The Pianist Who Creates Dreamy World in Minimalism - Philip Glass

Film score composers have been of great interest to me ever since I took a series of lectures in film scores from talented Taiwanese composer Cincin Lee. When I accidentally heard Philip Glass’s Piano Études No 6 played by accomplished Taiwanese pianist Jenny Lin, I fell head over heels for his music, like being casted a spell.

I am a bit shameful to know about him just now, Philip Glass is apparently an eminent musician for years; some of his early famous film score including “The Truman Show” and “The Hours”, and there he has numerous noted works including the pivotal unconventional music in the 4-acts opera “Einstein on the Beach”.

Philip Glass is usually classified as a minimalism, even though according to the bio on his own website, his preferred description is

a composer of “music with repetitive structures”.

Unlike popular modern minimalist composer Hans Zimmer, whose high-profile works including the music behind Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster Inception and Interstellar; Philip Glass’s music seems to have a distinct layer, a more sentimental one. To me, Hans Zimmer is undoubtedly a master in using the simplest notes to create sonic waves magnifying audience’s response toward epics scenes.

Philip Glass is composing somewhat differently. Attending Juilliard School of Music and studying Bach and Mozart at youth, his music deeply ties with classical elements, and hence distinctive in an everlasting elegant style. He composes a dreamy world full of soothing, poetic, and sometimes exotic vibes, and it’s very addictive, at least to me.

Lately I quite enjoy listening to Philip Glass’s movie scores or piano étude all afternoon, and feel my mind at peace (Recommend one favor of mine: a 2005 fantasy drama “Neverwas”, you can find a clip of highlight here).

One of the fun thing in piano étude is that as its origin was practice materials to perfecting musical skills, many études come with speedy repetitive notes in varying joints, therefore different pianist may play his or her own little trick on the order of the measures. That’s why after I got myself the sheet music of Philip Glass’s Piano Études No 6, I notice that different musicians all have their own version in this piece. Below let me share my favorite version so far by Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson.

If you like my article, feel free to simply give me a clap below. Leave your comments if you are a Philip Glass fan or a fellow film score lover. And what’s even better, you can give me some “Likes” if you are a Liker on Liker Land.

Liker Land is a place where you can register for free to be a “Liker” and support content creators. I think this application of blockchain technology for content creators is a really great gesture to support individual creation, without the intervention of corporate ads and targeted marketing, a bit like what I like to do when traveling, buying small souvenirs to support local artists. If you’re already onboard, welcome to show your support via the link below.