The Canyon (Philip Glass)
The Canyon is a symphonic work by the American composer Philip Glass in the style of minimal music . Glass wrote the work in 1988 as a commission from Voorheen ADM Oudegracht (Netherlands) for the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. It is part two of a trilogy of works on nature and modern technology as " Nature Portrait " and follows The Light and was created before Itaipu . Glass himself describes the composition as "A dramatic episode for orchestra".
occupation
The composition calls on the following instrumentalists: 2.pic.2.2.2 / 4.3.2.btbn.1 / pf / timp.8 perc (SD, TD, BD, t.bells, glsp maracas, 4wdbl, tgl, tamb, ratchet ) / pno / str, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl in Bflat, 4hn in F, 2 trmb, bass trmb, tuba, strings (2vn, vla, vc, db) glock, maracas, snare dm, t dm, bass dm, 4 or 6 timpani and piano.
description
Compositional approach
Philip Glass was not referring to a particular canyon, but to an ideal canyon that had emerged from his imagination. The composition stages a magnificent gorge as an orchestral image, seen from an impressed traveler who crosses the gorge.
construction
The composition reflects a significant, if not always obvious, dynamic that is due to the heavy use of percussion. Despite the minimalist repetition, there is a special dynamic expressiveness that illustrates the structural power of music and orchestra.
The canyon is like a great crescendo and decrescendo of an ABA shape. The theme is the water moving deep in the gorge, which is a function of the underlying rhythmic structure. The themes addressed convey an almost architectural sense of space in a huge gorge. The composition repeatedly creates a build-up of tension that leads one to assume that it will lead to a climax (climax). The dynamic surges of periodic climaxes lead to an absolute climax and then find their way back to the beginning in restrained finals. Basically, the composition reflects the topography or the height of the gorge.
Duration
The Canyon is about 18 minutes long.
Performances
The world premiere took place on October 18, 1988 with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Reinbert de Lieuwe. The US premiere took place in 1990 with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under Robert Shaw.
Publications (selection)
- Itaipu & The Canyon , Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under Robert Shaw, Sony Classicals (1990)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Canyon - Philip Glass. Retrieved January 13, 2020 (American English).
- ↑ a b Robert M. Tilendis: Philip Glass' Itaipu / The Canyon. In: http://thegreenmanreview.com/ . Green Man Review, 1993, accessed January 13, 2020 (UK English).