Glassworks & Early Works

Since its founding in 1968, the Philip Glass Ensemble has been the leading interpreter and custodian of the work of one of the most influential contemporary composers. In Early Works, the ensemble returns to the origins of Philip Glass’s minimalist musical language, revisiting some of the pieces that defined a new way of thinking about and listening to music.
At the heart of the programme is Glassworks (1981), the work that introduced Philip Glass to a wider audience and marked a turning point in his career. Conceived as a studio album, it brings together six pieces for wind instruments and keyboards, in which melodic patterns repeat, evolve and intertwine with hypnotic clarity and distinctive expressiveness. Works such as Opening and Façades remain among the composer’s most iconic creations.
Under the musical direction of Michael Riesman, a long-standing collaborator of Glass, the ensemble recreates with remarkable precision the relentless pulse, layered textures and driving energy that have become hallmarks of this musical aesthetic. More than a retrospective, Early Works is an immersive experience that reveals the power and enduring relevance of music that has profoundly transformed the musical landscape of recent decades.

Pre-concert talk by Cesário Costa at 7:30 pm.

El Corte Inglés supports the CCB’s Classical Music Mediation Programme.