National Symphony Orchestra: Music By Philip Glass from the Music of David Bowie and Brian Eno

National Symphony Orchestra: Music By Philip Glass from the Music of David Bowie and Brian Eno

Friday, 18 February 2022, 7.30pm

National Symphony Orchestra
David Brophy, conductor
Presented by Paul Herriott, RTÉ lyric fm

Music by Philip Glass from the music of David Bowie and Brian Eno

Symphony No. 1 “Low”
Symphony No. 4 “Heroes”

Having turned 85 last month, Philip Glass, the father of minimalism, is one of the most influential composers of his generation who has produced hypnotic, era-defining music for the concert hall, opera house and cinema screen.

Five years after his death, David Bowie remains one of the most original and uncategorisable music-makers of the last half-century. Morphing from Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane to the Thin White Duke, his late musical Lazarus and swansong confessional, Blackstar, Bowie was the great chameleon of popular music.

​​​The National Symphony Orchestra and David Brophy perform two symphonies by Philip Glass inspired by seminal albums by David Bowie and Brian Eno that took popular music into new realms. Music of startling originality and surprisingly vivid emotions.

Composing his First Symphony, Glass turned to Bowie’s 1977 collaboration with Eno, Low, a daring experiment in fusing art rock with electronic and ambient music. With the heft and richer colours of an orchestra added, it transforms epic intimacy into a thrilling symphonic statement.

Inspired by Bowie and Eno’s Heroes, Symphony No. 4 elevates the original’s sophisticated blend of rock, pop and art music into a stunning six-movement work of pent-up propulsive energy, thrillingly dark drama and an understated but ravishing sense of grandeur.

WebsiteAdd a Listing

Published by The Journal of Music on 14 February 2022

comments powered by Disqus

Please note that some listings are added by third parties. The Journal of Music does not take responsibility for the content or accuracy of listings published by third parties on this site. The Journal of Music reserves the right to edit or delete listings. Click here to add a listing, login or register.