Philip Glass at 90: Brooklyn Rider – Quartets

Brooklyn Rider performs four of Philip Glass’ string quartets, tracing his musical voice from early minimalism to later richness. Pioneering New York-based quartet Brooklyn Rider have worked closely with Glass for two decades, performing his music from their earliest concerts and later recording the complete cycle of his string quartets. Their concert brings together four quartets written across more than 30 years. The Seventh Quartet, from 2014, cast in a single movement, pares music back to its essentials, creating a direct and reflective sound-world. The Second Quartet, drawn from music for Samuel Beckett’s Company, distils Glass’ early style into a sequence of spare, lyrical ideas. The Fourth Quartet (Buczak) is more expansive and personal. Written in memory of artist Brian Buczak, it unfolds with a sense of quiet intensity, balancing flowing lines with moments of stillness. Finally, the atmospheric Third Quartet (Mishima), came out of the soundtrack that Glass wrote for Paul Schrader’s 1985 film about the life of author, playwright and political activist Yukio Mishima. Together, these works offer a rounded portrait of Glass’ perceptive writing for string quartet, performed by four of his closest collaborators.