Glass painting
At last night's class the tutor had music on. He asked if anyone objected, nobody did. In fact, since I almost always paint to music I was all in favour of it. I'd never heard the music that he played but it was absolutely amazing. Stirring, atmospheric and fabulous to work to.
Turns out it was an opera by Philip Glass called Akhnaten (sp). I'd ( Read more... )
Turns out it was an opera by Philip Glass called Akhnaten (sp). I'd ( Read more... )
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Philip Glass, Philip Glass, Philip Glass,
Philip Glass, Philip Glass,
Philip Glass, Philip Glass,
Philip Glass, Philip Glass, Philip Glass
Fellow Americans Steve Reich and John Adams have something in common.
In Europe, Arvo Part, John Tavener and Henryk Gorecki have developed somewhat similar styles using melodic but often highly repetitive themes to create "eaves" of sound. I particularly like Gorecki's third symphony, Tavener's Last Sleep of the Virgin and pretty much anything by Part.
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Totally with HubbleGubble on the "Koyaanisqatsi" thing - it's an essential film anyhow, and you can grab it from Amazon (complete with it's almost-as-good sequel, "Powaqqatsi") for under a fiver. Soundtrack sold separately, etc.
As far as CDs go... Leaving aside the "...qatsi" series, "The Essential Philip Glass" is a great taster if you fancy a buffet approach. If you feel like diving in, "Einstein On The Beach", "Of Beauty And Light", "Mishima" and "Music In 12 Parts" are all superb. Although if you liked what you heard of "Akhnaten", that's a keeper, too.
Another particular favourite is the "Complete String Quartets" disc, which is I think best described as 'haunting'. I'd also recommend "Songs & Poems For Solo Cello" - basically a bunch of Glass's personal favourites re-arranged for solo cello and played beautifully by Wendy Sutter - for those navel-gazing moments... :-)
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