Glass on Glass
Book Review: Music by Philip Glass, by Philip Glass
This was one of my first buys from Amazon, and it has lain unread on the shelves for several years, mainly because I discovered it was mostly about the "Trilogy" operas - Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha and Akhnaten, music I wasn't so interested in, though there is a final chapter on other works on-going into the late 1980s. But in fact, it makes for quite engaging reading as Glass describes the creative and logistical processes that went into them, both musically and dramatically; it also goes some way to fill the Glass back-story as the introductory section deals with his time in Paris under the tuition of Nadia Boulanger. It's interesting as far as it goes, but Glass has done a lot of orchestral and soundtrack work since the book was written, so it feels as though a further updated edition, or a new book, would be in order.
I am quite tempted to go and see ENO's forthcoming production of Satyagraha.
This was one of my first buys from Amazon, and it has lain unread on the shelves for several years, mainly because I discovered it was mostly about the "Trilogy" operas - Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha and Akhnaten, music I wasn't so interested in, though there is a final chapter on other works on-going into the late 1980s. But in fact, it makes for quite engaging reading as Glass describes the creative and logistical processes that went into them, both musically and dramatically; it also goes some way to fill the Glass back-story as the introductory section deals with his time in Paris under the tuition of Nadia Boulanger. It's interesting as far as it goes, but Glass has done a lot of orchestral and soundtrack work since the book was written, so it feels as though a further updated edition, or a new book, would be in order.
I am quite tempted to go and see ENO's forthcoming production of Satyagraha.