Best Selling Books by Philip Glass

Glass tells in his own words of his growth from obscurity to worldwide fame; of his great teacher, Nadia Boulanger, and his early work with Ravi Shankar; of his beginning associations with the theater through the work of Mabou Mines, La Mama and Robert Wilson. -Book cover.

New York Times Bestseller An NPR Best Book of the Year Winner of the Chicago Tribune Literary Award Finalist for the Marfield Prize, National Award for Arts Writing "Reads the way Mr. Glass''s compositions sound at their best: propulsive, with a surreptitious emotional undertow." —Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, New York Times Philip Glass has, almost single-handedly, crafted the dominant sound of late-twentieth-century classical music. Yet in Words Without Music, his critically acclaimed memoir, he creates an entirely new and unexpected voice, that of a born storyteller and an acutely insightful chronicler, whose behind-the-scenes recollections allow readers to experience those moments of creative fusion when life so magically merged with art. From his childhood in Baltimore to his student days in Chicago and at Juilliard, to his first journey to Paris and a life-changing trip to India, Glass movingly recalls his early mentors, while reconstructing the places that helped shape his creative consciousness. Whether describing working as an unlicensed plumber in gritty 1970s New York or composing Satyagraha, Glass breaks across genres and re-creates, here in words, the thrill that results from artistic creation. Words Without Music ultimately affirms the power of music to change the world.

THE TWENTY ETUDES FOR PIANO were composed during the years from 1991 to 2012. Their final configuration into Book 1 and Book 2 was determined by the music itself in the course of its composition. Book 1 (Etudes 1–10) had a twin objective — to explore a variety of tempi, textures and piano techniques. At the same time it was meant to serve as a pedagogical tool by which I would improve my piano playing. In these two ways, Book 1 succeeded very well. I learned a great deal about the piano and in the course of learning the music, I became a better player. New projects came along and interrupted the work on the Etudes for several years. Perhaps for that reason, when I took up work with the Etudes again I found the music was following a new path. Though I had settled questions of piano technique for myself in Book 1, the music in Book 2 quickly began to suggest a series of new adventures in harmony and structure. In this way, Books 1 and 2, taken together, suggest a real trajectory that includes a broad range of music and technical ideas. In the end, the Etudes are meant to be appreciated not only by the general listener, but especially by those who have the ability and patience to learn, play and perform the music themselves.

Corría el año 57 y la señora Glass estaba muy preocupada por el incierto futuro de su hijo, recién graduado en la Universidad de Chicago. "Si te vas a Nueva York a estudiar música acabarás como tu tío Henry", le dijo. Aquel Henry era un músico itinerante que tocaba la batería en teatros de variedades y salas de baile. "Eso es lo que realmente quiero", contestó el joven Philip. A la mañana siguiente tomó el autobús que lo conduciría desde las calles de Baltimore hasta el sueño de la creación vagabunda. No fue, sin embargo, un camino de rosas: la ópera ''Einstein on the Beach'' lo consagró en 1976 como uno de los más grandes compositores del planeta, pero durante las dos décadas anteriores se ganó la vida arreglando tuberías o conduciendo taxis y camiones de mudanzas. También vivió en París y recorrió la India, un viaje iniciático que le dejó una huella indeleble. Philip Glass es una figura central en la cultura contemporánea. Sus sinfonías, óperas, bandas sonoras y piezas de cámara han entrado por derecho propio en la partitura de nuestro tiempo. Sus rupturas, sus audacias, son ya insoslayables. En este libro, sin embargo, Glass también se descubre como un cronista agudo y minucioso, como un narrador nato que con pocos trazos logra dibujar anécdotas, atmósferas y personajes (entre ellos, Allen Ginsberg, Ravi Shankar, Doris Lessing, Richard Serra,Leonard Cohen o Martin Scorsese). No será fácil igualar su recreación de la bohemia neoyorquina durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX. ''Palabras sin música'' no es la exégesis de una obra, sino el espejo de una vida apasionante. Es, además, un canto al poder del arte para transformar el mundo.

A stunning, deluxe boxed set of composer Philip Glass''s most important and historic body of work, his collection of twenty Piano Etudes, along with a book of reflections by notable artists and musicians. Philip Glass is one of the most influential artists and composers of our time. The Complete Piano Etudes box contains Glass''s most seminal and personal work, his twenty piano etudes, consisting of twenty sewn bound expandable folios of each piece of music, along with a bound collection of essays and reflections by notable writers, musicians, artists, and famous admirers, including Lucinda Childs, Nathan Chen, Alice Waters, Maira Kalman, Martin Scorcese, and more, connected to this body of work. Glass began composing the Etudes, or "studies," in the early 1990s. Book 1, the first set of 10 Etudes, were composed for Glass himself to work on his own playing. While on this journey, it became clear that Glass was no longer composing just for himself, but rather to be played and enjoyed by others. The Etudes were completed in 2012, remaining unpublished until 2014. The published volumes of the two complete volumes of the Etudes became an instant staple of modern music repertoire and a compendium of the finest elements of Philip Glass''s later music. There have been dozens of recordings in part and in whole by artists on the most prestigious record labels. At just over two hours long, the music itself became a self-contained concert experience, performed internationally by some of the world''s great interpreters. This deluxe volume of Glass''s historic body is to be cherished by music lovers, piano students and players as a lasting heirloom to be passed down from generation to generation. It''s a beautiful object to display at home, and to be explored at the keyboard.

ESTE É UM EPISÓDIO DA OBRA "CARTA PARA O MEU JOVEM EU", DE JANE GRAHAM, QUE APRESENTAM CARTAS PARA PHILIP GLASS E SHANIA TWAIN MAIS JOVENS. SE QUISER LER TODAS AS CARTAS LEIA A OBRA COMPLETA. Se a viagem no tempo fosse uma possibilidade, o que você diria ao seu eu adolescente, caso o encontrasse? Em Carta Para Meu Jovem Eu, personalidades das mais diversas áreas refletem sobre o que teria sido bom saber antes. Elas também lembram aqueles momentos mágicos que gostariam de reviver. O livro inclui a participação especial de personalidades brasileiras.

Philip Glass est doté d''une oreille extraordinairement réceptive aux nuances des mondes qu''il a traversés, comme aux évolutions musicales de son temps. Dans ce récit de vie à la première personne, les lieux marquent les souvenirs et font émerger des sonorités : le magasin de disques de son père à Baltimore, les clubs de be-bop à Chicago, la scène expérimentale à New York, les exercices d''" écoute " de Nadia Boulanger à Paris, l''intensité rythmique des concerts de Ravi Shankar... Sa formation musicale, la fréquentation d''artistes majeurs, mais aussi ses voyages, qui sont autant d''incursions dans les musiques indienne, himalayenne, africaine, sud-américaine, lui permettent d''inventer les outils nécessaires à la composition et font de lui un praticien hors du commun.

Debuting at the Avignon Festival in France in 1976, Robert Wilson and Philip Glass'' Einstein on the Beach completely reinvented opera, synthesizing the musical and theatrical avant-gardes of its time into one spectacular five-hour extravaganza. Colossal in ambition, length and scale, it appeared on paper to obey all the conventions of opera--four acts, the singers on the stage, duets, choirs, an orchestra pit--but it drastically departed from them in all other respects. Einstein on the Beach had no plot, the singers did not play characters, the music was minimalist and repetitive, and connections between the images and the music were also fairly minimal. Nonetheless, the opera successfully stormed the gates of classical opera and seized the public imagination. Following its 1976 premiere, the work was staged twice, in 1984 (at the Brooklyn Academy of Music) and 1992 (at Princeton)--and then, for the first time in 20 years, it was performed in January 2012 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, an event that paved the way for an official tour that commences in March 2012, with stops in London, Toronto, Brooklyn, Berkeley, Mexico City and Amsterdam. This anniversary volume gathers previously unpublished material that includes Robert Wilson''s original workbook, sketches and storyboards annotated with Philip Glass'' notes, as well as photographs from the opera''s various world tours. Together these documents illustrate the genesis of a collaboration that created a revolution in contemporary opera.

In his two best-known symphonies ("Low" and "Heroes"), Philip Glass worked his minimalist magic on the tunes of David Bowie and Brian Eno, with whom he naturally felt an ambient affinity. His Third Symphony (1995), receiving its premiere recording here, looks to an entirely different tradition: the euphonious sound of the string orchestra, as explored in modern symphonies by the likes of William Schuman and Arthur Honegger and countless other works by composers from Bartk̤ to Tippett. It''s a congenial medium for Glass, creating a homogenous milieu for his placid repetitions. The symphony''s heart is its third movement, where serenely cycling harmonies support a gradually thickening web of counterpoint; this is Glass''s trademark style at its finest. Also making its overdue recorded premiere on this disc is "The Light" (1987), a more varied orchestral score with bright brass and piccolo embodying the luminosity of its title and a rhythmic impetus that choreographs the rays of light in sprightly dances. Between these major works, longtime Glass advocate Dennis Russell Davies brings us interludes from two of the composer''s operas: a lively "Mechanical Ballet" from his 1992 Metropolitan Opera commission, "The Voyage," plus two excerpts from "the CIVIL warS" that surprisingly but unmistakably make reference to Tchaikovsky''s "Nutcracker." A must for Glass fans, this album will also prove to any doubters that the elegant restraint and simplicity of his style can embrace an ample expressive range.

Promotional materials for a new arrangement/version of composer Philip Glass'' opera, The photographer, based on events in the life of Eadweard Muybridge. Includes photographs of the cast, magazines containing articles on Philip Glass and Eadweard Muybridge, a program for the performance, and a news release.