| Philip Glass (b.1937) is arguably one of the most innovative and influential composers of the twentieth century. His orchestral works, operas, film scores, dance pieces, and chamber works successfully fuse Western and world musics, and are among the earliest and most successful experiments of their kind in composition. By the late 1960s, Mr. Glass began composing in a distinctively minimalist compositional style consisting of hypnotically repetitious circular rhythms. This minimalist compositional style emphasizes extreme simplification of rhythms, patterns, and harmonies, often resulting in trancelike effects. Most of these works avoid any sort of climax, development, or direction and are based around constant cycles. Glassworks (1982) is a six-part collection of instrumental and orchestral works. In the simplest of musical terms, these pieces feature arpeggio versus ostinato, and vice versa (or a chord whose notes are played in rapid succession rather than simultaneously versus a musical phrase that is repeated over and over). Opening is the first of the six-part collection and is for piano solo. It serves as a simple, appropriate opening with its pleasant rhythmic and harmonic melody. Program Note by Justin R. Stolarik April 2005 |
