Nicolas Horvath - Philip Glass: Glassworlds (Complete Piano Music), Volume 1-6 (2015-2019) 6 CDs

Piano is Philip Glass’ primary instrument (he also studied violin and flute); he composes at the keyboard. With its seemingly contradictory elements of lyricism and percussiveness, it is in some ways the ideal medium for Glass’ musical language. With its deep roots in tradition (spanning the Classical, Romantic and Modern eras), the instrument embodies the composer’s desire to merge new ideas with classic forms. It is perhaps via piano (and, by extension, keyboard) that performers and listeners can make the most direct and personal contact with Glass’ musical genius.

Nicolas Horvath is an unusual artist with an unconventional résumé. He began his music studies at the Académie de Musique Prince Rainier III de Monaco, and at the age 16, he caught the attention of the American conductor Lawrence Foster who helped him to secure a three-year scholarship from the Princess Grace Foundation in order to further his studies. His mentors include a number of distinguished international pianists. Known for his boundary-less musical explorations, Horvath is an enthusiastic promoter of contemporary music. He has commissioned numerous works and collaborated with leading contemporary composers from around the world including Philip Glass.












Philip Glass has made an immense and stylistically wide-ranging contribution to piano repertoire. The Orphée Suite, a transcription of excerpts from the first opera in Glass’ Cocteau Trilogy, is one of his most distinctive piano pieces, blending virtuosity and melodic richness. In contrast, the hypnotic How Now is structurally influenced by Indian ragas and gamelan music, whilst Dreaming Awake contains one of the most powerful climaxes in all Glass’ works. Performed by Nicolas Horvath, a Scriabin Competition first prizewinner, this is the first release in the complete Glass solo piano edition which will include many premières.

Somehow, the objectivity of the sound of a piano suits the music of Philip Glass perfectly. Certainly that’s how it seems in Nicolas Horvath’s expert performances on this…

Review by Colin Clarke, International Piano

The American-born composer, Philip Glass, rejects that he is part of the Minimalist group that sprang up in the late 1970’s, but that is how the world recognises him. Indeed, as this opening disc in a projected series clearly illustrates, it is in this form of writing, with its repeated use of note and/or rhythmic patterns, that his creativity relies. From his standpoint, he would prefer us to see it as a synthesis of Western and Indian music. Those two factors came into his life when he studied in Paris in the 1960’s, and there met the Indian sitar virtuoso, Ravi Shankar. It brought to an end an early predilection for the twelve-tone system of composition, and on his return to the States he formed the Philip Glass Ensemble. That was the year following Steve Reich’s formation of his group whose primary aim was to perform music created by repetitive note and rhythmic patterns. Curious how classical music is so full of coincidences. For his part, Glass was to embrace every genre, though as he composes at the piano, he has contributed much for keyboard. Certainly an acquired taste, but one which you have to become acquainted, the opening of Glassworks having a delicacy that reminds one of Debussy. With jazz introducing a different slant to the opening of the suite from Orphee, this too largely relies on quiet nuances. The opera, from which it is taken, points to Glass’s quite considerable and critically acclaimed contribution to the stage. The ‘hard nut’ to crack, for those just coming to Glass, will be How Now, a score that lasts for over thirty minutes, its highly repetitive nature requiring the French-born pianist, Nicolas Horvath, to breath life into it. Basically the music does not demand a prodigious technique, though the ability to shade music with an infinite number of sounds is a prime requisite. Here we have such remarkably smooth crescendos and diminuendos, you would almost construe they were electronically created. The engineering is excellent.

Review by David Denton, David's Review Corner

Tracklist:

01. Glassworks - I. Opening (6:16)

Orphee Suite (arr. P. Barnes for piano)
02. I. The Cafe (4:41)
03. II. Orphee's Bedroom (1:34)
04. III. Journey to the Underworld (3:21)
05. IV. Orphee and the Princess (4:08)
06. V. Return to Orphee's House (2:41)
07. VI. Orphee's Return (6:58)
08. VII. Orphee's Bedroom - Reprise (4:02)

09. Dreaming Awake (14:48)

10. How Now (30:29)










Following the enormous success of, and critical superlatives tossed like bouquets of roses at Glassworlds 1 (Grand Piano 677), Glassworlds 2, featuring Philip Glasss 20 Etudes for solo piano, is now available and primed for a similar, or even more enthusiastic reception. Nicolas Horvath gave the world premiere performance of the complete cycle of Philip Glasss 20 Etudes at Carnegie Hall on 9 January 2015. Recognized at once as a great interpreter of Liszts music, Nicolas Horvath became in recent years one of the most sought after pianists of his generation. Holder of a number of awards, including First Prize of the Scriabin and the Luigi Nono Intl Competitions, he frequently organizes events and concerts of unusual length, some lasting in excess of 12 hours, such as Philip Glass complete piano music or Erik Saties Vexations. Composers from many countries have written works for him. Alongside his career as an international virtuoso, Nicolas Horvath is also a composer, his aesthetic in his creative work music being one of great inclusivity, a prodigious pianist.

Tracklist:

01. Etude No.1 (03:33)
02. Etude No.2 (03:03)
03. Etude No.3 (03:53)
04. Etude No.4 (03:27)
05. Etude No.5 (04:19)
06. Etude No.6 (03:15)
07. Etude No.7 (03:51)
08. Etude No.8 (05:43)
09. Etude No.9 (02:11)
10. Etude No.10 (05:18)
11. Etude No.11 (04:02)
12. Etude No.12 (04:29)
13. Etude No.13 (03:23)
14. Etude No.14 (03:34)
15. Etude No.15 (03:07)
16. Etude No.16 (04:59)
17. Etude No.17 (06:14)
18. Etude No.18 (03:13)
19. Etude No.19 (05:02)
20. Etude No.20 (06:40)









This program reverses time, revealing the Metamorphosis in Glass’s work from his 1980s film and theatre transcriptions, through The Olympian composed for the Los Angeles Olympiad, to rarities such as the dream-like Coda. The Trilogy Sonata highlights Glass’s renowned operas from the celebratory Akhnaten Dance to the stately Satyagraha and landmark Einstein on the Beach. The dazzling pulse-patterns of Two Pages make it a milestone of minimalism, while the Sonatina No. 2 is a pre-minimalist work composed when Glass was a student of Darius Milhaud at Juilliard.

For his third volume in the series, Glassworlds, Nicolas Horvath takes us on a reverse journey through the career of the American-born composer, Philip Glass. To make life easy, let us start at the beginning of his career with his Second Sonatina, composed in 1959 at the age of twenty-two, and before he graduated from New York’s Juilliard School of Music. Compressing three movements into something less than three minutes has the parentage of Webern. Then a significant jump to 1968—by which time he had spent three years in Paris with the pedagogue, Nadia Boulanger, as his guiding light—and he had now totally embraced Minimalism in the 1968 score, Two Pages. The repetitive nature of the work takes minimalism one giant step too far in a work lasting almost thirteen minutes. Thankfully for the sanity of the world, by the time he wrote his opera, Einstein on the Beach, he had lived through that era, an interlude from the opera later forming the first part of the Trilogy Sonata. Now he had broken out of a rhythmic straightjacket and had taken on a warm and richly coloured tonal palette even in this version for solo piano. Then taking a stride towards Steve Reich’s unusual minimalist time-patterns we have the brief A Secret Solo from 1977, which was seemingly a bridging period to the opera Satyagraha, which together with an extract from Akhnaten, provided the remaining parts of Trilogy Sonata. The Olympian—Lighting of the Torch and Closing for the Los Angeles Olympic Games, leads to the four Metamorphosis, and finds Glass in a new melodic world of gentle sounds. Not all of the disc was originally intended for the piano, and many tracks sound that way, though the Glass specialist, Nicolas Horvath, is always a potent advocate.

Review by David Denton, David's Review Corner

Tracklist:

01. Metamorphosis I (07:16)
02. Metamorphosis II (07:17)
03. Metamorphosis III (03:26)
04. Metamorphosis IV (09:57)
05. Metamorphosis V (06:05)

06. The Olympian - Lighting of the Torch and Closing (03:17)
07. Trilogy Sonata - III. Akhnaten, Act III, Scene 3: Dance (05:03)
08. The Late, Great Johnny Ace: Coda (02:04)
09. Trilogy Sonata - II. Satyagraha, Act III: Conclusion (08:38)
10. A Secret Solo (02:05)
11. Trilogy Sonata - I. Einstein on the Beach: Knee Play No.4 (06:08)
12. Two Pages (12:52)
13. Piano Sonatina No.2 (02:46)









This volume focuses on love, one of Philip Glass’s most glorious themes. The timeless melancholy of his BAFTA award-winning music for The Hours forms an organic suite driven by the film’s three powerful characters, here complete with unpublished tracks. The breathtakingly energetic Modern Love Waltz expands the limits of minimalism by combining Glass’s style with Viennese dance tradition, while his transcription of Notes on a Scandal is a recording première. Steve Reich described the iconic Music in Fifths as being “like a freight train”.

Recognized as a leading interpreter of Liszt’s music, Nicolas Horvath has in recent years become one of the most sought after pianists of his generation. Holder of a number of awards, including First Prize of the Scriabin and the Luigi Nono International Competitions, he frequently organizes events and concerts of unusual length, sometimes over twelve hours, such as Philip Glass’s complete piano music or Erik Satie’s Vexations, and composers from a number of countries have written for him. Nicolas Horvath is a Steinway artist.

Tracklist:

01. The Hours - The Poet Acts (03:18)
02. The Hours - Morning Passages (05:05)
03. The Hours - Something She Has to Do (02:56)
04. The Hours - 'For Your Own Benefit' (01:54)
05. The Hours - Vanessa and the Changelings (01:29)
06. The Hours - 'I'm Going to Make a Cake' (03:02)
07. The Hours - An Unwelcome Friend (04:16)
08. The Hours - Dead Things (02:49)
09. The Hours - The Kiss (03:35)
10. The Hours - 'Why Does Someone Hae to Die?' (03:06)
11. The Hours - Tearing Herself Away (03:21)
12. The Hours - Escape! (03:07)
13. The Hours - Choosing Life (03:44)
14. The Hours - The Hours (05:37)

15. Modern Love Waltz (03:31)

16. Notes On a Sandal (04:21)

17. Music In Fifths (05:50)









The works in this programme demonstrate Philip Glass’s perpetual goal of connecting with his audience. Taking shape as something like a hidden sonata form, Mad Rush contrasts peaceful atmosphere with tempestuousness and mesmerizing beauty. The last of its kind in Glass’s oeuvre, 600 Lines, here receiving its première recording on solo piano, is an obsessive and hypnotically restless toccata that represents the zenith of his experiences while working with Ravi Shankar. These two monumental works are joined by première recordings of the subtly transformed Metamorphosis 2, and Glass’s only transcription in the form of Paul Simon’s The Sound of Silence.

Recognized as a leading interpreter of Liszt’s music, NICOLAS HORVATH has in recent years become one of the most sought after pianists of his generation. Holder of a number of awards, including First Prize of the Scriabin and the Luigi Nono International Competitions, he frequently organizes events and concerts of unusual length, sometimes over twelve hours, such as Philip Glass’ complete piano music or Erik Satie’s Vexations, and composers from a number of countries have written for him.



rec. March 2014, Temple Saint Marcel, Paris

Tracklist:

Philip GLASS (b. 1938)

01. Mad Rush (1979) [21:52]
02. Metamorphosis Two [7:11]
03. 600 Lines (1967) [40:37]

Paul SIMON (b. 1941)
04. The Sound of Silence (transcr. Philip Glass, 2007) [3:24]









In weaving America’s native culture and history, Philip Glass has created his own musical lineage. This album explores these ideas through his single most demanding piano piece, the ferocious, but lyrically meditative Piano Concerto no.2 (after Lewis and Clark), as well as one of his most neglected, the mysterious A Secret Solo 2. Wichita Vortex Sutra, a joyful and transcendent study, is also heard in the version for narrator, with words by the poet Allen Ginsberg. From his experimental years comes Music in Contrary Motion with its mesmerising variety of pulse patterns.

Nicolas Horvath began his music studies at Monaco’s Académie de Musique et de Théâtre Prince Rainier III and soon began to make an impression on a number of artists who would become his mentors. Aged 16 he caught the attention of the American conductor Lawrence Foster before coming to the notice of several distinguished international pianists, including Liszt specialist Leslie Howard. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including First Prize at both the Scriabin and the Luigi Nono International Competitions. He has become noted for hosting concerts of unusual length, sometimes lasting over twelve hours, such as the overnight performance of the complete piano music of Erik Satie at the Paris Philharmonie before a cumulative audience of 14,000 people. In 2019 he performed alongside Philip Glass at the same venue in a programme devoted to the American composer’s piano music. Nicolas is a Steinway Artist.

Philip Glass was one of the most prolific American composers of the Twenty-first century, this, the sixth volume in the complete recording of his works for solo piano. For Nicolas Horvath it contains the single most challenging score with Paul Barnes’ transcription for solo piano of the Second Piano Concerto, the original part for the soloist being difficult enough. Glass’s initial inspiration came from the legendary trek across North America undertaken in 1804 by Lewis and Clark. The programme notes add that in the only previous recording the soloist’s tempos were below the composer’s indication in the most difficult parts of the concerto. So here we have two hands playing a piano part really requiring four. Always claiming no relationship with Minimalism, Glass here does rely on repetition to achieve the monumental atmosphere. Those influences are even more apparent in the fourteen minutes of finger-knotting repetitions of A Secret Solo 2. Dating from 1978, it is here receiving its world premier recording, and I cannot imagine many pianists lining-up to play such a taxing piece. Even before that, in 1969, Music in Contrary Motion, explores the potential of composing in loop form, and how far Glass moved away from that era comes in one of his most frequently played piano piece, Wichita Vortex Sutra, performed here with, and without, Allen Ginsberg’s overlaid poem of that name. Coming closer to the present day, the 2007 score, Three Pieces from Appomattox, is taken from his piano/vocal rehearsal score for the opera of that name, its texture turning the clock back to music in the 1930’s. In summary I must conclude that you would be looking to bask in naked Minimalism to enjoy much of this disc. A very clear but unusual recorded ambiance.

Review by David Denton, David's Review Corner

Tracklist:

Philip GLASS (b. 1938)

Piano Concerto No. 2 (after Lewis and Clark) (arr. P. Barnes for piano)
01. The Vision (10:21)
02. Sacagawea (10:20)
03. The Land (8:07)

Appomattox (version for piano) (excerpts)
04. Scene 4 (4:08)
05. Interlude 1 (3:09)
06. Epilogue (3:11)

07. Wichita Vortex Sutra (6:27)

08. Music in Contrary Motion (10:11)

09. A Secret Solo 2 (13:54)

10. Wichita Vortex Sutra (with narration) (8:37)