Music-23 Philip Glass Response

MUSIC-23 12/14/2009 Philip Glass Critique Having no history can be a great gift and opportunity. - Philip Glass What I found fascinating about Ioanida’s presentation on Philip Glass was her focus on manipulation of time and the awareness (or lack thereof) of history. Though I have listened to Philip Glass’s music before, I did not know much about his thoughts behind his music. His music is characterized by simple, repetitive motifs. What Glass chooses to manipulate is the timing of these motifs (stretching note values or diminishing them). Glass embraces the idea of having no history, and it could be said that this is apparent in the cyclic rhythm of his music. Yet what is interesting is that Glass takes from a lot of different cultures and his interviews show that he himself has a very in-depth knowledge of history. I was intrigued by the idea of the process of making music as art. I would tend to agree with this statement, because much of what defines a composer are the personal experiences that shape what he or she chooses to put on the page. It is highly unlikely that Glass grew up without knowledge of the music of composers much before his time. In a way, by pursuing his own particular style of composition, Glass is rejecting the musical styles that he grew up with and heard throughout his life, choosing to pursue his own form of art. I do not believe that any composer can be truly ahistorical or that it is possible to consciously choose to have no history. History is embedded within all of us; what differs from person to person are individual perspectives on history. Each composer definitely gains something from their knowledge of previous composers and compositions. The difference is whether they choose to continue what has previously been done or go in a radically different direction.