Music / Bristol
Review: Philip Glass Ensemble. Colston Hall
The Philip Glass Ensemble Retrospective concert at the Colston Hall was the culmination of three days celebrating the work of arguably the world’s most famous living composer. This mini-festival included a solo performance of his piano pieces at St Georges which also included a discussion with the conductor Charles Hazlewood and a series of films he had scored at the Watershed.
The Ensemble included 4 keyboard musicians, including Philip Glass and Lisa Bielawa, who also provided the voice parts on certain pieces,, three woodwind musicians and as credited in the programme, the onstage audio engineer.
Saturday evening’s programme comprised selections from Glass’ early works, including ‘Music In Similar Motion’ from 1969 which Glass announced was a piece that the Ensemble have performed every year since. None of the pieces performed was composed later than 1984. Thus the emphasis was on Glass’ compositions which are considered more experimental and ‘minimal’, though he has distanced himself from the term preferring to describe his music as ‘music with repetitive structures’. And ‘music with repetitive structures’ it was.
is needed now More than ever
From the opening bars of ‘Civil Wars #2 – Cologne Section’ it was clear that Ensemble were so familiar with the work performed and yet still passionate about it that there was little likelihood of them being anything other than note –perfect. And note perfect they were. The complexity of the compositions and differing tempi within them is breathtaking when listened to as a studio recording, live it was nothing short of astonishing,
The music and performance was hypnotic and intense with moments of great beauty, ‘Facades; from ‘Glassworks’ being a case in point. Yet it also created a sense of tension within some audience members whether that was due to expecting one of the musicians to make a mistake or as a prelude to a trance like state, it was not clear. What was clear was the intense concentration and absorption in the performance, of not just the Ensemble but the audience too.
The concert was a triumph from beginning to end, yes it included crowd pleasers such as ‘The Grid’ from ‘Koyaanisqatsi’ and ‘Act III’ from ‘The Photographer’ but it was also a performance which showed virtuoso playing, the development of a major classical genre and the huge influence that early Glass has had on contemporary electronic music and EDM . It could be argued that Philip Glass’ early work is the genetic marker for much of the electronica created by the likes of Kraftwerk, Hot Chip and dance music ranging from the trance of the ‘90s to the minimal techno and more of today.
If a concert deserved more stars than can be allocated then this was it.
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
