His early work (c 1967 - 1980) ie. Music in 12 Parts, Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha, Glassworks, etc. is his least compromising and, to my mind the best. His later music (including film music, symphonies (except no. 2 which is fab), recent opera Galileo, etc.) can tend to be non-descript and a bit of a cliche, though with some exceptions. A bit hit and miss recently, unfortunately.
That being said, I love most minimal music, especially Glass. Though I still think Glass is less good than Steve Reich, who, in my opinion, always had a better idea of what his music was doing and where it was going. Any of the following are recommended listening: Piano Phase, Violin Phase, Phase Patterns, Music for 18 Musicians, Six Marimbas (or Six Pianos, which is the same piece) or the Octet (8 Lines). Four Organs is, (again, in my opinion) the best piece of minimal music from the 60's - it caused a riot at its first performance, with members of the audience climbing on stage and a performer throwing a punch at them! That being said, I can understand why: the piece is a deconstruction of one chord slowly building up for 17 minutes. Love it or hate it, orgasmic or infuriating. Later stuff including Triple Quartet, Nagoya Marimbas, Proverb, are all fab.
I'm also a fan of the other two New York Minimalists, LaMonte Young and Terry Riley, but much less accessible than Steve or Phil. A Rainbow in Curved Air is stunningly beautiful.
Fans of Philip Glass may also want to check out the music of John Adams, (start with Shaker Loops, Grand Pianola Music, or The Chairman Dances) or Arvo Part (Tabula Rasa, Spiegel im Spiegel, Miserere, or anything)
Trust nick on the Arvo Part (well actually don't distrust him on anything!), absolutely beautiful, particularly the pieces for prepared piano. Still haven't got around to obtaining any myself, however, very beautiful, haunting music.
That being said, I love most minimal music, especially Glass. Though I still think Glass is less good than Steve Reich, who, in my opinion, always had a better idea of what his music was doing and where it was going. Any of the following are recommended listening: Piano Phase, Violin Phase, Phase Patterns, Music for 18 Musicians, Six Marimbas (or Six Pianos, which is the same piece) or the Octet (8 Lines). Four Organs is, (again, in my opinion) the best piece of minimal music from the 60's - it caused a riot at its first performance, with members of the audience climbing on stage and a performer throwing a punch at them! That being said, I can understand why: the piece is a deconstruction of one chord slowly building up for 17 minutes. Love it or hate it, orgasmic or infuriating. Later stuff including Triple Quartet, Nagoya Marimbas, Proverb, are all fab.
I'm also a fan of the other two New York Minimalists, LaMonte Young and Terry Riley, but much less accessible than Steve or Phil. A Rainbow in Curved Air is stunningly beautiful.
Fans of Philip Glass may also want to check out the music of John Adams, (start with Shaker Loops, Grand Pianola Music, or The Chairman Dances) or Arvo Part (Tabula Rasa, Spiegel im Spiegel, Miserere, or anything)
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Thank you Nick I will check those out.
BTW found a great photo of you looking *very* young the other day!
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