Window, but as film scores go, it wasn't astounding work. The director wanted Glass on the project, not because Glass is some "minimalist film composer" but simply because he wanted the kind of ambiance Glass could bring with his approach to music. Glass was a minimalist composer early in his career, and while many aspects of minimalism may be found in film scores (rhythmic vamps in action scenes, repetition, slow harmonic build-ups, etc.), it's a stretch to say that Horner and Glass are even operating along the same or even similar lines of thought about music now. I highly doubt it.

I'm not a huge fan of Glass. But be that as it may, he's a pretty influential figure today for a reason. I think a large part of that is Nadia Boulanger, who has been a very influential figure for many composers that stand out in the 20th Century for becoming prolific minimalists. In these days, your success still has a lot to do with who you know. Glass could be writing minimalist works to be performed by Elephants if he wanted to, and he'd still be just as influential. It has nothing to do with "minimalism" though. Glass actually refers to himself as a "Classicist" today, by the way.

I -LOVE- Glass.

Man, I listen to his stuff often, specially his string quartets, the violin concerto, the piano pieces.

Don't forget the saxophone quartet concerto, which is quite nice.

I wouldn't say I listen so much too it. You have to be in a zen-mood, I think :)

Yeah, I did see a ballet set to Glass' piano pieces. That vibe worked very well. I've only heard a symphony of his 'in passing' and was able to guess who it was. Repetitive, while the content was only so-so on a grand scale...though the work itself didn't sound minimalistic at all. I can appreciate a 'zen-mood' over a fully orchestrated symphony, in which the material doesn't send shivers down your spine at any given point.

I will give his quartets and concerto a try though. Until then...

He's a modern day Vivaldi. Depends on what you think of Vivaldi if consider that a compliment or a criticism.

He's a modern day Vivaldi. Depends on what you think of Vivaldi if consider that a compliment or a criticism.

urm?

I wholeheartedly hate vivaldi, but glass is ok.

And Steve Reich is the modern-day Buxtehude.

....

No, actually I think such comparisons make no sense.

.

The Glass has been broken! :D

I compare his stereotypical music to punk, afro-cuban, and indian music. It's got a deceptive simplicity that melts away when you stop noticing the notes.

I only know a little though, but I loved Music in the Shape of a Square -- very cool solo and small-group stuff.

And Steve Reich is the modern-day Buxtehude.

lol, thank you so much :)

I saw the JACK quartet perform Glass' fifth string quartet amidst a much more frantic selection of pieces; loved it. I think the context of listening to Glass is more important than with most composers.

I find it interesting that most composers can pretty much make "do it yourself Glass music" as some guy on youtube put it. Take a few ostinatos, arpeggios, pretty straightforward progressions and with not much time involved you'll come up with something that will sound very much like Philip Glass.

I find it interesting that most composers can pretty much make "do it yourself Glass music" as some guy on youtube put it. Take a few ostinatos, arpeggios, pretty straightforward progressions and with not much time involved you'll come up with something that will sound very much like Philip Glass.

...and that shows that Glass doesn't have much skill.

right?

...and that shows that Glass doesn't have much skill.

right?

Now, now, Ian, don't put words in my mouth... I never said something like that. I thought exactly what I wrote.

Too much arpeggios for my taste.

I really like Phillip Glass. He'd be in my top 10.

I really like Phillip Glass. He'd be in my top 10.

Isn't this just an eye-opening gem in this conversation?

When it comes to music, lazyness isn't good, especially when it comes to your own music. And minimalism is just that - lazy music, or at least this is how I call it anyway. But you know what? I like some Glass and can definitely stand him much more than Terry Riley's cycling, for example. However, I think he is a bit over-rated.

And James Horner... What about him? Unless we take a flat view at music (concerned only with the technical side), I find him rather uninteresting.

Not going to lie, I have no idea who this Horner guy is.

I'm an enormous fan of Glass, though. The reason why is because of how he controls density and texture in his music. Also, at first hearing, it sounds so repetitive, but when you've been listening for a while, you start to notice the subtle changes.

In fact, with his piano pieces and some orchestral pieces, I can identify what piece it is after listening to maybe 30 seconds to a minute. His pieces are not all identical, and he's anything but lazy; he's just precise.

Einstein on the Beach is actually one of my favorite operas. I've been in love with it for nearly 8 years now. Akhnaten, surprisingly, took me longer to love. In fact, at first I hated it. It was the first thing I'd ever heard by him, and I thought it was horrendously boring after the funeral scene.

Later, however, I came to love the rest of it as well. Especially after I started noticing the small aural changes that are, in his music, so big.

I really do believe he's an acquired taste.