The Trail

Issue date: 2/16/07 Section: A&E

The pioneering, world-renowned composer Philip Glass will be gracing the UPS campus today, Friday, Feb. 16 with a multimedia rumination on his lifetime in music. His presentation, entitled "Creativity and Collaboration," will take place in Schneebeck at 8 p.m., and while tickets have run out, you might still be able to barter for one at the campus pawn shop.

Philip Glass entered the music world as one of the harbingers of the minimalist tradition in the late 1960's along with Steve Reich and Terry Riley. His early pieces are indicative of the minimalist canon - they focus on repetition and variations of short musical phrases as well as a strong theoretical emphasis.
A fitting example of his early, minimalist pieces is the piece "Music in Twelve Parts," a slowly evolving tapestry of simple repeating phrases.

While his early work in the minimalist school is noteworthy, what separates Glass from his minimalist contemporaries is his willingness to go beyond the rigid structure of minimalism. Glass' most influential and important works apply the theory of minimalism to a more accessible, far-reaching end.

He began breaking wider ground with the release of his epic five-hour opera, "Einstein on the Beach." The opera was unique in that it told no chronological story.

Instead, it tried to relate the character of Einstein through repeated imagery. This exemplifies what Glass calls the "Portrait Opera," in which characteristics of the protagonist are related in a non-linear way.

After achieving recognition for "Einstein on the Beach," Glass began to compose works which achieved more and more visibility. In fact, thanks to his contributions to many popular films, you have probably been exposed to Glass' music. He contributed several pieces to the soundtrack of "The Truman Show" and composed the score to "Kundun."

The most accessible collection of Glass' music is "Solo Piano," which was released on CBS Records. The record features Glass' unique, meditative staggered piano rhythms in a song cycle based on Kafka's "Metamorphosis." As in most of his works, repetition is key.

In fact, Glass' use of repetition reflects one of his most interesting points of view on the difference between Eastern and Western music.

"In Western music we divide time as if you were to take a length of time and slice it the way you slice a loaf of bread. In Indian music (and all the non-Western music with which I'm familiar) you take small units, or beats and string them together to make up larger time values," Glass said.

To see Glass speak is a wonderful opportunity. Unlike many modern musicians notorious for their insularity, Glass draws on a wide range of traditions to create his unique music. He is well schooled in both Western traditions (he is a graduate of The Julliard School) and Eastern traditions (he spent years transcribing Ravi Shankar's music into Western notation).

In fact, the content of Glass' speech will focus primarily on the role of cross-genre collaboration and its importance in artistic growth. Included in Glass' presentation will be performances on the piano as well as a short film.

Glass' presentation promises to be rewarding and informative. To hear pearls of wisdom from a man who has gone from being a taxi driver to one of the most revered living composers is a rare treat that we are lucky to have on this campus.

• Jeff Merrion is composing an opera about Ron Thom.

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