Get those creative gears turning! We are accepting submissions through March 28!
Nominate an exceptional West Virginia teacher today!
On Demand
On Demand
Watch locally produced documentaries & more.
On Demand
On Demand
West Virginia Morning
Inside Appalachia
West Virginia Week
Mountain Stage
Us & Them
The Legislature Today
Send us your comments and questions.
Stream our board meetings.
Check out the latest WVPB news.
Sign up for our newsletter and get weekly updates.
Meet the WVPB staff.
WV Educational Broadcasting Authority, the WVPB Foundation, and the Friends of WVPB.
Come work with us!
Sponsor impactful and engaging media and entertainment.
Use your IRA to make a gift to WVPB.
Become a member with your gift of $1,000 or more.
"Philip likes the fact that music doesn't just exist on paper now and that these early pieces can be realized in different ways." ~Michael Riesman
Philip Glass’ Music For Eight Parts journey from missing or lost, to the current recording, feels like an elaborate plot by a master novelist.
Michael Riesman, Musical Director for the Philip Glass Ensemble, tells the story.
Philip Glass always knew that teaching and the groves of academia were not for him. After his studies with Nadia Boulanger and Ravi Shankar in Paris, he returned to New York in March of 1967, so focused on composing that he realized that he needed his own ensemble to learn and perform his rigourous compositions.
Glass also knew that, in order to sustain his making a living through composing, that he had to work to support the ensemble. Cab driver, plumber and mover, Glass wore many hats and paid his dues – and then some.
Music In Eight Parts, referring to the number of musical lines, was written in 1969, dated January of 1970 on the score and performed, according to then intern Alex Gray “twice at the Guggenheim and twice at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.” Ultimately, Glass had to sell the autograph score to make ends meet and did not remember to whom it was sold.
Fast forward to 2017 when the score resurfaced and went on auction at Christie’s. It sold for $43,750 and now is with Dunvagen Music, Glass’s publisher.
The Philip Glass Ensemble has changed over the years and this piece needed some updating if it was to be added to the current repertoire. Step in Michael Riesman, director of the PGE.
Ecletopia host Jim Lange interviewed Michael Riesman on June 2, 2020, about the tale of Glass’s lost piece and other topics.
Listen to a more in depth version of the interview:
Here are some additional excerpts from the interview.
Sources:
https://www.michaelriesman.com/about_michaelriesman.html
The Fresh Air archives are open! Here’s a link. The Ira -Philip Glass interview is so inspiring.
The best documentary for learning more about Philip Galss:
