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Composer Philip Glass performs at LSU April 13.

In music, there are people who scale the Apollonian heights, seeking forms of expression so new it takes a generation for most people to get it, if they ever do. There are those who go for immediate wins, creating music so accessible you feel you know it already. There are those who are OK with music serving in a supporting role as movie soundtracks. Icon Philip Glass, who performs in Baton Rouge next month, has crafted music that fits in each of these categories and excels.

Jeff Perry, LSU professor of music theory, explains how Glass’ music came to be part of the vernacular in the 1960s and 1970s. “His music fit a certain flavor of the times and suggested alternatives to academic, intricate modes of musical expression,” Perry says. “His music tends to be visceral and monumental in scope.” Glass’ stunningly abstract 1976 opera, Einstein on the Beach, opened at the Met and legitimized the music of underground New York in popular circles. His reach proved to be even wider than that. “His 1981 recording Glassworks showed that he could scale his minimalist musical vocabulary down to the time frame of the FM radio single,” Perry says.

Glass soon found himself a sought-after film composer. His oscillating melodies contribute to the cerebral air of The Truman Show and A Brief History of Time while also setting the tension for horror movies like Candyman and dramas like Notes on a Scandal. His music seems to fit everywhere. “Glass has a distinctly American voice and has forged his own way without the usual university appointments—largely through close association with the worlds of theatre, film and dance,” Perry says. “I’d think that his career would be of great interest to young composers seeking an alternative to the usual university composer track.”

Stephen David Beck, LSU professor of composition and computer music and interim director of the Center for Computation & Technology, sums up Glass’ music as nothing less than a challenging gift to the world. “Simplified harmonies, elegantly slow transformations and virtuosic writing made his music captivating and still challenging,” Beck says. As for what message students can learn from Glass’ work, Beck suggests the message is strong and simple: “Be totally and completely committed to your aesthetic.”

Philip Glass will perform at the Claude L. Shaver Theatre inside the LSU Music and Dramatic Arts building April 12 at 8 p.m. Visit theatre.lsu.edu for ticket information. 
philipglass.com