Podcast #173: Phillip Glass, Words Without Music
The New York Public Library Podcast features your favorite writers, artists, and thinkers in smart talks and provocative conversations. Listen to some of our most engaging programs, discover new ideas, and celebrate the best of today’s culture.
On this week's episode, Philip Glass, a giant of twentieth-century American music, arguably one of the most influential composers of his time. He spoke with LIVE from the NYPL’s Paul Holdengräber last June. Among Glass's best-known works are Music in 12 Parts, Symphony No 9, the score to the film Koyaanisqatsi, the opera Einstein on the Beach, and Glassworks. In 2015 he published his first memoir, Words Without Music. It is a riveting record of a life very well lived. Glass and Holdengräber examined that life, and the musical career that has propelled so much of it. During their conversation they discussed a few life-shaping writers, composers, and pieces of music—some composed by Glass and one that is not. Here is the list of what they listened to:
- “Tempus Fugue-It,” by Bud Powell, from the album Jazz Giant (Spotify | Apple Music)
- “Wichita Vortex Sutra,” music by Philip Glass, words by Allen Ginsberg, from the album Hydrogen Jukebox
- “Train,” from Einstein on the Beach, an opera co-created by Philip Glass and Robert Wilson
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