Philip Glass on Writing Music

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2008/03/12/Philip_Glass_and_Scott_Hicks_In_Conversation

Celebrated composer Philip Glass describes his approach to writing music as watching buildings slowly emerge from "a foggy field," and claims to have an ironically poor musical ear.

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Director Scott Hicks discusses his recent bio-doc, Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts, with its subject, the fascinating and entertaining composer Philip Glass. - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Philip Glass is a famed American composer of operas, symphonies and music scores, including Einstein on the Beach and Koyaanisqatsi.

Scott Hicks is an Oscar-winning director of Shine, as well as Snow Falling on Cedars and No Reservations.

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[yisacknayrabin]

Yes Phil, a "foggy field" of minor third ostinatos....

[bmikesci]

Beethoven went deaf. Don't feel so bad:-)

[Tommybeelersaccount]

@yisacknayrabin ostinati



[cosmiclight]

Glass is pure genius! His work with Godfrey Reggio’s Koyaanisqatsi is incomparable to any other modern classical works. Miles Davis said: "Do not fear mistakes; there are none." We find it easy to judge another’s artworks to our personal liking-disliking. Man loves to criticize. "Some will criticize what they do not know yet only champion what their small narrow window hears and sees in such a big sky of the entire universe." -Mark Seibold, Retired IT Tech, Artist-Astronomy Educator, Portland Or

[0FlightlessBird0]

@adognamedsally Amazingly Said!

[nobodady1]

Glass is notorious for scoring wrong notes. But it doesn't surprise me in the least that a conductor would have powers of audition that could rival a composer since it is their task to attend to the details of the sound and performance.

[oklahomma]

@yisacknayrabin lol so true...

[ZeitOner]

@adognamedsally YOU WIN. :) Not being cynical.

<3

[adognamedsally]

@getbent000 That is uncalled for. Music is not a formulaic mass of cadences and phrases, done to death over the last couple thousand years. There is an abstraction behind music, which should be the impetus for it. The abstraction is feeling, pure formless expression. The music needs to be molded to that expression in order to give it tangibility. The music should not be formed based on 'rules' and typicalities. Music as you (seem to) understand it is only one facet of music as a concept.

[Dannepihls]

@Archimagister

Hahaha he does, it is quite funny :)

[louis621]

@getbent000 the man trained with boulanger, if theres anyone you would want to consult about music, it would be him. what sets out art music is that it is methodical and in the past 3 centuries by its nature experimental, whether it be classics like bach or mozart who experimented in thematic and contrapuntal effects to romantics like chopin who experimented with emotion. Todays music focuses more on sound, texture and ambience but this does not mean it is not music.