Added: 4 years ago
From: mrsticker2
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  • brother, I consider a super crazy philip glass in all his works I love, oh god

  • This is so cool. I'm actually going to see einstein on the beach in toronto in a few months.

  • bet Philip Glass is a huge fan of Sander Van Doorn's latest album, it's basically Glass's music made with synthesizers

  • is she saying lucy love?

  • @soulEATERofcookies la-si-do-si...

  • WOW - WHOA FELLA! Too much caffeine!!!!! Sheesh!

  • *Knock *Knock!

    *Who's there?

    *Philip Glass! Philip Glass! Philip Glass! Philip Glass! Philip Glass! Philip Glass! Philip Glass! Philip Glass! Philip Glass! Philip Glass! Philip Glass! Philip Glass!

    (I never get tired of that joke...)

  • Phil Glass plays a Prophet 5 and Michael Riesman a Yamaha YC-45D as well as a bass synth (the small thingy on top of the organ, forgot its name...)

  • @BlueCougar It kind of looks like an ARP Explorer.

  • It's not VHS only. You can get the "Four American Composers"  on DVD

  • Man this is different.

  • One of my favorite parts of this particular excerpt is the syncopation that goes on between the saxophones and the rest of the ensemble. The background saxophones sound like they play in 6/8, while the rest of the ensemble either does 2/4 or 3/4. Brilliant how Glass makes it work.

  • ME PAREZE GENIAL ESTA MUSICA

  • master!

  • 15 people like Justin Bieber

  • How is someone supposed to SING this? They just keep counting?

  • @ricarleite Glass gives cues with his head - that's what he needs the big hairdo for ;-). Everytime he does one of those big nods, the music moves to the next section.

  • This is great ... but Glass looks like Sideshow Bob at 0:12!

  • Is glass using a keyboard or synth in this?

  • How the heck does he not have RSI? Seriously.. Amazing

  • @LIANG14 What is RSI?

  • @mrsticker2 Repetitive strain injury maybe??

  • @mrsticker2 repetitive strain injury

  • @mrsticker2 Repetitive Strain Injury... xD

  • @mrsticker2 Repetitive Strain Injury

  • @mrsticker2 Repetitive stress injury, like carpal tunnel or something, arising from exerting his hands in the same way for very long. I think Glass' pieces are probably less hard on the hands than something like Schubert's Erlkönig, but I guess it's not as "cool" to mock Schubert for being "repetitive".

  • @portsy101 Most performances of Erlkönig run about three and a half minutes, which makes Einstein on the Beach about 85 times longer. And to point out that Glass' music is repetitive isn't necessarily to denigrate it; it's an indisputable fact.

  • @mrsticker2 Repetitive Strain Injury

  • @mrsticker2 Repetitive strain injury. As the name implies, it happens it from doing the same thing over and over again.

  • 6:55 I suppose whoever edited this thought to throw in his opinion of Glass's music by replaying this last part of his interview backwards.

  • @TrilobiteFilms Not sure what you mean, but I added the reverse interview at the end for no specific reason. Just a little video garnish.

  • whats up with the crazy backwards talk at the very end?

  • i love

  • my brain had a boner

  • how the hell are they staying in time? his hands must be burning. its like they are robots or somthing, being controlled by microchips that wont let them break out of the meter. that must be super hard

  • Oh my its putting me to sleep but in a very good way indeed. Love it.

  • are the lyrics in solfege???

  • mike niems my boyyyy!!!!!!!!

  • I want to hear the voices more clearly...

  • sounds like traditional Chinese music

  • He couldn't help laughing. realy Good sound.

  • I liked 'Glassworks' and 'The Hours', cant say I'm too excited over his new stuff.

  • @thisnameisthekewlest This piece predates both of those works. I love it, but It's not for everyone.

  • @thisnameisthekewlest This is actually what i like about glass .. the uber fast neck breaking music, such as, The Grid. Train and spaceship are my favorites :)

  • @GamerX7800X Agreed! Those are my two favorite pieces as well.

  • @GamerX7800X Agreed! Those are my two favorite pieces as well.

  • His head bang is to single the last repeat of the current pattern.

  • Comment removed

  • From what I see here, it looks like his way of queuing (and also sort of rocking out at the same time).

  • I would give ANYTHING to perform with philip glass!!!!!! I would drop out of college and dedicate years of my life to learning these instruments, just to be a part of something so pure genius as this!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Música desnuda, matemática, no pretende evocar experiencias ni despertar sentimientos concretos. De su pureza y no de lo que evoca nace la emoción.

  • @puiciellu No pretende decir nada, tan solo sueña. Ars gratia artis

  • Really interesting music! i like it very much... but if i play as long and fast as philip glass does in this video my fingers get tired!! :o

  • He bags his head to indicate a change in time

  • @omesur71 The time when I transprto memories Rene's apartment

  • Music for complex minds!

    . his head banging is rocking out as they all have music sheets and at the pace theyr playing dont have time to look at him. repetitive but creative mantra like music split in bars. this is MUSICAL HIGH!

  • Not one of Glass' best.

  • I find this very interesting. Mr. Glass's dexterity at the keyboards is pretty awesome. I now really like Einstein on the Beach. Just wish I could have made out what the singer(s) were singing. I checked around and found out, but other than that, it's pretty cool.

  • this head banging is to direct the rest of the band. notic that he always moves his head exactly two measures before the change of the tune.

  • great

    

  • Went to music in twelve parts last sunday, 16th may. He still bangs his head and it is clearly a way to signal whatever to the ensemble, which consists of about the same number of people and same number of instruments (one synthesizer more).

    He is not rocking out. Not now anyways. And of course, the 5 hours lasting concert was superb.

  • Well, at least it's less repetitive than Nickelback.

  • @TarantulaTown hahahahhaha you made my night!

    

  • Thank you for sharing this.

  • The PGE around this time was pretty much the greatest band of all time.

  • Haha, I used to think he was just playing an arpeggiator

    now I realize how very wrong I was

  • I always have a feeling that his music is trying to prove something. Not in a bad way, it's just didatic... Love it!

  • I love the Philip Glass Ensemble. Its formation was a brilliant move. Only way to get his music performed initially. They were fellow-students and such. The musicians are hardwired into the logic of the music. Many times, Michael Riesman is a surrogate on organ, e.g. Not a case of an Elingtonian-style orchestra where 80% of the success is from the distinctness of the instrumentalists, but the music requires technique in accordance with the radical aesthetic and structure of the composition.

  • britney spears is great !!

  • What brand/model organs are they playing?

  • he's playing a prophet 5

  • he's got hands given to him by the devil. I love this guy! I keep his music in my ears on a daily basis! I guarantee if you think you know ANYthing about time measures, Philip glass shatters it all!

  • That was a toucan, not a parrot.

  • Terrific, I am and always have been a huge Philip Glass fan. The last movement of The Photographer is my all time favourite Glass track. It drives some people round the bend, I would like it, and this, to continue longer...

  • this is the first time I've ever listened to a Philip Glass composition.....love it....

  • How the hell do they keep up like this for five hours? Have standbys on call for when one of the ensemble falls over dead?

    I don't suppose they're planning a production any time soon, are they? Still ready and willing to give my right foot to see it.

  • My teacher told me that there are artists that specialize in playing philip glass music.

  • Yeah, he has his own group. But he also exclusively owns the rights to a lot of his music, so only they can perform it, which means it doesn't get played much :(

  • very good point about the rights. his prob. raking in enough royalties tho, and at least we get recordings. It would be nice to actually attend an event. Still tho, I doubt most symphonies would perform his work very often. Can you believe he's never been offered a position teaching music? I mean, I know of at least 2 jazz artists/composers that were at one point so marginalized that they were living in poverty and got teaching jobs. In fact, this is the way many such musicians make a living.

  • OMG, I loved Phil back in the day. This music was so NEW and different. Thanks for taking the time to post this.

  • Stupid question. Why does he keep banging his head? Is he just really into the music or is he giving direction to the rest of the ensemble? The music often seems to change after he does it, I guess...

  • This has been discussed before. I originally thought he was "rocking out", but from what others have said, that was his way of "cuing" the ensemble.

  • Thanks, sorry for the repetition. Wait, am I apologizing for repetition on a Philip Glass video? Ha!

  • @mrsticker2 That is exactly what he is doing - the music will change after a couple of bars..

  • @mrsticker2 And now the actual reason: He's breaking through glass walls. I tried.

  • @mrsticker2 yes...he's signalling to the rest of the ensemble when there is a change.

  • @fumes6 Head banging = Rocking out

  • I first heard Phillip Glass on Saturday night Live, he played this song if i remember. It had a high speed video of traffic in NYC. This is the first time i have found it since that time . It totally blew me away. Still does.

  • On SNL he performed "Rubric" with visuals taken from the movie Koyaanisqatsi (which Glass provided the score to). Check that movie out on the big screen, if you haven't already). I used to have the SNL performance posted on youtube until NBC made me take it down.

  • Thank you for the correction. I guess that was in the early eighties or very late seveties. i have never forgotten how mezmerized i was by the performance.

    I may not remember the name of the song , but i have never forgotten that it was Phillip Glass.

  • @mrsticker2 do you still have that recording? id really like to see that. my dad played on the recording of Koyaanisqatsi and the Songs from Liquid Days. i am trying to compile all of his recordings and proformances. he may have played with them on SNL, it would mean a lot if i could see it

  • Can we all just agree that Glass, Reich, and Adams are better than... Britney Spears for instance? :)

  • Different kind of music mate. Spears appeals to the masses of pre pubescent girls as it relates to them, and minimalist composers must relate to us in some sense.

  • I think they are equally poor.

  • Norathor, I see you're checking back in to rattle the Glass cage. Welcome back.

  • omgsh i love britney spears,

  • @Willcaballero well i guess everyone here should agree about that, otherwise the ones that don't agree shouldn't be here.... or they're just here for a laugh.

    There are people in the world that don't really care about music, let alone minamilistic music (did i get that word right?)

  • @Willcaballero what about Gavin Briers, how do you rate him or Michael Nieman.

  • @Willcaballero We cant compare them...to compare would be like comparing apples to thumbtacks....or rather "Artist" to "block of wood"....(spears being the wood)...though i think perhaps a better comparison would be "artist" to "hosebag"...but you get the point....

  • @Willcaballero That's not really saying a lot.

  • So wonderful!

  • that's wild stuff

  • I don't think I'll ever fully understand Philip Glass.

  • What a genius.

  • Sideshow Bob!

  • LOL

  • Briliant!

  • amazing amazing amazing. music for the blood in your veins!

  • It's music in the sense that music means "the organization of sound." This is certainly organized sound... it just happens to be the same damned chord arpeggiated for 14 straight minutes. Good minimalism (like Adams) employs repetition for reaching an audience. Bad minimalism (like Glass) uses it just to use it. This is music, it's just bad music.

  • Adams has never moved me once.

    Every glass work I can listen to on end and never get bored with.

    Try a new argument why this is bad music.

  • I'm going to go ahead and rescind the the "bad music" label, as I constantly have to remind myself that there is no such thing. There is just music that doesn't work for me, and music that does. I'm not moved by music that sits on one chord for 10 minutes, I suppose, but that doesn't mean other people shouldn't be or can't be. Personal preference got the better of me, apologies.

  • Oh. In that case, I understand and agree with you (not about Philip Glass but on preference and no bad music). It can be difficult to separate personal preference from sounding like you are saying musical fact, mainly because music employs so many terms that speaking about it can have a "matter of factual" feel to it, simply by placing "minimalism," "chord" and "arpeggio" next to the phrase "bad music". The terms are really just to express and simply ideas, but also come with this tiny baggage.

  • Mymothercanrun, I couldn't agree with you more. I have listened to segments of "The Death of Klinghoffer", an opera by Adams. It was absolute crap! Glass,however, his music is amazing, such sublime monotony! He's a genius!

  • Are you implying that Adams has a larger audience than Glass?

  • this is a good pieces......can be the healing music....

  • not great, just different, maybe good?

  • lol nice tags, jackass

  • haha.

  • steve reich sex porn? That's got to be pretty repetitive even for porn!

  • I'd get the score to this if it weren't so damned expensive.

  • i shouldnt tell you this but to to gigapedia it's there ;)

  • PG is a minimalist.

    I like PG and GG that's Glenn Gould the ultimate J.S Bach interpretor. Youtube video libraty has an excellent documentary on GG.

    As a minimalist I hate AM/PM. You know the

    stupid way of writing time like 10:26 PM

    AM/PM sucks! Just write 22:26

    thta's the time in Bangkok now.

    Tempus Fugit

    John K Lindgren

    BKKreporter

    Bangkok

  • what are you on and where can i get it?

  • your tags are hilarious (thelast3)

  • bizaroid le thin

  • I loooove this guy trop chou jcomprends que dalle c'eszt trop beau mes trompes s'affolent WOOOOUUUUH

  • The best opera ever written.

  • Glass is a genius but hey that first shot...........its side show bob!!!

  • youre soooo right!!! i was gonna say something but i saw your comment hahaa. it was definitley based off of him or something.

  • LOL :-D

  • where's the hook?

  • hes a genius... hes really a genius

  • its so mesmerizing but if you listen to it really close it is very interesting. Its so sick

  • Brilliant. The complete elimination of rhythm and bars

  • Sounds like robots being penetrated.

  • god, this shit is so fucking weird

  • it's called minimalism

  • I'm not surprised that Glass never liked the term minimalism (so I've heard).

    It's minimalist because you can perceive what changes or what occurs - but seriously it's still so dense and deep in structure and voice - I'm not too sure if minimalism applies.

  • "...dense and deep in structure..."?

    Prove it.

  • I'd rather you spend your time proving that it is not.

  • i remember seeing this video in elementary school... blew my mind then, blows my mind now!!!

  • Me too.

  • wow, wish I'd gone to your school

  • I'm dieing to make a sound like philp did..How could he make this sound? Where he got inspired? He's work has something different with reich even same "minimal music" philp has more emotion and more fun I think. I got to say, Phlip is really one of the important contemporary composer also reich.

  • @agathayoun I think Reich was more into melodic development, as he has these melodies that start off with one note and then as time goes on they become complete melodies. Music for 18 Musicians shows this in each section, there's a new melody that gets developed over time. Philip Glass is different as it's almost like, the melody is already there, but he experiments with its length through the rhythm changes, and occasionally just adding on a whole quaver to the bar length :P

  • Gosh, I don't see HOW the musicians can play all those repetitions...my hands would probably come off.

  • what exactly is glass cueing with his head motions? i don't hear any differentiation in the music when he cues.

  • I don't think he's cueing. I think he's just rocking out to the music.

  • He is indeed cueing jumps to a new section. The ensemble finishes the repetition after the head cue and then moves on to the next pattern.

  • back when glass hadn't succumbed to the conventions of traditional tonality to a degree. he's still amazing, but this? this is AMAZING

  • good heavens, what alot of debate. I thought this was fantastic. Rock and Roll!

  • faberoonie

  • PorchBass, If everyone applied your "I like it/I don't like it" litmus test to say, FOOD instead of music, then we'd all be eating Spaghetti-Ohs our entire lives and never developing our palates. When I was a child, I thought as a child. Time to put away childish notions.

  • Sandiegoactress, I think your more interested in displaying some illusion of intellectual prowess, than actually discussing music. Ending your comment in such a condescending (and at the same time self-elevating) way proves where your true interests lie: a need to feel superior. There will be no charge for this session.

  • Thank you for the free analysis, Mr. Sticker! By the way, I see it took you four tries to post your comment. And in your first line, you misspelled "you're" as "your." AHHH, you're right: I feel so superior, and it feels fantastic!

  • what can I say? I'm a grammatical anarchist. Hey, how can you tell it took me 4 attempts to post a comment? I'm not familiar with that feature. I was a little tipsy when I wrote that comment, but that's no excuse. I re-write my comments numerous times even when sober. So, Sandiegoactress after re-reading your past comments & seeing all the Glass in your favorites, I have to say I am totally confused by you & have no idea where you're coming from. Not sure my previous comment was warranted.

  • No worries. What can I say, Mr. Sticker? I'm just a 20th century minimalist-composer groupie, and I loves me some Philip Glass! Saw him perform Solo Piano live & hung out like a giddy schoolgirl afterward to get his autograph.

    How do I know it took you four attempts? Alas, I'm not clairvoyant; every time you hit "Post Comment", YouTube sent me an email to let me know someone had replied.

    And by the by, I really enjoyed checking out D. Sticker Ensemble. Now THAT'S some fun stuff! :oD

  • [RE: I have to say I am totally confused by you & have no idea where you're coming from]

    I just believe in keeping an open mind when experiencing new things, and not jumping to conclusions before giving the piece a chance.

    So..."GIVE PIECE A CHANCE." (Heh, heh.)

  • Not much of a tune to hum here, so I guess its a bit inaccessible. This isn't an issue for those on the inside!

    Too repetitive for me.

  • Love the music, but I simply don't understand how Glass's hands haven't fallen off after all those arpeggios.

  • the scattered papers on the floor is awesome. i want to play in this group.

  • freakin beautiful and genius

  • Will the singer please marry me?

  • Lol. I echo your question.