SusoSight SusoSight

Philip Glass is one of my favorite composers and is considered one of the greatest and most influential composers of the 20th century. I used to run a large fan website called The Philip Glass Library. But now fan sites are less popular in the face of sites like Wikipedia.

I've attended the following concerts of his or related to his music:

• 1997 - His 60th birthday two day concert in New York City. (Philip Glass Ensemble and friends)
• 1997 - Solo piano concert at Fermilab in Chicago. (Philip Glass)
• 1998 - Performance of Philip Glass music at the Tibetan Cultural Center in Bloomington.
• 2002 - Indiana University concert at the IU auditorium. The Koyanisqatsi tour. (Philip Glass Ensemble)

My comments about "Music in Twelve Parts"

You have to understand that this piece and other Glass pieces from the 60s and early 70s were being written in the face of 50 years of the academic world thinking that serialism and atonal music was the end all and be all of classical and academic music. To me, it is important that these early works of his are so long. If they were short pieces, they wouldn't really have the monumental presence that was needed to challenge the existing status quo. The absurdity of them being so long helps to establish a return to tonal music. When Music in Twelve Parts was performed live, it was in a loft apartment in New York and the performance lasted about 5 hours. There is a picture from the concert showing people lying on the floor around the Philip Glass Ensemble immersed in the music. Once you develop a patience for the length and let the music engulf you, it is hypnotic, enlightening and you start to notice the overall structure and quality to the piece.

Unfortunately, much of the academic world still has its head up its ass. I've heard very few atonal pieces that I like, most created by the early pioneers such as Schoenberg. I think most atonal composers these days don't get that the music has to be listenable.

The minimalists as far as I'm concerned saved the classical musical world and have provided the bridge to 21st century music.