Philip Glass: Koyaanisqatsi

Philip Glass is one of those "classical music" composers who defies easy categorization.  Though Julliard-trained and identified with the so-called "minimalist" school, Glass largely worked outside of conventional, even for modernists, formats and venues for the presentation of his work.  His work with the great sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar while studying with Nadia Boulanger along with a desire to work with theater, opera, dance, pop, film and classical worlds reflect a truly admirable multi-disciplinarian approach that bridges normally segregated musical genres and has had a tremendous influence over the decades.  One of his best-known adventures tying sound to the visual image of film is the amazing Koyaanisqatsi, which first appeared as a soundtrack and then redone as a longer album.  It is also the first of five discs in the set Philip on Film, released by Nonesuch Records in 2001.

Released in 1982 and produced and directed by Godfrey Reggio, Koyaanisqatsi eschewed dialogue and traditional narrative, including aural, to present images and music that, as expressed on Glass' website, "is an apocalyptic vision of he collision of two different worlds—urban life and technology versus the environment."  Yet, it is added that the film "is not so much about something" as much as it is a provocation "to raise questions that only the audience can answer."  There is no assigned meaning, which would be propaganda, but an encouragement for the viewer to find a meaning that is "whatever you wish to make it."  The music, heard apart from the visuals of the film, is tightly constructed and played, and often stunningly beautiful, with brass punctuating the continuous flow and vocals accompanying the hypnotically repetitive rhythms, but there is a strong emotive element not often associated with the "minimalism."  On its own terms, the music here is remarkable, but the obvious next step for this listener is to actually watch the film.

Philip Glass: Heroes Symphony/The Light

Philip Glass has referred to his music as being about "repetitive structures" than so-called "minimalism" and he certainly found an apt descriptive genre title.  Glass was the son of a Lithuanian-born record store owner and heard much modern music early on and traveled in Paris as a young man before entering Julliard, where a classmate was "minimalist" icon Steve Reich.  He studied briefly with Darius Milhaud and then studied under a fellowship with noted composition teacher Nadia Boulanger in Paris during the mid-1960s.  A period of travel in India and Tibet and study in Buddhism and the music of that part of the world had a profound influence in his work.

Simple structures in the emerging "minimalist" scene in New York in the late 1960s characterized Glass' early work and his involvement with Reich was notable, though, by 1970, he began to move into richer sonic territory and broke from his partnership with Reich.  Developing stronger harmonic relationships along with his rhythmic interests, Glass spent much of the 1970s and 1980s working in musical theater, composing some of his best-known works like "Einstein on the Beach" and "Akhnaten" and film scores.  He also created an opera, "Satyagraha," based on such figures as Gandhi, Tolstoy, and King and it marked his first symphonic work in years.

Glass' next phase, if there was one, included a move further into symphonic territory, including a trilogy of nature-inspired works, led off by "The Light," commissioned in 1987 to celebrate the centenary of an experiment by two scientists to  measure a uniform speed of light.  This late 19th century work paved the way for Einstein's theoretical explanation of the speed of light through his theory of relativity.  "The Light" does, indeed, have much in the way of repetition, but there is also significant development in tempo, volume, instrumentation and motifs that make for a very compelling and satisfying excursion as strings and brass play off one another through striking melodic themes and variations.

Glass was fascinated by the collaboration of Brian Eno and David Bowie in their sequence of German-based albums from the late 1970s.  His first symphony, a three-movement work finished in 1992 and based on three tracks from the album "Low" was followed four years later by The Heroes Symphon0, a roughly 45-minute masterpiece based on the famed 1977 album. 

There are, for those who know the record, familiar melodies and themes, including the well-known title track (it's interesting to compare how the famed guitar riff by King Crimson's Robert Fripp, who hadn't played formally in a few years, is interpolated here) and several other pieces from the highly-regarded album. 

One piece, "Abdulmajid" was an outtake and has a strong Middle Eastern flavor as well as a distinctive castanet opening, while "Sense of Doubt" has its title conveyed in the theme, filled with a motif played by the brass set against a dark upper strings element.  "Sons of the Silent Age" has a slow, stately and affecting theme with a subtle rhythm held by strings.  Another fine melodic statement with a delicate percussive underlayment distinguishes the striking "Neukoln."  The closer, "V2 Schneider" has a lively rhythm and a strong ostinato while the pieces gains speed and intensity, finishing to a strong climax for a fascinating work by a composer at the top of his game.

This recording by Marin Alsop's top-notch Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra from the U.K. was made in May 2006 and was released as part of Naxos' American Classics series.  It is also available as part of a box set called "Of Beauty and Light:  The Music of Philip Glass."

Jali Kunda: Griots of West Africa and Beyond

This is another excellent release by the Ellipsis Arts label, in which kora master Foday Musa Suso, whose work has been highlighted on this blog previously, worked on selecting, coordinating and arranging the selections on this record.

There are fifteen tracks, most recorded in the west African nations of Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia and Senegal, with three featuring collaborations between Suso and Western musicians, including composer Philip Glass, jazz saxophone titan Pharoah Sanders, and the ubiquitous Bill Laswell, among others.  These three works are well-done and complement the more traditional pieces, although the liners do explain that "this recording was made with both authenticity and an international audience in mind," specifically in that "the length of the pieces has been substantially shortened."

 

 

That said, there are some marvelous pieces to savor on this record.  There are a few examples, moreover, of duplicated works, though usually with different instrumentation, vocalizations and in location.  For example, the bookend pieces, consisting of a Muslim invocation to Allah, includes a version from Senegal and another from The Gambia.  What is described in the notes as "the most famous Griot song," called "Sunjata," celebrating the warrior king who established the great Mandinka empire in the 1200s, has a version from Guinea-Bissau and another from Senegal.  And, the excellent "Lambango" has a version that uses the xylophone-like balafon and which was recorded in one community in Guinea-Bissau, while another, employing the harp-like kora is from another part of that country.  Another highlight is "Sorrie," a Mandinka tune from The Gambia that has great balafon playing.  One other piece to point out is "Yata Kaya," a Fulani piece from Senegal, which Suso stated was a favorite tune utilizing the one-string fiddle called the nyanyer and which represents the type of music that is starting to fade from the music scene in that country.

 

Of the three "fusion" pieces, "Spring Waterfall" is a Suso piece in which he used effects to create what is described in the notes as "cascading layers of the kora" with Glass playing a non-intrusive piano accompaniment.  "Lamnbasy Dub" has been featured in some compilations produced by Laswell and was originally released on an album called New World Power by Suso's The Mandingo Griot Society and released on the late, great Axiom label, in which he plays an electric kora, while Laswell employs the bass and samples, Jeff Bova, known for his ambient electronic music, plays electric keyboards, and frequent Laswell collaborator Nicky Skopelitis and Clive Smith utilize other programming.  Laswell's bass is particularly effective here.  Finally, there is "Samma," another standout on this record, in which Suso on kora is joined by Sanders on tenor sax for a great blending of instruments, expertise and melody and sound.

 

Ellipsis Arts put together a string of well-chosen, sequenced and produced "world music" recordings in the 1990s and Jali Kunda is an excellent example of the quality of the label's offerings, of which more will be featured here in the future.

 

Jali Kunda: Griots of West Africa and Beyond (Ellipsis Arts . . . 1997)

 

1.  Allah l'aake  2:38

2.  Sunjata  5:40

3.  Sinyaro  3:00

4.  Mariama  4:24

5.  Spring Waterfall  7:17

6.  Jula Faso  3:14

7.  Sunjata  3:03

8.  Lamnbasy Dub  8:19

9.  Jula Jekereh  4:42

10.  Lambango  2:42

11.  Samma  8:25

12.  Sorrie  3:32

13.  Yata Kaya  4:54

14.  Lambango  7:51

15.  Allah l'aake  3:30