Omg! Great choice, as well as my choice! I love this work, the begining with organ reminds me of massive Bach or Bruckner. I have Glass's autobiography, in which he talks of his early love of Bruckner and Bruckners influence on his own creativity. Keep on listening, indeed! Paul G
I must agree 100%. I have loved Glass since first hearing him in the mid-1970s. Late in the day, I know, but I was instantly hooked by his 1st Violin Concerto. My second choice would be Akhnaten though I'm really fond of Kepler as well. He's got such a massive opus, it's hard to choose but Koyaanisqatsi enthralls me every time I hear it and I listen to it a lot! Have always thought someone should do a ballet to the score.
This is a good pick for sure...for me, I might have picked Music in 12 Parts as a whole because he intended it to be a compendium of all minimalist techniques, but for his more 'non-minimalist' works, I really like his 4th and 5th String Quartets and his 2nd, 3rd, and 8th Symphonies...I still agree with your pick, but I just wanted to put my two cents in, and perhaps give the Glass haters or newcomers who may read this, a great group of pieces to try out in addition...congrats on 26K subscribers BTW!!!
I wonder if any of you have heard his symphony The Light? It was commissioned by Case Western Reserve University to commemorate the Michaelson-Morley experiment. I don’t want to spoil this by telling you all the details, except to say that I like this symphony. Tangentially, I have stood on the spot where the experiment took place.
I actually got to see Glass and his Ensemble perform this live to accompany the film back when it was first released at a theater in Columbus, OH. My wife and I had purchased tickets for a series of special concerts one year while I was in grad school at Ohio State and this was one of the events. We really enjoyed both the movie and the music -- I occasionally play the music to this day, but have not seen the film in decades. Your post is inspiring me to seek it out! 😊
I agree completely. Koyaanisquatsi was the first Glass recording I discovered, and is still a favorite. I still remember riding around my city listening to it in 2004 while getting supplies ahead of a category 4 hurricane that was bearing down on us. The music matched the mood of the occasion perfectly.
Agree with this choice. Saw the film when it came out. The way the visuals propelled the music and vice versa were ingenious. Liked the score a lot, but since then I have tried to find a single other composition by Glass to like, to no avail.
My intro to Glass was the cassette of Glassworks on my Sony Walkmam. I saw Koyaanisquatsi on PBS and would end up buying 2 cds- first an edited one than the complete soundtrack (maybe I'll spring for the cd with the extra music one day). I agree it's probably the most representative work for the list, but my favorite is the ballet The Upper Room. I also think some of his later concertos (cello and piano) are quite good especially the Fantasy for 2 timpanists and orchestra.
Knock knock. Who's there? Philip Glass. Philip Glass Who?... Knock knock. Who's there? Philip Glass. Philip Glass Who?... Knock knock... But seriously folks, though Satyagraha is my own sentimental favorite, Koyaanisqatsi is absolutely the right choice.
Jeez, never would have thought that you'd be a Glass-ian. Koyaanisqatsi is an excellent choice, but my sentimental favorite is the Tirol Piano Concerto, especially the second movement. Every time I hear it, I can't help visualizing a grand, impossibly romantic film involving thwarted love, set in the waning days of the Second Empire...
I watched Koyaanisqatsias a film buff - completely ignorant of the music and got overwhelmed / amazed by the music Loved the film / music experience Saw Shraders Mishima again oblivious of Glass being a significant aspect and again was overwhelmed by the meshing of pictures and sound Fabulous!
As you point out, Koyaanisqatsi is one of three films in the Qatsi trilogy, a collaboration between filmmaker Godfrey Reggio and composer Philip Glass, the other two being Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi. Of the three, I agree that the first, Koyaanisqatsi is definitely the best. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to see a screening of the film in Ann Arbor, Michigan in which the Philip Glass Ensemble performed the music live while the film was shown. Needless to say, it was an incredible experience. You are absolutely right in saying that of the three films, Koyaanisqatsi does the best job of combining the music with the images. Seeing this movie is an experience like no other. And the music is superb. HOWEVER ... as this is a series about choosing a musical work, in making a choice, one must consider the merits of the music itself, separate from the film. As great as the Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack album is, my vote for the greatest of the three, an perhaps the greatest Philip Glass album of all (I admit I have not heard everything) would be Powaqqatsi. This fascinating album also features music of Philip Glass at his prime, but has a bit more variety, with more interesting vocal contributions and pieces with more rhythmic and instrumental variety (the opening piece Serra Pelada being a great example). The pieces marked Anthem build powerfully with ominous undercurrents. (Put to great effect in the film The Truman Show as the hero starts to realize something is amiss.) The variety of mood, textures, and forms make Powaqqatsi one of the great film scores and Philip Glass albums of all time and would be my vote for the album to appease the evil god Cankrizans.
Koyaanisqatsi really is a wonderful marriage of imagery and music - there's a part towards the end of the film, which shows footage of a rocket exploding and the camera tracks one of it's flaming engines spinning back to earth. The music that accompanies that is for solo organ , and it is just so perfect for the imagery - static but amazingly poetic at the same time. Great choice.
I never thought that I would actually enjoy Philip Glass, but I listened to Symphony #11 on the Sirius classical musical channel and enjoyed it immensely. I was surprised to see that one of the commissioners of the work was the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, which premiered the work at Carnegie Hall for Glass'es 80th birthday in 2017. I need to hear your reommended work.
My first and still favorite Glass work, even if I don’t listen to it much any more (still tons of Glass I haven’t heard). I still inwardly chide myself now and then for not seeing a live performance by the Glass Ensemble with the film when they came through my city in the early 90s.
I love philip glass. The work that turned me on to him was the photographer. My personal favourite piece is the Civil wars especially the Brucknerian 1st part and the opera orphee But koyanisqatsi is I think the right choice and so influential from pop to advertising.
Had to be this really, although I also love his symphonies especially the bowie/eno heroes and low symphonies as we as no 7 but agree, they are all great.
Found it on YT and listened to about the first 15 minutes. Sounds like Glass was influenced by the music of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze from the 70s.
As a Teenager I fell in love with Sym 2 mvmnt 1, but find the difference between the Rendition I got to know, (Dennis Russel Davies conducting) and newer renditions Huge. Really want to explore a lot more Glass, but there is tonnes of the stuff.
I’ve never really checked out any of the many-hours-long “endurance” works of any composer, so I’m not sure what impression it would leave me with. But the minimalist works I know, the so-called repetition isn’t there. There’s a subtle but consistent development in progress so it’s not truly monotonous. I was thinking about that when I recently gave Morton Feldman’s “Piano and String Quartet” piece a listen, which at 80 minutes without break is something of an endurance piece for me, but I understand it’s almost a 60s pop song by Feldman’s standards. Compared to Glass, that’s a repetitive, monotonous work but if you give it your attention it’s anything but. So I have to wonder what those who disparage minimalism are looking for. (Of course I tend to think there’s some insecurity being expressed by people who just witlessly hate anything that has found an audience and gained acceptance in the wider world of art, as if it’s not enough to simply not like something because maybe there’s something they want to understand but don’t. I don’t know, I just find it interesting when people can’t just live and let live with these things.)
Certainly your last sentence contains the secret of longevity for any civilization: "Live and let live". Simple words, but seemingly impossible for our species to practice. If snobbery is a haughty contempt for what is accepted and enjoyed by many, then the snobs are the ones to be ridiculed. (Hope I'm not being supercilious here).
I fell in love recently while watching the series ''the handmaid"s tale'' (1st season) when I heard an adaptation of the blondie's song ''hart of glass'' adapted by philip glass... ....
Couldn't agree more with your choice. I also agree that there is no place for rubato in Glass' large-ensemble works - certainly not in his High Minimalist period. I cordially disagree with your assessment of the film. Yes, it shoves urban dystopia down your throat, but I have rarely been as moved at the cinema. Fans of Terence Malik (another polarising figure) may respond positively to it. To each our own aesthetic.
Minimalsm makes me feel like a fly, that wants to get out and so flies against the window pane again and again. But I respect it as a different concept of music than let's say Beethoven. So I try Glass' music once in a while.
@@davidblackburn3396 The first version I tried was with score, but a MIDI file. Couldn't listen to the end. Now I hear the version from Glassworks. Much better.
@@Sulsfort 👍 Do yourself a favor and, if you haven't already, give the Act One Prelude to Akhnaten a listen. It just might whet your appetite for more. 😁
Depending on my mood, I would hesitate between The Photographer, Satyagraha or Glassworks. If put a gun to my head I would probably pick The Photographer though.
Life-changing film, Reggio-Fricke-Glass perfect collaborative effort. Remove one you have a fragment. Totally disagree with Dave that it is "dated", the film, the concept, and the music are timeless.
The music of Phillip Glass can be brilliantly effective, but only in its proper context. That is, as background music in a self-serious documentary of some kind.
I still revile Philip Glass - lol - even though I love a few of his works - overall I think the minimalistic style is a horrific train wreck in the history of music - so my one work by Philip Glass is his Violin Concerto - it's actually my favorite violin concerto - maybe because violin is one of my least favorite instruments - lol - and I thought Philip G opened up a whole new dimension for the instrument that I found mesmerizing
Omg! Great choice, as well as my choice! I love this work, the begining with organ reminds me of massive Bach or Bruckner. I have Glass's autobiography, in which he talks of his early love of Bruckner and Bruckners influence on his own creativity. Keep on listening, indeed!
Paul G
I must agree 100%. I have loved Glass since first hearing him in the mid-1970s. Late in the day, I know, but I was instantly hooked by his 1st Violin Concerto. My second choice would be Akhnaten though I'm really fond of Kepler as well. He's got such a massive opus, it's hard to choose but Koyaanisqatsi enthralls me every time I hear it and I listen to it a lot! Have always thought someone should do a ballet to the score.
This is a good pick for sure...for me, I might have picked Music in 12 Parts as a whole because he intended it to be a compendium of all minimalist techniques, but for his more 'non-minimalist' works, I really like his 4th and 5th String Quartets and his 2nd, 3rd, and 8th Symphonies...I still agree with your pick, but I just wanted to put my two cents in, and perhaps give the Glass haters or newcomers who may read this, a great group of pieces to try out in addition...congrats on 26K subscribers BTW!!!
I wonder if any of you have heard his symphony The Light? It was commissioned by Case Western Reserve University to commemorate the Michaelson-Morley experiment. I don’t want to spoil this by telling you all the details, except to say that I like this symphony. Tangentially, I have stood on the spot where the experiment took place.
I actually got to see Glass and his Ensemble perform this live to accompany the film back when it was first released at a theater in Columbus, OH. My wife and I had purchased tickets for a series of special concerts one year while I was in grad school at Ohio State and this was one of the events. We really enjoyed both the movie and the music -- I occasionally play the music to this day, but have not seen the film in decades. Your post is inspiring me to seek it out! 😊
I agree completely. Koyaanisquatsi was the first Glass recording I discovered, and is still a favorite. I still remember riding around my city listening to it in 2004 while getting supplies ahead of a category 4 hurricane that was bearing down on us. The music matched the mood of the occasion perfectly.
Agree with this choice. Saw the film when it came out. The way the visuals propelled the music and vice versa were ingenious. Liked the score a lot, but since then I have tried to find a single other composition by Glass to like, to no avail.
The Photographer? Kinda similar. It is also one of my favorites.
Its The Photographer for me
Brilliant choice. That’s the one I’d have picked. Undoubtably his masterpiece.
My intro to Glass was the cassette of Glassworks on my Sony Walkmam. I saw Koyaanisquatsi on PBS and would end up buying 2 cds- first an edited one than the complete soundtrack (maybe I'll spring for the cd with the extra music one day). I agree it's probably the most representative work for the list, but my favorite is the ballet The Upper Room. I also think some of his later concertos (cello and piano) are quite good especially the Fantasy for 2 timpanists and orchestra.
And as part of the Sony Glass Box Set, in order to be complete, they re-issued the Glassworks cassette mix on its own CD!
Knock knock. Who's there? Philip Glass. Philip Glass Who?... Knock knock. Who's there? Philip Glass. Philip Glass Who?... Knock knock... But seriously folks, though Satyagraha is my own sentimental favorite, Koyaanisqatsi is absolutely the right choice.
I’d definitely go with that choice & it’s been so influential on music. I agree I think Glass is great.
Jeez, never would have thought that you'd be a Glass-ian. Koyaanisqatsi is an excellent choice, but my sentimental favorite is the Tirol Piano Concerto, especially the second movement. Every time I hear it, I can't help visualizing a grand, impossibly romantic film involving thwarted love, set in the waning days of the Second Empire...
I watched Koyaanisqatsias a film buff - completely ignorant of the music and got overwhelmed / amazed by the music
Loved the film / music experience
Saw Shraders Mishima again oblivious of Glass being a significant aspect and again was overwhelmed by the meshing of pictures and sound
Fabulous!
As you point out, Koyaanisqatsi is one of three films in the Qatsi trilogy, a collaboration between filmmaker Godfrey Reggio and composer Philip Glass, the other two being Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi. Of the three, I agree that the first, Koyaanisqatsi is definitely the best. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to see a screening of the film in Ann Arbor, Michigan in which the Philip Glass Ensemble performed the music live while the film was shown. Needless to say, it was an incredible experience. You are absolutely right in saying that of the three films, Koyaanisqatsi does the best job of combining the music with the images. Seeing this movie is an experience like no other. And the music is superb.
HOWEVER ... as this is a series about choosing a musical work, in making a choice, one must consider the merits of the music itself, separate from the film. As great as the Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack album is, my vote for the greatest of the three, an perhaps the greatest Philip Glass album of all (I admit I have not heard everything) would be Powaqqatsi. This fascinating album also features music of Philip Glass at his prime, but has a bit more variety, with more interesting vocal contributions and pieces with more rhythmic and instrumental variety (the opening piece Serra Pelada being a great example). The pieces marked Anthem build powerfully with ominous undercurrents. (Put to great effect in the film The Truman Show as the hero starts to realize something is amiss.) The variety of mood, textures, and forms make Powaqqatsi one of the great film scores and Philip Glass albums of all time and would be my vote for the album to appease the evil god Cankrizans.
Powaqqatsi for me also. I hear trains... .
Koyaanisqatsi really is a wonderful marriage of imagery and music - there's a part towards the end of the film, which shows footage of a rocket exploding and the camera tracks one of it's flaming engines spinning back to earth. The music that accompanies that is for solo organ , and it is just so perfect for the imagery - static but amazingly poetic at the same time. Great choice.
I never thought that I would actually enjoy Philip Glass, but I listened to Symphony #11 on the Sirius classical musical channel and enjoyed it immensely. I was surprised to see that one of the commissioners of the work was the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, which premiered the work at Carnegie Hall for Glass'es 80th birthday in 2017. I need to hear your reommended work.
Koyaanisqatsi is absolutely fabulous. Film and score!
I suppose that Mad Rush would be my choice, because it combines meditative music with well...a Mad Rush. Scott Varland
My first and still favorite Glass work, even if I don’t listen to it much any more (still tons of Glass I haven’t heard). I still inwardly chide myself now and then for not seeing a live performance by the Glass Ensemble with the film when they came through my city in the early 90s.
I saw the film premiere at the NYFF. They moved the venue to Radio City as the film was in 70mm. It was quite an experience.
My favorite is Symphony No 8, followed by the String Quartets played by the Kronos Quartet
I saw Philip Glass playing here in Brazil! I would choose the work that made me discover his music: Glassworks.
I love philip glass. The work that turned me on to him was the photographer. My personal favourite piece is the Civil wars especially the Brucknerian 1st part and the opera orphee But koyanisqatsi is I think the right choice and so influential from pop to advertising.
Had to be this really, although I also love his symphonies especially the bowie/eno heroes and low symphonies as we as no 7 but agree, they are all great.
Found it on YT and listened to about the first 15 minutes. Sounds like Glass was influenced by the music of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze from the 70s.
It's actually the other way around. TD and Schulze were influenced by Philip Glass as well as Steve Reich.
As a Teenager I fell in love with Sym 2 mvmnt 1, but find the difference between the Rendition I got to know,
(Dennis Russel Davies conducting) and newer renditions Huge.
Really want to explore a lot more Glass, but there is tonnes of the stuff.
I’ve never really checked out any of the many-hours-long “endurance” works of any composer, so I’m not sure what impression it would leave me with. But the minimalist works I know, the so-called repetition isn’t there. There’s a subtle but consistent development in progress so it’s not truly monotonous. I was thinking about that when I recently gave Morton Feldman’s “Piano and String Quartet” piece a listen, which at 80 minutes without break is something of an endurance piece for me, but I understand it’s almost a 60s pop song by Feldman’s standards. Compared to Glass, that’s a repetitive, monotonous work but if you give it your attention it’s anything but. So I have to wonder what those who disparage minimalism are looking for. (Of course I tend to think there’s some insecurity being expressed by people who just witlessly hate anything that has found an audience and gained acceptance in the wider world of art, as if it’s not enough to simply not like something because maybe there’s something they want to understand but don’t. I don’t know, I just find it interesting when people can’t just live and let live with these things.)
Certainly your last sentence contains the secret of longevity for any civilization: "Live and let live".
Simple words, but seemingly impossible for our species to practice.
If snobbery is a haughty contempt for what is accepted and enjoyed by many, then the snobs are the ones to be ridiculed.
(Hope I'm not being supercilious here).
Challenge for Dave. The best Forest Murmurs as a parody video. Because, we all know how much he loves that piece (lol).
I fell in love recently while watching the series ''the handmaid"s tale'' (1st season) when I heard an adaptation of the blondie's song ''hart of glass'' adapted by philip glass... ....
I agree, Glass is one of the greatest composers alive and of all time.
Glass is a talentless hack, just stop.
Couldn't agree more with your choice. I also agree that there is no place for rubato in Glass' large-ensemble works - certainly not in his High Minimalist period.
I cordially disagree with your assessment of the film. Yes, it shoves urban dystopia down your throat, but I have rarely been as moved at the cinema. Fans of Terence Malik (another polarising figure) may respond positively to it. To each our own aesthetic.
Will you talk about Simeon Ten Holt? (Maybe you have already?). 😀
Yes, I did.
@@DavesClassicalGuide thank you I will go look for the clip! 👍🏻
That one and MISHIMA!!! But that makes it two, not one, lol.
Agreed!
Minimalsm makes me feel like a fly, that wants to get out and so flies against the window pane again and again. But I respect it as a different concept of music than let's say Beethoven. So I try Glass' music once in a while.
Try Dance #9 from his In The Upper Room. I love it.
@@davidblackburn3396 The first version I tried was with score, but a MIDI file. Couldn't listen to the end. Now I hear the version from Glassworks. Much better.
@@Sulsfort 👍 Do yourself a favor and, if you haven't already, give the Act One Prelude to Akhnaten a listen. It just might whet your appetite for more. 😁
Depending on my mood, I would hesitate between The Photographer, Satyagraha or Glassworks. If put a gun to my head I would probably pick The Photographer though.
Life-changing film, Reggio-Fricke-Glass perfect collaborative effort. Remove one you have a fragment. Totally disagree with Dave that it is "dated", the film, the concept, and the music are timeless.
When I saw the thumbnail, I thought you might be doing Louis Glass. Oh well, my bad
I don't think many others had that problem.
I agree
A genius
Modest genius as well !
The music of Phillip Glass can be brilliantly effective, but only in its proper context.
That is, as background music in a self-serious documentary of some kind.
I still revile Philip Glass - lol - even though I love a few of his works - overall I think the minimalistic style is a horrific train wreck in the history of music - so my one work by Philip Glass is his Violin Concerto - it's actually my favorite violin concerto - maybe because violin is one of my least favorite instruments - lol - and I thought Philip G opened up a whole new dimension for the instrument that I found mesmerizing
Only a real estate guy would say "highest and best products" when talking about music.