Music by Philip Glass [Hardcover]

Philip Glass (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Glass, whose reductive, repetitive music inspires either adoration or ennui, has written as excellent, easy-to-read account of his compositional career, with particular emphasis on the planning and realization of his well-known trilogy of operas: Einstein on the Beach , Satyagraha , and Akhnaten. Even Glass's detractors will be won over by his obvious sincerity and seriousness of purpose in coming to terms with the complexities of his operatic subjects. Glass fans will enjoy the reminiscences of his salad years in Paris and the fascinating behind-the-scenes view of the opera world, but may be disappointed in the sketchy explanations of the musical content of the operas. The up-to-date discography is useful. Larry Lipkis, Moravian Coll., Bethlehem, Pa.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 222 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; 1st edition (November 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060158239
• ISBN-13: 978-0060158231
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,605,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All you ever wanted to know about Glass's music in one place, November 19, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Music by Philip Glass (Paperback)

This book is the quintessential read for anyone interested in the composer be he the music lover realaxing to his recording of "Glassworks" or the avid "Glass-ite" with all five hours of "Einstein on the Beach" memorized (and I salute you). Whatever you wanted to know about Glass and especially the operas can be found here in the composer's own words. Like his music, Glass's book is fluid and encompassing. Seth Bedford ([e-mail]) Midland,TX.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great explaination of the Portrait Trilogy!, August 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Music by Philip Glass (Paperback)

Here is a spectacular explaination of Glass's Portrait Trilogy of operas (Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha, and Akhnaten), including lots of great insight into the musical subtelties, staging, casting, performances, and production. It includes several excellent pictures (color and B&W) of Glass, his ensemble, and scenes from the three operas. Also, a rare explaination of the staging of Einstein! A good read for anyone interested in modern music

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent but limited portrait of the artist as a middle-aged man., March 6, 2011

By 

Aaron Wooldridge (Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Music by Philip Glass (Hardcover)

Music by Philip Glass is called the composer's "professional autobiography" in the dust jacket. Although correct, this statement is slightly misleading because in this book Glass writes primarily about his career in theater production and less about his career as a composer of music. As someone who is very interested in music but has almost no exposure to live theater, I find the theater emphasis to be detrimental to my enjoyment of the book. However, what Glass does write about he discusses in a highly interesting way, and he does write enough about his music to keep me interested.

The book begins with Glass's early career in the mid-1960s with he and his then-wife JoAnne Akalaitis in Paris and New York attending various works of theater and involving themselves in local art scenes. Akalaitis can be used as a representative example in this book in how Glass says much about Akalaitis from a professional perspective but virtually nothing about their marriage. Likewise Glass spends much of the book naming and praising professional colleagues but says next to nothing about his personal life or his personal relationships with any of these people outside the bounds of producing music and theater. In this first chapter he writes briefly about his earliest performed musical works, the formation of the Philip Glass Ensemble, and music he wrote for the Ensemble from "Two Pages" through "Music in 12 Parts". This first chapter, which covers about 10 years, provides enough musical information to make one interested but not enough to answer very many questions, and the only time Glass as a person is revealed is when he admitted that he worked as a taxi driver and a maintenance man to pay the bills even when he was a somewhat accomplished and well-known composer. I found it highly interesting that although Glass briefly discusses the pre-Ensemble period in which he played with fellow minimalist composer Steve Reich, Glass never once mentioned Reich in the book. It is well-known that the two had a falling-out, but it would have been nice to read a sentence or two about it from Glass's perspective.

Then we get to the core of the book: Glass's detailed discussions about his so-called "Portrait Trilogy" of operas, namely, Einstein on the Beach, Satagraha, and Akhnaten. The book devoted three chapters to each opera. The first chapter for each opera is the lengthiest, in which he spends a good many pages talking about how the opera was originally conceived, people he worked with, stage design, theater production, and live performances. The most interesting part of these sections is where Glass discusses the historical individual that particular opera is about: Einstein, Ghandi, and the Pharoah Akhnaten respectively. It is quite enlightening to see each historical figure through the composer's eyes.

The second chapter for each opera is about the music itself, and it is these three music chapters which I found the most interesting. Glass includes musical examples written in his own hand and discusses the additive process he uses, various problems he tried to overcome, instrumentation, and so on. As a musician I found a lot here to get my creativity flowing, and I received new ideas for composing my own music. Unfortunately the few examples given are no substitute for a complete score. I would absolutely love to see scores for portions of Einstein on the Beach, as well as Two Pages, Music in 12 Parts, Glassworks, and Descent Into the Maelstrom. The third chapter for each opera is the complete libretto for that particular opera, something that would be of great interest to a fan of theater but was of almost no interest to me.

The final chapter briefly discusses many of the other musical projects Glass was involved in up to the writing of the book in the late 80s. He talks about several opera collaborations including the CIVIL warS and recording studio albums such as Glassworks. His discussion of collaborating with pop and rock lyricists and vocalists was fascinating, and I was particularly interested in his different composing philisophies between music meant to be performed live and music meant for a studio album. Finally there is a list of all of Glass's musical compositions and albums up to the writing of the book. This list has the book's only mention of my favorite Glass album: A Descent into the Maelstrom.

It is clear from my review that I found this book to be extremely limited. There are a lot of unanswered questions, the reader does not learn enough about the music itself, and one gets almost no sense of Glass as a person beyond his work. What is not so clear from my review is that I found what IS WRITTEN to be highly informative, extremely entertaining, and even in some weird sense uplifting, enlightening, and inspiring. The closest Glass comes to revealing his inner self is when he writes about Akhnaten (the person, not the opera). His understanding of the Pharoah is indeed amazing and touching - and very human.