Philip Glass

As with so many of life's most significant encounters, I met Philip Glass purely by accident in 1995 on a plane flying out of Lincoln Nebraska after a grueling job interview at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Music. That plane trip marked the beginning of an artistic collaboration the fruit of which is represented on this recording. Glass introduced me to a transcription of Satyagraha made by his music director Michael Riesman and thus began my fascination with the art of transcribing the theatre music of Philip Glass. It has been my privilege to work personally with Glass on repertoire ideas as well as musical ideas throughout the entire transcription process. In all I have transcribed eleven movements from various theatre works. The first three were published by Chester Music as the Trilogy Sonata, and all eleven make their recording debut on this CD.

Orange Mountain Music presents the original motion picture soundtrack to the new film from director Woody Allen. Cassandra’s Dream represents the first collaboration between the legendary New York director the equally iconic New York composer Philip Glass.
Cassandra’s Dream is the story of two Cockney brothers (Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor) in south London and their relationship with a young actress (newcomer Hayley Atwell) who lands in London on her search for fortune. The original score by Philip Glass accompanies a story about ambition, love, lust and murder. The film was shot in London by eminent cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, while the Glass score was recorded in New York. Glass haunting music travels the gamut from the Cockney Brother’s initial innocence to an orchestral tour-de-force at the emotional climax as the main character’s world becomes unhinged.

Theater Music Vol. 1 represents the first release in a series of 10 discs to be released on Orange Mountain Music from the vast archive of recordings made in the last 40 years of Philip Glass’ incredible recording career. These recordings span the entire range of Philip Glass’ compositional activities and will include music for film, theater, dance, and concert hall in a wide variety of scores including chamber music, solo instruments and orchestral works.

Itaipu (1989) is something of a cantata-cum-symphony-cum-oratorio with no clear text. Its topic is the world's largest hydroelectric dam, built on the Rarana River between Paraguay and Brazil, and the piece–in Glass's trademark punctuating minimalism–is filled with distinct South American instrumentation, particularly in the percussion. The music itself is noble, conjuring the human endeavor to build the five-mile-wide dam near the town of Itaipu. The Canyon (1988) is about no canyon in particular but tonally suggests the mystery of canyons in general. Both these compositions are among Glass's better works.

The new release from Philip Glass’s record label Orange Mountain Music, presents for the first time, the complete original soundtrack from the classic Godfrey Reggio film KOYAANISQATSI.
The LP release of thie Glass score was released in the 1980s in a severely truncated form with only 6 tracks and 45 minutes of music. This newly re-mastered recording features 13 tracks and over 76 minutes of music including the original sound-effects and additional music used in the film. This version of Koyaanisqatsi is the most complete and representative recording of the soundtrack to this seminal film. Performed by the Philip Glass Ensemble conducted by Michael Riesman and produced by Kurt Munkacsi.

Naxos’ exciting and important American Classics series now includes music of the present day, in this case three recent works by Philip Glass. The Violin Concerto, a work that (surprisingly) adheres to classical conventions, lures us in with beautiful, seductive harmonies. Glass relies both on his trademark arpeggiated technique (sounding in the first movement somewhat like Vivaldi’s “Winter” concerto) and on his favorite harmonic progressions to suggest a sustained melodic line. In the first two movements Glass’ carefully timed harmonic and rhythmic shifts keep you in a happy daze. He breaks the mood in the finale, however, leaving the soloist to practice arpeggios at length until the quiet, serene coda steals in. Adele Anthony, who plays with the kind of skill and grace we would expect in a Mozart concerto, brings off Glass’ work with consummate, convincing musicianship. Company (music for Becket’s prose) for string orchestra is in four movements, characterized by stimulating changes in time signature and rhythm.

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.