Glass Opening

This elegantly packaged 10 disc retrospective surveys four decades of work by Philip Glass, from his earliest solo pieces to his world-renowned operas to his Oscar-nominated film scores. In music, words and pictures, it traces the evolution, as critic Tim Page puts it in his liner notes essay, of 'the first composer to win a wide, multi-generational audience in the opera house, the concert hall, the dance world, in film and in popular music-simultaneously.' The long-awaited release of this set follows this past spring's triumphal new staging of Glass's 1980 Satyagraha at the Metropolitan Opera House.

This CD presents several piano works by Philip Glass, played with grace and enthusiasm by Aleck Karis. Wichita Vortex Sutra (1988) was inspired by the poem of the same title by Allen Ginsburg from 1966, which alternates between images of a road across the U.S. and a protest against the war in Vietnam. The basis of the music is a simple Protestant-like hymn tune with chromatic passing tones. This is treated to rhythmic syncopation and, at other times, is surrounded by quickly arpeggiated patterns. The Metamorphosis (1988), with the title from Kafka's famous work, is in five movements. Each movement has simple melodies and a simple set of chords, usually four in number, with chromatic changes between them. These "changes" happen through the addition of a chord or other simple alteration.

Symphony No. 10 is the tenth symphony by the American composer Philip Glass. The work was commissioned by the Orchestre Français des Jeunes and premiered August 9, 2012, with Dennis Russell Davies conducting the Orchestre Français des Jeunes at the Grand Théâtre de Provence in Aix-en-Provence, France.[1] The piece had its United Kingdom premiere July 31, 2013 at The Proms in Royal Albert Hall.

Orange Mountain Music is proud to present the new album ESCAPE from guitarist Gerard Cousins featuring arrangements for solo guitar of Philip Glass's best known music. Appropriately, Cousins starts with a flowing account of Opening, the first track from Glass's iconic 1983 album Glassworks, designed to introduce people to the public to the composer’s music. Cousins follows the mood with four tracks from Glass's piano pieces Metamorphosis, the second of which, Metamorphosis No.2, became the basis for the piece Escape! from the Oscar Nominated score to The Hours. The album concludes with Knee Play 2 from Glass's 1976 opera Einstein on the Beach, a landmark of 20th century theater, and finally Truman Sleeps from Glass's Golden Globewinning score to The Truman Show.

In my concert career I have played a lot of minimal— or minimal related music. Pieces by John Adams, Steve Reich, Simeon ten Holt and Arvo Pärt are favorites on my repertoire list. Philip Glass is an eccentric composer, and for some reason I had never played his pianomusic, until last year when I did several concerts in The Netherlands. It was a real eye-opener. The music is so sensitive and pianisticly written. It is a joy to play and perform Glass.