b. 1937, American

Philip Glass defies conventions of traditional music and performance practice. A minimalist who is constantly extending musical boundaries, Glass has written several slowly developing, repetitively patterned operas.

In the mid-1960s he became fascinated with Indian music when transcribing the work of sitarist Ravi Shankar, and he set off to explore the music of North Africa, India and the Himalayas. Returning to New York in 1967, he formed the Philip Glass Ensemble and teamed up with theatrical concept artist Robert Wilson. Their hallucinogenic four-hour opera Einstein on the Beach (1976) was a critical smash and brought minimalism to the mainstream. They then produced Satyagraha (1980), which used a traditional orchestra, and the more accessible Akhnaten (1984). They have also enjoyed many commissions, including The CIVIL warS for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics; The White Raven for Portugal’s Expo ’98; and digital 3D opera Monsters of Grace (1998). Among Glass’s other works are The Voyage (1992) and a trilogy based on Jean Cocteau films: Orphée (‘Orpheus’, 1993), La Belle et la Bête (‘Beauty and the Beast’, 1994) and Les enfants terribles (1996).

Introduction | Modern Era | Opera
Major Operas | Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass | Modern Era
Personalities | Tito Gobbi | Modern Era | Opera
Techniques | Minimalism | Modern Era | Opera