Philip Glass The Poet Acts from The Hours (piano solo) with sheet music in our Library
Philip Glass
Philip Glass, (born January 31, 1937, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.), American composer of innovative instrumental, vocal, and operatic music.
Glass studied flute as a boy and enrolled at age 15 at the University of Chicago, where he studied mathematics and philosophy and graduated in 1956. His interest in atonal music drew him on to study composition at the Juilliard School of Music (M.S., 1962) in New York City and then to Paris to study under Nadia Boulanger. His acquaintance there with the Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar decisively affected Glass’s compositional style, and he temporarily jettisoned such traditional formal qualities as harmony, tempo, and melody in his music.
Instead, he began creating ensemble pieces in a monotonous and repetitive style; these works consisted of a series of syncopated rhythms ingeniously contracted or extended within a stable diatonic structure. Such minimalist music, played by a small ensemble using electronically amplified keyboard and wind instruments, earned Glass a small but enthusiastic following in New York City by the late 1960s.
Glass’s opera
Einstein on the Beach (1976; revived 2012), composed in collaboration with American playwright and artist Robert Wilson, earned him broader acclaim; this work showed a renewed interest in classical Western harmonic elements, though his interest in startling rhythmic and melodic changes remained the work’s most dramatic feature. Glass’s opera Satyagraha (1980) was a more authentically “operatic” portrayal of incidents from the early life of Mohandas K. Gandhi. In this work, the dronelike repetition of symmetrical sequences of chords attained a haunting and hypnotic power well attuned to the religio-spiritual themes of the libretto, adapted from the Hindu scripture the Bhagavadgita.
The opera The Voyage (1992) had mixed reviews, but the fact that it had been commissioned by the New York Metropolitan Opera (to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas) confirmed Glass’s growing acceptance by the classical music establishment.
Cooperations
Throughout his career, Glass collaborated with a broad array of international musicians representing diverse traditions. With Gambian kora player Foday Musa Suso he composed music for Jean Genet’s play The Screens; the work was scored for piano, kora, flute, cello, keyboards, and percussion. Glass composed Orion (2004) for sitar, pipa, didjeridu, kora, violin, and vocalists (alto and soprano); for the recording, Glass recruited the help of Suso, Shankar, and pipa player Wu Man, as well as other friends from the global music scene.
He worked on numerous occasions with world music artists David Byrne and Paul Simon. A vital figure in the wider artistic milieu, Glass cultivated relationships with artists who worked in other mediums as well, notably painter Chuck Close, who created his portrait in numerous media and for whom he composed A Musical Portrait of Chuck Close (2005). Meanwhile, Glass continued to compose in the classical music vein, completing among other works his 12th symphony, which premiered in 2019. It was the last of a trio of symphonies that were inspired by albums David Bowie had made with Brian Eno in Berlin.
Film music
was also a particular focus of Glass’s corpus. By the early 21st century he had produced scores for some four dozen films, notably the dramas The Hours (2002) and Notes on a Scandal (2006) and the Errol Morris documentaries A Brief History of Time (1991) and The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003).
Awards
Browse in the Library:
Artist or Composer / Score name | Cover | List of Contents |
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Waltz In E Minor Op. 39 No. 4 – Johannes Brahms (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Ward-Jackson’s Gymnastics For The Fingers And Wrist – based On Anatomical Principles (By Edwin Ward-Jackson) 1874 | ||
Watermark (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Watermelon Man (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Waters of Irrawaddy (Hans Zimmer) from the movie Beyond Rangoon | ||
Wave – Vou Te Contar Jobim (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Wayne Shorter – Ana Maria | ||
Wayne Shorter Artist Transcriptions The New Best of | Wayne Shorter Artist Transcriptions The New Best of | |
Wayward Sisters – Nocturnal Animals OST (Abel Korzeniowski) | ||
We are the champions (Queen) | ||
We Are The World Songbook | we are the world | |
We Shall Overcome Essays on a Great American Song (Book) by Victor B.Bobetsky | ||
We Wish You A Merry Christmas | ||
We Wish You A Merry Christmas – Anonymous (Guitar arr. sheet music with TABs) | We Wish You A Merry Christmas – Anonymous (Guitar arr. sheet music with TABs) | |
We Wish You A Merry Christmas – Guitar TABlature | ||
We Wish You A Merry Christmas (piano solo sheet music) | ||
We Wish You A Merry Christmas Trad. English Christmas carol | ||
We Wish You A Merry Christmas Trad. English Christmas carol.mscz | ||
Weather Report – A Remark You Made (Guitar TABS) | Weather Report – A Remark You Made (Guitar TABS) | |
Weather Report – The best of Weather Report (Full score) | Weather Report – The best of Weather Report (Full score) | |
Weber – Der Freischütz (Ouvertüre) Piano Solo arr | ||
Weber – Der Freischütz (Ouvertüre) Piano Solo arr.mscz | ||
Weber – Der Freischutz Overture piano solo arr. | ||
Weber op 65 Invitation to the Dance (Invitation to the Waltz) | ||
Weber’s Last Thought – C.M. von Weber | ||
Wedding Collection for Piano Solo | Wedding Collection for Piano Solo | |
Wednesday Morning 3 A M – Simon & Garfunkel (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Weight Of The World – Nier Automata Piano Collections (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Weissenberg En Avril A Paris (April In Paris) Charles Trenet | ||
Well Tempered Praise – Mark Hayes piano | Well Tempered Praise – Mark Hayes piano | |
Well Tempered Praise II by Mark Hayes | Well Tempered Praise II by Mark Hayes | |
Well Tempered Praise III – Mark Hayes piano | Well Tempered Praise III – Mark Hayes piano | |
Well Tempered Praise Vol 4 Gospel Classics by Mark Hayes | Well Tempered Praise Vol 4 Gospel Classics by Mark Hayes | |
Well-Known Piano Solos – How To Play Them (By Charles W Wilkinson) (1915) | ||
Wes Montgomery Wine And Roses By Henry Mancini Solo Guitar | ||
Wes Montgomery – Unit 7 Solo Transcription | Wes Montgomery – Unit 7 Solo Transcription | |
Wes Montgomery – Artist Transcriptions for guitar by fred Sokolow | Wes Montgomery – Artist Transcriptions for guitar by fred Sokolow | |
Wes Montgomery – Au Privave transcription | ||
Wes Montgomery – Days of wine and roses transcription | ||
Wes Montgomery – Take The A Train transcription | ||
Wes Montgomery Essential Jazz Lines (Mel Bay) | Wes Montgomery Essential Jazz Lines (Mel Bay) | |
Wes Montgomery Jazz Guitar Artistry arr. by Zafar Soood with TABs | Wes Montgomery Jazz Guitar Artistry arr. by Zafar Soood | |
Wes Montgomery Jazz No Blues Guitar | ||
Wes Montgomery The Early Years (Mel Bay) Jazz Guitar Solos Tablature | Wes Montgomery The Early Years (Mel Bay) Jazz Guitar Solos Tablature | |
Wes Montgomery The End Of A Love Affair Guitar Tabs | ||
West Side Story – Somewhere (Voice and Piano) Leonard Bernstein | West Side Story – Somewhere | |
West Side Story (The Musical) Vocal Score Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim | West Side Story Vocal Score – Leonard Bernstein | |
Westlife – Cant Lose What You Never Had | ||
Westlife – Flying Without Wings | ||
Westlife – If I Let You Go | ||
Westlife – Mandy | ||
Westlife – You Raise Me Up Guitar arr. with TABs | Westlife – You Raise Me Up Guitar arr. with TABs | |
Westlife Unbreakable Greatest Hits | ||
Wet Wet Wet – Love Is All Around | ||
Wexford Carol (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Wham , George Michael And Me By Andrew Ridgeley (Book) | ||
Wham Make It Big Piano Vocal Guitar Chords | Wham Make It Big Piano Vocal Guitar Chords | |
What a Wonderful World – Thiele & Weiss | ||
What a wonderful world – Louis Armstrong.mscz | ||
What A Wonderful World (Lead Sheet With Lyrics ) Musescore File.mscz | ||
What a Wonderful World (lead sheet) – Thiele & Weiss | What a Wonderful World (lead sheet) – Thiele & Weiss | |
What A Wonderful World (Musescore File).mscz | ||
What a wonderfull World (Jazz Standard) Guitar Tablature TABs | What a wonderfull World (Jazz Standard) Guitar Tablature TABs | |
What A Wonderlful World (Lead Sheet) (Musescore File).mscz | ||
What You’re Made Of – Même Si (Lucie Silvas – Grégory Lemarchal | ||
What’s That Sound An Introduction To Rock And Its History By John Covach And Andrew Flory (Book) | ||
When A Man Loves A Woman Calvin Lewis & Andrew Wright | ||
When Almonds Blossomed – Giya Kancheli | When Almonds Blossomed – Giya Kancheli-1 | |
When Almonds Blossomed (Musescore File).mscz | ||
When I Fall In Love – Victor Young (Bill Evans Ver.) (Musescore File).mscz | ||
When I fall in love Bill Evans version | When I fall in love Bill Evans version | |
When I’m Sixty-Four (Beatles) | ||
When Lights Are Low (Benny Carter) As Played By Miles Davis (Musescore File).mscz | ||
When The Saints Go Marchin In – Gospel Traditional Folk song (Piano solo with Lyrics) | When The Saints Go Marchin In – Gospel Traditional Folk song (Piano solo with Lyrics) SAMPLE | |
When The Saints Go Marching In – Fun piano arrangement | When The Saints Go Marching In – Fun piano arrangement | |
When you told me you loved me (Jessica Simpson) | ||
When You Wish Upon A Star (Musescore File).mscz | ||
When You Wish Upon A Star (From The Film Pinocchio) Easy Piano Solo Arr. Sheet Music (Musescore File).mscz | ||
When You Wish Upon A Star (Leigh Harline and Ned Washington) from Pinocchio Jazz Piano Solo arr. sheet music | When You Wish Upon A Star (Leigh Harline and Ned Washington) from Pinocchio Jazz Piano Solo arr. sheet music | |
When You Wish Upon A Star (Solo Piano Arr ) David Dinh | ||
When You’re Gone (Avril Lavigne) | ||
When You’re Smilling (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Where have all the-flowers gone (guitar & voice) | Where-have-all-the-flowers-gone (guitar & voice) | |
While your lips are still red (Nightwish) | ||
Whistling away the dark (Darling Lili OST) Henry Mancini | ||
White Album 2 Ending 3 Sayonara No Koto | ||
White Christmas -Irving Berlin – Piano sheet music | ||
White Christmas Irving Berlin (Musescore File).mscz | ||
White Christmas Medley (Liberace) | ||
White skin like the moon (Jane Eyre 2011 OST) Dario Marianelli | ||
Whitesnake – Here I Go Again | ||
Whitesnake Guitar Collection with TABs | Whitesnake Guitar Collection with TABs | |
Whitesnake Is This Love Piano Vocal Guitar Chords | Whitesnake Is This Love Piano Vocal Guitar Chords | |
Whitney Houston – Jesus Loves Me Sheet Music | ||
Whitney Houston The Best Of | Whitney Houston, The Best Of | |
Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You | ||
Whitney Houston – It’s Easy To Play Whitney Houston | Whitney Houston – It’s Easy To Play Whitney Houston | |
Whitney Houston – Saving All My Love For You | ||
Whitney Houston – The Greatest Hits | Whitney – The Greatest Hits | |
Whitney Houston – The Greatest Love Of All | ||
Whitney Houston I will always love you | Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You | |
Whitney Houston My Love Is Your Love | Whitney Houston My Love Is Your Love | |
Who wants to live forever (Queen) | ||
Whole New World Sheet Music, A – Alan Menken | ||
Why Jazz? A Concise Guide – Kevin Whitehead (book) | ||
Wicked The Musical Sheet Music Full song Book Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz | Wicked the musical contents — Wicked The Musical Sheet Music Full Book | |
Wieck – Piano Studies | ||
Wiklund Adolf Fran Mitt Fonster (From my Window) Piano Solo | ||
Wild – Fantasy On Gershwin’s Porgy And Bess | Wild Fantasy On Gershwin’s Porgy And Bess | |
Wild Gershwin Seven Virtuoso Etudes | Wild Gershwin Seven Virtuoso Etudes | |
Wild, Earl – Gershwin Étude No. 4 based on Embraceable You Piano | Wild, Earl – Gershwin Etude No. 4 based on Embraceable You Piano | |
Wilde Theme (Debbie Wiseman) | ||
Wilhelm Kempff Musik Des Barock Und Rokoko – Nr. 13 Menuett G-Moll G.F. Händel (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Will B. Morrison – Melody in F (Syncopated Waltz) sheet music | ||
Will Young – Anything Is Possible | ||
William Best I Love You For Sentimental Reasons (Jazz Standard) | William Best I Love You For Sentimental Reasons (Jazz Standard) | |
William Eveleth – Blues Jazz and Rock Riffs For Keyboards | ||
William Gillock In Old Vienna Musescore File.mscz | ||
William Gillock Valse Etude In Romantic Style Musescore File.mscz | ||
William Joseph – Within (Songbook) (William Joseph) | William Joseph – Within (Songbook) (William Joseph) |
Glass was awarded the Japan Art Association’s Praemium Imperiale in 2012 and was named a Kennedy Center honoree in 2018. He was the subject of the 2007 documentary Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts. His 2015 memoir Words Without Music chronicles his colorful life in piquant detail.