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the fact that Glass’s music contains no fully developed melodies I had to look up the date on this piece because taking into account Glass's post 1995 (at the

the fact that Glass’s music contains no fully developed melodies I had to look up the date on this piece because taking into account Glass's post 1995 (at the very latest) works, I couldn't disagree more with the conclusion and perhaps misunderstand the author's concept of melody. Glass's distant history with melody is not particularly strong (although Façades is a good example of early melodic work), but his work has become more (and to choose a rather tricky term) "human" over the years. Reviews of Naqoyqatsi (both the movie soundtrack and the concerto it turned into) frequently cite its "melodic" nature and "lyrical melodic lines" (BBC Music) and it is far from the only modern Glass piece to adopt a melodic approach (his epic first Violin Concerto comes to mind). Heck, I'm sure I even saw Glass and Yo Yo Ma being interviewed about Naqoyqatsi and how it was designed for the cello to drive a powerful melody to counteract the technological nature of the movie (note that Koyaanisqatsi was the other way around - more 'mechnical' electronic music set to scenes of the natural world). One problem some new to Glass can encounter is Glass's melodies frequently occur in lower registers on instruments that don't generally play melodies, particularly in his operas, leaving the traditionally melodic instruments to instead provide the rhythm. Appomattox provides modern examples of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J14flyMOQo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J14flyMOQo

pierrec 12y ago
Here's a 1990 Glass piece that's extremely melodic - not only that, but two melodic subjects are exposed then superimposed in a powerful counterpoint. The first subject is exposed at 1:55, the second at 4:10, and both are in counterpoint around 5:10. The bass, as you point out, also becomes quite melodic in the last minute, while providing harmony to the first subject. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyBqdTgnpNQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyBqdTgnpNQ
flycaliguy 12y ago
Great info. Glass is possibly the first musician that I actually "listened" to as a child after seeing one of his Sesame Street clips [1]. The author of this article claims that he failed "to structure time in a profoundly meaningful way" and perhaps I don't understand what they are claiming but that clip alone did the opposite in a profound way for me. It actually unlocked in my young brain what music is made of. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch-R1aIM-C0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch-R1aIM-C0
danbmil99 12y ago
Agree 100%. However I even find earlier pieces such as "Music in 12 Parts" hauntingly beautiful and melodic in the way that trance/ambient can be. True it doesn't have the same purpose, or effect, of a narrative song, but it isn't intended to. I see a strong analogy between Glass's early works and Brian Eno's period starting with "Music For Elevators". They are both asking a fundamental question -- what is music "supposed to do?" -- and attempting to break down centuries of expectation, to build up a new way of communicating from the ground up. Interestingly, both artists evolved from their early radical roots, re-introducing more approachable narrative tropes, to create a new hybrid style that melds hard-core minimalism with the desire for a storytelling arc. Often, they did so in collaboration. Examples: Passages (Glass / Shankar), Achtung Baby (U2 / Eno)
- mturmon 12y ago
  Eno's recording of Music for Airports (not "elevators", that is something of a howler) had an interesting compositional method which was based on overlapping tape loops, with the loops having different periods. You can hear the notes coming into and out of phase (over very long time periods) sometimes playing almost over the top of one another, and sometimes with silent spaces. Because of this, it has a sub rosa mathematical side. Eno was influenced by Glass, but Glass is about a decade older. I'm sure I've listened to that one record 200 times. I've found all of his music to be very rewarding over many years. Incidentally, the article mentions John Adams in passing. I've found Adams' music to be more engaging and adventurous than Glass'. Adams is more of a West coast character, he's the composer in residence at the LA Phil and, earlier, at the SF Symphony. Highly recommended.
  - KC8ZKF 12y ago
    This may be obvious to most, but the loops in question were literal tape loops, it being 1978. ("...running around a series of tubular aluminum chairs in Conny Plank's studio.")
- KC8ZKF 12y ago
  Another example may be Glass's "Symphony No. 1", which was based on David Bowie's album "Low", which can be seen as Eno re-introducing more approachable narrative tropes.
baddox 12y ago
The only Glass music I am familiar with is his Solo Piano album. I consider it very melodic.
- petercooper 12y ago
  Absolutely. Although I'd steer clear of arguing that with a critic, as many of its melodies are based around arpeggios which feeds into the "repetitiveness" stereotype many hold against Glass. Solo Piano is an interesting example, though, because melodic or not, even if one were to write it off as a rather mechnical work (which as, on the page, it looks) when Glass plays it himself it becomes quite organic due to his imperfect and almost swaggering rhythm.
  - andybak 12y ago
    I heard it live and he actually messed up at one point and had to start the piece again. I can't fathom the concentration it takes to play some of the longer pieces off of Einstein etc. Let alone something like Reich's Piano Phase. Superhuman focus...
    - danbmil99 12y ago
      I often wonder though -- if Glass (or Reich for that matter) happened to start their careers at a time and place where sequencing and sampling were commonplace and accepted, and created their work using that medium, would the music really suffer much? Is the superhuman virtuoso musical dexterity and focus required to properly perform these pieces really germane to their success as musical compositions?
      - andybak 12y ago
        During the period AFTER the advent of sampling/sequencing but BEFORE the rise of YouTube as a channel to consume music you might have been right. But I think people view music performance now much more than they ever viewed music performance prior and witnesses the actual act of performing is intrinsic to enjoying many pieces. It's one thing simply knowing a piece was played by humans but seeing it played adds an extra dimension and I think the popularity of some performances now depends on this.
archagon 12y ago
I'm a Romantic music fan who hates most 20th century classical music and so I fully expected to hate Glass as well, but his string quartets are not only clearly melodic and structured in time, but some of the most sublime music I've ever heard. http://www.philipglass.com/music/recordings/kronos_quartet_performs_philip_glass.php http://www.philipglass.com/music/recordings/kronos_quartet_p...
bane 12y ago
I have a love/hate relationship with Glass's music. When he's on point, his music can be absolutely amazing: structured, melodic, mood generating. When he's not, his music sounds like the output of a really simple music generation algorithm and boring. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNiOqa1nWgI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNiOqa1nWgI) However, I'll always be in debt to Glass for getting me into modern music and musical Minimalism, which led me to Steve Reich. Who strangely also become more melodic as his musical ideas progressed. For me my favorite piece is Music for 18 Musicians, good recordings of which send you to the most sublime and transformative musical place for an hour -- that I've ever heard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLckHHc25ww https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLckHHc25ww His music is also difficult, some pieces can take up to a year for a group to prepare, but for reasons that are entirely different than what most musicians think of as "difficult". Another favorite https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edKE10Yz_zs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edKE10Yz_zs Reich is also one of those composers who you can see a clear musical progression in his career: from almost avante garde experiments with recordings and typical minimalist focuses on single musical ideas (usually phasing), in his later career turned to fantastic rhythms and harmonies and the idea of slowly evolving musical themes. The music sounds almost the same as you listen to it, but before you know it you are somewhere entirely different from where you started. I find myself often skipping back a minute or so mid song to relive the journey and figure out what happened.
danbmil99 12y ago
music for elevators was the follow up to... Nevermind. Wrong quantum universe.

pierrec 12y ago

Here's a 1990 Glass piece that's extremely melodic - not only that, but two melodic subjects are exposed then superimposed in a powerful counterpoint. The first subject is exposed at 1:55, the second at 4:10, and both are in counterpoint around 5:10. The bass, as you point out, also becomes quite melodic in the last minute, while providing harmony to the first subject. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyBqdTgnpNQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyBqdTgnpNQ

flycaliguy 12y ago

Great info. Glass is possibly the first musician that I actually "listened" to as a child after seeing one of his Sesame Street clips [1]. The author of this article claims that he failed "to structure time in a profoundly meaningful way" and perhaps I don't understand what they are claiming but that clip alone did the opposite in a profound way for me. It actually unlocked in my young brain what music is made of. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch-R1aIM-C0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch-R1aIM-C0

danbmil99 12y ago

Agree 100%. However I even find earlier pieces such as "Music in 12 Parts" hauntingly beautiful and melodic in the way that trance/ambient can be. True it doesn't have the same purpose, or effect, of a narrative song, but it isn't intended to. I see a strong analogy between Glass's early works and Brian Eno's period starting with "Music For Elevators". They are both asking a fundamental question -- what is music "supposed to do?" -- and attempting to break down centuries of expectation, to build up a new way of communicating from the ground up. Interestingly, both artists evolved from their early radical roots, re-introducing more approachable narrative tropes, to create a new hybrid style that melds hard-core minimalism with the desire for a storytelling arc. Often, they did so in collaboration. Examples: Passages (Glass / Shankar), Achtung Baby (U2 / Eno)

mturmon 12y ago
Eno's recording of Music for Airports (not "elevators", that is something of a howler) had an interesting compositional method which was based on overlapping tape loops, with the loops having different periods. You can hear the notes coming into and out of phase (over very long time periods) sometimes playing almost over the top of one another, and sometimes with silent spaces. Because of this, it has a sub rosa mathematical side. Eno was influenced by Glass, but Glass is about a decade older. I'm sure I've listened to that one record 200 times. I've found all of his music to be very rewarding over many years. Incidentally, the article mentions John Adams in passing. I've found Adams' music to be more engaging and adventurous than Glass'. Adams is more of a West coast character, he's the composer in residence at the LA Phil and, earlier, at the SF Symphony. Highly recommended.
- KC8ZKF 12y ago
  This may be obvious to most, but the loops in question were literal tape loops, it being 1978. ("...running around a series of tubular aluminum chairs in Conny Plank's studio.")
KC8ZKF 12y ago
Another example may be Glass's "Symphony No. 1", which was based on David Bowie's album "Low", which can be seen as Eno re-introducing more approachable narrative tropes.

baddox 12y ago

The only Glass music I am familiar with is his Solo Piano album. I consider it very melodic.

petercooper 12y ago
Absolutely. Although I'd steer clear of arguing that with a critic, as many of its melodies are based around arpeggios which feeds into the "repetitiveness" stereotype many hold against Glass. Solo Piano is an interesting example, though, because melodic or not, even if one were to write it off as a rather mechnical work (which as, on the page, it looks) when Glass plays it himself it becomes quite organic due to his imperfect and almost swaggering rhythm.
- andybak 12y ago
  I heard it live and he actually messed up at one point and had to start the piece again. I can't fathom the concentration it takes to play some of the longer pieces off of Einstein etc. Let alone something like Reich's Piano Phase. Superhuman focus...
  - danbmil99 12y ago
    I often wonder though -- if Glass (or Reich for that matter) happened to start their careers at a time and place where sequencing and sampling were commonplace and accepted, and created their work using that medium, would the music really suffer much? Is the superhuman virtuoso musical dexterity and focus required to properly perform these pieces really germane to their success as musical compositions?
    - andybak 12y ago
      During the period AFTER the advent of sampling/sequencing but BEFORE the rise of YouTube as a channel to consume music you might have been right. But I think people view music performance now much more than they ever viewed music performance prior and witnesses the actual act of performing is intrinsic to enjoying many pieces. It's one thing simply knowing a piece was played by humans but seeing it played adds an extra dimension and I think the popularity of some performances now depends on this.

archagon 12y ago

I'm a Romantic music fan who hates most 20th century classical music and so I fully expected to hate Glass as well, but his string quartets are not only clearly melodic and structured in time, but some of the most sublime music I've ever heard. http://www.philipglass.com/music/recordings/kronos_quartet_performs_philip_glass.php http://www.philipglass.com/music/recordings/kronos_quartet_p...

bane 12y ago

I have a love/hate relationship with Glass's music. When he's on point, his music can be absolutely amazing: structured, melodic, mood generating. When he's not, his music sounds like the output of a really simple music generation algorithm and boring. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNiOqa1nWgI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNiOqa1nWgI) However, I'll always be in debt to Glass for getting me into modern music and musical Minimalism, which led me to Steve Reich. Who strangely also become more melodic as his musical ideas progressed. For me my favorite piece is Music for 18 Musicians, good recordings of which send you to the most sublime and transformative musical place for an hour -- that I've ever heard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLckHHc25ww https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLckHHc25ww His music is also difficult, some pieces can take up to a year for a group to prepare, but for reasons that are entirely different than what most musicians think of as "difficult". Another favorite https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edKE10Yz_zs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edKE10Yz_zs Reich is also one of those composers who you can see a clear musical progression in his career: from almost avante garde experiments with recordings and typical minimalist focuses on single musical ideas (usually phasing), in his later career turned to fantastic rhythms and harmonies and the idea of slowly evolving musical themes. The music sounds almost the same as you listen to it, but before you know it you are somewhere entirely different from where you started. I find myself often skipping back a minute or so mid song to relive the journey and figure out what happened.

danbmil99 12y ago

music for elevators was the follow up to... Nevermind. Wrong quantum universe.