Philip Glass: Piano Solo

Kristina Socanski,
Philip Glass: Piano Solo - Kristina Socanski

Philip Glass (1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and associated with minimalism. Glass himself takes distance from the minimalist label and prefers to speak of himself as a composer of “music with repetitive structures”* – music which immerses the listener in “a sort of sonic weather that twists, turns, surrounds, develops”*.

Opening (1981) is the most well-known movement from Glassworks and considered an excellent example of his style. The Piano Etudes (1994) are according to Glass’s own program notes written “to explore a variety of tempi, textures, and piano techniques” and they offer unique possibilities to both performer and listener. Metamorphosis Two (1988) is for many known as the musical theme of the film The Hours. The title “Metamorphosis” refers to and was inspired by Franz Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis. Wichita Vortex Sutra (1988) was written to accompany Allen Ginsberg’s anti-war poem from 1966, in which he contrasted images of the Kansan landscape with snippets of news about the war. The tension in the piece is built by slightly pushing the tempo and the dynamics forward in each new section of the piece, until reaching the climax and gradually returning to the opening theme. Mad Rush (1979) is based on an earlier organ piece written for the occasion of the Dalai Lama’s first public address in North America and can be seen as a work in which time becomes relative. Truman Sleeps (1998) was composed for the film The Truman Show and this album includes an extended version of the piece.

In this album, I continue my exploration of music written by Philip Glass, while looking beyond its categorization as “minimal” and exploring its aesthetic qualities and appeal from a highly personal perspective. I investigate the non-repetitive in repetition, the different ways in which a phrase can be formed in a moment of inspired listening and the timbre and color which I associate with the sound universes of Chopin and Debussy.

Kristina Socanski

Track list

Philip Glass:

  1. Glassworks: Opening
  2. Études for Solo Piano, Book 1: Étude No. 1
  3. Études for Solo Piano, Book 2: Étude No. 11
  4. Études for Solo Piano, Book 1: Étude No. 5
  5. Études for Solo Piano, Book 1: Étude No. 6
  6. Études for Solo Piano, Book 2: Étude No. 15
  7. Metamorphosis: Two
  8. Wichita Vortex Sutra
  9. Mad Rush
  10. Truman Sleeps

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Genres

Composers

All composers Claudio Monteverdi Sofia Gubaidulina Efrem Zimbalist Alexi Machavariani Viktor Hodyashev Reinhold Glière Arvo Pärt Pavel Karmanov Nikolai Medtner Luigi Boccherini Vincenzo Bellini Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Alexander Lokshin Francesco Landini Ivan Naborshchikov Ilya Vyazov Luciano Berio Béla Bartók Mily Balakirev Adam Repa Alex Moiseev Alexander Scriabin Alexander Siloti Andrew Lloyd Webber Antônio Carlos Jobim Antonio Vivaldi Astor Piazzolla Brian Field Camille Saint-Saëns Carl Orff Charles Gounod Christina Grigoryants Christoph Willibald Gluck Claude Debussy Dave Brubeck Denis Shapovalov Edvard Grieg Erik Satie Ferruccio Busoni César Franck Franz Liszt Franz Schubert Frédéric Chopin Fritz Kreisler Gabriel Fauré George Gershwin George Shearing Alexander Glazunov Enrique Granados Gustav Mahler George Frideric Handel Hasselmans Joseph Haydn Henry Mancini Husayn Ruhe aka the Puge Jacob Gade James M. David Karl Jenkins Johann Sebastian Bach Johannes Brahms Jules Massenet Friedrich Kalkbrenner Konstantin Soukhovetski György Kurtág Leonardo Le San György Ligeti Louis Spohr Donato Lovreglio Ludwig van Beethoven Anatoly Lyadov Manuel de Falla Matthew Hackett Maurice Ravel Mendelssohn Michel Legrand Mieczysław Weinberg Mikhail Glinka Modest Mussorgsky Mykola Leontovych Myroslav Skoryk Naborshchikov Pablo de Sarasate Philip Glass Polina Nazaykinskaya Sergei Prokofiev Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Jean-Philippe Rameau Remo Giazotto Rimsky-Korsakov Robert Schumann Joaquín Rodrigo Gioachino Rossini Alexander Rozenblatt Juan Sánchez Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergey Bryukhno Sergey Taneyev Dmitri Shostakovich Jean Sibelius Tamas Szigyarto