Philip Glass Music

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Essay Paper on Philip Glass Music There’s no doubt that Philip Glass is the world’s best known living composer. One of the creators of minimalism, his swirling, propulsive style has had a tangible influence on almost all elements of the modern musical vocabulary, from academic composition to the music heard in TV commercials. Glass’s far-reaching influence can be heard in the rock music of “such seminal artists as David Bowie, Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, King Crimson and the Talking Heads.” Moreover, Philip Glass’s operas have permanently altered the direction of musical theater, and with their nonlinear structure and multimedia breadth. In fact, they even challenge the concept of opera itself. Because of this some enthusiastic critics have compared Glass to Wagner. His influence has been profoundly felt by such composers as John Adams, Michael Nyman, Louis Andriessen, Henryk Gorécki, Gavin Bryars, and Arvo Pärt, and his film scores have backed projects starting from Godfrey Reggio’s avant garde masterpiece Koyaanasqatsi to Martin Scorsese’s Kundun. Due to such success, Glass is considered to be a controversial composer, drawing the grudge of Modernist critics who feel his accessible, repetitive, and unabashedly tonal works please the masses, setting classical music back by generations. Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an Academy Award-nominated American composer. Often his music is referred to as minimalist, even though he prefers the term theatre music. He is considered one of the most influential composers of the late-20th century and is considered to be a composer who has brought art music to the public in creating an accessibility not previously recognized by the broader market. Glass is a strong supporter of the Tibetan cause. In 1987 he co-founded the Tibet House with Columbia University professor Robert Thurman and the actor Richard Gere.
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