George Wendt introduces Philip Glass

August 6, 2007 8:40 PM

Philip Glass on SNL, Mr. Glass composed for Sesame Street: 1, 2, 3, sounds a bit like North Star if you ask me. Bonus: 1+1. For the uninitiated
posted by lonemantis (27 comments total)

I like Philip Glass. I like Philip Glass. I like Philip Glass. I like Philip Glass. I like Philip Glass. I like Philip Glass. I like Philip Glass. I like Philip Glass. I like Philip Glass. I like Philip Glass. I like Philip Glass. I like Philip Glass. I like Philip Glass.
posted by Sticherbeast at 8:54 PM on August 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Knock Knock.

Who's there?

Philip Glass Philip Glass ^{Philip Glass Philip Glass} Philip Glass Philip Glass _{Philip Glass Philip Glass}
Philip ^{Glass Philip Glass Philip Glass Philip Glass} Philip _{Glass Philip Glass Philip Glass Philip Glass}

Excellent first post, lonemantis. Recalling those sesame street videos explains a substantial chunk of my aesthetic taste today.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 8:54 PM on August 6, 2007 [7 favorites]

Intresting. The SNL video seemed to have no modulation at all, like all the notes were the same volume. I remember a long time ago telling a friend of mine who was into composing electronic music to cut that out. I think he got a lot better after that.
posted by delmoi at 9:00 PM on August 6, 2007

Don't forget David Ives' Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread.
posted by dobbs at 9:00 PM on August 6, 2007 [3 favorites]

Obligatory Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi
posted by samsara at 9:08 PM on August 6, 2007

Once again: dig through the Glass Engine.
posted by maudlin at 9:13 PM on August 6, 2007

Awesome, thanks for the link. I do likes me some Philip Glass. I had no idea he was involved with Sesame Street (although considering his involvement with the likes of Bowie and Ravi Shanker, it seems to add to his variety).
posted by spiderskull at 9:13 PM on August 6, 2007

Original Glass Engine post with broken link and lots of MeFi commentary on favourite tracks here. Seriously, there's a lot of good music available there. I always thought the title track from Glassworks or Facades would have been a better SNL choice than Rubric, but I've always loved lyrical Glass over busy-busy Glass.

And Kate Moss shows her versatility: from Lee Hazlewood this morning to Philip Glass tonight. (Sorry, Jack.)
posted by maudlin at 9:21 PM on August 6, 2007

Philip Glass covering Aphex Twin.
posted by basicchannel at 9:28 PM on August 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Philip Glass also wrote the music for the 1992 horror movie Candyman. I especially love Music Box and Helen’s Theme.
posted by Jasper Friendly Bear at 9:40 PM on August 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Can't wait for GTA IV.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:35 PM on August 6, 2007

Fucking awesome.
posted by PostIronyIsNotaMyth at 12:08 AM on August 7, 2007

I remember watching those Sesame Street animations when I was a kid. Of course I had no idea the music was by Phillip Glass, nor would I have known who he was.
posted by grouse at 1:54 AM on August 7, 2007

> The SNL video seemed to have no modulation at all, like all the notes were the same volume.

Whenever I run into this I suspect the presence of a Casio CZ101. You can have any MIDI volume you want as long as it's 64.
posted by jfuller at 4:31 AM on August 7, 2007

dobbs: "Don't forget David Ives' Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread."

Thank you, dobbs. I read the script of that, but never actually seen it performed.
posted by infidelpants at 5:52 AM on August 7, 2007

SNL would never have on anyone of comparable vision or musical inclinations today.
posted by Ricky_gr10 at 6:13 AM on August 7, 2007

SNL would never go more than 5 minutes without a commercial break today.
posted by adamrice at 7:31 AM on August 7, 2007

Wow. Phillip Glass on SNL? I had no idea. How bizarre. Cocaine makes people do funny things, I guess.
posted by Dave Faris at 10:14 AM on August 7, 2007

Seriously? I've read several books on Philip Glass (hell, even met the man once briefly) and had no idea he performed on SNL! Thank you for posting this!

And yeah, of course it sounds like North Star. It kind of goes without saying that he has written a lot of stuff that's derivative of his earlier work, though Einstein, Koyaanisqatsi, his Concerto for Saxophones, all of the stuff on Glassworks (which is where "Rubric" appears), all great great stuff. One of my favorite concert experiences was seeing Glass, admittedly not an outstanding pianist, playing his Piano Etudes with Dennis Russell Davies in a tiny church near Lincoln Center for $10 a few years back. The audience filled less than half of the church so Glass encouraged us to sit as close as we liked.

Hardcore Glass fans should also check out the wonderful early stuff of his put out by Orange Mountain Music.
posted by inoculatedcities at 10:52 AM on August 7, 2007

Is it just me or does Philip Glass ca. 1986 look a lot like Al Gore ca. 2006?
posted by shakespeherian at 2:57 PM on August 7, 2007

I once asked Hank Dutt, viola player and founding member of the Kronos Quartet, about playing with Philip Glass. I was looking for insights, maybe, or something about what mesmerizing tricks happen to your head or your hands when you're half-way through a Glass score— the sort of thing that happens when you're listening to Glassworks or Einstein, only magnified a hundredfold because you're actually a part of the music. So I asked him what it was like, and Hank told me, 'You have to make sure you don't miss any repeat signs.'
posted by shakespeherian at 3:12 PM on August 7, 2007 [3 favorites]

>>I had no idea he was involved with Sesame Street

spiderskull, I should have worded my post differently. I believe that Glass composed those shorts specifically for the geometric cartoons. I didn't mean to imply that he was "involved" on any regular basis with Sesame Street.
posted by lonemantis at 4:32 PM on August 7, 2007

http://www.torontointernationalfilmfestival.ca/blogs/blog/default.aspx?blg=1&id=124&t=REAL-TO-REEL-TITLES-ANNOUNCED
posted by percyman at 6:20 PM on August 7, 2007

Ambrosia: You made me the funniest (and nerdiest) person in my twentieth-century choral ensemble this evening. Thank you.
posted by honeydew at 6:55 PM on August 7, 2007

Also, I can't find a link to video anywhere online but this VHS introduced me to Glass as a young lad and contains an even more stunning performance of "Rubric". The soprano in that performance is sublime.
posted by inoculatedcities at 7:15 PM on August 7, 2007

inoculatedcities, here's video from that documentary of PGE performing Train / Spaceship:

Part 1, Part 2, I believe it was recorded at Barbican in London. I remember watching the documentary when it aired on PBS13 in NYC way back when.
posted by lonemantis at 7:11 AM on August 8, 2007

Thanks for the link lonemantis! Very cool.
posted by inoculatedcities at 6:56 PM on August 9, 2007