Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Categories
Memoirs

WORDS WITHOUT MUSIC

Philip Glass

A Memoir

The long-awaited memoir by "the most prolific and popular of all contemporary composers" (New York Times).

A world-renowned composer of symphonies, operas, and film scores, Philip Glass has, almost single-handedly, crafted the dominant sound of late twentieth-century classical music. Rapturous in its ability to depict the creative process, Words Without Music allows readers to experience that sublime moment of creative fusion when life merges with art. Biography lovers will be inspired by the story of a precocious Baltimore boy, the son of a music-shop owner, who entered college at age fifteen, before traveling to Paris to study under the legendary Nadia Boulanger; Glass devotees will be fascinated by the stories behind Einstein on the Beach and Satyagraha, among so many other works. Whether recalling his experiences working at Bethlehem Steel, traveling in India, driving a cab in 1970s New York, or his professional collaborations with the likes of Allen Ginsberg, Ravi Shankar, Robert Wilson, Doris Lessing, and Martin Scorsese, Words Without Music affirms the power of music to change the world. Born in Baltimore in 1937, Philip Glass studied at the University of Chicago and the Juilliard School. The composer of operas, film scores, and symphonies, he performs regularly with the Philip Glass Ensemble and lives in New York.

Available products
Book Published 2015-04-01 by Liveright & Co.

Comments

I came to Philip Glass‘s music very simply, without any critical prodding or guidance. I listened and was transfixed. I was excited to work with Philip on Kundun, and he exceeded my wildest expectations giving us a score that was genuinely transcendent. He‘s exceeded my expectations again with this rich and beautifully written memoir. Who knew that he was as good a writer as he is a composer?

Philip glass has written a fascinating account of his life with recollections of family, teachers and friends. From his childhood in Baltimore to his studies with Ravi Shankar and Nadia Boulanger and the collaborations with Robert Wilson, Allen Ginsberg, Godfrey Reggio and Martin Scorsese among others, Glass offers insights to his music and personal life. Words Without Music will be a pleasure to read, not only for musicians (although they will particularly enjoy it) but for anyone interested in the world of art.

At its core, Glass‘s story is about work...he worked as a mover, a plumber, and a taxi driver to keep his family fed during his decades of obscurity, and since then he has immersed himseif in the craft of composing. Glass is raptly alive to the aesthetic epiphanies, philosophy, spirftuality, and magnetic personalities he has encountered, yet his prose is conversational and free of pretense. The result is a lively, absorbing read that makes Glass‘s rarefied cultural sphere wonderfiuly accessible.

An engaging memoir of an adventuresome, iconoclastic career... Writing with warmth and candor, Glass portrays himself as driven, self-confident and tenaciously determined to invent his own, radically new musical language.

Words WithoutMusic is one of the most inspiring books I‘ve ever read. The book overflows with love and enthusiasm for life and art. Philip Glass‘s vision of human culture as the transmission of ideas through time is transcendent. Hilarious, touching and profound, this book should be read by everyone interested in music and great writing.

No matter your opinion of Glass‘ music, you will like Glass the man....Aspiring musicians and artists will learn much from Glass, as will general readers, musical or not, who will discover an artistic life exceptionally weil lived.

UK rights to Faber; Italian to Ill Saggiatore; Dutch to Hollands Diep ; Chinese (simpl.) to Henan University Press