Philip Glass: Symphony for Solo Piano

Philip Glass: Symphony for Solo Piano

Philip Glass’ Symphony No. 8, premiered in 2006, is one of the composer’s most complex orchestral works. Its first movement alone is a mesmerizing structure of eight thematic layers. Reimagining it for piano might seem an impossible task, but pianist Pawel Markowicz achieves a miraculous illusion in his brilliant, high-octane arrangement, his virtuosic performance displaying all of the original score’s rhythmic drive and underlying sense of unease. The austere second movement contains Glass’ most tonally unstable music, to which Markowicz brings a piercing, almost Baroque clarity, while the dark final movement takes on an even bleaker mantle in this talented young musician’s beautifully crafted version.

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