An Evening of Chamber Music by Philip Glass

Program

Excerpts from Mishima (1984)
Composed by Philip Glass
Performed by Maki Namekawa
These excerpts are from music originally composed for the motion picture Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, directed by Paul Schrader. The film is a stylized, fictionalized account in four segments of the life of Japan’s celebrated twentieth-century author Yukio Mishima.

Partita No.2 for Solo Cello (2010)
Composed by Philip Glass
Performed by Matt Haimovitz
This piece premiered at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts in 2017.

Chaconnes I & II from Partita for Solo Violin (2011)
Composed by Philip Glass
Performed by Tim Fain

I met Tim Fain during the tour of “The Book of Longing,” an evening based on the poetry of Leonard Cohen. In that work, all of the instrumentalists had solo parts. Shortly after that tour, Tim asked me to compose some solo violin music for him. I quickly agreed. Having been very impressed by his ability and interpretation of my work, I decided on a seven-movement piece. I thought of it as a Partita, the name inspired by the solo clavier and solo violin music of Bach. The music of that time included dance-like movements, often a chaconne, which represented the compositional practice. What inspired me about these pieces was that they allowed the composer to present a variety of music composed within an overall structure. I set to work almost at once and began with the first three pieces. I divided the chaconne into two parts separated by several other movements. In this way, themes could be introduced, set aside, and reintroduced in the work. I was looking for a structure that was both expansive and tightly knit – Philip Glass

The Orchard (1992)
Composed by Philip Glass
Performed by Tim Fain, Matt Haimovitz and Maki Namekawa
The Orchard is a composition created for The Screens, a play written by French dramatist Jean Genet. In 1989 Joanne Akalaitis directed Paul Schmidt’s translation at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, with original music by Philip Glass and Foday Musa Suso.

Pendulum (2010)
Composed by Philip Glass
Performed by Tim Fain, Matt Haimovitz and Maki Namekawa

Music for Pendulum was first introduced as a commissioned work for the American Civil Liberty Union’s 90th Anniversary in 2010. It was originally composed as a one-movement work for violin, cello, and piano. It is meant to be energetic and bravura in style. Recently, I worked with Tim Fain to re-arrange the piece for violin and piano. The spirit of the work and its name has remained the same  – Philip Glass