Glass Box: A Nonesuch Retrospective

Philip Glass, electric organ, alto flute; Barbara Benary, electric violin, voice; Steve Chambers, electric organ; Jon Gibson, electric organ, soprano saxophone, flute, voice; Dickie Landry, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, piccolo, flute, voice; Kurt Munkacsi, engineer, electronics; Arthur Murphy, electric piano; Robert Prado, trumpet, flute, voice; Steve Chambers, Art Murphy, electric organs; Jon Gibson, Dickie Landry, soprano saxophones; Robert Prado, flute; and many more...

Philip Glass is one of America’s best-known living composers, with a career that spans more than four decades and includes chamber music, symphonies, operas, concerti, film scores, and music for dance. On September 30, Nonesuch Records, which has had a relationship with the composer for more than 20 years, releases Glass Box—a 10-disc retrospective of compositions from his groundbreaking career. Excerpts from Glass’s largest and best-known works, like his operas Einstein on the Beach and Satyagraha, are included in the set, along with selections from beloved ensemble pieces like his string quartets and symphonies, Music in Contrary Motion, and Music in 12 Parts. Highlights from Glass’s scores to the Godfrey Reggio films Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi are included, along with portions of the scores from Kundun, The Thin Blue Line, The Hours, and The Fog of War.
In addition to the 10 discs of music, Glass Box includes a 191-page booklet with a note from the composer, archival photos, libretti, texts, and several appreciations by longtime colleagues and admirers of Glass’s music, including Paul Simon, Errol Morris, David Byrne, Chuck Close, Laurie Anderson, and David Harrington. Music scholar Keith Potter, journalist Tim Page, and Nonesuch Records President Bob Hurwitz also contribute essays examining the nature and impact of Glass’s work. The CDs and booklet are packaged in a cube covered on five sides with classic images of Glass by five leading artists who have all been associated with Glass during his career: Chuck Close, Robert Wilson, Francesco Clemente, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Annie Leibovitz. Glass Box was produced by Robert Hurwitz, Kurt Munkacsi, and Michael Riesman; the package was designed by Peter Buchanan-Smith and Josef Reyes for Buchanan-Smith LLC. For a better look at and inside the box, click here.
In his essay, Hurwitz writes, “Philip is a very social man, whose character stands apart from the solitary artist who works in a more abstract way. Practically every piece he has written ... were born out of a friendship or partnership with another artist, usually from a different discipline. There is no better place to start than the music written for The Philip Glass Ensemble—it was written with specific musicians in mind, about a community of highly skilled and creative artists who had as much to do with traditions in Indian music as with the Western classical tradition.
“The list of artists with whom Philip has collaborated is extensive and impressive, but there have been a few of these relationships that have helped change the world. One could not imagine Einstein on the Beach without Bob Wilson. One could not imagine the Qatsi films without Godfrey Reggio,” Hurwitz continues. “He has worked with many great musicians, but his relationships and collaborations with Dennis Russell Davies, the Kronos Quartet, and, most significantly, Michael Riesman, have created a new repertoire. It is an honor and a privilege for me personally to have known Philip for so many years, and for Nonesuch to be able to present so many of these important artistic relationships in the Glass Box.”

Price: $115.98