Jan 31, 2012

Happy 75th Philip Glass



(Wikipedia) Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer. One of the highest profile composers writing "classical" music today, he is often said to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. His music is also often (controversially) described as minimalist, along with the work of the other "major minimalists" La Monte Young, Terry Riley and Steve Reich.
... Glass was born on January 31, 1937, in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Ida (née Gouline) and Benjamin Charles Glass, and the grandson of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. His father owned a record store, and consequently Glass's record collection consisted to a large extent of unsold records, including modern music (such as Hindemith, Bartók, Schoenberg, Shostakovich) and Western classical music (including Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartets and Schubert's B♭ Piano Trio, which he cites as a "big influence"), at a very early age. He then studied the flute as a child at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and entered an accelerated college program at the University of Chicago at the age of 15, where he studied Mathematics and Philosophy. Continued


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