Philip Glass – Composer of the Week, BBC Radio 3, March 21 & 23 2012

This is from an interview on British BBC radio, recorded in December, and broadcast here over five successive days this week. I have chosen only Wednesday’s and today’s programmes as they included film music. It makes a fascinating listen as the avuncular three-quarters of a century-old prolific, influential and controversial composer Philip Glass (1937-) joins Donald Macleod to discuss his life and music. It includes exclusive performances of some of Glass’s new works.

MP3-V0: https://mega.co.nz/#!EAkViQga!NY6g-UZJz9WBDIJbuz19esURK0aQ51ArSNXq0JSOt

For no extra charge I have included two videos:
Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts (2007)
The Kiss

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Episode 3, March 21 2012 Wednesday 12-1pm

Donald Macleod continues the week of exclusive interview with the composer Philip Glass in his 75th birthday year.

By the mid-1980s, Philip Glass was among the most famous musicians in the world, having cemented the success of "Einstein on the Beach" with two more acclaimed ‘portrait’ operas – Satyagraha and Akhnaten – and the breakthrough success of his hypnotic score to Godfrey Reggio’s art-film Koyaanisqatsi (1982).

Yet unknown to most music fans, he’d also composed a work that delighted millions of children – with incidental music to an animated sequence on the TV show Sesame Street!

Donald Macleod discusses the fruits of Glass’s early success with the composer himself – a period when he was famous enough to lend his face to adverts for luxury watches and scotch whisky – and introduces his first foray in orchestral writing since his student days: his Violin Concerto (1987), inspired by his father.

Music played

Geometry of Circles (from TV series Sesame Street)
Orchestra: Philip Glass Ensemble
CD label: private recording

Satyagraha – The Kuru Fields of Justice
Conductor: Christopher Keene
Orchestra: New York City Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Tenor: Douglas Perry (Ghandi)
CD label: CBS, CD 45580, 1-6

Koyaanisqatsi – Puit Igoe
Performer: Philip Glass Ensemble
CD label: Island, IMCD 98, 1-4

Concerto no. 1 for violin and orchestra – 1st Movement
Conductor: Christoph von Dohnanyi
Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Violin: Gidon Kremer
CD label: Deutsche Grammophon, DG-4451852, 1-1

Quartet no. 5 for strings – 4th & 5th movement
Orchestra: Brooklyn Rider
CD label: Orange Mountain Music, OMM-074, 1-11

Glassworks for ensemble – Closing
Orchestra: Philip Glass Ensemble
Conductor: Michael Riesman
CD label: Sony Classical, SMK87968, 1-6

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Episode 5, March 23 2012 Friday 12-1pm

Donald Macleod ends the week of exclusive interview with the composer Philip Glass by bringing us right up to date, showcasing two works strongly familiar to British audiences, and two of Glass’s most recent concert pieces.

First, the composer discusses his life scoring films, before we hear one of his most acclaimed scores – the darkly sinister music to the 2006 British film "Notes on a Scandal", starring Dame Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett. We round off the week’s survey of Glass’s operatic works with a brand-new recording of Glass’s "From the Penal Colony" (2000), based on Kafka’s short story, and performed by Music Theatre Wales, the ensemble that gave the work’s UK premiere in 2010.

Finally – two world premiere recordings: Glass’s most recent concerto – which doubles as a ballet (!) – and an instrumental work for two pianos. At the age of 75, is there a new ‘classical’ strain emerging in his music?

Music played

Etude no. 2 for piano – arranged for steel drums
Performers: New York University Steel Drum Ensemble
CD label: Orange Mountain Music, OMM-0075, 1-1

Notes on a scandal – First Day of School, The Harts, Sheba and Steven, Someone in Your Garden, Someone Has Died, Betrayal
Orchestra: Philip Glass Ensemble
Conductor: Michael Riesman
CD label: Decca, 475-8661, 1-1

In the Penal Colony – Scenes 12, 13 and 14
Conductor: Michael Rafferty
Performers: Michael Bennett (The Visitor), Omar Ebrahmin (The Officer), Music Theatre Wales
CD label: Orange Mountain Music, OMM-0078, 1-14

Double Concerto for Violin and Cello no.1 – Duet No.1, Part 1
Orchestra: Hague Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Jurjan Hempel
Violin: Tim Fain
Cello: Wendy Sutter
CD label: Orange Mountain Music, OMM-0077, 1-1

Four Movements for Two Pianos – 4th movement
Piano: Dennis Russell Davies, Mari Namekawa
CD label: Orange Mountain Music, OMM-0060, 1-4

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Interesting, thanks for the share Yen!:)

that’s a very good idea, to post such a radio broadcast ; thnx a lot

Hi there do you still have this mp3?

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Thank you for the original…and the re-upload!

thanks

Thanks for the re-up!

Thanks.

Any chance of a re-up, please? 🙂

Any chance of a reupload yea please? Neither links above are working and I really want to hear Geometry of Circles!!!

New link in the first post as requested. Please PM me in future if you want one of my dead posts as I can’t possibly see everything amongst all the wonderful delights here and I’ll try my best to repost. It takes time though as my upload speeds are only around 70 kbps (compared to downloads of around 14 mbps) so this particular file will take a few hours to post, but only a few minutes to download.

I’ve included the video of Sesame Street – Geometry of Circles

I recorded this for the talk mainly, but be aware that the music is of lower quality than CD as it was from the radio, but for voice it’s very clear.