Then I got the big Glass Box…
UK Newspaper The Independent On Sunday has an interview with Philip Glass by Fiona Sturges. On the eve of the release of a major retrospective, Glass Box: a Nonesuch Retrospective’, Glass recalls a few of the prouder moments of his career.
Here he is regarding his work with Bowie and Eno…
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David Bowie and Brian Eno – Low Symphony (1993)
“In the early 1980s I was asked to do a symphony and I had the idea of taking material from another composer and making a piece out of it. I said, ‘Well, if Brahms can use Haydn, why can’t I use David Bowie and Brian Eno [Bowie’s collaborator on the 1977 album Low]?’ I knew their ‘Berlin Trilogy’; they were interesting records.
“Those were the days of double-sided LPs and I was interested in resetting the B-side. I never knew who did what on it and they never told me but I knew that a born composer and melodist had worked on it. I took a theme as Brian or David had composed it and extended it into a 12- or 14-minute movement. It was meant to be a seamless continuation. There was a certain type of orchestration in the way it was recorded and I used that as a guide.
I like the idea that talented composers can exist outside of conservatories. [Eno and Bowie] were meant to be rock’n’roll musicians, but the fact is that they knew how to compose. They’re extremely gifted.”
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You can read the full interview online
The one hundred and one track, ten disc set: Glass Box: a Nonesuch Retrospective, is released on September 22, though it doesn’t seem to contain anything from either the Low or Heroes symphonies.