Do you know Philip Glass?

Of course, I don't love minimalist aesthetics

Einstein on the beach is, in my opinion, one of the lesser-known masterpieces of the '900s

I'm sorry, I tried, but after the third numbering... I gave up. It might be a masterpiece... but it just didn't grab me.

even Joyce's Ulysses is difficult :-)

It is very suitable for doing the things it has done. In concert it doesn't work, it is boring. In general, I think it is music that works better with images...

See also

I happened to listen to the CD "Philip Glass: solo piano". Is it he himself playing?

What can I say? I knew little of this composer, so I never wanted to express an explicit opinion on his music. However, I must say, in all sincerity, that his music seems like rubbish to me.

It is of incredible banality. He is one of those composers from whom I think one simply cannot learn anything.

... no one will agree, I know. but ...

I would like to draw attention to Keith Jarrett's "The Koln Concert". It contains truly everything, from jazz to classical, to minimalist music, even some new-age sounds colored with blues!

What do you think?

I don't think this is the right topic, JamSession :-)

On Glass, problems arise if one speaks of his early pieces, those written between the '60s and '70s, including Music in Similar Motion, Einstein on the Beach and others. That is avant-garde. And, like all avant-garde, it is not easily accessible music. Besides, minimalist avant-garde is a type of music that very few are used to, especially in Italy and especially among lovers of "classical" music.

thallo wrote:

especially among lovers of "classical" music.

I challenge you Thallo, the avant-garde (whether it be structuralism or minimalism) has a very different approach compared to the classical one (obviously I do not mean classicism). This is neither good nor bad, it is simply "different ..."

obvious, but specifically I meant to say that some avant-gardes, now historical, have been more easily absorbed by concert circuits, amateurs, and teaching (of composition, above all). More than once we have spoken about how much serialism and structuralism have had "success" in certain academia. Informal painting was already known and practiced everywhere just a few years ago.

That little-known phase of minimalism, which is actually the so-called minimalism, which we can now reread almost as an avant-garde, has not yet been absorbed or reabsorbed. Reich's "Phase Compositions," Glass's music for solo piano, practically all Riley and practically all La Monte Young, are still illustrious unknowns.

... and I always find myself talking about my thesis ... but the funny thing is that it's never me who starts the topic :-) I'm getting bored... I'm getting bored of only knowing this one thing :-)

thallo wrote:

... I'm getting bored of only knowing this one thing well :-)

... weren't you working on your PhD?

Thallo, at the conservatory composition courses only go up to post-structuralism at most, so it is normal that many do not even know what minimalism is... there is no academic opportunity and, when it comes to gaining professional experience, perhaps it is better to avoid the avant-garde which, as Frank reminds us, actually deviates a bit from the approach a classical musician should have.

For this reason, in the end, those who have had the chance to undertake significant in-depth study will eventually emerge. Moreover, not only has minimalism ended, but even post-minimalism has too, as it is music created in a certain historical juncture... which is now gone