Philip Glass - World Music Is The New Classical
‘By the early 1960’s, ’ Philip Glass said, ‘the world of new concert music had reached a virtual dead end. By that I mean there were more and more composers writing for fewer and fewer people.’ Glass (left) had worked with Ravi Shankar on film sound tracks in the early sixties and, like the sitar master, was looking to open a door that would bring different sensibilities to Western music. ‘That door turned out to be much bigger that I thought,’ Glass said. ‘I thought it would lead to Indian music. Actually, it led to World Music – and that continues to this day.' Glass had travelled to India in 1967 and discovered through his mentor Ravi Shankar that George Harrison was already immersed in India’s wisdom traditions, and had understood the impact Eastern music could have on the West. Glass met Harrison shortly after his return, and they agreed that the Indian sound was a much-needed breath of fresh air. ‘We were entering the same door but from different sides,’ Glass said. ‘F