Skip to main content

Listening Report: Philip Glass

 

Philip Glass uses instruments which is probably why, at first, his music is not totally appalling for people who are only used to western music or non-avantgarde music. But what he does in many of his pieces is repetition. Or at least it sounds very similar. It varies, of course, but in itself, it sounds pretty much the same. But it is different than a pop song for example. Because in many ways, for the westernized ear, the parts of songs (even if they are one song) sound different – or at least distinguishable enough for us to say, “oh this is at the beginning, or the bridge, or the end, or the chorus”. This is not the case with Glass’s pieces – even if they sound familiar in the way they are created, upon first listen.

 

This also reminded me of the self-similarity we talked about in class, and I feel like it is reflected in Philip Glass's pieces very well. I feel like I already describes this when I talked about distinguishing parts, but when skipping through these 16-minute-long videos, it only sounds as though the video froze for a moment and then continued playing at the same part it started from.

 

Apart from that, I also get a kind of Sharman vibe from his pieces. The repetition of topics and the rhythmical steadiness are nothing new. It is often used to bring people into a meditative state and if I really listen to a piece of his from start to finish – perhaps even with headphones – and try to relax and kind of fall into this music, I could get to this trance as well.

 

This is why we appreciate music so much; I think. It is in some form a mind-expanding entity (even in little doses). Philip Glass just amplifies this phenomenon by exaggerating the parts (chorus) that have this potential. And that is why they are so mesmerizing. He went into the extreme – cut almost everything in a song that doesn't have enough mind-expansion potential – and gives it its own room to play.

 

I also don’t think that this music is not an attempt to corrupt or agitate people by showing that music can be music without being typically western. These pieces, we’ve listened to have the potential to make people feel big feelings if they are received in the right capacity. Such as in a great concert hall.  And I think that’s fantastic.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Listening Report on John Oswald: Plexure

 Sarah Kumar Dr. Bernd Herzogenrath The Future of (American) Music 06 Mar. 2023 Listening Report on John Oswald: Plexure According to John Oswald, “[a] plunderphone is a recognizable sonic quote, using the actual sound of something familiar which has already been recorded” (Lecture Slides 18). However, only if the source stays recognizable can it be called plunderphonics. In his album Plexure , several songs are played back and mixed together, thus creating a new sound. This is interesting because while the excerpts of songs that are used are recognizable or at least sound familiar to some degree, played backwards and mashed up as they are in Plexure , they create a new sound. Like on the cover of the album, on which a collage making up a man can be seen, the mixing of different songs played backwards gives a new feeling to something known. The way the songs are mixed makes them unintelligible. The meaning of the words of the original recordings are not able to be compr...

John Cage – Inlets

  This does not sound like music to me. Depending on the interpretation of different players or performers, this piece will always sound different. In this case, it sounds to me like someone is walking through a cave with water at the bottom, dragging their feet through it. Sometimes it sounds like water in a toilet bowl, especially when we hear the water in a bigger shell being swished around. These sounds are relaxing in the background, it is like a gentle stream of water. I just wonder what went through the head of the composer while writing this piece. But I guess he had some experimental ideas that are interesting to try out. Those shells are quite pretty, I have never seen such big ones that are not broken. I was surprised when something else happened towards the end of the piece. That tone which came out of the one shell was so clear, it sounded like a trumpet. I didn’t know that shells can sound like that. It was quite beautiful. It was a nice way to end the piece. I di...

William Basinski – The Disintegration Loops III

  The Disintegration Loops is a quartet of albums published in 2002 and 2003 by American avant-garde composer William Basinski. The pieces are made up of tape loop recordings that were played over time, with noise and crackles rising as the tape deteriorated. Basinski noticed this effect when attempting to convert his older recordings to digital format. The completion of the recordings coincided with the September 11, 2001 events, which Basinski witnessed and adds a deeper meaning to the composition. The composition is fascinating in many ways and makes the listener lose track of time. The tape loop recording had a very calming effect on me and put me in a trance-like state when I listened to it in its entirety. The tape loop is really soothing, so much so that I didn't even notice the loss of quality when I first listened to it. It makes you forget about time and allows you to really get into the piece capturing the calmness it exudes. You forget or don't really notice how i...