I have to say I wasn't really sure what to expect when I saw Phillip Glass on our syllabus. I had listened to some of his instrumental works during my undergrad 20th Century class, but let's be honest: that class was once a week from 630-930pm and it was hard enough to stay awake already! I could only hear Reich's "It's Gonna Rain" for so long before I completely started to zone out. I'm sorry to say, that it was the same result with Glass.
I don’t know if I have ADD, or if it’s just me being a musical idiot, but I can’t sit still long enough for this stuff to really get to me. I kept catching myself wanting to do other things. I thought, “I can just put this up on the big screen and keep the music playing while I do the dishes…or vacuum…or do laundry…or homework…” it was just too difficult to keep my mind from wandering. Now I will also admit – and I know some of you might want to kill me for this – I fell asleep during a production of Rosenkavalier. Yes, I really did. And…I know. But in my defense, I fell asleep after the presentation and woke up right before the most amazing trio ever. The action was just too slow.
However, that being said…I disagree with a lot of the Glass detractors. I don’t think this is on par with the pet rock. Just because Glass doesn’t do it for me, doesn’t mean someone else won’t be completely floored by his work. I’m just not that person. The music was beautiful, but I think I’m too impatient to want to find those minimal changes that happen now and again. I think that my opinion might change about the work if I were more intimately familiar with it. I’ve performed a lot of music that took time in order to learn to love it for what it was. This seems like it might be one of those pieces.
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