Philip Glass, _Words Without Music_

[jim]

I picked this up recently and have really enjoyed reading it. It covers a fair bit of detail on his early educational years -- Chicago, Julliard, France with Nadia Boulanger, meeting Ravi Shankar, traveling to India, and of course the early days of the Philip Glass Ensemble, the creation and initial productions of Einstein on the Beach and Satyagraha -- all of it quite fascinating. For instance, he was still driving a taxi around Manhattan even after the early success of 'Einstein'. Also very interesting, and news to me, was how much he worked with Richard Serra...

Anyway, even if you're not a big fan of his music, there is a lot here to enjoy.

Cheers,
Jim

[Guest]

Philip Glass...

Thanks for this, Jim. An important guy (if not one of my faves) along with the whole "minimalist" scene -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalism. I prefer the music Terry Riley and Steve Reich.

Speaking with words rather than music, Ernest Hemingway and later Raymond Carver have an analogous approach to writing -- I personally think Hemingway's legit while Carver takes it over to the mannered side, but I'm sure that's a controversial place to be.

...edN

[jim]

Thanks for this, Jim. An important guy (if not one of my faves) along with the whole "minimalist" scene -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalism. I prefer the music Terry Riley and Steve Reich.

I like a fair bit of all 3 -- two faves are Reich's 'Drumming', and (especially) Satyagraha. I totally respect, but don't really listen to much of Glass' earlier stuff -- though I really should have a proper viewing of Einstein on the Beach. I always enjoy pulling up Satyagraha for a listen.

What really was intriguing to me about the book were the particular details of his training. For instance, at Julliard, it was more traditional composition, but with Boulanger, it was "pure technique" -- and on a very, very rigorous schedule. Then the bits on early meetings with Shankar, and his first attempts at making music from theatre -- all very fascinating, both considering and excluding the details of the music he has produced.

Speaking with words rather than music, Ernest Hemingway and later Raymond Carver have an analogous approach to writing -- I personally think Hemingway's legit while Carver takes it over to the mannered side, but I'm sure that's a controversial place to be.

I haven't read any Carver, do you have any favorites?

Cheers,
Jim