Philip Glass
USA, 1965–now
American composer and the most commercially widely performed of the minimalists. The opera Einstein on the Beach and a large body of film scores are built on repeated arpeggiated figures.
MusicRoots documents 2 artists who influenced Philip Glass and 3 artists Philip Glass influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.
Who influenced Philip Glass?
- Ravi Shankar — Ravi Shankar's Indian cyclic rhythm (tala) was what Glass studied while working with him in Paris in 1965.
- Nadia Boulanger — Nadia Boulanger's rigorous counterpoint schooling was what Glass passed through in Paris before turning to minimalism.
Which artists did Philip Glass influence?
- Jean-Michel Jarre — Named in the same breath as Riley, for the same reason — a figure held and turned rather than developed.
- John Adams — Glass was the model of how minimalist technique could carry operatic and narrative scale.
- Joe Hisaishi — Glass's minimalism shaped Hisaishi from his conservatory years - the repeating cell that grows by small changes is the engine of his film writing.