Glass, P: The Hours

"My first encounter with Philip Glass in 2011 was truly one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. As a harpist I feel greatly privileged to have such new experiences - not only on stage, but also behind the scenes. Collaboration with composers is an important aspect of this, and new ideas not infrequently arise through personal encounters and mutual inspiration. This was certainly the case when I met Phil, who had never before heard his Metamorphosis live on the harp. After my initial nervosity, tension soon melted away when I played the opening bars and he remarked “that sounds beautiful!”. Lavinia Meijer

Since their first encounter in May 2011, Lavinia Meijer has worked with some frequency with Philip Glass, even though he has never written solo works specifically for the harp. However, many of his piano works and piano transcriptions, after minor adjustments, prove to be well suited to the modern pedal harp. Initially, Lavinia Meijer added Glass's five movement Metamorphosis to her repertoire, on the instigation of the undersigned, the Amsterdam gallery owner Robert Malasch and the American composer himself. After a first and successful performance (in the composer's presence) in the Amsterdam 'pop temple' The Melkweg, a first official recording was made for Channel Classics in June 2011 in the Dutch town of Schiedam. Since this recording was exclusively intended for a brief national marketing campaign, it has now been followed up by this complete Glass CD for international distribution. Lavinia Meijer is recognized worldwide as one of the most successful rising stars. Besides performing the standard harp repertoire Lavinia Meijer is very keen on playing modern music. She is also interested in experiments with electronic music, theatrical performances and jazz. Her cd’s got raving reviews and awards.

Following the critical success of Primakov in Concert, Vol. 1, Bridge is pleased to release a second compilation of the superb Russia/American pianist's live recordings. Volume 2 adds four new composers to Primakov's discography, ranging broadly from J.S. Bach to Philip Glass.

A new compilation of the music for piano solo by Philip Glass, icon of minimalism.

In his piano music, Glass presents structures of repeated patterns which slowly and gradually, seemingly unconsciously, change in rhythm, speed or form, creating a fascinating sound landscape of slowly shifting colours and patterns.

Dutch pianist Jeroen van Veen is a champion of the minimalist piano school. His earlier set of minimalist piano works (BC 9171) has won rave reviews in the international press: “The leading exponent of minimalism (Fanfare)”, “10/10” performance/recording, Classicstoday.

Accepted onto the early admissions programme of the University of Chicago, Philip Glass graduated aged just nineteen with a degree in Mathematics and Philosophy, practising the piano in his spare time. Subsequently studying at the Juilliard School, Glass’s name has since become synonymous with the minimalist style. His film compositions have earned him a Golden Globe as well as three Academy Award nominations. This selection of pieces showcases Glass’s music for solo piano, with each of the works baring the hallmarks of minimalism. Among the pieces featured in the collection is Metamorphosis, a set of five variations that evolve over the course of the entire work to create a stirring final movement. Also present are extracts from the soundtrack of Stephen Daldry’s film The Hours, as well as ‘Truman Sleeps’ from The Truman Show (which earned Glass a Golden Globe award for ‘Best Original Score’).

The collection ends with the ‘Trilogy’ Sonata, containing piano transcriptions of Glass’s three ‘portrait’ operas: Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha and Akhnaten. Dutch pianist and composer Jeroen Van Veen studied at the Utrecht Conservatory and has played with many orchestras throughout Europe and the USA, under renowned conductors such as Howard Williams, Peter Eötvös and Robert Craft. An accomplished recitalist, van Veen has also appeared at festivals including the Reder Piano Festival and the Festival der Kunsten (Bad Gleichenberg). His compositional style is closely related to minimalism, and contains elements of jazz, blues and pop music.

This unusual collection is dedicated to a very popular style: minimalist music. The style has evolved from austere, almost strict repetition to a more varied and free approach to material and technique.

The set includes works for solo piano by most of the famous ‘minimalist’ composers covering three generations from Cage, through Riley and Glass to Adams and Nyman.