Philip Glass - Glassworks (composed 1981; new live recording 2017)

I am terrible at Photoshop - feel free to substitute your own artwork, or use original below.

A bit remiss of me to overlook the legendary 'music with repetitive structures' composer on this blog when his 80th birthday celebrations came around in January, but better late than never.  Here's a highlight from the 'Glass at 80: Total Immersion Weekend' that the BBC put on; a fresh performance of one of Glass' most deliberately accessible works that he composed in 1981 to reach a wider audience, even releasing a special 'Walkman mix' for the cassette edition.

Glassworks, performed live at Milton Court, London on 28th January 2017 by the Guildhall New Music Ensemble, remains an ideal entry point to the composer's vast catalogue, and just sounds absolutely gorgeous - much of it mellow and evocative, turning away from the more harsh minimalism of his early works towards something lush and romantic.  The two odd ones out, of course, are the frenetic second and fourth movements, Floe and Rubric, ensuring that Glassworks doesn't get too laid back.  You can hear exactly where Glass was about to go with his next major project (and first big soundtrack), especially in Rubric, which was actually slated for Koyaanisqatsi but didn't make the cut.

original album cover, 1982

link

Previously posted at SGTG: 
Music In Twelve Parts
Early works performed by Steffen Schleiermacher